# The Big Bang Theory 5/16/13 "The Bon Voyage Reaction"



## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

Kind of a middling BBT episode, IMO. And as season finales go, well, not much of one, IMO.

But they FINALLY cured Raj of his affliction. And great! Not much more to say about that.

Kinda don't care about Leonard and Penny for some reason.


----------



## mdougie (Mar 9, 2009)

When Penny was sitting on the couch with Raj her thighs looked fat.


----------



## Peter000 (Apr 15, 2002)

mdougie said:


> When Penny was sitting on the couch with Raj her thighs looked fat.


She seemed somewhat drunk too.

Seriously though... she looked good in those pants.


----------



## redrouteone (Jun 16, 2001)

This used to be one of my favorite shows, but now Meh.


----------



## mdougie (Mar 9, 2009)

Peter000 said:


> She seemed somewhat drunk too.
> 
> Seriously though... she looked good in those pants.


Yeah she looked good.


----------



## verdugan (Sep 9, 2003)

Peter000 said:


> But they FINALLY cured Raj of his affliction. And great! Not much more to say about that.


When did they do that? He was drinking at the restaurant.


----------



## mdougie (Mar 9, 2009)

verdugan said:


> When did they do that? He was drinking at the restaurant.


He was cured in his apt. while talking to Penny. He wasn't drinking while talking to her. They celebrated his being cured.


----------



## Drewster (Oct 26, 2000)

Did I see a Sonos over Leonard's shoulder in Penny's apartment?


----------



## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

So it said afterward during the credits "If you're a true Big Bang Theory fan you're in luck because you can see a special episode----" and the TiVo cut it off!

Anyone have any idea what the next bit was?


----------



## Ereth (Jun 16, 2000)

A rerun of Howard in space.


----------



## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

@whee


----------



## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

So glad they finally cured Raj of that ridiculous quirk. That was by far the best part of the episode.


----------



## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

verdugan said:


> When did they do that? He was drinking at the restaurant.


It was the second to last scene. Penny went to visit Raj at his apartment to console him. Raj ended up talking to Penny for the entire scene before realizing that he hadn't had a drink since the night before.

The final scene was Raj at Penny's apartment talking to all the girls without end (literally - he talked over the entire closing credits).


----------



## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

When Penny was shopping for the party I was glad to see that she bought some Shiner beer. :up:


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

loubob57 said:


> When Penny was shopping for the party I was glad to see that she bought some Shiner beer. :up:


That scene looked strange to me. I couldn't tell if it was a sound stage or a real store. It looked totally fake (like a studio), but if it was, wow, talk about a ton of set up just for one short shot. Setting up all those products, the booze, cooler with beer, wine racks with wine. I know it's a successful show and they can afford to do stuff like that, but it sure seems like a lot of work just for one shot that isn't normally part of the show (say, for instance like the comic book store which repeats once in a while).


----------



## Vendikarr (Feb 24, 2004)

Hank said:


> That scene looked strange to me. I couldn't tell if it was a sound stage or a real store. It looked totally fake (like a studio), but if it was, wow, talk about a ton of set up just for one short shot. Setting up all those products, the booze, cooler with beer, wine racks with wine. I know it's a successful show and they can afford to do stuff like that, but it sure seems like a lot of work just for one shot that isn't normally part of the show (say, for instance like the comic book store which repeats once in a while).


It was probably all the booze they bought for the season wrap party, and just worked it into the episode. Or the episode is how they justified buying all that alcohol.


----------



## Alfer (Aug 7, 2003)

I agree, that was a very "Meh" finale. The Raj and his woman stuff got old pretty fast. She annoys me as does their storyline. I hope they don't bring her back. 

Lame that they did yet another "character goes on a long trip!" for the finale. Zzzzzzz.

Overall a very weak episode.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Vendikarr said:


> It was probably all the booze they bought for the season wrap party, and just worked it into the episode. Or the episode is how they justified buying all that alcohol.


"It's...props! Yeah, THAT'S the ticket!"


----------



## Turtleboy (Mar 24, 2001)

I'm glad they gave Raj the ability to talk to women. That was really limiting to his character and had gotten old.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

Vendikarr said:


> It was probably all the booze they bought for the season wrap party, and just worked it into the episode. Or the episode is how they justified buying all that alcohol.


Including the 4 (or 5) door beer cooler?


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Hank said:


> Including the 4 (or 5) door beer cooler?


What, they're going to let it all get warm?!?


----------



## mwhip (Jul 22, 2002)

Come on we all know it is Hollywood magic. Fake coolers and prop beer filled with water.


----------



## jasrub (May 9, 2008)

Because Penny drank it all?



mwhip said:


> Come on we all know it is Hollywood magic. Fake coolers and prop beer filled with water.


----------



## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

All the beer brands that I noticed were real brands so all the booze was probably real.


----------



## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Kind of surprising that they didn't greek out the brand names.


----------



## dtle (Dec 12, 2001)

Man, I'm an old. I immediately knew the joke reference of Sheldon's "white zone" rant.

From 1980's _Airplane!_:


----------



## ScubaCat (Jun 26, 2003)

I was disappointed that Penny didn't grab the Tito's vodka off the shelf but I was happy to see it there.

I was also glad to see Raj cured. I sure hope it sticks next season.

Raj: I haven't had a drink since last night.
Penny: You're talking to me.
Raj: I am. And, now I'm crying for a whole different reason.​


----------



## YCantAngieRead (Nov 5, 2003)

When I was in college, I was co-props person for a show that required a pizza. That pizza very literally came onto the stage, then cleared off the stage and into our stomachs.


----------



## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

dtle said:


> Man, I'm an old. I immediately knew the joke reference of Sheldon's "white zone" rant.
> 
> From 1980's _Airplane!_:


Also from every day at LAX. Airplane just happened to make a joke about it as well.


----------



## verdugan (Sep 9, 2003)

LoadStar said:


> It was the second to last scene. Penny went to visit Raj at his apartment to console him. Raj ended up talking to Penny for the entire scene before realizing that he hadn't had a drink since the night before.
> 
> The final scene was Raj at Penny's apartment talking to all the girls without end (literally - he talked over the entire closing credits).


Thanks for that. Not sure what happened, but missed that last bit.


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Turtleboy said:


> I'm glad they gave Raj the ability to talk to women. That was really limiting to his character and had gotten old.


He might still be "shy" with women he doesn't know but it did get old with the gang itself. He was always drinking. And people call Penny an alcoholic!


----------



## sharkster (Jul 3, 2004)

Also glad about the Raj being cured thing. I got the feeling that it was having gone through that 'relationship' with whats-her-name (glad, too, she's gone) and then he had some kind of 'miraculous' breakthrough because he had relaxed through his grief. (or something. ha!) I, too, hope it sticks. Take the character in another direction. I really like Raj and think he deserves more. It was funny - for a while, but that time has long passed.

As for Leonard's trip - meh. Don't see how that adds to a finale but whatever.

Kinda liked Howard's 'yeah, but I was in space' stuff. Since he stopped that right after coming back, and a bunch of time has passed, I found it kind of funny. Also, of course, love seeing him get slapped down. 

So, what WAS the big cliffhanger that was alluded (read it somewhere, anyway)? Was it Leonard's trip. Not much of a cliffhanger, sez me. Plus, like somebody else already said, ending the season with one of them going on a trip AGAIN isn't fresh.


----------



## loubob57 (Mar 19, 2001)

ScubaCat said:


> I was disappointed that Penny didn't grab the Tito's vodka off the shelf but I was happy to see it there.


Yep, I noticed the Tito's too.


----------



## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

LoadStar said:


> Kind of surprising that they didn't greek out the brand names.


They covered about 50% of them with SALE stickers, it was an interesting approach since it was obvious they were covering only some of them.


----------



## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

Hank said:


> That scene looked strange to me. I couldn't tell if it was a sound stage or a real store. It looked totally fake (like a studio), but if it was, wow, talk about a ton of set up just for one short shot. Setting up all those products, the booze, cooler with beer, wine racks with wine. I know it's a successful show and they can afford to do stuff like that, but it sure seems like a lot of work just for one shot that isn't normally part of the show (say, for instance like the comic book store which repeats once in a while).


Truth be told, that looked almost exactly like my local Smart & Final store except that the booze was placed squarely with the snacks.


----------



## phox_mulder (Feb 23, 2006)

loubob57 said:


> When Penny was shopping for the party I was glad to see that she bought some Shiner beer. :up:





sieglinde said:


> All the beer brands that I noticed were real brands so all the booze was probably real.





LoadStar said:


> Kind of surprising that they didn't greek out the brand names.


I'm thinking product placement.
90% of the beer in the cooler was Shiner, couldn't make out any of the others, but the Shiner was in plain view.

phox


----------



## SleepyBob (Sep 28, 2000)

sharkster said:


> Also glad about the Raj being cured thing. I got the feeling that it was having gone through that 'relationship' with whats-her-name (glad, too, she's gone)


I'll miss quirky-ukulele-girl.


----------



## MauriAnne (Sep 21, 2002)

sharkster said:


> Also glad about the Raj being cured thing. I got the feeling that it was having gone through that 'relationship' with whats-her-name (glad, too, she's gone)


I hope Lucy's gone as well, but there's nothing to rule out her coming back next season. I'm just not sure we've seen the last of her.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

I like Lucy, as long as she moves forward with her ailments and challenges... but if they keep her the same, yeah, that's getting pretty boring pretty fast. But if she improves and comes back into the group, it's interesting to me that they have two couples with _relatively_ normal relationships (Leonard and Howard) and two couples with _relatively_ dis-functional relationships (Sheldon and Raj). But in the same vein, I hope this doesn't turn into _Geek Friends_


----------



## stellie93 (Feb 25, 2006)

Poor Raj--if she ever did need to go to the bathroom while she's with him, he'd probably just leave her there and go home.


----------



## mdougie (Mar 9, 2009)

phox_mulder said:


> I'm thinking product placement.
> 90% of the beer in the cooler was Shiner, couldn't make out any of the others, but the Shiner was in plain view.
> 
> phox


Shiner and Titos are Tx brands. Jim Parsons is From Houston.


----------



## cannonz (Oct 23, 2011)

Unfortunately for Raj he starts voiding his bowels when he sees a woman now. If they advertised a cliff hanger I would assume it is if they will get back together. I bet she will be back next season people here who compare show to real life, how often does a first break up take almost never.


----------



## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

... what?


----------



## cannonz (Oct 23, 2011)

Would be a hell of a lot funnier than going mute.


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

stellie93 said:


> Poor Raj--if she ever did need to go to the bathroom while she's with him, he'd probably just leave her there and go home.


Maybe worth bringing her back just for that. Would make a great final scene. She comes out wondering where he went. Cut to vanity card.


----------



## replaytv (Feb 21, 2011)

I didn't like Raj pushing Lucy so hard. She's got a difficult problem and he should be gentle with her. Not really necessary for her to hang out with the whole gang. Let her work on her problem slowly with his help. Hopefully when she comes back next season. 

I like the Lucy character. She is so much different than any of the others. And that is the beauty of the show, that each character is their own person.

That was funny when Penny said that it was more likely Leonard would mess up the relationship if he staid instead of while he was gone. 

I would like to see more of Sheldons' mother. Her bible belt Texas radicalism with a little cow-sense thrown in really cracks me up. And more of Leslie Winkle too. 

I don't want to see any more of Pennys' dad. He was boring. 

I like it when Pennys friends visit from home.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

replaytv said:


> I didn't like Raj pushing Lucy so hard. She's got a difficult problem and he should be gentle with her. Not really necessary for her to hang out with the whole gang. Let her work on her problem slowly with his help. Hopefully when she comes back next season.


Then again, Raj has always been a complete dick about women.

Maybe now that he can face them sober..?


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

MauriAnne said:


> I hope Lucy's gone as well, but there's nothing to rule out her coming back next season. I'm just not sure we've seen the last of her.


Nor I. There was a comment earlier I believe from someone show-related that this would be a relationship for Raj, so I think she'll be back next season...


----------



## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

TonyD79 said:


> .... And people call Penny an alcoholic!


What do you mean "calling" her an alcoholic....she IS an alcoholic....


----------



## sharkster (Jul 3, 2004)

replaytv said:


> I would like to see more of Sheldons' mother. Her bible belt Texas radicalism with a little cow-sense thrown in really cracks me up. And more of Leslie Winkle too.


ITA about Sheldon's mom, and Leonard's mom as well. Both such great TV/sitcom actors and I love how Sheldon's mom seems like she would more be Leonard's mom and vice versa, YET they are both perfect as they are. That might not make sense here, but it did in my head. 

I also like Leslie Winkle, but then I'm a Sara Gilbert fan AND I really like seeing her and Galecki together - not necessarily as a couple, but as a pair of actors.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

sharkster said:


> I also like Leslie Winkle, but then I'm a Sara Gilbert fan AND I really like seeing her and Galecki together - not necessarily as a couple, but as a pair of actors.


+1

I like her with Leonard a lot better than Penny. It's like real life versus fantasy.


----------



## MikeCC (Jun 19, 2004)

Hank said:


> +1
> 
> I like her with Leonard a lot better than Penny. It's like real life versus fantasy.


It's like how you _IMAGINE _real life vs fantasy would be; since irl only Galecki and Cuoco actually paired up, however briefly.


----------



## Turtleboy (Mar 24, 2001)

Hank said:


> +1
> 
> I like her with Leonard a lot better than Penny. It's like real life versus fantasy.





MikeCC said:


> It's like how you _IMAGINE _real life vs fantasy would be; since irl only Galecki and Cuoco actually paired up, however briefly.


And in real life Sara Gilbert is gay and is engaged to Linda Perry, the singer from 4 Non Blondes ("What's going on").


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

MikeCC said:


> It's like how you IMAGINE real life vs fantasy would be; since irl only Galecki and Cuoco actually paired up, however briefly.


But Galecki isn't a geek in real life.


----------



## Marc (Jun 26, 1999)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Then again, Raj has always been a complete dick about women.


He seemed to have a better bromance going on with Stuart in a few past episodes than his relationships with women had been.


----------



## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Polcamilla said:


> So it said afterward during the credits "If you're a true Big Bang Theory fan you're in luck because you can see a special episode----" and the TiVo cut it off!


"special episode" = extra episode in a timeslot the show doesn't usually air in.

You can usually see what episode it was by looking at the Live Guide, or going to "record by time and channel", picking the channel, and looking at the Guide Data. If you do it before the episode is too old, you can still see the Guide Data, even if the air time has gone by.


----------



## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

murgatroyd said:


> "special episode" = extra episode in a timeslot the show doesn't usually air in.


Yes, versus a "very special episode."


----------



## cannonz (Oct 23, 2011)

TonyD79 said:


> Yes, versus a "very special episode."


Where we all learn a very valuable lesson.


----------



## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Hank said:


> That scene looked strange to me. I couldn't tell if it was a sound stage or a real store. It looked totally fake (like a studio), but if it was, wow, talk about a ton of set up just for one short shot. Setting up all those products, the booze, cooler with beer, wine racks with wine. I know it's a successful show and they can afford to do stuff like that, but it sure seems like a lot of work just for one shot that isn't normally part of the show (say, for instance like the comic book store which repeats once in a while).


?!?!? Lots of shows have supermarkets or 7-11 type places in them. Though this one seemed to have at least _some_ real products.

But about your "it sure seems like a lot of work", I have thought that there should be shared sets for some of these kinds of things -- Oval Office, supermarket, and a few other things.

I *know* there are the various famous outside sets (e.g. New York streets) used in a lot of shows/movies.

I admit if they did this, I'd probably eventually gripe that they were using the same set AGAIN... but it would be efficient.


----------



## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

YCantAngieRead said:


> When I was in college, I was co-props person for a show that required a pizza. That pizza very literally came onto the stage, then cleared off the stage and into our stomachs.


I've always wondered about that, or the various meals the actors eat. You usually notice that they barely eat/drink anything (because of repeated takes), but I presume most if not all of it is actual food... So even a "half eaten meal" might be tempting in some cases!


----------



## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

mattack said:


> I *know* there are the various famous outside sets (e.g. New York streets) used in a lot of shows/movies.


Those are the backlots of the studios (though there are fewer than there used to be these days). For most of these, the architecture is pretty minimal and they are just facades that get dressed up to be one thing or another. A few are actually used as studio offices. Pay close attention and you can start to ID them pretty easily.

Indoor sets are a different beast. They are built on sound stages and while an ongoing production will have it's handful of standard sets, they are struck when the production ends and the studios don't tend to keep an inventory of commonly needed interiors (eg: every Oval Office you see has been built for that production).

ETA: Here is a little article about some of the Oval Office sets. One popular one owned by Warner Bros. gets broken down, stored, then rented out and set up again repeatedly for filming.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

Polcamilla said:


> Those are the backlots of the studios (though there are fewer than there used to be these days). For most of these, the architecture is pretty minimal and they are just facades that get dressed up to be one thing or another. A few are actually used as studio offices. Pay close attention and you can start to ID them pretty easily.


I was on a WB studio tour a couple of years ago -- pretty cool. Then two days later, I was watching West Wing, and there was a scene of a black-tie affair where everyone was arriving. I instantly recognized it as the _outside door_ of the WB soundstage, due to the big plaques they have listing all the shows and movies shot on that sound stage. This isn't the best photo, but this is what it looked like in person:










But for the show, they had it all dressed up with lamps, ivy, and it looked like a party going on inside. I thought that was pretty funny.


----------



## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

Hank said:


> But for the show, they had it all dressed up with lamps, ivy, and it looked like a party going on inside. I thought that was pretty funny.


Yeah, the WB studio tour is really fantastic. Pretty sure that's the one where I got to walk on the set of the Drew Carrey show (it was in its first season).

When they film in the park down the street from us, the crews always bring in extra plants and extra playground equipment. This always makes me laugh.


----------



## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Polcamilla said:


> Indoor sets are a different beast. They are built on sound stages and while an ongoing production will have it's handful of standard sets, they are struck when the production ends and the studios don't tend to keep an inventory of commonly needed interiors (eg: every Oval Office you see has been built for that production).
> 
> ETA: Here is a little article about some of the Oval Office sets. One popular one owned by Warner Bros. gets broken down, stored, then rented out and set up again repeatedly for filming.


Wait, those two paragraphs contradict each other.


----------



## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

mattack said:


> Wait, those two paragraphs contradict each other.


Kinda, but not really. When they build a nice set, they don't leave it standing around to be used again like a building, but they break it down and store it like a giant prop. If someone later wants to use it, they can rent it, but likely also have to rent a place to get it set up again in.


----------



## DUDE_NJX (Feb 12, 2003)

Hank said:


> That scene looked strange to me. I couldn't tell if it was a sound stage or a real store. It looked totally fake (like a studio), but if it was, wow, talk about a ton of set up just for one short shot. Setting up all those products, the booze, cooler with beer, wine racks with wine. I know it's a successful show and they can afford to do stuff like that, but it sure seems like a lot of work just for one shot that isn't normally part of the show (say, for instance like the comic book store which repeats once in a while).


Maybe they just filmed the scene in Penny's dressing room/trailer.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

DUDE_NJX said:


> Maybe they just filmed the scene in Penny's dressing room/trailer.


Couldn't be. Those bottles were full.


----------



## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

DUDE_NJX said:


> Maybe they just filmed the scene in Penny's dressing room/trailer.





Hank said:


> Couldn't be. Those bottles were full.


Wait, I thought it was Penny who was the felonious drunk. So you're saying it's Kaley?

Just when I thought this junk was beginning to make sense!


----------



## Polcamilla (Nov 7, 2001)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> Wait, I thought it was Penny who was the felonious drunk. So you're saying it's Kaley?


She's not a felonious drunk. She's just REALLY method.


----------



## Hank (May 31, 2000)

Speaking of Penny/Kaley The Felonious Drunk, my g/f and I are watching Season 2 of Prison Break (from 2007 or so), and in a tiny part as an underage, white trash, teenager scamming for beer outside a country store with her equally trashy boyfriend, was none other than Penny/Kaley The Felonious Drunk. She was wearing a ripped t-shirt (I think) that read: "Orgy of Hate".


----------

