Recap / The Big Bang Theory S 7 E 17 The Friendship Turbulence

"The Friendship Turbulence" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on March 6, 2014. Directed by Mark Cendrowski. Teleplay by Jim Reynolds, Steve Holland and Maria Ferrari, based on a story by Steven Molaro, Eric Kaplan and Tara Hernandez.

Bernadette tries to decrease the amount of friction in Howard and Sheldon's friendship. Sheldon agrees to stop insulting Howard and Howard agrees to stop pranking Sheldon. Howard takes it one step too far, in Bernadette's opinion, by inviting Sheldon on a trip to the NASA facilities in Houston, Texas.

Meanwhile, after years of ignoring the check engine light and Sheldon's warnings, Penny's car breaks down and she is afraid she will have to return to The Cheesecake Factory. Leonard is shocked to learn that Penny actually turned down a part in Serial Ape-ist 2, the sequel to the cheesy horror movie she was in years ago. Nevertheless, Leonard, trying to be more supportive, buys Penny a new car.

Also, Raj asks Amy to help him talk to a girl he met online. Amy doesn't go along with the ruse of pretending to be Raj, and actually hits it off with Emily (Laura Spencer). Amy and Emily meet for coffee and Raj drops in uninvited, and quickly weirds Emily out, who leaves.^note Without giving away too much, we can say that Emily will recur in later episodes.

On the flight to Houston, the airplane runs into a little turbulence. Sheldon is very worried, but Howard is nonchalant at first. The turbulence gets much worse, however, but later subsides.

Tropes

• Act of True Love: Leonard buys Penny a car (which is obviously pretty expensive) to help her get to auditions and to allow her to continue to pursue acting. Penny is left overwhelmed with joy at Leonard's act of kindness and can only hug and kiss him in gratitude.
• Big Damn Hero: Leonard, despite understandably disapproving of Penny's acting choice; still comes through for her by buying her a car to keep her dream alive.
• Despair Event Horizon: After losing her car and her one chance on an audition for the last few months, Penny was almost about to go back to her old waitress job. However, Leonard bought her a new car to help her.
• Distracted by the Sexy:
  • Invoked by Howard when he tries to patch things up with Sheldon.
    Howard: Seriously, I was talking to Bernadette last night and she made some great points. You and I have known each other a long time, and I didn’t hear the rest because she took her bra off.
  • Later that episode:
    Bernadette: I said to stop insulting each other. I didn’t tell you to take him on a romantic getaway.
    Howard: How do I know what you said? Damn you and your noise-cancelling breasts.
• List of Transgressions: Sheldon listed off why he dislikes Howard. The latter called him C-3P-wee Herman when they first met and replaced his lecture slides with photographs of nude fat women bending over.
• No Sympathy: Penny has a breakdown after her car breaks down, and she has no job, no money and no hope. Leonard tries to comfort her. Enter Sheldon...
  Sheldon: Leonard, could you wrap it up? We're waiting on you.
  Penny: I'm sorry, is the fact that my life's falling apart interfering with your board game?!
  Sheldon: ...It is. [to Howard] See, I told you she would understand.
• Photographic Memory: Sheldon knows what happens in Serial Ape-ist because he watched the movie once, but he doesn't understand why Raj also knows the movie well.
  Penny: Well, I'll have you guys know I turned down a part in a movie last week.
  Leonard: Why would you do that?
  Penny: Because it was crap. It's a sequel to that awful killer gorilla movie I was in.
  Bernadette: Serial Ape-ist? I thought you died in that.
  Sheldon: She does. Forty-two minutes in.
  Raj: While showering topless, sixteen minutes after brief side butt during a pillow fight with her sorority sisters.
  Sheldon: I have an eidetic memory. I don’t know what his [Raj's] problem is.
• Running Gagged: The running gag of Penny's "check engine" light remaining on is squashed after her car finally breaks down.
• Shout-Out to Geoffrey Chaucer: Amy and Emily were going to go to a Chaucer reading together. But if Raj is also going to be there, Emily would rather go by herself.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: After putting off her check engine light for years, Penny's car finally breaks down, and is written off as totalled.