TBBT 6x24: The Bon Voyage Reaction

Through his connection to Stephen Hawking, Howard manages to get Leonard a job on an expedition to the North Sea. For various reasons, Sheldon doesn't want him to go, and tries to talk him out of it. His comments about drowning and sharks don't work, but when he mentions that things between Leonard and Penny have never been better, he gets the response he was looking for.

Do the Germans have a word for 'anger at the fact that someone is right'?

Penny's a little bummed when Leonard tells her, but she reassures him that he's more likely to screw things up when he's around than when he's away. With his relationship status stable, Leonard books his flight, and the gang decides to throw him a 'Bon Voyage' party before he leaves.

Meanwhile, the gang is interested in meeting Lucy, and Raj tries to convince her to hang out with them. She's still not comfortable with groups, however he manages to convince her to meet them one at a time. It takes a while to figure out who should go first, but eventually they decide it should be Amy because she was an outsider once, and the group accepted her and treated her like family. Things start off relatively well, but the conversation quickly becomes too much for Lucy and she runs and hides in the bathroom.

She's a very confusing woman.

Afterwards, Raj apologizes for pushing her too hard and invites her to Leonard's going-away party. She's hesitant, but he seems to convince her that all the attention will be on Leonard, so it won't be too tough.

At the party, Sheldon makes a speech about how happy he is for Leonard, and Howard lets everyone know that space beats water. It's as fun as a seven-person party can be if everyone's still wearing pants. That is of course until Raj gets a break-up text from Lucy.

The next day, Sheldon and Penny drop Leonard off at the airport. The couple professes their love for one another while Sheldon tries to keep them from getting arrested for parking in a red zone.

The white zone is for loading and unloading. The red zone is for hot makeouts.

Later, Penny goes over to Raj's apartment to see how he's doing. He's still pretty distraught and worries that he might be unlovable. However, his heartbreak has mysteriously given him the ability to speak to women without being drunk.

Hey... wait a minute.

What I Liked
-Howard does Raj's voice when he talks for him. It is funnier with the accent.
-Sheldon tries to get Penny to talk Leonard out of going on the trip by telling her that men on long sea voyages sometimes resort to homosexuality. What happens at sea stays at sea!
-Raj is from India, so he knows how to beg. Is that racist?

What I Hated
-Lucy. The show really didn't need a character that was even more awkward than the others, and the plots with her were never very good.

Final Thoughts
I hope Lucy is gone forever. As a device to give Raj a reason to be able to talk to women, she worked well, but as a character she was terrible. It was bad enough that Raj couldn't talk to the female characters. Lucy couldn't even be in the same room as any of the others. There isn't really a whole lot you can do with someone like that.

As a finale, this was a little repetitive. Leonard went away for a summer-long scientific expedition at the end of season two when the guys went in search of magnetic monopoles. They've also had relationship-drama finales. I expect that Leonard will return with a ridiculous beard and he and Penny will have some sexytimes. Not much will be different about Raj other than that he won't have to have a drink in his hand when they want him to talk to the ladies.

I'll admit that I was wrong. I thought this season would end with someone pregnant. Maybe next year.

The Big Bang Theory finished out the season as the third-highest rated show on TV, the number one comedy, and one of the few shows that has been able to consistently grow its audience year after year. So, it doesn't need me to sing its praises. I'll give it some light background praising, though. It's consistently funny, if not consistently good or innovative, and really, that's all I ask from sitcoms: Be funny. And this season has been the funniest one yet. The show's often disposable and forgettable, so I won't be waiting in anticipation for next season's premiere, but I'll watch it. Because it's funny.