Monogamy isn’t exactly a concept that comes naturally to Kripke, either. Episode 5 finds the Caltech physicist emerging from a yurt following a sexual encounter with both male and female partners, further establishing a side of the character first revealed in Episode 4, when an alternate-universe Kripke was shown happily married to his neighbor Gary (Tommy Walker).
“I think one of my favorite lines in the entire show is when the guy comes out of the yurt and I go, ‘Hey, nice work in there,'” Bowie says. “Like, what just happened? I feel like if we were ‘Euphoria,’ we would have actually seen it. But yeah, that’s fascinating.”
Was Kripke’s sexual fluidity something Bowie ever expected the “Big Bang Theory” spinoff to explore? “No, but I was thrilled to see it,” he says. “As much as Kripke’s a pig, I think he’s so driven by his libido that he’s not necessarily going to have a ton of hangups as to where he sows his oats. I loved it. There’s a couple of references to sexuality existing on a continuum, and I was happy to be a part of that.”
Bowie also recalls filming Kripke’s Episode 4 scenes with Walker, revealing that director Kyle Newachek encouraged him to turn up the heat when Kripke kissed his husband.
“I do remember on the day where it is revealed I am married to Gary, I’m supposed to kiss him at the end of each scene, and they weren’t getting what they wanted,” Bowie recalls. “So Kyle Newachek, our director, comes over and goes, ‘John, can you give him a really sexy one?’ And that’s when I like grabbed his chin and went in for it, and that’s the one they used, and it looks great.”
“And by the way, if you’re going to kiss a guy, you could do far worse than Tommy Walker,” he adds.
“He’s a handsome dude,” Posehn agrees.