S06E02 - The Decoupling Fluctuation

No: 113  |  Season: 6   Episode: 2  |  Air Date: 2012-10-04  |  Runtime: mins

Sheldon: That woman has a death wish, Leonard. She talks to strangers, she pets unfamiliar dogs, and it is ridiculously easy to break into her apartment. If I were you, I'd get a back-up.

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Summary

Penny continues to have doubts about her relationship with Leonard. Meanwhile, Howard becomes the target of practical jokes on the space station.

Director and Writers

Director: Mark Cendrowski
Writers: Story by: Chuck Lorre & Jim Reynolds & Maria Ferrari / Teleplay by: Steven Molaro & Eric Kaplan & Steve Holland

Script

Script: S06E02 - The Decoupling Fluctuation

Quotes

Sheldon: (at Leonard's bedroom door)
(knock, knock, knock)
Sheldon: Leonard!
(knock, knock, knock)
Sheldon: Leonard!
(knock, knock, knock)
Sheldon: Leonard!
Leonard: What?
Sheldon: Are you sleeping?
Leonard: I was. Now I'm having a nightmare.

Sheldon: Penny.
Penny: What?
Sheldon: Please don't hurt my friend.
Penny: That is the last thing I want to do.
Sheldon: Thank you.

Sheldon: There's something I need to tell you.
Leonard: 'Kay.
Sheldon: I can't tell you.
Leonard: Why?
Sheldon: I can't tell you why I can't tell you. So I guess there's two things I can't tell you.
Leonard: I wish there were more.

Howard: The other day, when I was asleep, one of the guys went on a spacewalk and glued a big-eyed rubber alien mask to the outside of my window. When I woke up, I screamed for like 9 minutes.
Bernadette: Oh Howie.
Howard: You can see it if you want. It's on YouTube. Google "Astronaut screams for 9 minutes".

Leonard: So, I had to take Sheldon to the dentist this morning.
Penny: Really.
Leonard: Yup. I told him if he didn't bite the hygienist, I'd take him for ice cream.
Penny: Mm.
Leonard: I didn't have to take him for ice cream.

Dimitri: Hey Fruit Loops, did you clean the space toilet?
Howard: Excuse me, I'm talking to my friends.
Massimino: You know the rules. New guy scrubs the toilet.
Dimitri: If you do good job, next time we give you brush.

Penny: What are you doing in my bedroom?
Sheldon: Yeah, well, I knocked on the front door, but you didn't hear it.
Penny: How did you even get in, you weirdo?
Sheldon: Really? I've seen strange men traipsing in and out of here for years, but when I do it it's weird?

Sheldon: If you're going to replace Wolowitz I need to know a little more about you.
Stuart: Alright.
Sheldon: Wolowitz went to MIT. What's your educational background?
Stuart: I went to art school.
Sheldon: Equally ridiculous, let's go.

Howard: Hey, Bernie, guess what; I stood up to the other astronauts like you said and I got to tell you last night was the first time in a week I got a good night's sleep.
(Howard has a mouse face and the words 'F. Loops' drawn on his face)
Bernadette: Oh, Howie!
Howard: What's wrong? You look upset.
Bernadette: Nope. This is my proud face.

Penny: I've been in love before, but it felt different. Maybe this is a new, better, boring kind of love. Do you ever feel that way about Howard?
Bernadette: That's not really a fair comparison. I'm basically married to a sexy Buzz Lightyear.
Penny: Amy, you?
Amy: Can't help you, kid. Whenever I'm around Sheldon, I feel like my loins are on fire. In the good way, not the urinary tract infection way.

Bernadette: And the next wedding present is... a gravy boat.
Penny: (writing it down) Ooh, one gravy boat.
Amy: That's from Sheldon. He told me he had it engraved.
Bernadette: (Reads engraving) "In case of divorce, please return to Sheldon Cooper."
Penny: One inappropriate yet I-wish-I-thought-of-that gravy boat.

Bernadette: Do you actually see you and Sheldon getting married some day?
Amy: Not just some day, in exactly 4 years. But don't tell Sheldon, he's still a flight risk.

Notes and Trivia

Mayim Bialik was in a car accident between the filming of The Date Night Variable (2012) and this episode. She sustained a serious injury on her right hand, and for a short while there was a possibility that she might lose some fingers. Fortunately, that wasn't the case, but she had to wear a cast on her right arm for several weeks. For several episodes starting with this one, Mayim's right hand had to be kept out of each shot, just like with Kaley Cuoco's broken leg after a horse riding accident in the fourth season.

Michael Massimino said in a supplementary featurette for the Season 6 DVD box set that any real teasing and pranking of another astronaut while in orbit would not have been mean-spirited due to the long training they would already have undergone together and the close quarters of the spacecraft and station necessitating good working relationships. He even recounted how he risked getting the nickname "Crybaby" over how he teared up while looking at Earth during a spacewalk, which could have shorted out something in his helmet and provoke an investigation in which he'd would have to admit to crying.

Sheldon tells Penny that Higgs was on track for winning the Nobel. On December 10, 2013 Higgs was awarded the Nobel prize in physics for the Higgs boson discovery.

The episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series.

Goofs

None

Cast

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