The Big Bang Theory – Episode 7.12 – The Hesitation Ramification – Recap & Review

The episode begins with Amy and the men eating dinner together. She is not happy that the guys are using their phones while eating dinner. Sheldon makes a hilarious reference about Steve Jobs by saying that he and his friends do not have to put the phone down. Penny announces that she got a gig on a TV show. Only Amy and Leonard are aware of it while the rest of the guys are still on their phones. It’s entertaining how Penny does not remember what show she got a role on. She will be playing a customer in a diner and she will flirt with Mark Harmon.

At the cheesecake factory, the guys are having a meal together. Howard jokes that he will set Raj up with his mom if he is desperate to meet women and likes having food eaten out of his mouth. It’s entertaining how everyone thought it was funny except Sheldon. Sheldon makes an unfunny comment that Howard’s mother is so fat that she decided to go on a diet and the twist is that people do not usually change. Penny reminds the guys that she will be on TV tomorrow night. Penny makes a hilarious comment by saying that she will treat the guys by stealing food from her work. Sheldon irritates everyone by adding that if Howard’s mother is coming, Penny should steal some marbles because she is obese. Sheldon comments that hippos are obese and they eat marbles. He refers that to a game called, “Hungry Hungry Hippos”. It was funny how Sheldon tried to be make everyone else laugh when no one else was actually laughing.

Leonard and Sheldon are walking upstairs to their apartment. Sheldon asks him if he think he’s funny but he doesn’t. Leonard asks him if he thinks he’s funny. Sheldon thinks he’s hysterical. After that comment, Leonard thinks that was funny. It was entertaining how Sheldon references that philosopher Henri Bergson thinks that funny when a human being behaves like an object. What I did not like about this scene was where Sheldon commented that he’ll try to make everyone else laugh except Germans because he thinks it’s a tough crowd. Other than that part, this scene was still well-written especially where Sheldon did not get Leonard’s comment by saying if he wanted people to laugh at or with Sheldon.

Bernadette is driving Howard, Raj, and Stuart to Penny’s apartment to watch NCIS at her apartment. She makes a comment that she thought when Raj was going to bring a date, she did not think he was going to bring Stuart along. In this scene, Raj entertained me because he commented that he blew it with a girl by nervously saying that, “Wouldn’t it be easier if we sniff each other’s butts?” Stuart marks that his mother referred to him as his “little possum” growing up but he thinks that possums are not cute. Bernadette advises him to stop talking. Howard gave some great advice to Raj on how to overcome his shyness of talking to attractive girls by practicing conversations with other people. I love how Bernadette refers Stuart as the “possum”. In other words, she  gives Raj the option to keep dating him. I wonder when Raj will ever get a girlfriend. He’s attractive to the ladies but he does not know how to talk to women well.

At Leonard’s apartment, the whole gang plus Stuart is watching NCIS. I love how Sheldon comments that he is not comfortable watching it because he has to skip 245 episodes and go straight to episode #246. This means that he likes to watch shows from the very beginning. Amy was humorous by replying to him to make the first 245 episodes as if it was a prequel. Penny is disappointed that her scene was cut. She excuses herself out of the apartment. Sheldon makes a good point that comedy is tragedy plus time but that does not make everyone else laugh with him as everyone else is feeling sad for her.

Penny is at her apartment on the phone with her dad. Leonard comes in her apartment to try and comfort Penny. She makes a hilarious comment that her family is in Mexico by now because her family got her brother got a free day pass out of rehab just to watch Penny. She is disappointed because this was supposed to be her big break that could have led her to big things. Leonard comments that her career was not going to happen anyway because she only had three lines. Penny feels insulted by him but he did not mean it that way. Penny believes he does not believe in her. Then, Penny and Leonard start arguing about her career. Leonard notes that someone becoming a successful actor are in a million to one. Penny leaves Leonard and goes to her room in an angry way. Leonard should have been more supportive to her by saying that he actually believes in her but I agree with him that it’s not easy to get into acting. Penny has a hard time listening to reality. Leonard entertained me when he commented that he should have brought in Sheldon.

At the apartment, Sheldon is reading a book on how to be funny and Amy gives him advice on how to try to be funny. The funniest part in this scene is where Sheldon pulls his pants down to make Amy laugh.

At the mall, Raj and Stuart are trying to talk to strangers in an attempt to boost Raj’s confidence by talking to pretty girls. Stuart was hysterical when he suggested to Raj about talking to the old lady with the walker.

Back at the apartment, Sheldon tries to find vocabulary words on how to make things funny. What entertained me in this scene was where he asked Amy if ointment is more, equal to, or less than kumquat. Amy sarcastically told him that she did not want to go out with him anymore but he asks her to stop joking around. He tells her that he is motivating himself to go through the whole dictionary to make one good joke. At Penny’s apartment, she flips through the TV and tells random people on the TV, “you didn’t get your part cut!” She is very jealous on the people who made it on TV. Leonard apologizes to Penny and he believes in her. Leonard gets her an audition for the new Star Wars movie but she thinks it’s a PR stunt and wants him to let it go.

 Back at the mall, Raj and Stuart are enjoying snacks and trying to talk to people. Raj sarcastically thinks that they are going to die there after no people pass Raj and Stuart.

 At the Cheesecake Factory, Amy joins Howard and Bernadette minus Sheldon for a meal. Amy notes that Sheldon is busy trying to use science to determine humor. She gets irritated when he repeats, “Knock-Knock-Knock, Amy”. Bernadette advises her to fake a laugh if she wants him to stop. Howard wonders if Bernadette ever faked a laugh but she replies, “No, of course not”. One of the best part of this episode is where Bernadette laughs for an extensive period of time to test Howard whether she is faking a laugh. After she finally stops laughing, Howard comments that he fakes his orgasms.

Leonard is on the phone trying to buy flowers for Penny. She walks in the apartment while being intoxicated. She feels like everything is falling apart and feels like she is a mess. She has tried to act for 10 years and nothing has worked for her. Leonard tells her she has him. Penny drunkenly proposes to Leonard but he hesitates by replying “um.” As a result, she leaves the apartment angrily assuming that he does not want to marry her. He asks her to come back but she leaves anyway. Sheldon finally has made a joke by using words that does not make sense but Leonard ignores him.

At the mall, Raj and Stuart are sitting on the bench. It was humorous where Stuart commented that he wanted to say hi to the guys at the other bunch. However, Raj notes that it was just a reflection of them. The mall security guard lets them know that the mall is closing. Raj asks him if he likes being a mall security guard and he replies that it’s all right. Raj told him it was nice talking to him but the guard does not say anything. The guard probably thought he was weird but Stuart is happy that Raj finally got to talk to someone.

Presumably in the middle of the night, Sheldon is concerned that Leonard cannot sleep and offers if he wanted to talk about it. It was nice of Sheldon to finally come to senses and actually be concerned about Leonard due to his disappointment of Penny walking out on him. Leonard lets him know that he does not want to ask Penny if they broke up because he’s afraid he will know the right answer. Sheldon apologizes about what happened between Leonard and her but he wonders if he will make an inappropriate comment. Sheldon will not do that because they are friends. Then, Sheldon comes back to his usual bad social skills by fibbing that he did not put a “Kick Me” sign on his back. Even though Sheldon tends to think about himself all the time, he does show some care for his friends. I was happy to see a sensitive Sheldon this week for once.

The ending:
Howard tries to audition for Star Wars. Just as he is in the middle of his audition, Bernadette asks him in an angry way, “How many times do I have to tell you to replace the toilet paper when it's empty?!” Howard replies that he’s in the middle of something. I loved how Bernadette sassed him back by saying that she was in the middle of something, too! Tell me your thoughts on this episode. Respected comments are welcomed.

Parts that I enjoyed the most:
- Leonard laughing at Sheldon thinking that he’s hysterical.
- Sheldon complaining that he did not get to watch NCIS from the beginning.
- Amy advising Sheldon to pretend that the first 245 episodes of NCIS is actually a prequel.
- Sheldon pulling down his pants to make Amy laugh.
- Bernadette laughing non-stop at the Cheesecake Factory with Howard and Amy.
- Penny making a reference to "Starbucks" because her underwear fell out of a pant leg there.
- Penny drunkenly proposing to Leonard.
- Bernadette sassing back at Howard at the end.

 Parts that I did not enjoy:
- Where Sheldon said that he wants to make everybody laugh except “The Germans”.
- In the car scene where Raj wanted to practice talking to people such as fatties and uggos.

Grade: A-