Line #21 Recap/TheBigBangTheoryS10E1TheConjugalConjecture


1	'''"The Conjugal Conjecture"''' is an episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' that first aired on September 19, 2016, beginning the show's tenth season. Directed by Creator/MarkCendrowski. Teleplay by Steven Molaro, Eric Kaplan and Jim Reynolds, based on a story by Creator/ChuckLorre, Steve Holland and Creator/TaraHernandez.
2
3	It's the morning after Penny and Leonard's rehearsal dinner. Beverly (Creator/ChristineBaranski) arrives and announces she won't be attending the wedding after Alfred (Creator/JuddHirsch) and Mary (Creator/LaurieMetcalf) humiliated her. Leonard, Penny, and Sheldon convince her to go -- not because Leonard wants her there, but to show up Alfred.
4
5	Howard gets a $500 traffic ticket after mistaking the car with Leonard and Penny for a government agent. The next day, Colonel Richard Williams (Creator/DeanNorris) from the U. S. Air Force comes to the Wolowitz house looking for Howard. The Department of Defense is interested in one of Howard's inventions. Howard is worried, and Raj doesn't help with his talk of what happened to Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb.
6
7	Mary and Alfred arrive at Apartment 4A and field some awkward questions. Penny's equally embarrassing family arrives soon thereafter at Apartment 4B. Susan (Creator/KateySagal) worries how they'll be perceived, but given the drama next door, she's probably okay. Penny's father Wyatt (Creator/KeithCarradine) seems nice, while her brother Randall (Creator/JackMcBrayer) seems to be defined almost entirely by being a convict.
8
9	After a brief and really uncomfortable wedding ceremony, Sheldon delivers a nice speech. Leonard drives his bickering parents to the airport. Amy does likewise. We're reminded that Mary is the only one who can put Sheldon in his place.
10
11	!! Tropes
12	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: According to Sheldon, the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia is halfway between Texas and New York. If we place Medford, Texas in close proximity to Carthage, Texas, then the halfway point in a car trip to or from New York falls somewhere in Kentucky or Tennessee, at least a hundred miles from Chattahoochee. If instead we place Medford closer to Houston or Beaumonto, and choose a longer route through I-85, we come a little closer to placing Chattahoochee midway between Texas and New York.
13	* CallBack / RunningGag : Sheldon's "Vulcan hearing." Leonard and Penny are having a discussion in a low voice, when Sheldon tells them he can't sleep if they're talking.
14	** We're also reminded of Raj's crush on Bernadette.
15	** And an inversion: Everyone got ordained for Bernadette and Howard's wedding, so Bernadette officiates at Leonard and Penny's.
16	* CastingGag: Penny's mother is played by Creator/KateySagal, who played Kaley Cuoco's mom on ''Series/EightSimpleRules.''
17	* DidTheyOrDidntThey : Alfred and Mary. [[spoiler: They didn't.]]
18	* GreenEyedMonster: Sheldon is very territorial about Amy when Alfred is nice to her.
19	* ObfuscatingStupidity : Lampshaded by Sheldon.
20	--> Are we still doing the dumb thing?
21	** A more literal version in Penny's brother.
22	--> Susan: I don't want people to think we're white trash.
23	--> Randall: What colour trash should we be?
24	* OnlyOneName: Penny's family name is ''still'' not revealed.
25	* PreviouslyOn: The episode begins with a quick overview of [[Recap/TheBigBangTheoryS9E24TheConvergenceConvergence the previous episode]].
26	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Just a tiny snippet of the Wedding March from Music/FelixMendelssohn's incidental music for ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream''.
27	* StepfordSmiler: Randall. No matter what happens, he never stops smiling. Then we find out why.
28	--> Thank you for my new teeth.
29	* TooDumbToLive: Sheldon reminds Penny's Dad of a turkey they used to have who drowned looking up at the rain.

Context Recap / TheBigBangTheoryS10E1TheConjugalConjecture