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'The Big Bang Theory' Season 11 Episode 9 Recap: Sheldon and Amy's Wedding Plans Stall


Less than two months ago on The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon Cooper nearly had a breakdown trying to come up with the perfect wedding date to marry Amy Farrah Fowler. Apparently there are certain problems even physicists can’t solve, so the solution was to let his fiancé take over the wedding planning—specifically the location and date. Amy revealed that she had always wanted to be a June bride and get married “on a cliff overlooking the ocean at sunset.” And aside from a slight jab at the end of the episode, Sheldon agreed to it all.

Funny how things change….because in tonight’s episode—titled “The Bitcoin Entanglement”—Amy tells Penny that Sheldon no longer wants to get married outside, by the beach, or near a cliff. Why? Because regardless of the fact that it’s her dream scenario, he doesn’t like cliffs, doesn’t like the beach, and doesn’t like the outside. If we’re being completely honest, then I’ll admit this: I don’t like him.

The conversation between Penny and Amy—with Sheldon present—lasts no more than 30 seconds, and the rest of the episode revolves around the hot new TV topic, bitcoin. (Seriously, even Grey’s Anatomy did an entire episode about it a few weeks ago.) There’s no other mention of Sheldon and Amy’s wedding throughout this episode, which raises my TV antenna: Why even bring up the wedding if it serves no purpose to the story? That’s just TV storytelling 101: No one mentions anything for the hell of it. With 22 minutes in a sitcom, every word—and exchange—counts.

And that’s where my theory comes in: What if Amy and Sheldon are closer to getting married than we think?

Now, I think Sheldon needs his head examined before he walks down the aisle. Perhaps Amy does too. After all, she’s put up with his insane behavior all season long without raising an eyebrow. But that’s a topic for a different time. For right now, though, the issue is that wedding planning is not doing this couple any favors. Have they reached their breaking point?

Let’s look at the clues. In next week’s Big Bang Theory episode—called “The Confidence Erosion”—the summary states that Sheldon and Amy try to eliminate stress from wedding planning by applying math. I don’t know, looks to me here like they just got tickets to The Last Jedi…

PHOTO: Monty Brinton/CBS

But then comes the trusty dry erase board to try and solve all their wedding problems. Yeah, because that always does the trick.

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PHOTO: Monty Brinton/CBS

Maybe all of this is too much for Shamy, and they realize dry erase boards are never the answer. At this point the only solution is to dress in their Sunday best and head to the city clerk’s office. And why does one go to the clerk’s office? Well, it’s not to buy lottery tickets. A marriage license, perhaps?

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PHOTO: Monty Brinton/CBS

Also, Amy’s hair has never been shinier. That’s like five clues rolled into one.

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PHOTO: Monty Brinton/CBS

Notice how serious Sheldon is here? Either he realizes they need pre-marriage counseling, or he’s about to go through with one of the biggest moments of his life.

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PHOTO: Monty Brinton/CBS

Here’s the bottom line: While I actually don’t think Shamy will tie the knot at the city clerk’s office, I do think that we’re going to see a wedding happen sooner than expected. As we approach the second anniversary of the iconic coitus episode, viewers know that big things happen to these two in the month of December. We can only guess what’s next…



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'The Big Bang Theory' Season 11 Episode 8 Recap: Sheldon Screws Over Leonard


The Big Bang Theory constantly tests the relationships among the central core characters, but tonight’s episode featured a fracture between Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard that felt particularly infuriating—and real.

“The Tesla Recoil” began with Leonard and Howard learning about that shocking revelation that Sheldon is still working for the military, months after the three of them were fired. As it turns out, Sheldon was hired back because he came up with an idea to modify the technology into a communications system, which Colonel Williams found interesting. Instead of looping in the rest of his squad, Sheldon mostly kept quiet, planning to reap the rewards for himself. The worst part? Not only did Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard originally develop the technology as a team, but when Leonard and Howard find out about Sheldon’s betrayal, he wasn’t even remorseful. As he said, “There is no ‘i’ in team. There’s only I’m working with the military, and you’re not.”

Sure, it’s always been in Sheldon’s DNA not to put others first, but I’ve never wanted to sit in his spot on the couch and irritate the hell out of him more. (And by the way, notice there’s been zero wedding talk in the last few episodes? If I were Amy, I’d be nowhere near wanting to walk down the aisle with this self-absorbed individual.)

I’m not the only one who feels this way, as Howard and Leonard come over armed with insults (who knew that calling someone an Edison was the equivalent of being referred to as pond scum?). They tell him he’s “a bully, a credit hog, and a self-promoter.” The whole fight would be great on a reality show called The Real Scientists of Pasadena.

Of course, Sheldon’s pissed. He tells Howard and Leonard to “take that back,” but they’re not having it. Amy isn’t either, telling Sheldon that he’s building on their work and “that’s a classic Edison move.” Sheldon classically blames his mother (anyone else feel like Big Bang is trying to insert nods to Young Sheldon each episode?), who encouraged him to have friends in the first place.

But name-calling isn’t enough for Leonard and Howard, who decide the best revenge is to develop a better, more efficient system to pitch to the military, making Sheldon’s idea obsolete. They do this by recruiting their nemesis, Kripke, who later turns the tables on them to start a project of his own with their ideas. At the end of the episode, not only is Sheldon’s project canceled, but Leonard and Howard’s as well. Amy says they all acted terribly and deserved what they got, somehow still not realizing that her season 10 boyfriend has been brainwashed or kidnapped in the form of this fella from season 11. Where’s Professor Proton when you really need him?

Meanwhile, Sheldon’s not the only one trying to screw people over this episode. Ruchi—Bernadette’s co-worker and Raj’s new fling—seemed like a welcome addition to the show, until we find out that she’s attempting to steal all of Bernadette’s work projects while she’s on bed rest for her pregnancy. Of course it’s normal for anyone to want to climb the work ladder and prove your abilities, but Ruchi basically turns into a one-note villain. She tells Raj she loves getting to handle all of Bernadette’s work projects and hopes she doesn’t come back to work too soon. This is followed up by a fist bump and an invisible twirl of a mustache. Is Ruchi really that dumb that not only would she not realize this kind of behavior will come back to bite her in the ass, but to admit such things to the best friend of the woman she’s trying to take work from?

Naturally, it’s Penny (let’s keep #JusticeForPenny going you guys!) who’s the voice of reason again this episode, and she tells Raj he can’t go on sleeping with a woman who’s trying to screw over his friend. I feel like the series finale of The Big Bang Theory will end up being one big dream of Penny’s, who’s really a world-respected psychologist.

Anyway, Ruchi ends up dumping Raj, who tells Bernadette what her co-worker was up to. Bernadette scares the hell out of Raj (and me, tbh) by channeling her inner Miranda Priestly and quietly insisting that she’s going to kill Ruchi. Raj then calls out Bernadette and accuses her of probably doing the same thing if she were in that situation. Bernadette says she would never undermine a co-worker, but Raj counters her argument with an example of the time she falsely told this guy it was bring your cat to work day, except the guy didn’t know their boss was allergic to cats. “You should take a long, hard look in the mirror,” Raj says, before noting that Bernadette is a hypocrite.

The episode ends with a few light-hearted jokes to wrap up both stories as best as one can. I mean, the entire gang should be thanking their lucky stars that they have friends at all at this point. And while everyone can relate to wanting to succeed professionally, the often forgotten advice is that doing so at the expense of others will never work. If this were real life, you’d definitely lose your friends—and your reputation—with it.



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'Heroin(e)' Filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon On Trump's Solution to the Opioid Crisis.


Donald Trump declared a public health emergency last week over the nation’s overdose crisis. And just yesterday, the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, led by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, released its recommendations to address America’s growing problem.

“Mr. President, the reason behind the urgent recommendations presented to you today by this Commission is that the leading cause of unintentional death in the United States is now drug overdose,” explains Gov. Christie in his introduction to the report. “The time to wait is over. The time for talk is passed. 175 deaths a day can no longer be tolerated. We know that you will not stand by; we believe you will force action.”

The epidemic contributed to the United States’ record 64,000 drug overdose deaths in 2016, and the recommendations outlined include everything from streamlining federal funds for drug addiction and expanding drug courts to new training requirements for doctors who prescribe painkillers and eliminating barriers to treatment.

What’s missing, though, is how much funding will be necessary to address the crisis, which left many wondering how these recommendations will realistically be implemented. To learn more about the opioid epidemic, we spoke to Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon after the Obama Summit this week. Her critically-acclaimed film “Heroin(e),” streaming now on Netflix, follows three real-life heroines in Appalachian city Huntington, West Virginia (the “overdose capital of America” with an overdose rate 10x the national average) as they work to change the town’s narrative and to break the cycle of drug abuse.
Exclusively with us, Sheldon shares her thoughts on Trump’s plan to combat the crisis, the role of women in the epidemic, and hope for the future.

GLAMOUR: President Trump recently declared the crisis a public health emergency and shared a strategy to address it. How do you feel about the plan?

ES: I think it’s kind of offensive that the President is coming up with ideas to fix our problem when people on the ground have the best ideas to fix it. Presidential declarations are important for bringing attention, but it’s not going to come from the Oval Office. It goes a bit deeper than a single vote and one president and speaks to the larger American dream. I appreciate the attention, though. It’s just frustrating – we can talk about it all day, but we have to see some sort of investment.

GLAMOUR: One of the common themes at the Summit was the idea of community. You moved to be closer to the stories in this film. How do you think this helped you understand the perspectives?

ES: Most people call Huntington the overdose capital of America, but it’s also home to these three women [the film’s heroines: Jan Rader, Patricia Keller and Necia Freeman]. They somehow find the resilience to do this work, and community is a huge part of that.

PHOTO: Amanda Edwards

Elaine McMillion Sheldon

GLAMOUR: Jan is the first-ever female chief of the fire department in West Virginia. In some ways, are women better equipped to deal with these issues than men?

ES: I think it’s more socially acceptable for women. We live in a very macho society and are reverting to some strange time that I didn’t grow up in. You see men soften when it hits their family or when it’s their wife. They find the empathy then.

GLAMOUR: Necia of the Brown Bag Ministry talks about the double standard in Huntington, specifically in prostitution, which is affected by the opioid epidemic. How do you feel about men being held accountable for their actions?

ES: There’s another person in this equation. The people picking up the girls? They’re businessmen, they’re well-known in the community, and they have an ‘in’ with the cops. Because these women are using, they could be sharing needles and spreading disease to a guy, who then spreads it to his wife. Men need to be held accountable. It’s not a radical statement. If two people are involved in the crime, then why is one being slipped out the back door? It doesn’t make sense.

GLAMOUR: The film says the only qualification for long-term recovery is being alive. Do you think there’s hope?

ES: Yes, there absolutely is. It’s not so much about stopping the supply of drugs because you will still have a huge population of people who are addicted and then what are they doing going to turn to? We need to give people something to live for that’s not getting high. But this is the new norm, and we are going to be fighting for a few decades.

MORE: Women and Opioids: Inside the Deadliest Drug Epidemic in U.S. History



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'The Big Bang Theory' Season 11 Episode 5 Recap: The Problem With Sheldon in 'The Collaboration Contamination'


Good luck getting Sheldon Cooper to solve this problem: At what point in this season of The Big Bang Theory did Sheldon turn into someone almost completely unrecognizable from the man he’s become over the last few years?

On tonight’s episode, Sheldon seemed to fall deeper into self-absorbed territory by becoming territorial over his fiancé’s work hours and work partner. It follows a pattern of unusual behavior this season that seems to have undone some of his profound personal growth over the latter half of the series. So what gives? Where’s the Sheldon who was vulnerable, supportive, and, yes, even romantic?

In “The Collaboration Contamination,” Sheldon and Raj confide in Bernadette that they can’t handle Amy and Howard working together. Raj is just lonely without his “work wife” Howard to keep him company—no point in dissecting that one—but Sheldon acts possessive over Amy, demanding to know why she’s working late after her first day with Howard. This was after he already dropped in on them at work to make sure everything was going alright. Then, in another scene, he complains that they’re working on a Saturday. “Is this how you envisioned your weekend?” he angrily asks Bernadette. Who is this guy?

It’s a question I’ve been thinking about since the season 11 premiere, when he got jealous that he wasn’t being peppered with questions about his success while meeting Amy’s work colleagues. Of that episode, I wrote: “Perhaps the only downside [of the episode] was Sheldon being a complete ass…when Amy was shown more attention by colleagues at a work dinner than him.”

Things didn’t get better in episode two, when Amy had to deal with Sheldon acting like a jealous child after she confided that she got special lab equipment at work. To make matters worse, we also found out Amy often keeps her success a secret from him so he doesn’t get upset. Much to my disappointment, I noted that Sheldon had turned into a mopey, outdated stereotype of a man who can’t handle a woman’s success.

PHOTO: Michael Yarish/Warner Bros.

Maybe that’s why I was beyond bored when episode three spent nearly 20 minutes having Sheldon drive himself mad trying to pick a perfect wedding date. I would have rather he spent that time in therapy trying to figure out why he’s become so frustratingly annoying this season. He briefly redeemed himself in episode four while assuring Howard he’d be a good father to his son, but it all seemed to unravel tonight. “This whole thing is maddening,” he vented to Bernadette about Amy’s work schedule. “I just wish I could make Howard feel as angry as I’m feeling.” What? He’s angry that his fiancé is working on a big laboratory project with their friend, a fellow physicist? Haven’t we moved past this old-fashioned trope of being jealous over working with a member of the opposite sex?

Later in the episode, when Leonard tells Sheldon that he needs to get over it (finally, someone with some common sense), Sheldon shuts him down and says, “It is a big deal! Howard is getting Amy used to laughing and listening to music! What if she expects that madness at home?” It’s all meant to be cute and funny, but I wasn’t laughing. Sheldon sounds like he wants to keep Amy trapped in the 1950s rather than embark on a lifetime of happiness. If I’m supposed to be excited that these two are heading toward a wedding, then here’s a news flash: I’m not.

Perhaps the reason I’m most annoyed with Sheldon’s arc this season is that the show has done such a stellar job in recent years of truly growing these characters. It’s no longer a series about four clueless male scientists who ogle the girl next door. The series has embraced real-life issues such as pre-and post-partum depression, gender stereotypes, marital issues, and mental health and done so with humor. To go back now seems like such a waste. And if anything is going to make Sheldon angry, that should be it.



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'The Big Bang Theory' Recap Season 11 Episode 3: Sheldon and Amy Set a June Wedding


PHOTO: Michael Yarish/Warner Bros.

Sheldon Cooper‘s descent into groomzilla-land took approximately 20 minutes before that reign came to a much-needed conclusion on tonight’s Big Bang Theory. While his obsession over the perfect date wedding date was totally in line with his personality, the need to spend almost an entire episode on it—or the meaning behind his dreams—was honestly a waste of time. Thank goodness the stress of picking a date was too much for him that by the end of the episode he gladly handed the task over to Amy.

So when will Shamy tie the knot? It looks like we’ll get to see Amy fulfill her lifelong wish of being a June bride, but the exact date—or year for that matter—is TBD. However, since Big Bang has only been renewed for another season after this one ends, one might assume that Shamy will tie the knot in the 11th season finale (which airs in May). On the other hand, it could also mean June 2019 if the writers decide to make that the series finale (should the series conclude after season 12).

Or course, those details are still a bit murky—but the location is as clear as can be. No, really; in the episode, Amy reveals that her dream is to be married “on a cliff overlooking the ocean at sunset,” and Sheldon is on board. Considering the couple already resides in Pasadena, a trip to Malibu or one of Southern California’s beachside communities should be a breeze. And although Sheldon has yet to go shopping for a tux, we do know that he plans on wearing “a boutonniere, close-toed shoes, and a Star Trek uniform underneath.” (In that case, I hope Amy finds a way to incorporate her love of Harry Potter into the mix).

Even so, all of this could still change. At the end of the episode, an outdoor-averse Sheldon muttered to himself, “Outdoor wedding…I know what I’ll be using that cliff for.” Hey Sheldon, let me give you some advice: Don’t give Amy a reason to push you off it—because right now, you’re testing everyone’s patience.



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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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