[Spoilers] Discussion Topic: Season 9

[hokie3457]

A plausible perspective SRAM, which puts the writers in a more positive light.  I think we still have much to learn (obviously) about what happened on the boat and where Mandy came from.  She may not have been at CalTech when the expedition occurred, but have been hired afterward to help with related data.  Posts like yours have me looking forward to the next taping report.  AND hoping that things can clear and these two can enjoy their newlywed status. 

One thing episode 9.01 has accomplished is having us discuss Leonard and Penny endlessly.  This is a Season 9 spoiler thread and there is much, much more talk here about my particular favorite portion of the show than anything else.  In a way it is nice after Season Hate (copyright: 5Mississippis.).

[veejay]

...

it shouldn't come as a surprise to us when we find out that not only did Leonard sleep with this other woman, he had a  three way with her and her roommate on the boat. 

(S7/E1) Penny: Sweetie, did you have a bad dream?

[Tensor]

(S7/E1) Penny: Sweetie, did you have a bad dream?

I can't wait to get those deeper details where Penny admits to Leonard that she slept with Sheldon.  And then everything is all better between them. And Sheldon, Penny, and Leonard move in together.

[Squidley]

If we believe TPTB and their concept of not having a knowledge of where this story is going before it is written then the kiss on the boat may not have considered until now.  They seam to want to compare one concept with two or more couples at the same time.  I guess we will have to wait for the DVD's and then scratch our heads.

[Chiany]

I can't wait to get those deeper details where Penny admits to Leonard that she slept with Sheldon.  And then everything is all better between them. And Sheldon, Penny, and Leonard move in together.

Pff only a threeway?

You can add Amy in there easily, might give Sheldon and Amy something to bond ( ) over.
Or throw Raj in the mix instead, to bring up some old stuff :D

Edited August 14, 2015 by Chiany

[veejay]

I can't wait to get those deeper details where Penny admits to Leonard that she slept with Sheldon.  And then everything is all better between them. And Sheldon, Penny, and Leonard move in together.

Sex? Really? I mean, that's just your solution to everything!

[mirs1]

I can't wait to get those deeper details where Penny admits to Leonard that she slept with Sheldon.  And then everything is all better between them. And Sheldon, Penny, and Leonard move in together.

I think we will wait until the 200th episode for that...Isn't the next big twist in the story supposed to happen on that occasion?

Edited August 14, 2015 by mirs1

[wowbagger]

Pff only a threeway?

You can add Amy in there easily, might give Sheldon and Amy something to bond ( ) over.
Or throw Raj in the mix instead, to bring up some old stuff :D

They don't call it 'The Big Bang Theory' for nothing.....

 

(sorry, sorry, I know this has been done-ahem- before)

Edited August 14, 2015 by wowbagger

[phantagrae]

I think that one possible reason for Leonard not telling Penny right away the way he did Priya is that the stakes with Penny have always been much higher.  Maybe it is a subconscious thing, but I think that his dalliance with Alice was an indicator of a subconscious understanding that his relationship with Priya was almost more a habit than a relationship.  It's like Mrs. Cooper said, he had to figure out if he was in a relationship or just calling it that.  The fact that his dalliance with Alice was premeditated, even to the point of going to ask Penny about it, shows his ambivalence about this relationship with Priya.

IMO, the thing with Mandy was probably born out of too much drinking and too much confidence, if you will.  Leonard was having the "best time ever" on the expedition, feeling validated as a scientist, feeling popular and accepted by the research team, feeling excited about the work they were doing, having drinking games and dancing.  Even bragging about his girlfriend.  Feeling his oats, perhaps.

So, along comes Mandy at some point, as part of that whole "I'm king of the world!" feeling, but he quickly realizes his mistake.  His choice to never tell Penny about it seems to me to be one of those things that some men do.  You see it in advice columns all the time--"Once upon a time I cheated on my wife.  Should I tell her?"  Sometimes the advice is along the lines of "what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

Whether or not that's proper advice may depend on the couple, the situation, and whether or not the truth is likely to come out.  YMMV.

We don't know how closely Leonard may or may not work with Mandy.  Just because she's at CalTech doesn't mean the two of them are sharing a cozy lab, or that either of them ever wants to see the other ever again.  Maybe Mandy has a boyfriend as well and also wants to put the incident behind her.  We just don't know yet.

However, whatever the situation is, I don't find it implausible or OOC or character-destroying.

As for whether or not Sheldon knew--I don't remember all the details of the TR just now, but it seems to me he knows the girl, because she works at CalTech, but I don't think there's a mention that he knew about the kiss back when it happened, or that any of the gang knew about it.  I could be wrong, but that's what I recall from the TR.

I have no doubt that things will work out and that Penny will get over it, especially if she gets some reassurance in the next episode about Mandy and her situation.

Oh, yeah, I'm pretty DANG sure that vasu doesn't work in the TBBT writers room.  I don't think anyone needs a notarized affadavit to make that logical inference.

[hokie3457]

You make some great points phanta.  So often a taping report has us making knee-jerk reactions, but we really can't help it.  It is difficult to remain patient until the full story is told.  That being said, thanks for your insights.  We have much to mull over and much to look forward to.  Perhaps a face-to-face between Mandy and Penny.

[Luna18]

I think that one possible reason for Leonard not telling Penny right away the way he did Priya is that the stakes with Penny have always been much higher.  Maybe it is a subconscious thing, but I think that his dalliance with Alice was an indicator of a subconscious understanding that his relationship with Priya was almost more a habit than a relationship.  It's like Mrs. Cooper said, he had to figure out if he was in a relationship or just calling it that.  The fact that his dalliance with Alice was premeditated, even to the point of going to ask Penny about it, shows his ambivalence about this relationship with Priya.

IMO, the thing with Mandy was probably born out of too much drinking and too much confidence, if you will.  Leonard was having the "best time ever" on the expedition, feeling validated as a scientist, feeling popular and accepted by the research team, feeling excited about the work they were doing, having drinking games and dancing.  Even bragging about his girlfriend.  Feeling his oats, perhaps.

So, along comes Mandy at some point, as part of that whole "I'm king of the world!" feeling, but he quickly realizes his mistake.  His choice to never tell Penny about it seems to me to be one of those things that some men do.  You see it in advice columns all the time--"Once upon a time I cheated on my wife.  Should I tell her?"  Sometimes the advice is along the lines of "what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

Whether or not that's proper advice may depend on the couple, the situation, and whether or not the truth is likely to come out.  YMMV.

We don't know how closely Leonard may or may not work with Mandy.  Just because she's at CalTech doesn't mean the two of them are sharing a cozy lab, or that either of them ever wants to see the other ever again.  Maybe Mandy has a boyfriend as well and also wants to put the incident behind her.  We just don't know yet.

However, whatever the situation is, I don't find it implausible or OOC or character-destroying.

As for whether or not Sheldon knew--I don't remember all the details of the TR just now, but it seems to me he knows the girl, because she works at CalTech, but I don't think there's a mention that he knew about the kiss back when it happened, or that any of the gang knew about it.  I could be wrong, but that's what I recall from the TR.

I have no doubt that things will work out and that Penny will get over it, especially if she gets some reassurance in the next episode about Mandy and her situation.

Oh, yeah, I'm pretty DANG sure that vasu doesn't work in the TBBT writers room.  I don't think anyone needs a notarized affadavit to make that logical inference.

I havent read all the posts before this but were there actual speculations that vasu of all people worked for the show??? I just wanna laugh at this big weird joke.

[Chrismo]

You make some great points phanta.  So often a taping report has us making knee-jerk reactions, but we really can't help it.  It is difficult to remain patient until the full story is told.  That being said, thanks for your insights.  We have much to mull over and much to look forward to.  Perhaps a face-to-face between Mandy and Penny.

I think Mandy will  be on one episode and you will never see her again. A face to face is possible. Just a guess but I have feeling Mandy will be likeable and be embarrassed or not remember what happened. I think a lot of this is a stall not to move Leonard into Penny's apartment. 

[Mislav]

You make some very good points Phanta but the mere fact that Leonard didn't tell Penny about the kiss for two years is baffling me. As well as a Shamy break up. I hope that the things will work out for the best and some of it can make a little sense but that premiere still sounds for overly dramatical and unfunny to me. And having a wedding in Las Vegas that nobody sees? Oh my God.

[phantagrae]

I havent read all the posts before this but were there actual speculations that vasu of all people worked for the show??? I just wanna laugh at this big weird joke.

meka made a comment about it, saying she doubted vasu was in the writers room (because of some assumptions he was making) and Tensor insisted on trying to make a literal point out of it, as if the phrase was equal to using the phrase "I doubt..." in a different context.

[rachelshamyfan]

The big bang bang

 

 

Moving on

[phantagrae]

You make some very good points Phanta but the mere fact that Leonard didn't tell Penny about the kiss for two years is baffling me. As well as a Shamy break up. I hope that the things will work out for the best and some of it can make a little sense but that premiere still sounds for overly dramatical and unfunny to me. And having a wedding in Las Vegas that nobody sees? Oh my God.

This episode makes perfect sense to me.  As I said above, and as others have commented, his not telling her seems to relate to him not wanting to screw things up while they were in the process of getting together, improving their relationship.

If you remember, when he was telling Penny about the opportunity, he said he was afraid that if he went away for 4 months that it might screw up their relationshp.  Well, if he then ended up kissing this girl, I'm sure he would have thought he had indeed screwed up their relationship.  If he were to tell Penny, it would have made that conversation a self-fulfilling prophecy.  So, in order to avoid that, he decides to pretend it never happened.  And again, if he doesn't have any ongoing attraction to this girl, no matter how smart or pretty she is, he may have felt discretion was the better part of valor and that pretending it never happened was the safer route.

But then, when Penny makes her "no secrets" comment, he feels compelled to confess.

I also think that the Vegas wedding was a poor, impulsive choice on L/P's part.  They really only did it because Sheldon was pestering them about not setting a date, even if they were discussing what kind of wedding they wanted, etc..  So without any real deep consideration, because they thought that being engaged meant they were ready, they dash off to Vegas.  Then once Leonard makes his confession, they should have turned around, or at least had a real heart-to-heart, rather than just going through with it.

I think there will likely be some kind of do-over, especially since everyone missed the ceremony because of the Sheldon/Amy situation.

I hope that L/P will decide to have at least a little ceremony somewhere where they gang can participate or at least attend.  I don't know that Penny would necessarily want a big wedding--what were they talking about in the finale?--but I think she'd want her parents to be there or whatever.  So maybe as they reconcile, they'll go ahead and make plans for their families to be able to attend, or whatever.

I'm kind of hoping we get at least 2 or 3 episodes out of this so that everyone has enough time to properly reconcile.

[Luna18]

meka made a comment about it, saying she doubted vasu was in the writers room (because of some assumptions he was making) and Tensor insisted on trying to make a literal point out of it, as if the phrase was equal to using the phrase "I doubt..." in a different context.

Oh I see but considering that vasu basically hates on everything in this show and trolls around most of the time, I think that the chances of that being true are -1000000 to 0.

[Tonstar17]

Oh I see but considering that vasu basically hates on everything in this show and trolls around most of the time, I think that the chances of that being true are -1000000 to 0.

Now that's not fair Vasu doesn't hate everything about the show. Give him some credit. He is very supportive with his comments. He just hates Leonard. :) Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

[veejay]

...

If you remember, when he was telling Penny about the opportunity, he said he was afraid that if he went away for 4 months that it might screw up their relationshp.  Well, if he then ended up kissing this girl, I'm sure he would have thought he had indeed screwed up their relationship....

Sorry Phanta, may I correct your memory:

'And I'm a little worried because things between us have been so great, and I'd hate to do anything that screws that up.
Oh, sweetie, if you're gonna screw things up, it's gonna be while you're here, not while you're away.
Oh.'

[Luna18]

Now that's not fair Vasu doesn't hate everything about the show. Give him some credit. He is very supportive with his comments. He just hates Leonard.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

And since you love Lenny, I'd think that you're joking with me right now haha. 

[Tonstar17]

And since you love Lenny, I'd think that you're joking with me right now haha. 

Yeah I am. Just don't tell Vasu. Lol. If I were a fly on the wall in the writers room I'd make sure they all get malaria. :). Okay that was a bit OOC of me. :) Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

[Luna18]

Yeah I am. Just don't tell Vasu. Lol. If I were a fly on the wall in the writers room I'd make sure they all get malaria.

. Okay that was a bit OOC of me.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

Wow that's a really dark thought you have there. Are you someone with a macabre sense of humour like Emily? 

[Tonstar17]

Wow that's a really dark thought you have there. Are you someone with a macabre sense of humour like Emily? 

Hahaha. No just a dark joke. I'm adorable really. Well sometimes when the writers don't pissed me off. :) Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

[Luna18]

Hahaha. No just a dark joke. I'm adorable really. Well sometimes when the writers don't pissed me off.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

Haha, okey-dokey then, I believe you.

[phantagrae]

Sorry Phanta, may I correct your memory:

'And I'm a little worried because things between us have been so great, and I'd hate to do anything that screws that up.
Oh, sweetie, if you're gonna screw things up, it's gonna be while you're here, not while you're away.
Oh.'

The gist of the conversation is the same, from Leonard's POV.  He's afraid that going off on the ship might screw things up between him and Penny (as Sheldon had suggested).  Things are going well, he's afraid that in leaving for 4 months it will damage the progress they've been making.

Penny jokes about it, but that doesn't mean that Leonard doesn't realize that he may have screwed things up, so he keeps his mouth shut.