The Expedition Approximation

The Expedition Approximation
Information
Series	The Big Bang Theory
Airdate	October 20, 2014
Director	Mark Cendrowski

"The Expedition Approximation" is the sixth episode of the eighth season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired October 20, 2014, returning to Thursdays after Thursday night football ended.

Summary

Raj and Sheldon try testing them for a mining expedition and Leonard and Penny worry about money in their marriage.

Extended Plot

During takeout dinner in apartment 4A, Penny is wearing her new business suit while Howard comments how good she looks while going out on sales calls and flirting with doctors. Leonard stays at home just looking nerdy. Penny disagrees that she is flirting to make sales, though she does agree with Amy that is good that she is showing her cleavage when she leans over. Bernadette asks Sheldon how his work in dark matter is going and he remarks that it is the most exciting time to work in it since HE is now working in it. Raj mentions that the government is funding the dark matter field by sending teams down into a salt mine to conduct experiments. Raj suggests that he and Sheldon apply since they could be on the ground floor of something big. Penny tells Sheldon that he shouldn't go down into a mine since he had a panic attack while going through a car wash. They others start making fun of them going down into a mine, while Sheldon complains that he liked it better when he didn't know they were making fun of him.

Penny and Leonard are having dinner, while Leonard is talking about a new version of an old video game that he had been playing; however Penny seems distracted thinking about work. She has some good news as she hands Leonard and envelope full of money. Penny got a company car so she sold the one that Leonard gave her. He agrees that she didn’t need two cars, but seems hurt that he had given her the other car. Penny then snaps back that what should she had done, framed a picture of them and the car and title it "Best Fiancée Ever?" She did do that and showed him the picture. Leonard returns the envelope saying that the car was hers, but Penny feels great about actually paying someone back. They keep passing the envelope back and forth, with Penny telling him that since she has a good job now, she can buy things for herself.

Raj enters Sheldon's office and asks if he is busy. Sheldon's mind is always multi-tasking. He is working on a complex problem, composing his Nobel Prize acceptance speech for solving that problem and trying to figure out how mermaids have offspring. Raj says that they just lay eggs on rocks which means that Sheldon's mind can now work on another problem. Raj wonders if their friends were right that the conditions would be too harsh for the two of them down in the mine. It would be hot, humid, live explosions, since it is a working mine, twelve hour shifts underground and the toilet facilities would be a bucket. Sheldon was fine with everything except the last condition. Raj still wants to test themselves under simulated conditions to see if they can do it since it is such a great opportunity. Sheldon wants to try it and goes to his computer to check for hot, dark moist places and finding a bunch of sex video sites.

Leonard comes into Penny's apartment with the money to work something out. Last night Penny felt that it was really weird for Leonard to leave a large envelope of money on her dresser after they had sex. Leonard wants them to put it in a joint account to use for their wedding expenses which Penny thinks is a great idea. Leonard realizes that Penny feels great about being financially independent and he is nothing but proud of her. Penny tells Leonard that her making money means that she is not as dependent on Leonard, while he thinks that she has a problem with her control issues. They finally agree not to fight and that the money belong to both of them.

Raj and Sheldon dressed in mining gear and carrying a bucket arrive with Amy at a basement access door to the university steam tunnels. Amy had stayed in one for three days to pledge a sorority, but they forgot she was down there. The condition there are more consistent than in the steam bath and there are no naked men. Amy is very proud of Sheldon for facing up to all his fears, about a dozen of them. In case of an emergency, she has to rescue him first and then come back fo Raj. Down in the tunnel, Sheldon starts his mine simulation log and quickly finds Raj's stating of the obvious very tedious.

Penny and Leonard are visiting Howard and Bernadette to discuss how they handle finances in their marriage. Howard thought that they wanted to swing together and change partners as couples. Howard and Bernadette sometimes do fight about money. She makes a lot more than him, though Howard claims to have brought assets into the marriage. Like his incomplete set of Star Trek collectible plates? Howard replies that he just got the last one on eBay without telling Bernadette. Then Howard brings up all the late fees from not paying the credit card bills on time. Bernadette retorts that she would if she wasn't spending all her time cleaning the apartment. Howard grabs his chore chart and shows her all the stars he has though Bernadette berates the quality of his work. Howard runs into the bedroom after she mentions his allowance. Bernadette apologizes and tells them that the pressure to be the provider is tough on Howard. Penny worries about them; however, he grew up in a home where his mother earned more and also emasculated his father in every way. Penny and Leonard decide to work things out before they are married and to use the Wolowitzes as an example of what not to do.

Back in the tunnel, Sheldon is feeling a bit claustrophobic and starts singing a miners song which described all the bad conditions. Raj switches over to Miley Cyrus, though Sheldon doesn't know who he is. Raj starts to describe her Hannah Montana show, Sheldon wonders how just a wig could hid her alter ego. But then what about Superman and his eyeglass disguise? Amy asks if they need anythig since she's going to the vending machine. Sheldon gives her a long list. Sheldon's claustrophobia gets worst as does his need to your his bucket which he refuses to do. He is also struggling with his work. He is now in his thirties and starting over with studying dark matter where he used to be at the top of his field. This scares him. When Raj is scared he thinks of Voyager. Not the Star Trek series which Sheldon found terrible. The space probe mission was all ready over after he was born, but he probe just keeps going still sending back data from outside our solar system. Sheldon then sees some rats behind Raj and heads up the ladder. As Amy is returning as Sheldon yells that everything is falling apart and it's too late for Raj. Amy shrugs. looks at her watch thinking that it had been eleven minutes which was longer than she thought it would last. Raj is crying from the tunnel since he found the rats.

Leonard and Penny decide to spread the money all over the bed and make love on it. Penny thinks that that is the most fun someone can have with money, but won't say if it's only the first time she's done it. Bernadette apologizes to Howard and tells him that she wants them to handle their money as equal adult partners. Then they change the subject to Howard's birthday party and he wants to have laser tag. Amy is busy transcribing Sheldon's mine simulation log for future generations who obviously want to hear about his melted Kit Kat bar. Raj comes charging to yell at him that Sheldon left him there to fend off a family of rats. Friends don't do that.

Notes

• Title Reference: Since there is an opportunity to study dark matter in a salt mine, Raj and Sheldon decide to test themselves under the conditions found in a mine.
• Taping date: September 30, 2014.
• This episode was watched by xx.xx million people with a rating of x.x (adults 18-49).
• Total viewers including DVR users xx.xx million.
• The Big Bang Theory was ranked #x for the week ending xx October, 2014.
• This episode aired in Canada on October 23, 2014 with xx million viewers with a weekly ranking of #X.
• In the United Kingdom, this episode aired on {date} with xx million viewers and a weekly ranking of #X.
• In Australia, it aired on {date} with x million viewers.

Critics

To be entered.

Trivia

• The car that Penny sells is the one Leonard bought her in "The Friendship Turbulence" (S7E17).
• Howard's money allowances were first mentioned in "The Cooper/Kripke Inversion" (S6E14), when he and Raj bought a 3D printer.
• Sheldon attempts to prove the Penrose Conjecture, an open mathematical problem in general relativity related to the asymptotically defined mass of an astrophysical system, and envisions giving a Nobel Prize acceptance speech for solving the Penrose Conjecture problem in this episode.
• Sheldon and Raj want to collaborate on dark matter research again, last arguing about the topic in "The Hot Troll Deviation" (S4E4). Their initial foray into this field was in "The Pirate Solution" (S3E4).
• Lenny can handle their marriage financial issues better than Howardette.

Quotes

To be entered.

Gallery

• Raj and Sheldon simulating being in a hot and humid mine.
• Having diner and discussing a new dark matter scientific expedition.
• Discussing marriage and finances with the Wolowitzes.
• Fighting over the stars on his chore chart.
• Getting ready to go down into the steam tunnel to simulate being in a mine.
• Lets put the money in joint savings account for our wedding expenses.
• Raj and Sheldon discussing joining the dark matter expedition.
• Penny's picture of herself, Leonard and the car Leonard bought her. Best fiancee ever!
• Sheldon perplexed, again.
• Comforting Sheldon. Not in final episode edit.
• Amy proud of Sheldon facing his fears.
• Amy typing up Sheldon's log from his steam tunnel experience, all 11 minutes of it.
• Penny has done this before.
• Making love on money.

1/23

References

• Taping Report [[1]] Taping Report by MichyGeary