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'The Big Bang Theory' Season 11 Episode 2 Recap: Bernadette and Amy Battle Over Their Successes


PHOTO: Richard Cartwright/CBS

Tonight’s Big Bang Theory tackled a topic that seems to come up a lot lately: what it actually means to support other women. We’ve all read articles about the value of lifting each other up and been told to follow “girl code,” but it’s easy to be there for your peers when things are going well. The real work comes in the hard times—when your colleague bypasses you for a promotion or a friend constantly humblebrags about her many accomplishments, for example.

It’s especially difficult to be supportive when you’re not feeling supported yourself, something Amy and Bernadette faced on tonight’s episode. Amy was already dealing with her fiancé, Sheldon, acting like a jealous child when she confided that she got special lab equipment at work, when a conversation with Bernadette turned into an uncomfortable battle of who’s more successful. Yikes.

But let’s back up and talk about Sheldon and Amy first: As much as we’d like to see them start planning their wedding, they’ve got bigger problems to figure out than what kind of card stock to use. Amy might be used to Sheldon’s childish and obnoxious responses to her success—he was downright awful at her work dinner last week—but we’re not. It’s nice that Amy doesn’t want to brag about her recent funding, knowing that he’s struggling a bit with his own career, but she shouldn’t have to completely hide it from him, either.

But Amy’s not alone in this: Bernadette confides to Amy that she often hides aspects of her success from Howard. (Seriously?!) When she went on a company retreat to Tahiti last year, she told Howard it was to Boise instead. For the sake of a sitcom joke, it was funny, but in the real world it’s frustrating. Bernadette also admits she kept last year’s bonus check a secret from her husband—and here we thought raising two children under two was going to be their biggest issue.

PHOTO: Richard Cartwright/CBS

In an attempt to find a temporary solution to their problems, Bernadette and Amy agree to tell each other about their own successes because apparently telling their significant others is out of the question. (Yet in one moment of clarity, Amy notes that “the guys are never shy about bragging.”) With that, the ladies start sharing their achievements, but the whole thing goes off the rails within seconds:

Bernadette: “There’s so much money in pharmaceuticals, we don’t even wash out our old test tubes. We just throw ’em out and get new ones!”
Amy: “I just got a brand new state-of-the-art fMRI machine!”
Bernadette: “Wow, those things are so expensive!”
Amy: “I know! Sometimes I just lie down in there and take a nap. It’s like a million dollar bunk bed!”
Bernadette: “At the office, I have two assistants! I don’t even know their names. I just call them thing 1 and thing 2.”
Amy: “I don’t have assistants.”
Bernadette: “I guess that’s one of the benefits of being in the private sector. That and all the money I make!”
Amy: “Yeah, you’ve got that. I’ve got my integrity. Hard to say which one is better without making you feel bad. I may not be making as much money as you, but at least I’m doing something that I know makes people’s lives better.”
Bernadette: “Hey! My work makes peoples lives better. Especially if you have moderate to severe eczema and don’t mind if you lose teeth.”
Amy: “You’re right. We both do important work. I’m trying to map the structures of the brain and you’re trying to convince people that itchy hair is a real thing.”
Bernadette: “It is a real thing! It happens to be a side effect of our cholesterol drug.”
Amy: “I’m just saying that my research may actually change the world forever.”
Bernadette: “I hope it does. ‘Cause I’m going to see that world from a yacht so big you could land a helicopter on it!”

So…not only do we have two successful women who can’t tell the men in their lives about their accomplishments, but now they can’t even figure out how to be excited for one another without turning it into a game of who’s living their best life? At a time when women really do need to stick together and support each other in life and in work, this was a missed opportunity. Same for their partners, who have turned into mopey, outdated stereotypes of men who can’t handle a woman’s success. Then again, maybe I’m hoping for too much from a bunch of guys who basically got drunk on mouthwash in the same episode.



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This Will Change the Way You See Nate From 'The Devil Wears Prada'


PHOTO: ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection

The Devil Wears Prada is a near-perfect film, but it has one fatal flaw: Nate, Andy’s boyfriend, played by Adrian Grenier. Re-watch the movie right now, and you’ll see that Nate is a selfish, whiny man-child who thinks his birthday is more important than Andy’s career. The first comment he makes to Andy after she finds out she snagged a job at a fashion magazine is, “Was it a phone interview?” WTF! He literally thinks Andy is too ugly to work at Runway! He’s the worst!

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Nate belittles Andy throughout the movie, criticizing her industry, her work ethic—everything. Andy’s already under so much stress at work, but instead of helping, Nate just makes it worse.

But, don’t worry, the Devil Wears Prada screenwriter (Aline Brosh McKenna) is well aware of your complaints, and she has an explanation. As it turns out, Nate was sort of written as a stereotypical “girlfriend” part.

“That’s a part that a lot of women end up playing: the ‘why aren’t you home more,’ the naggy wife,” McKenna told Entertainment Weekly. “I have to say, that character was the biggest challenge to write, and oddly, the character [director David Frankel] and I talked about the most, because we wanted to make sure he wasn’t a pain in the ass, but he is the person who is trying to say, ‘Is this who you want to be morally?’”

The concept of The Devil Wears Prada framing Nate as the “girlfriend” is actually quite interesting—like how Chris Pine’s character in Wonder Woman was based on Lois Lane. If anything, it shines a different light on an archetype that’s plagued female characters for years—and really needs to just disappear.

McKenna does have a quasi-defense for Nate’s behavior in the movie, though. She notes that he straight-up scoffs at the idea he’s actually mad Andy missed his birthday. (“What am I? 4?” he says, in case you forgot.) And it’s not the fact Andy’s working so much that Nate hates, McKenna says, but why she’s doing it.

“I think that now, however many years later, what people focus on is that he’s trying to restrict her ambition,” she said. “But her ambition is going towards something that she doesn’t really believe in, so he has a point.”

That’s true. After all, the biggest fight Nate and Andy have in the film is about how she’s “becoming” one of the Runway girls; it isn’t about the fact she’s working long hours. So maybe he did have her best interests at heart the whole time. That being said, he didn’t have to be so friggin’ rude about it.

Related Stories:

This Devil Wears Prada Deleted Scene Tells a Completely Different Story



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Camila Cabello Dedicated Her 'Havana' Performance on 'Today' to 'the Dreamers'


Camila Cabello has an impressive catalog of solo songs out right now. The Sia-penned “Crying in the Club” is a glittery dance-pop smash; “Havana” is a delicious, mid-tempo ode to Cuba; and “Bad Things,” featuring Machine Gun Kelly, goes harder than any pop song on top 40 radio. Of course, Cabello has more tracks than these, but she chose this trifecta to highlight during her electric performance on the Today show Friday (September 29).

The former Fifth Harmony member didn’t miss a beat during her live set, effortlessly delivering stellar vocals and precision dance steps at the same time—not an easy feat. This shouldn’t surprise people who’re fans of Cabello, though. She’s always been a dynamic performer with incredible stage presence.

What might surprise them, however, is the powerful message she gave toward the end of her performance. Right before closing “Havana,” Cabello delivered a quick monologue dedicating the song to “the dreamers” of America.

“This is America—the America we love, where no matter your race, your color, your beliefs, or where you came from if you have a dream, you can make it possible,” she said.

Watch Cabello’s performance for yourself, below:

This sentiment rings especially true to Cabello, who immigrated from Cuba to the United States with essentially nothing. “I can just imagine all the little girls who have dreams of coming here and feel unwanted. It inspires me in my music to do my best to give [them] the light that I have,” she told Glamour in April. “I want to be what people think of when they think of America—a person who, no matter what her first language was or what her religion is, can see her dreams come to life if she works hard enough.”

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Fifth Harmony Reveals Why They Called Out Camila Cabello During Their VMAs Performance



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Maya Rudolph on 'the Full-Blown Nightmare' That Is Junior High


On the new Netflix animated series, Big Mouth, Maya Rudolph plays the Hormone Monstress, a disturbing creature who lures teen girls into bad behavior like stealing lipstick and listening to Lana Del Rey. Here, she’s once again revisiting the horrors of puberty. As told to Shannon Carlin.

I was a late bloomer. I was the kid in the class who wore a fedora, not going after the boys. My friends had crushes, but I was more the mediator. If a boy asked about one of my friends I’d be like, “Oh, let me help you. I’ll help facilitate.” I was just so sad and nerdy in my fedora and short afro.

I was also a bit of a clotheshorse, so I was always working really hard on my outfits for school. We’re talking 10 or 11, I was starting to express myself with clothing, and I think I was doing a little Annie Hall androgynous thing. I don’t know if it was that conscious, but it was the ’80s so I think I leaned to a fun menswear vibe for a little lady. It’s pretty funny: a lot of blazers, a lot of bowties, and, of course, the fedora. I was also really into Denise from The Cosby Show. She was my fashion goddess. She could do no wrong in my book.

In my fedora days, I was really into Duran Duran, specifically Nick Rhodes the keyboard player. When he signed his name, the Rhodes had a cool “R” thing going on where he crossed the “H” with it and so there was a phase where I used to sign my name “Maya Rhodes,” thinking that was really it. Right after I married the Fonz, I was going to marry Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran, obviously.

But I think that’s when you see the change, in grade school. It starts to feel unsafe to be a goofball, and you start to feel like, “Oh, I have to be more attractive. I have to be a girl.” That’s really when the shift happens, and then junior high is a full-blown nightmare.

I remember going through a phase where I couldn’t enter a drugstore in my hometown without being like, “Oh my god, I need to put a L’Oreal lipstick in my pocket.” I don’t know where it came from, but it was this weird little rush of being bad and doing something you shouldn’t do. But I was such a good girl, I couldn’t imagine my dad having to bail me out of jail. The idea of juvie was so terrifying. I think I did it once, trembling, and never again. I got scared straight by my own experience! It really was so painfully harmless at the time, but it couldn’t have felt like a bigger deal.

PHOTO: Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library

It’s really funny, in the process of doing Big Mouth and talking about it, I found that there was such a PTSD when it comes to puberty and adolescence. I’m well aware I had these experiences and can certainly look back at embarrassing moments, but the details of them are so hard and painful that I really truly don’t want to relive these things again. I find that to be such a funny unifying element of this particular subject. Everyone you know has gone through this in their own way, but it’s so isolating that every single person goes through it kind of quietly.

For girls it’s like, “When did you start using tampons?” Some girls are like, “Ah, I just stuck it up there,” but I was terrified of them. It wasn’t until I went to sleepaway camp and literally had the population of my entire bunk coaching me from outside of the bathroom stall and explaining to me how to use this thing. It was this very specific rite of female passage where you’re like, “I’m not going to go to my parents about this. I’m going to go to girls my age who can talk me through this.” That was a really positive experience, but to get to that place I had to endure pads for two years.

Not one of us wants to talk about puberty when we’re going through it, but what’s ickier is having an adult go, “You know, I get it.” And you’re like, “Shut up, old lady. I don’t want to hear it, you’re gross. Your adult body is super disgusting to me.” The scary thing is I am going to be that old lady.

That’s what’s so funny about all of this: You think you have all this insight and are going to share your experience with a young woman and you end up being that creepy adult. Nobody wants to be the creepy adult, but yet, we wake up and realize that we are and think, “Wait, how did that happen? I thought I was cool. I thought I was young and hip like you guys.”

But that’s the beauty of being a woman. When we’re younger, whether we realize it or not, we are creating this community when we’re forming those friendships. We’ve always had strength in numbers. We lean on each other. My friends were the ones I’d go to when I was like, “Oh my god, I got my period. Can I have your sweatshirt so I can tie it around my waist?” I’m very lucky I have a lot of friendships that I maintained since I was a kid.

That’s the nice part about aging—not the wrinkles, the other women.



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'The Big Bang Theory' Season 11 Episode 1 Recap: Amy and Sheldon Get Engaged


Within the first five minutes of tonight’s Big Bang Theory premiere, diehard Shamy fans got the answer they had been waiting all summer for when—spoiler!—Amy accepted Sheldon’s proposal. But that’s not all: Bernadette and Howard discovered they are going to be parents again (!!!), a mere nine months after the birth of baby Halley.

In fact, that scene—the one with Bernadette and Howard following her surprise pregnancy announcement—might be one of the show’s funniest and most iconic moments in its 10-year history. (Honorable mention to Penny and Leonard’s reaction to the Wolowitz’s urging them to start their own family.) Perhaps the only downside was Sheldon being a complete ass later in the episode, when Amy was shown more attention by colleagues at a work dinner than him. But more on that next week…

Until then, we wanted answers on how that proposal scene came to be, the story behind Amy’s very forgiving reaction to the Nowitzki kiss, and whether or not Bernadette’s pregnancy will be different the second time around. Here, Big Bang‘s executive producer and show runner Steve Holland fills us in.

Glamour: Sheldon’s proposal was so perfect, as well as how the entire scene unfolded. How long did it take to get that scene right, from the writers’ room to editing?

Steve Holland: There was a version of it that went on a little bit longer. There was a few more flashbacks from Sheldon, but it started to feel less fun the longer we teased it out.

Glamour: It was interesting Amy didn’t really question why it took Sheldon kissing another girl to instigate the proposal. Was your perspective that she just understands him so well that this really wasn’t a big deal?

Steve: I think so, because we certainly talked about that. Early in discussions, there were talks about how upset she was going to be when she finds out this news. Ultimately, it felt like she knows Sheldon so well that we didn’t think sexual jealousy was really a thing she would feel. This is something she has wanted for so long, and it was such a surprise, that it was hard to imagine her response was ever going to be negative or jealous or upset or “I’m not going to say yes if that’s the only reason.”

PHOTO: Michael Yarish/Warner Bros.

Glamour: I know you don’t plan too far in advance, so I’m not even going to ask when the wedding might be…

Steve: Thank you! [Laughs]

Glamour: But do you see this being a long engagement? It seems there’s a ton of story to play with.

Steve: There are a ton of stories. What’s made this show easier for us to write is that these characters have grown, so there’s always new stories to tell. I don’t think they’re going to married in episode five, but I think there are stories to be told, like how does this couple plan a wedding? How does Sheldon, who has ideas about everything and likes to control everything, what kind of groom is he going to be? There’s a lot of interesting stories to mine there.

Glamour: With Melissa’s pregnancy, I love how you decided to weave that into the story. Tell me about the backstory there. What it was like watching Simon and Melissa do that scene?

Steve: [Laughs] It was one of my favorite scenes to watch. It was fun to write, but it was super fun to watch just the “yes,” “no,” “yes,” back and forth. We talked to Melissa when she told us she was pregnant and were trying to figure out if we were just going to put her behind laundry baskets and hiding behind couches for a season—and then we thought, why not dig into it? It’s really unexpected to get pregnant again this quickly…that’s a shock for anybody when they have a nine-month-old, so it seemed like that would be a really fun curveball to throw them. I love both of their reactions. There’s sort of a little bit of horror and shock before acceptance, but that scene was great to play. We had scripted a bunch of the yes’s and no’s and at some point we said, “Just play with it. If you want to keep going back and forth,see how it feels and how long we can keep this going.”

Glamour: It was so authentic to see Bernadette’s struggle with becoming a mom last season, so will we see more of that in season 11?

Steve: Yeah, we got a lot of great feedback from that, which was comforting because we tried really hard to make that feel real. Certainly having a second baby this close together, a lot of that stuff will come up again. Bernadette has worked so hard to get to this place in her career, and now there’s a second baby. What does that mean? We definitely want to explore more of those issues and find ways to do them that are different than we did them last time.

Glamour: There’s a theme in this episode about dealing with other’s success or big milestones. This isn’t the first time Big Bang has tackled the subject, but it’s a refreshing topic that you guys haven’t forgotten about.

Steve: Right, you’re happy for your friends—but at the same time, it makes you feel bad.

Glamour: What was the motivation behind having Sheldon’s outburst or Raj opening up about his loneliness?

Steve: It seemed super interesting for Sheldon and Amy. You know, how does Sheldon deal with his fiancé’s success? He obviously loves her and is proud of her, but he’s so ego-centric about physics and his place in it, that it seemed really interesting to push him a little bit. And then some of those other stories just fed off of that; it seemed like it really worked thematically. As they get older and as people start moving forward in these new stages of their lives, how do your friends deal with those things? There’s a fine line between are you hiding your success or are you trying not to rub it in your partner’s face? Where is that line, and what’s acceptable?



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5 Ways the Author of 'The Dinner Plan' Makes Sure She Actually Cooks Dinner Every Night


It’s a Tuesday night. I’m on my way home from work when a familiar anxiety starts to creep in: Called mom? Check. Went to the gym? Check. Renewed driver’s license? Check. So what is that gnawing feeling? Oh, right, it’s dinnertime, and I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to make. All I have in the fridge is a carton of hummus, half a bottle of rosé, and a bunch of wilted greens. (Is that kale or spinach?)

Everyone’s been there (both I and my co-cookbook-author, Kathy Brennan, are professional food writers, so, trust when I say we’ve all been there). But even though a night of Netflix, delivery pad Thai, and the rest of the rosé doesn’t sound half-bad, I’ve also learned that making a homemade dinner at least a few nights a week is one of the best treats you can give to yourself. Why? It’s healthier (you actually know what’s in your food when you make it yourself), less expensive then takeout, and it’s also the best way to hone your cooking skills.

So how to actually make sure it happens? Here are five tricks that Kathy and I have learned over the years while writing our two cookbooks (Keepers and the new The Dinner Plan).

1. Remove your ingredients from the fridge as soon as you get home.

Before reading the mail, feeding the cat, or even changing your clothes, get all of your ingredients out of the fridge and put them on the kitchen counter. Protein in particular (meat, chicken, tofu) will cook better if it’s not super-cold, and you never want to throw cold ingredients directly from the fridge into the pan. It affects the cooking times, the flavor and the texture of the ingredients. No bueno. If you can, take out every ingredient you’ll need from the fridge (even eggs, cheese, etc.) so it’s a bit closer to room temperature when you’re ready to start cooking.

2. Make a big batch of grains in the beginning of the week so you have a base ready to go.

Sunday is our day for making a big pot of brown rice, quinoa, couscous, wheatberries, farro, etc. Store in the fridge and you have a dinner base at the ready for anything from roasted vegetables, to a quick fried egg with chopped avocado, or sliced rotisserie chicken and dressed greens. A pot of soba noodles that are drained, rinsed in cold water, tossed with a little sesame oil, will also store well in the fridge.

3. One great sauce or dressing will improve even the most boring chicken breast or salad.

If you do nothing else, learn how to make a good, basic salad dressing and a couple of make-ahead sauces. When I have leftovers that are kind of “blah”, I reach into the fridge for my jar of citrusy vinaigrette or flavor-packed salsa verde and it’s a total lifesaver. And it’s amazing how simple it is to make something that’s better tasting and better for you (no preservatives, no added sugars or tons of sodium) than any store-bought brand.

4. Sharp knife = faster dinner prep

The mantra “a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one” is most definitely true (try slicing a ripe tomato with the former and it will slide right off the skin towards your fingers, do it with a sharp knife and it goes cleanly right through); but just as important is that it makes dinner prep quicker and, I’m just going to say it, more enjoyable. Getting things sliced and diced easily is a joy to behold, so try and get into the habit of sharpening your knives before each dinner prep, you’ll feel like a pro and get dinner ready twice as fast (with all of your fingers in tact).

5. Clear Eyes, Full Pantry, Can’t Lose

All of us have had those weeks where getting to the supermarket just didn’t happen. This is where a well-stocked pantry and freezer will save your dinner life, time and time again. Having long shelf-life ingredients in your cupboard, fridge, and freezer (what we consider the general category of “pantry”) will allow you to make a bunch of tasty dinners on the fly. For example: I always have a box of spaghetti, wedge of parmesan cheese, eggs, and bacon (which can be stored in the freezer) on hand because I know that’s all I need to whip up a super fast carbonara, which is arguably the most satisfying pantry dish on the planet. And once you get in the habit of stocking up on essential spices, oils, vinegars, grains, condiments, your dinner arsenal will only get better and better.



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