The Big Bang Theory - Season 8 Episode 9 - The Septum Deviation

The Septum Deviation, episode nine of season eight of The Big Bang Theory, is another fun, entertaining episode overall that also touches on something more serious.

Like usual, there will be spoilers for people who haven’t watched yet so read at your own risk.

Leonard arrives home with Penny after having gone to the doctor about his breathing problems - trouble breathing, lots of sinus infections, and snoring.  It turns out he has a deviated septum.  When Leonard mentions that he is having surgery to fix it the next week, Sheldon does not react well and thinks it is a very bad idea even though he has complained about Leonard’s snoring for years.  Sheldon now claims he won’t be able to sleep without hearing Leonard snore.  Sheldon is also freaking out a bit and is convinced that Leonard will die in surgery.  Sheldon has even done research and discovered that one in 700,000 die from general anesthesia. 

Sheldon keeps obsessing, all but guaranteeing that Leonard will die because of math that he has done.  Since he won’t stop it, Leonard and Penny try to cover up the surgery, telling Sheldon they are going swimming.  Sheldon finds out while Amy is driving him to work by badgering her until she tells him.  He wants to go to Leonard - so he can be at Leonard’s bedside when he is dying to say “I told you so.”  He makes a point of calling Penny a liar before wanting to talk about Leonard’s funeral preparations.  When there is a small earthquake and the lights go out in the waiting room, Sheldon insists he is going to check on Leonard and no one can stop him.  He was sort of right - a glass door that wouldn’t open stopped him.  At home, Sheldon and Leonard have matching bandages - Sheldon broke his nose on the door - and Penny finds it funny.  Sheldon is still annoyed that Leonard had the surgery. 

Raj is trying to figure out what to get his parents for their fortieth anniversary.  He is shocked when he learns they are splitting up when he dad calls to say he is moving out.  Raj acts all right at first, but then breaks down.  Later, Howard and Bernadette stop by Raj’s office to try to cheer him up and end up making nasty cracks to each other about their parents.  That evening Bernadette talks about how she doesn’t want her and Howard to end up like Raj’s parents.  They start sharing things they like about each other before it spirals out of control into a sort of passive aggressive type argument before Raj arrives for dinner.

The last little bit of the episode is at least a few days later - the bandages are much smaller - and Sheldon has received something he ordered before Leonard’s surgery.  He bought matching engraved urns for himself and Leonard.  The one for Leonard says that he thought he was right but he was wrong and it was his roommate that was right.  Sheldon’s says “I’m with stupid.”

At the very end, after the credits and a promo for another CBS show, there is a very nice tribute to Carol Ann Susi, the actress who provided the voice for Mrs. Wolowitz who passed away a few days before the episode originally aired.  Mrs. Wolowitz isn’t mentioned at all in this episode, but that isn’t exactly unusual.  There have been many other episodes where she wasn’t in or mentioned.  I haven’t heard how the writers plan to deal with this in the show yet. 

It is funny, as well as a bit sweet, to see Sheldon worrying and fretting so much about Leonard having surgery, though he goes way, way overboard about it.  I get being worried about someone having surgery, no matter how minor because, well, it is surgery.  I haven’t dealt with the best when my mom had a knee replacement or her gall bladder removed - though there were some extra complications with the gall bladder surgery that added to the stress of the situation.  I did, while alone, have small meltdowns each time, but then I was fine.  I didn’t obsess over every tiny thing that could go wrong like Sheldon did, though that does seem believable for him.  I do get why Leonard and Penny tried to keep the surgery from Sheldon as well.  It was really funny when Sheldon ran into the door at the hospital. 

The other storyline going on in the episode is tied to Raj learning that his parents are splitting up just before their anniversary.  This part of the episode stays more serious.  It has been a while since we have seen them talking to Raj with some kind of video chat.  There have been hints in at least one or two of their most recent video chats that things are not happy between them, so their separation isn’t exactly a surprise.  Raj seems all right at first, which makes sense since he’s even made remarks about their marriage before, though he does have a bit of a meltdown.  Later in the episode, he is better about it while Howard and Bernadette end up having an argument about their marriage.  Some of what came out has come up before - like how Howard won’t do anything around the apartment - and there were a few new things as well.  It is good that they sort of discussed those things, but nothing is really settled. 

Probably the coolest thing that came up in the episode is when Howard was telling Raj how he found a fencing school that gives lightsaber lessons.  Unfortunately, that was at the time that Raj learned about his parents, so he couldn’t properly appreciate it.

The Septum Deviation is another fun, entertaining episode of The Big Bang Theory.  It will be interesting to see if more comes out about Raj’s parents, and if he and Howard follow up on the lightsaber fencing.

The episode is available at the CBS website and through various streaming services.

The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Recaps/Reviews
The Locomotion Interruption and The Junior Professor Solution ~ The First Pitch Insufficiency ~ The Hook-up Reverberation ~ The Focus Attenuation ~ The Expedition Approximation ~ The Misinterpretation Agitation ~ The Prom Equivalency ~ 

The Big Bang Theory - Season 8 Episode 7 - The Misinterpretation Agitation

After airing on Monday nights for just over a month, The Big Bang Theory is back to airing on Thursday nights at 8 pm EST for the seventh episode of Season eight, The Misinterpretation Agitation.  I think it is another fun, entertaining episode.

I will be discussing the plot of the episode a little, so there will be spoilers for people who haven’t seen the episode yet.  You have been warned.  Proceed with caution.

Bernadette is excited to have been chosen to be featured in a story about the sexiest female scientists in California.  Penny is happy for her friend while Amy doesn’t like the idea of the article, saying that women scientists should receive attention for their minds, not their looks.  Later when Bernadette and Amy meet for dinner, Bernadette shares that the article isn’t happening after all.  Amy goes on about how it is for the best because women scientists shouldn’t be looked at as sex objects before finally admitting that she complained to the college about the article and that is why it isn’t happening.   

Right after returning home, Sheldon discovers someone he thinks is a delivery man trying to get into the building.  The man is actually there to take flowers to a woman he is interested in and that he believes returns that interest.  During their conversation while walking up the stairs, Sheldon discovers that the man is there to see Penny.  Dr. Lorvis is a doctor with several famous patients.  He ends up in Sheldon’s apartment talking about some of those patients.  He is still there when Leonard arrives with the food.  He is surprised to learn that the doctor is interested in Penny and believes the interests is returned.  He is also surprised to hear that Penny doesn’t wear her engagement ring while working.  The guys head off to the doctor’s house to see his collection of movie props.  Things take an interesting turn when the doctor once again heads back to see Penny, only to decide he likes Amy after she is nice to him.

This episode does bring up another issue with Penny’s new job.  She sort of flirts with doctors to help her sales.  It has already been said previously that flirting is part of the job and that she should do well because of her looks.  This is the first time it has come up that one of the doctors Penny flirts with thinks it is anything more than just flirting.  Dr. Lorvis seems nice enough, though he is very shy and possibly more of a nerd than the guys.  He has no clue about how to interact with women and he takes everything out of context.  Leonard and Penny do end up talking a bit about her flirting and the fact that she doesn’t wear her engagement ring when working.  She claims it is no different than what she did as a waitress to get tips.  I think that shows that even though Penny is being more mature and responsible about some things, she is still the same person.  Leonard is a little bothered by what is going on, but it didn’t seem like a huge deal.  They didn’t really fully discuss the issue or settle anything about it, but it is good that they at least brought it up.

I think it is believable that Bernadette would have been happy to be featured in the article about sexy scientists.  She has shown that she is comfortable with her looks and doesn’t mind if people notice.  I also think it is believable that Amy would have a problem with it, both for why she says, and maybe because she is a little jealous as well over not getting any sort of attention herself.  Their disagreement is a real issue that women have to deal with - getting more attention for their looks than their brains or work accomplishments.  It was an interesting storyline even though their positions weren’t surprising.  Personally, I enjoyed what was going on with the doctor a little more, both with how the guys started to look at him as some sort of hero because of who some of his patients were, and how Dr. Lorvis himself reacted in certain situations.  His basement is full of movie props and classic arcade games.  It is a nerd paradise. 

The Misinterpretation Agitation is another fun entertaining episode.  It would have been fun if something tied to Halloween had come up - I tend to like holiday episodes - but the episode is still fun and entertaining.  Fans of the show will probably find something to enjoy about it.

The episode will be available on the CBS website.  It may also be available through some streaming services.

The Big Bang Theory - Season 8 Episode 5 - The Focus Attenuation

The Focus Attenuation, the fifth episode of season 8 of The Big Bang Theory, is another fun, entertaining episode.  I just about choked when I took a drink at the wrong moment and started to laugh while trying to swallow. 

There are spoilers for this episode, so anyone who hasn’t watched it yet may want to stop now.

The guys end up talking about how they haven’t come up with idea for things to invent in a long time.  Sheldon claims that Leonard lost focus on that stuff when Penny moved in.  They get the idea to take the weekend to focus on trying to invent something.  When Leonard checks in with Penny, the girls decide to go to Vegas for the weekend.  Right after they get there, Penny gets a message from her boss about a meeting or presentation getting moved up to Monday, so she now just has two days to prepare instead of just over a week.  Penny decides to stay in the room to get some work done while Bernadette and Amy head off to have fun.

Almost immediately Sheldon, Raj, and Howard get distracted by talking about movies.  They have an idea connected to Back to the Future II, so it is decided that they need to watch the movie.  They get into a discussion about the time travel stuff that even includes the proper tense of words to use when describing someone from the future going to the past to change something and then returning to the future.  Eventually they decide to go the college and work in Leonard’s lab, but once again, they are quickly distracted by videos online while Leonard gets more annoyed.  An attempt to come up with a deterrent results in them starting to watch Ghostbusters in the lab and then returning home to watch the entire movie.  In Vegas, Bernadette and Amy get plastered and decide that Penny is a party pooper because she stayed in to do work.  The next morning Penny is ready to go to the pool while Bernadette and Amy have horrible hang overs.

At first, it seems that Penny is still the same.  Going to Vegas is her idea, and she is talking about getting so drunk on margaritas that she pukes just before she gets the message from her boss.  Once she sees that message, she decides that she needs to stay in and do some work first, something that Penny hasn’t done before.  Even when Bernadette and Amy return to the room and try to get Penny to leave, she still says no.  Penny does end up going with them to some sort of show, but she is working there while the other two get drunker.  It is nice to see Penny be more responsible and not the one getting fall down drunk.  It seems like she is taking her job seriously, something else that is nice to see and shows that Penny is finally growing up some. 

The guys getting constantly distracted is funny, including the idea that they come up with to try to stop the distractions.  I also think it is funny how often the stuff that distracts them leads to them wanting to watch some movie.  I kind of feel like watching Ghostbusters myself now.  I don’t think I have ever seen Bernadette and Amy as drunk as they were in this episode.  They have been drinking with Penny before, and Bernadette has gotten a little tipsy, but they are both so drunk they are all but falling down.  I thought that Bernadette was really funny, especially when she mentions a certain show that she wants to go see. 

A lot of what happened in this episode is silly in some way and won’t have a large overall impact, but there are indications that Penny is maturing and starting to take things more seriously.  The episode is fun and entertaining and I think I’ll enjoy it just as much when I watch it again.

The episode will be available to watch on the CBS website eventually.  I think it will show up on Tuesday the 14th.

The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Episode 4 - The Hook-Up Reverberation

Season 8 of The Big Bang Theory is continuing well after a good start with the premiere.  The fourth episode just aired.  It is another fun, entertaining episode overall, though a few slightly serious things do come up once or twice.  

As usual, there are spoilers, so read at your own risk if you haven’t seen the episode yet.

Raj finally brings his girlfriend Emily over to the apartment to meet everyone.  It seems like she has a problem with Penny immediately even though she agrees to meet so Penny can practice her sales talk for her new job.  Things don’t go well when Penny goes to Emily’s office to practice.  It seems Emily does have a problem with Penny and it goes back to her almost having sex with Raj several years ago.  Howard is still having issues with Stuart living with his mom - evidently she signed up for HBO, something she never did for Howard, and bought fancier toilet paper.  The guys, when visiting another comic book store, miss Stuart’s store and start talking about the possibility of investing so he can reopen.

Emily has been good for Raj and she seems nice, so it was a little odd to see her act the way she did toward Penny.  Things do get discussed and seem better briefly, but then something indicates that they aren’t liking each other.  I’m not sure how I feel about this development at this point.  If it doesn’t come up all the time, then it more than likely won’t bother me.  If it comes up a lot, it will probably get a little annoying to me.  I never did like that a drunk Penny ended up in bed with Raj even though not much really happened, so I was less than pleased for that to be brought up again.  As part of thinking of investing in the comic book store, Leonard, Howard, and even Sheldon discuss the subject with Penny, Bernadette, and Amy, with each having a different reaction. 

I was intrigued by the idea of the guys investing in the comic book store and I liked that Stuart was around again.  He seems to have a lot of problems, but I like him.  He’s entertaining when he shows up.  I also love what is going on with him living with Howard’s mom and how Howard is flipping out about it.  There was another very funny conversation between the two of them when Howard claims that his mom’s house is his and that he is welcome to drop in any time he wants.  You can see Howard struggling to stay calm at Stuart’s comeback to that. 


Penny's hair didn't look as bad to me in this episode.  It almost seemed like it was slightly longer than it was in the first episodes.  I still don't like it, but that is a minor thing that isn't preventing me from enjoying the show.

Overall, I thought this was another fun, entertaining episode that touched on a few slightly serious things.  I like that something is going on related to Stuart and the comic bookstore.  I absolutely love that Stuart is still living with Howard’s mom and how much that irritates Howard. 


The first three episodes of season 8 are available online at the CBS website.  I think they usually show up a day after they originally air.  I'm not sure if the episodes are available through any of the streaming services. 

The Big Bang Theory Season 8 Gets Off to a Good Start

The highly popular CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory began season eight on Monday, September 22, 2014 with two new episodes.  The show is temporarily airing on Monday nights because of football being on CBS on Thursday nights.  The rest of the Thursday night shows won’t be starting up until after Thursday night football is done. 

The Big Bang Theory has been one of my favorite shows since it first began to air.  While I haven’t liked everything that has happened over the years, I have continued to watch the show.

I may mention a few things that would be spoilers for people who haven’t seen season seven of the show, especially the last few episodes.

When season seven ended, Sheldon had a bit of a fit or breakdown tied to the fact that he was not dealing with various changes going on in and around his life.  He basically runs away from home, deciding he is going to travel around the country while trying to figure out how to deal with everything.  Newly engaged Leonard and Penny are supportive, while Amy is ticked off that Leonard let Sheldon leave. Stuart moves in to take care of Howard's mother after the comic book store burns down.

Based on something a character says during the first episode, it seems like around a month has passed when Season eight begins.  Something has gone wrong with Sheldon’s trip and he calls Leonard to come get him.  Amy goes along, again ticked off, this time because Sheldon called Leonard instead of her.  Penny goes on an interview to be a drug rep at Bernadette’s company.  Amy’s anger is sort of addressed, and while she seems fine again, Sheldon ends up being annoyed.  Howard has issues about Stuart still living with his mother, with the two getting into an argument about not being each others father.  In the second episode, Penny and Bernadette clash a bit over how Penny is preparing for her new job while Sheldon deals with work issues as well since he still doesn’t want to return to the same type of research he was doing previously. 

Both episodes are funny and entertaining.  They do touch on things that happened at the end of season seven while also moving forward.  Certain things really aren’t brought up, like if Leonard and Penny have started to make any sort of wedding plans, but that didn’t bother me.  I won’t have a problem with them having a longer engagement.  I just do not want to see the show go down the road of breaking them up for some stupid reason again or even adding in some sort of drama and tension between them because of her new job.  Not to much seems to have changed overall with Sheldon and Amy’s relationship either which may disappoint some people.  Overall I was satisfied with both the episodes and will probably rewatch them later in the week since they are on my DVR.

There have been different stories online over the summer about how Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting cut her hair really short.  I didn’t see the new short hair cut until just over a week ago when I learned that she cut it for a movie.  In the interview I read, she said that the writers loved the short hair and it got written into the show.  Her hair is mentioned once or twice in the first episode and that is it.  Nothing is said about why Penny would have decided to chop off all her hair.  Personally, I don’t care for the short hair cut.  I think it is too short and isn’t flattering to her.  I’m not saying that she is suddenly hideous or ugly or that I will stop watching the show because of it.  I just don’t like the hairstyle.  If her hair was a little longer, I might like it more.  I just don’t think that many women can really pull off a hairstyle that short.  I didn’t like it on Anne Hathaway, Emma Watson, or Jennifer Lawrence either.  They are all still pretty, but I don’t think hair that short is as flattering. 

Bernadette first showed up in season three when she and Howard started dating.  Since they got engaged, she has been around more.  I have liked both her and Amy being around more, partly because of it giving Penny friends that the audience actually sees.  Bernadette starts out seeming very nice and sweet, but a sort of darker side has been shown at times with how she reacts to certain things, like losing at a game or not getting her way in something.  At first, it just seemed like she was a poor loser, but it goes beyond that in my opinion.  She is basically a bully in certain situations, and Penny was on the receiving side of that in the two new episodes because of her new job.  The more that sort of thing happens, the less I like it.  Again, it isn’t something that will make me stop watching.  It is just something that I am less fond of.

So far, I am happy with what has happened in the new season of The Big Bang Theory.  Hopefully that will continue for the rest of the season.  There really have only been a few developments here and there over the course of the show that I haven’t liked.