The Big Bang Theory - Episode 7.11 - The Cooper Extraction - Recap & Review

NOTE : I apologize for taking long to read this review. I’ve had to take care of other obligations in my private life. I hope you enjoy this recap & review.



Plot:
Sheldon has to go to Texas to visit his sister because she is having a baby. While he is there, the gang imagines what life would be like if they never met Sheldon.
Recap & Review:

The episode begins with Amy and Sheldon are video skiing while poor Leonard is sitting with his hurt foot. Sheldon needs to go to Texas and makes an in-depth comment that his sister’s uterus came with a baby. It was funny how he substituted that comment where he could have simply said his sister was pregnant. In this scene, Penny thinks that he will be “Uncle Sheldon” but Sheldon makes me laugh by telling her that he only wants his nephew to call him “Uncle Dr. Cooper”. Amy wonders why he never brought up about his sister but he makes a humorous comment about why she did not ask about his brother’s kidney stones! Amy offers to give Sheldon a ride to the airport. However, he tells her that he doesn’t want her to be inconvenience for her. The writers did an excellent job in thinking the audiences that Sheldon is finally independent. In a surprise twist with this scene, Sheldon actually asks Leonard to take him to the airport instead of her.

Now that Sheldon is in Texas, Leonard and Penny are relieved they do not have follow his ridiculous decorating rules. Raj makes me laugh in this scene by asking if “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” are in the same branch. Then, Penny entertained me by putting a gift wrapping ribbon on herself as Christmas gift to Leonard since she was running low on money. Stuart comes in the apartment to join the Christmas party.

Sheldon calls everybody through Skype. Just when I think that Sheldon was disappointed in the gang throwing the Christmas party without him, he thinks it is actually thoughtful of them to throw the party. Sheldon continues to entertain me in this episode because he goes to in-depth about his sister going into labor. His mother makes a humorous comment about making Sheldon joining the family picture, much to his dismay. She goes into detail that he has to join the family picture before there’s blood everywhere! His mother shouting reminded me of Howard’s mother shouting all the time. The facial expression of Sheldon reacting to that was priceless.
Bernadette marks that she brought “It’s a Wonderful Life” but Raj and Stuart have never seen it. Amy goes into detail on what the movie is but Stuart doesn’t seem interested in it. Leonard makes me laugh in this scene by mimicking Sheldon’s knocks. Amy states that if it weren’t for Sheldon, none of the gang would know her, Howard would not know Bernadette, and Leonard would not be dating Penny. Leonard has been going to the Cheesecake Factory for years and thinks that he would have asked her out. However, the others make fun of his statement. Penny imagines what would have happened if they never met Sheldon.

Howard, Raj and Leonard are hanging out there while Penny is their waitress. It was humorous how I thought Leonard is going to ask Penny out. However, it turns out that he actually asks her where the restroom is but she says he’s too late. Leonard doesn’t believe that he would have not peed his pants. Amy doesn’t think that if Leonard wasn’t with Penny, Penny would have not set Howard and Bernadette up. Howard thinks she would have been all over her but Bernadette thinks otherwise. She imagines that Bernadette has a crush on him but imagines herself being disgusted at Raj feeding Howard ice cream as if they were in a relationship. The way she was looking at those guys was humorous.

Leonard believes that Penny would have not done great herself because of the choice of guys she had been dating. Penny imagines Zack coming over to her place. He entertained me by telling Penny that he used the rent money for magic beans! In the imagination, Leonard puts a twist with her and Zack by peeing themselves.
Sheldon calls everyone through Skype. Amy asks if Sheldon is not doing okay, but he is not. He believes that people should not be coming out of people, and hilariously references that to a magic show. Then, Sheldon’s mother yells his full name, “Sheldon Lee Cooper” and asks him to bring out a mop. Sheldon feels insulted by feeling he is a janitor of his sister’s birth canal despite having 2 PHDs. His statement was like someone working as a waitress despite having excellent work experience as a CEO! I liked that the writers used that statement because they are actually some people who work menial jobs despite having professional work experience.

Sheldon sends everyone a text message saying, “Happy Holidays from Texas!” Leonard opens it but warns everyone to not open it because of Sheldon’s sister giving birth despite that Raj and Penny do. Bernadette believes that if they didn’t meet Sheldon, most of the gang would have met each other. However, she thinks that Penny would still live across from Leonard. Amy wonders what would happen if it was not for Leonard and Penny being together.

Amy imagines Penny going to the laundry room. She sees Sheldon and tries to make a move on Sheldon. However, this makes him feel uncomfortable. Penny tries to use her sex appeal by only wearing her bra to flirt with him even more. It was hilarious to see Sheldon’s reaction about Penny trying to make a move on him. He tells her that he is saving himself for someone special. He needs a cute scientist with a hair color of mud. Just when Penny is about to kiss Sheldon but the story ends there. The way that Sheldon went into detail of the hair color was hilarious.

Sheldon calls everyone through Skype. He is much better yet but doesn’t know if the baby was born because his mother asked him to get some towels. To avoid having interaction with his family, he went to Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Selfish Sheldon gets mad at Missy, his sister for screaming while he is talking with his friends on the phone!

Next, Amy diagrams everyone on what would have happened if none of them met Sheldon. Then, she tells Penny that she would have never met Stan Lee, but she unenthusiastically replies, “Great”. However, Raj marks that he, Howard, and Leonard would have always been friends. Bernadette wonders why they never got an apartment together. Leonard explains that they would have but embarrasses Howard by telling him that he had a serious relationship with his mother. Howard defends himself that he did this to save money and Raj teases him that he did not have to buy groceries because he was breastfeeding. Bernadette thinks that he would still be living with his mother if it were not for her.

Howard’s mother yells for him to bring her lunch and that there’s not enough food but he thinks she’s cleaned out earth. Just when we finally get to see Howard’s mother, he twists the imagination by thinking his mom died. Bernadette wonders why Leonard and Raj didn’t get a place together. Leonard explains that he wanted to get a place of his own place to ensure that he was going to be a ladies’ man. Raj serves dinner to a fat Leonard. He asked Raj to twist the story by making them both fat. Later on, both fat Leonard and Raj are having dinner together. A fat Stuart comes over and joins them.

Penny wonders if Amy had never met Sheldon. Amy thinks her life would have been different. Amy imagines herself celebrating her birthday by herself and that there’s tears in the frosting. Then, Stuart butts himself in the imagination. The gang give him an irritated look.

Next, Sheldon calls everyone through Skype. Sheldon reveals that it’s a boy. He wasn’t sure if he wasn’t going to make it and his mom gave him some ice chips. He makes a hilarious reference about “Green Lantern” by saying that he make it through anything if it can make it through that movie. However, the baby is irritating him by crying uncontrollably. Sheldon should cut the baby some slack. Amy notes that Sheldon has always complained that he has never had an intelligent role model growing up and now he can be one for his nephew. Then, Sheldon makes a funny comment about his attention span is limited as his bladder control.

The gang believes that Amy has clearly had an impact on him. Leonard thinks that Sheldon cares about Amy more than she thinks. To prove his point, he gives her a little early Christmas gift by showing her that he’s her screensaver on his laptop for caring passionately about Sheldon. Although “Madam Currie” is in his screensaver on his laptop, Amy is okay with this because she is dead. Then, a happy Amy walks Sheldon up and is glad to have him back. She missed him but he quotes Han Salo by saying, “I know”. He would have preferred to have her come with him to Texas or her coming to Texas by herself instead of him. Amy asks if he got to hold the baby. He replies to her that holding the baby was just like another day at the office.

The Ending:
The episode ends with Stuart imagining a fat Leonard and Raj eating with Howard. Leonard asks for her phone number and one more cheesecake but Penny tells him that she has a boyfriend, which is Stuart.

Parts I enjoyed the most:
- The imaginations where Leonard and Raj were overweight.
- Stuart butting into everyone’s stories.
- Penny making herself a Christmas gift to Leonard by putting a ribbon on herself.
- Penny flirting with Sheldon in the imagination scene.
- Leonard putting a twist in the imagination story to make Penny and Zack wet themselves.
- His mother asking Sheldon to be a janitor for her sister’s birth canal despite him having 2 PHDs.
- Stuart joining Amy after she was crying over a cupcake and tears flowing into it.
- Leonard making a reference about Sheldon’s Kick starter campaign staying at $0 after Penny mentioned that they didn’t have to use his ornament spacing template.
- Howard imagining her mother dead as a reference to “Psycho”.
- The "Swamp Thing" on Sheldon's screensaver on his laptop.

There were a few parts I didn’t enjoyed:
- The part where Sheldon wished Amy went to Texas instead of him.
- It would have been great to see Sheldon’s mother on Skype. Instead, we only got to hear her voice.

Grade: A-