Classified Materials Turbulence
| The Classified Material Turbulence | |
| Writers | Chuck Lorre (Story), Lee Aronsohn (Story), Bill Prady (Teleplay), Steven Molaro (Teleplay) |
|---|---|
| Director | Mark Cendrowski |
| Starring | Kevin Sussman as Stuart, Robert Clotworthy as Astronaut voice, Tracy Davis as Ground Controller voice |
| Air Date | 4 May 2009 |
| Guide | Episode #222 |
| Quotes | Episode #222 |
| Forums | Discuss Episode |
| Season 2, Episode 22 (0222) |
|---|
| The Vegas Renormalization . . . << The Classified Materials Turbulence >> . . . The Monopolar Expedition |
|---|
Contents |
Summary
Things begin to look up for Leonard when Penny makes a surprising revelation on her second date with Stuart. Meanwhile, Wolowitz enlists his friends' help when he discovers a critical design flaw in his project for NASA.
(full summary, edited from Wikipedia)
The episode starts at the comic book store, where Howard is celebrating the launch of his "space toilet" (a special latrine for the ISS) by buying all of his friends new comics. Stuart tells Leonard he is having a second date with Penny and asks for advice. Leonard deliberately avoids Stuart's request, because he doesn't want Stuart to go further with Penny. Stuart visits the apartment for "last-minute advice" just before going to see Penny, but Leonard tells him to "go slow" with Penny, hoping that she will dump him. Leonard regrets giving this advice, however, and goes to apologize to Stuart the next day. Stuart says that Leonard's advice was perfect. He says that he and Penny drank some wine and then started making out, but that she accidentally blurted out Leonard's name. Leonard begins celebrating as soon as he's out of Stuart's sight.
Howard, who was earlier celebrating the launch of his space toilet, discovers that he made a "teeny tiny error" that will cause the toilet to fail, dispensing its waste through the ISS (instead of out into space) after ten flushes. He asks Raj and Sheldon to help him construct a fix with materials that are readily available on the ISS. They eventually do throw together a fix. The episode ends with all of the ISS astronauts asking to go on a spacewalk, presumably because their waste has leaked out of the toilet, causing the inside of the station to stink.
Episode Outline
I. Comic book store, Wednesday evening
Titles and opening themes
II. first floor of the building and Stairway
III. Cafeteria
IV. Living room
V. Living room, later that evening
VI. hallway in front of apartments
VII. Living room
- Howard tests an idea to fix his zero gravity waste disposal system.
- Leonard leaves to go to the Comic book store.
VIII. Comic book store
IX. Living room
X. ISS station in orbit of Earth
- The astronauts inform Houston that they have "a little situation" and will go for a space walk.
Resources
List of entries from this episode
BBC report of the ISS's actual broken toilet problems
Timeline
This episode starts on a Wednesday, because it's comic book night (see Schedule). When Stuart and Penny go out, it's Friday. Leonard talks to both of them the next day, Saturday. In the end we see them all eating Chinese food, most likely Sunday.
Title
The title refers to Howard referring to his malfunctioning zero-gravity toilet as "classified", top secret. By extension, it also refers to Penny unexpectedly revealing a secret: that she thinks romantically about Leonard.
