The Love Car Displacement

The Love Car Displacement is the 13th episode of the fourth season of the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. It aired on January 20th, 2011.

Plot Summary
The Gang (except Penny) are invited to give a speech at a Science Conference, Amy invites Penny to come; she quickly agrees hearing there was a Spa. Along the trip Howard and Bernadette end up quarreling, Sheldon can't find a place to sleep and Raj screws up Leonard's chance to hook up with Penny.

Extended Plot
Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, Raj, Amy and Bernadette are invited to give a speech at the Institute of Interdisciplinary Study Symposium on the Impact of Current Scientific Research on Social Interaction. Amy reveals that Penny is her best friend and invites her to come along as Amy's plus one. Although, Penny initially declines the offer with the excuse of her being "very busy" that particular weekend, her weekend quickly opened up when she hears they were going to an all expense paid spa at Big Sur, California. When they get back to the apartment, Sheldon carries out an orientation for their trip to Big Sur. The Orientation covers Q&A (Questions and Answers), Quiz, Safety Drills and a pose for a commemorative Group photo. Penny seems to be the only one flabbergasted by the need for an orientation. The gang consisting of 7 people was divided into two cars, the lead car; driven by Leonard will be Sheldon, Amy and Penny, and the second car; driven by Bernadette will be Howard and Raj. Amy is excited that she was able to "Upgrade" her "best friend" Penny from the second car to the lead car, by making the argument that if the car broke down, Penny's "Nebraskan backwood skills and brawny hands will give us (the lead car members) the best chance to survive". Amy and Sheldon will not be sharing a room as they believe knowing each other's "toilet routine" may jeopardize their relationship. Amy reveals she will be sharing a room with Penny, and adds she is the ideal roommate as travel makes her constipated. Meanwhile in the second car, Bernadette express that she is eager to see the keynote address, but Howard insists on taking a "nap" (sexual intercourse) with her at the hotel, although Bernadette interprets it as sleeping. This conversation continues until Raj had to ask Leonard to tell Bernadette, Howard meant sexual intercourse via phone. Back in the lead car, it seems that they are playing a guessing game; about what element Sheldon is, Penny seems lost again in the more intellectual crowd. This game annoys Penny and she questions the decision of giving Sheldon the post as "Road Trip God" (Travel Supervisor). Penny urges the rest of them to stand up against Sheldon, which results in her being demoted to the second car, Bernadette asks Penny to not worry, as this is the better car. Howard adds that this car is the "Love Car", presumably this is the title origin. Bernadette and Howard begins to sing "I Got You Babe" as a duet, Penny swiftly apologize to Sheldon. As they enter the hotel Amy says she missed Penny. Penny misses Amy too after her bad experience in the second car. Bernadette reunites with Glenn (Rick Fox) her professor in college which she dated for a year. He addresses her as Bernie. Howard is a little troubled by his height (6 foot 7 inch) and the size of his penis. Howard, still a little troubled subtly tell Bernadette, his penis could not provide as much pleasure as Glenn's. He accidentally said that Bernadette isn't hot enough to date Glenn, but in a desperate attempt to mend the situation, he corrected himself by saying that Bernadette is too hot to date Glenn. Amy and Penny has an awkward "girl talk" about Penis envy. Penny was relieved by Bernadette interrupting the awkwardness, Bernadette says that "Howard is a complete and total ass" and ask if she can stay at their room, which comes to no surprise to Penny. This results in Penny and Amy sleeping in a bed. Amy warns Penny that she is prone to night terrors, and if she is suffering from it she asks Penny to pin her down and stroke her hair. Later, Penny comes to Leonard's room seeking to crash with them because "Howard is a complete and total ass, Bernadette is in my bed and no matter how much you stroke Amy's hair she bites." As Penny refuses to sleep in Sheldon's bed, she sleeps in Leonard's. After making a Star Trek reference (Below her waist her shields are up), Leonard continually tries to engage in sexual activities with Penny. This noise wakes Sheldon up, as Leonard cannot guarantee they won't have sexual intercourse in the middle of the night Sheldon leaves the room. Raj enjoying his room alone takes some tissue and turns on the television implying he is about to masturbate, but the actually he is watching Bridget Jone's Diaryand the tissue are to wipe his tears. Sheldon quickly interrupts him and requests to sleep in Raj's room because "Howard is a complete and total ass, Bernadette is in Penny's bed, Amy bites and Penny may or may not have coitus with Leonard", Raj allows it. Leonard and Penny have an awkward talk about their former romantic relationship, resulting in Leonard and Penny beginning to engage in sexual intercourse.

But before anything happened they were interrupted by Raj who received the room key from Sheldon after being kicked out of his own room, furthermore he asks whether they want to watch Bridget Jone's Diary. Leonard is infuriated by Raj's interruption. The following morning, Sheldon opens the Science & Society speech, with a poorly received joke, Bernadette is asked to speak next, she subtly hints that even Howard's penis size can pleasure her by saying "It's not just giant nuclear weapon can destroy the world, as a microbiologist I can tell you that even the tiniest microorganism can tear you a new one." Howard then hints that Bernadette has also had her fair share with bigger sized penis by saying, "Though she claims her field of interest is microorganism, she has spent her fair share of time around what we can assume is pretty massive weaponry." Bernadette then says she can get all the giant missiles (Penis) she wants. Amy then asks whether they are talking about woman wanting penises. Raj clearly intoxicated then adds that he thinks they are talking about penises.



Leonard says he would like to kick Raj's "Little brown ass" and explains he is still upset about Raj interrupting his chance to get back with Penny. Penny quickly clarify that it was just a hook up, and they weren't getting back together. As the speech is falling apart, Sheldon tries to bring the topic back to sense, but fails. As Howard and Bernadette continue their petty feud, Sheldon opens the audience to Q&A. Penny publicly ask if anybody can drive her back to Los Angeles. Glenn agrees to drive her, as Leonard sees Glenn's height he is quickly threatened and yells out. Later, in the second car they have an awkward drive, with a hungover Raj and a bickering couple, as Sheldon proposes a game of spotting what he sees. Annoyed; Howard throws out the connecting radio. Meanwhile, Leonard is still very upset, evident as he is driving at 120 miles per hour (about 180 kilometer per hour). Sheldon reveals that he spotted an aluminium rim on a police car. The police siren is sounded implying Leonard is being pulled over.

Trivia

 * After a snide remark by Sheldon, Penny sarcastically says that this time she will put extra spit on Sheldon's hamburger, implying she has always been spitting on Sheldon's hamburger,
 * Amy revealed Penny as her best friend on her blog, which Penny never read. As a consolation Penny reveals she never read Leonard's blog either although they use to have sexual intercourse.
 * When Raj wanted to drink some coffee during the orientation, Sheldon's intercepts and says "Remember people we are only as strong as our weakest bladder."
 * Penny's hands are bigger than Leonard's.
 * Leonard describe Penny's toilet routine as an "eye-opener"
 * Sheldon prefers Road Trip God as opposed to Travel Supervisor.
 * It is revealed that Sheldon has an abundance of degree as he said "I'm Doctor Sheldon Cooper BS (Bachelor of Science), M.S (Master's of Science), M.A (Master Of Arts), Ph.D (Doctor of Philosophy) and Sc.D (Doctor Of Science). OMG (Oh My God) right?"
 * Howard refers to the car they are in during the trip as "the love car", which is referenced in the title.
 * During the orientation, Sheldon, using a SMART Technologies SmartBoard, shows where each of the group members will be sitting in the car, representing them with their Mii avatars from the Nintendo Wii.
 * Leonard says he dated four women since he broke with Penny, they are: Elizabeth Plimpton, Joy, Priya Koothrappali and Dr. Stephanie Barnett.
 * Penny makes another geeky reference from Star Trek that while she was in bed with Leonard, below her waist her shields are up.