The Big Bang Theory – Episode 7.20 – The Relationship Diremption – Review & Recap

NOTE: Anything in bold is my thought of each scene of the episode.

Teaser:

At the cafeteria, the guys are having a conversation about the discoveries of gravity waves. Sheldon questions about how the gravity wave breakthrough help a man on the street and who’s looking for Joe-Six-Pack and all of his quantum physics concerns. Leonard thinks Sheldon’s jealous because he has been working a string theory for the past 20 years and he is no closer to proving than when he had started. Then, Kripke interjects the conversation and tells the guys that there was some big string theory news today out of the Hadron Collider. I loved how Sheldon got excited about the news until Kripke starts making fun of him for believing anything.  

Review & Recap:

At the apartment, Sheldon’s up early but that is because he could not sleep. Penny thinks it is The Walking Dead pillows that he slept on last night. Actually, something is bothering him and she tries to help him. He tells her that he has dedicated all of his life to the string theory and he has nothing to show for it and he feels like he is a fool. Penny gets it because she know what it’s like to put his heart and soul into something and gets nothing out of it. It was touching when Penny tried to comfort him when he was not in the best mood. I am glad that he was able to open up to her since he is not the type that is open to share his true feelings. When Penny gave him advice to “break it off, Shake hands, walk away” to his relationship with the string theory, it was entertaining when Sheldon copied that some quote to tell her that to Leonard when he was having a cold in the morning.

At the cafeteria, Leonard wonders how Raj is he doing with dating two women at the same time. He tells him that it went great when he was honest with Emily. However, the same can’t be said with Lucy as she had mixed feelings about it. He’s relieved that he can at least now focus all of his energies on just one girl, which is Emily. Sheldon comes over and asks the guys if he’s interested in any of his string theory books. The writers were smart to connect Sheldon’s breakup with his string theory books as if a normal couple was breaking up. Also, I loved the reference when Sheldon made a comment about Cosmopolitan magazine by stating that the rule of the thumb of a break up is to get rid of all the reminders of the relationship. Howard was surprised when he read the magazine. Sheldon tells them that there is an article on that magazine where it states on how to get over a breakup in literally every issue. He leaves the table to take care of his needs. Howard asked one of the stupidest questions ever to Raj by asking if he and Emily were still together. He does not seem that impressed with that question.

At Raj's apartment, he and Howard are playing video games. When he tells him that Bernadette is free tomorrow night, this implies that they want to double date with Raj and Emily. He wants to go over some ground rules about her to do the double date. He tells him that she’s very real. Howard refers that quote as if it was on the box right next to “dishwasher safe”. Raj is worried those comments will freak her out but Howard ensures that he will be on his best behavior. He tells that he better be and to not joke about how close he is with his dog. Howard acted like Sheldon towards Raj especially when he reminded him to not joke the years he took ballet and Howard asked if this was true, implying that he could be teasing him.

Penny is giving Sheldon a new look because one of the articles in the magazine states that one of the ways to get over a breakup is a new look. I enjoyed this scene when Sheldon made a reference about making his haircut looking like a crossover between Bill Gates and Nikola Tesla. Both of those guys are very intelligent. It was hilarious when Leonard referred Sheldon’s haircut in the front as if it was for business and haircut in the back as if it was for science. Sheldon and Tesla have one thing in common: they are both physicists. Smart idea to reference two intelligent people just like him in this scene. It was inappropriate when he will reward Penny by telling her a Cosmo article on enjoying her PMS if she does a great job with the haircut. Therefore, he could have rewarded her something better as many, if not all women especially her do want to know about their PMS. Then again, that’s typical Sheldon having poor social skills. Leonard wonders what he’s going to pursue now that he is no longer in a relationship with his string theories. Sheldon tells him that there are many exciting areas such as black holes and dark matter. After Penny gets done with his haircut, he slams her for not knowing who Tesla is. She and Leonard love his haircut. Despite his complaints about the haircut, he loves it because he could see himself in a scientific boy band. Amy comes over to the apartment and she is not happy with the cute haircut. He agrees with her that his haircut makes him look too hot.

In a surprise twist, Howard admits to Bernadette that he knows Emily after he sees who she looks like. Raj introduces Emily to his friends. Then, Howard’s worst nightmare comes and is asked by her this, “Have we met before?” He believes she’s a total stranger but she believes he looks familiar to her. She asks if he goes to spin class. He admits he does.

Meanwhile, Sheldon is going through books to find which theory he wants to study and Geology is one of them that attracts him the most. Amy suggests that his new theory should be the calculation of nuclear matrix elements. Penny gives wonderful advice by telling Sheldon to not rush into something new. Instead, he should take his time and enjoy his freedom. Sheldon lets her know that it’s actually not a bad idea. I love how the writers put Penny and Sheldon together again just like in the Season 7 Premiere. She looks out what’s best for him. It was uproarious when he referred Geology to “The Kardashians of Science”. Penny wants to celebrate his freedom by having alcohol. Normally, he refrains from alcohol but he decides to drink wine with his friends. They all toast to his freedom.

Back at the restaurant, Bernadette asks Emily what she does for a living. She reveals to her that she is a dermatology resident at Huntington Hospital. Then, she tells Howard that she is making her crazy because she knows him from somewhere. Raj thinks she saw him as an astronaut. She says that it’s amazing and he tells her it was the best experience he had in his life. Now, Emily remembers how she knows him. Four years ago, they were set up on a blind date, he came to pick her up. All of a sudden, his stomach was upset so he went to her apartment to use her bathroom and accidentally clogged her toilet. Because of this, she never got her security deposit back. He apologizes profusely for this and has felt terrible for years. All of her friends love this story and call him “Clog-zilla”. It was a surprise that Emily previously knew Howard from a blind date. The writers were smart to twist the episode with that storyline. I’m glad they did to make the episode unpredictable.

Sheldon is completely drunk back at the apartment and does his knock ritual “Empty room”. Poor Amy having to help him go walk back to his room.

Back at the restaurant, Bernadette wonders why Emily likes dermatology. She tells her that she likes cutting people with knives, and all the other jobs that are illegal. Howard said that he had food poisoning that day and admits he ate gas station sushi. He’s freaking out about this story and Bernadette ensure that they have moved on. Now, Emily and Raj start laughing at him, which causes Howard to step out. Howard got his own taste of medicine when he was teasing about Raj having a girlfriend. Howard did the same thing by leaving the bathroom in the middle of the date just like Lucy did to Raj last season. Knowing Bernadette’s personality, I wish that she would have hushed Raj and Emily up. However, it was entertaining to see Raj and Emily laugh because they have such awesome chemistry together and Howard had to learn what it felt like to make fun of someone else.

Back at the apartment, Sheldon wakes up half-naked with a hangover and is shocked that he sleept with his Geology book. Leonard asks how is hes feeling. He replies that he is not feeling well. Leonard asks him, “Are you going to introduce me to your little friend?” He tells him that the book is not his friend and nothing happened. He does not believe him because he heard him read very loud last night. Sheldon tries to call Amy but realizes that he accidentally called Stephen Hawking last night. Sheldon leaves drunk messages to his phone and refers to himself as “Sheldonoscopy”, like a spoof of “colonoscopy”. He wonders why he did not pick up the phone.

Back at the cafeteria, Howard and Sheldon are sitting across from each other. They both had an embarrassing evening last night. He may have left an unfortunate voice mail for Stephen Hawking. Howard tells him to not worry about it because he has a sense of humor. Sheldon wonders what happened to him last night. He tells him that it turns he knew the girl that Raj was seeing when he did a number on her bathroom, which was two. Once again, Kripke comes to annoy Sheldon and heard that he drunk-dialed Stephen Hawking last night. He calls it a classic. Howard tells Kripke to get out of here but he calls him “Clogzilla”. Sheldon tells him that the nickname is funny and it won’t pass. It was awesome to see Kripke pick Sheldon again and the writers twisted the episode to actually allow Kripke to turn the tables on Howard, as well. I am glad that Howard and Sheldon got to bond over their unfortunate situations from last night. So far, after they came back from Texas, they still realize they have some things in common more than they thought. 

The Ending:

At the end of the episode, only the door of Stephen Hawking’s office is shown. In this scene, more messages from Sheldon are revealed to Hawking. In the second message, he tells him that he gave up string theory. He tells him that he should give up black holes and that they can totally solved crimes together. In the third message, he drunkenly tells him that Geology is great in an exciting way. He calls that, “Geode”. In the fourth message, he continues to enthusiastically pronounce “Geode” and announces that he kisses girls now. In the fifth message, he asks him to guess who he is and goes to say, “Beep bop boop bop!” Then, it’s revealed that he is making a mockery of him. In the sixth message, he asks if he is mad at him. Then, he drunkenly cries and tells him that he’s mad at him. Sheldon apologizes for this but not before he ends the sixth message with “Beep bop boop bop!” In the seventh message, he repeats, “Thiospinel sulfide” twice and then reveals that this is more fun than saying “Gee...ode!” Then, he asks him if he saw The Lego Movie? After leaving a total of an unlucky number of seven messages on Hawking’s phone, he curses him out. This was my favorite part of the episode. The scene where Sheldon left drunk messages to Hawking reminded me of the Christmas episode of the underrated comedy, Trophy Wife where Pete left many drunk messages to his boss and unintentionally told him that he wanted to work on Christmas day. Although a slim chance, I would be even happier if there were deleted scenes with Sheldon actually leaving those drunk messages to Hawking and the drunk adventure he had with Penny, Amy, and Leonard on the 7^th season Blu-Ray and DVD set for this episode. What did you all think of this awesome episode?