"The Love Car Displacement" is an episode of the television series The Big Bang Theory that first aired on CBS on January 20, 2011. It is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of the series and the seventy-sixth episode overall. The episode features a guest appearance by former professional basketball playerRick Fox.
Plot
asks Penny to join her and the other guys on a trip to a science conference in Big Sur, California, as she believes them to be best friends. At first, Penny rejects the offer, claiming that she already has other plans for the weekend, however when she hears it includes a spa treatment, she changes her mind. Before they can get on the road, Sheldon, who was elected "travel supervisor" by the other guys because of threatening to use the filibuster procedure, sets up an extensive program, during which he explains where and when they are going to take breaks and also decides the seat layout. It is revealed that Amy convinced Sheldon to let Penny ride in the lead car with Sheldon, Leonard and her as Penny's "Nebraska backwoods skills and brawny hands" could help them if their car breaks down. Consequently, Howard, Raj, Bernadette ride in the other car, which Howard deems "the love car". During the ride, Howard and Bernadette discuss their sexual plans and sing the whole car ride. At the hotel check-in Bernadette spots Glenn, her former college professor and ex-boyfriend. Howard feels intimidated by Glenn, who is tall and attractive, and insecurely complains to Bernadette that he is useless and "can't make any kind of sexual impact" in her life. Bernadette tries to coax him into feeling better, but Howard makes a comment implying that Glenn is too hot for Bernadette. After realizing how bad his comment sounds, he tries to recover by saying that Bernadette is too hot for a guy like Glenn. This makes things worse and Bernadette decides to stay with Amy and Penny in their room. A few minutes later Penny knocks on Leonard's door asking if she could sleep in his room due to Amy's nightmare post-effects: biting and scratching. Leonard accepts and the two climb into bed together. Leonard makes some witty Star Trek analogies about the Romulan Neutral Zone, and Penny tells him that her "shields are up" from waist down. During this exchange Sheldon awakens, asking them if they are going to have coitus. They both give different answers, prompting Sheldon to leave and seek shelter at Raj's room, where Raj is about to watch Bridget Jones's Diary. Sheldon eventually kicks Raj out of his room due to him violating his regulations. Raj gets the key to Leonard and Penny's room where those two are, at Penny's suggestion, starting to have sex. Leonard rejects Raj's offer to watch Bridget Jones, so Raj crawls into the other bed to sleep, destroying the atmosphere for Leonard & Penny. The next morning Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, Raj, Bernadette and Amy speak at the conference. After a fairly normal start, they all begin to discuss the events of last night, with Leonard being upset about Raj walking in on him & Penny, and Howard and Bernadette still fighting. To make matters worse, Raj's drunkenness starts to get the best of him. After Leonard claims that he and Penny were getting back together, Penny makes it clear that it was just a one-time fling by shouting from the audience. She then searches for someone who can get her back to Los Angeles and leaves with Glenn, much to Leonard's dismay. The others drive back to Pasadena in low spirits the next day. Howard and Bernadette still aren't speaking and eventually Howard tosses the walkie-talkie used to keep communication with Sheldon and the other car out the window, and Raj throws-up from his drinking. The episode ends with a police car in pursuit of Leonard as, bothered by Penny going home with Glenn, he is speeding.
Reception
On the night of its first broadcast on January 20, 2011, the episode was watched by 13.63 million households. The episode was the fifth most watched episode of the season. IGN's Jenna Busch gave the episode a mixed review stating that "the episode was really a bit cheesy" and that she "didn't like the framework". She did, however, praise several character moments including Melissa Rauch's portrayal of Bernadette saying, "Bernadette was wonderful, as always. She's just so adorable, I could see her dating Rick Fox". Busch summed up by writing "There were definitely funny moments here, but that zing was missing tonight". Jeffrey Kirkpatrick from TV Fanatic gave the episode a more positive review saying that "The brilliance of the show, as I've said before, is when Penny and Sheldon interact, but it's even striking a chord each time Penny and Amy are thrown together". Kirkpatrick also praised Kaley Cuoco as Penny, he wrote: "Kaley Cuoco is a very gifted comedienne, and her reactions to the nuttiness of the supposedly genius minds around her are always my favorite parts of every episode".
