"The Big Bang Theory" - December 8, 2008 and December 15, 2008 episodes

December 8, 2008 episode

Sheldon says he keeps hearing a tone in his ears, so Stephanie agrees to examine him, but she can't find anything wrong with him. Sheldon later confronts Leonard to say that now that Leonard has a live-in girlfriend, a particular addendum to their roommate contract is now being enacted, but all the while, Leonard denies that he has a live-in girlfriend.

Penny wanders over in her nightgown to get some coffee, and Stephanie wants to know who this woman is who feels comfortable enough to do that, especially since Leonard has never mentioned her before. Uh oh. After Stephanie leaves for work, Leonard is still denying that Stephanie is living there, so Penny goes into his room with him and finds Stephanie's stuff (clothes, slippers, candles, bed sheets) everywhere, even having moved some of Leonard's stuff to put her stuff there.

At work the next day, Howard can't understand why Leonard would settle for having just one girlfriend rather than being able to have any girl he wants like Howard - that is, any girl that would be willing to have Howard. Yeah, dude, you're a stud.

Meanwhile, Sheldon is still pestering Stephanie and has shown up at the hospital, having already further examined himself, and he wants Stephanie to authorize a number of further tests, which she refuses.

Penny encounters Leonard in the laundry room, and Leonard says he needs to wash some pants so asks Penny if he can borrow some of her fabric softener. She says yes, and he dumps the entire contents in, which prompts Penny to ask "What are you washing, a crocodile?" Leonard explains that Stephanie bought him some pants that are really itchy, so he's hoping washing them will make them better. Penny then cautions that those pants aren't supposed to be machine washed and could be ruined if they are, which Leonard decides to pretend to not hear and turns on the washing machine.

Leonard admits to Penny that he's not very happy about the fact that he and Stephanie are de facto living together, that it all seems too fast for him. Penny encourages Leonard to talk to Stephanie about his feelings, which Leonard says he will. (I was sitting there hoping Leonard wouldn't tell Stephanie that he's talking to her because Penny suggested it - I've been in a similiar situation like that on the "Penny" side, and my friend "Leonard" was an idiot for telling "Stephanie" that his call was prompted by my suggestion. Ugh.)

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Stephanie tells Sheldon that he has an inflamed larynx and that he needs to stop talking completely. She's totally making that up just so Sheldon will stop bothering her, but Sheldon buys it completely. Sheldon is going back to his room as Leonard walks in, and Stephanie tells Leonard that she just performed a Sheldonectomy.

Leonard starts trying to talk to Stephanie, but things don't work out. He returns to the laundry room, and Penny looks at him saying that didn't take very long, and he says they had sex instead, to which Penny just looks at her watch. He goes back up to try again - nope, sex again, although afterward, he still has his shirt on, and she has her camisole on, and they both have their watches on. She's clingy and afraid of being dumped, and he doesn't have the heart to say anything about what he really feels to her, so he gives in. And pays the price.

She's now dressing him in clothes she buys and likes, which is totally not his style. She's getting new curtains for his room and redecorating his entire room. He's finally had enough. But he takes the cowardly way out - he texts her to move out. But she still wants to have sex, so I guess all is ok.

Sheldon still can't talk, so instead, he uses a voice synthesizer on his laptop to do his talking for him. He goes over to Penny's, knocking on the door and using the laptop to call her name. When she answers, he asks if she has any herbal tea, which she says she does and goes to get some. He then says he'd like a little hiney as well, to which she turns around and stares at him. He then fixes his typo - he was really asking for "honey".


December 15, 2008 episode

At work during lunch, the boys are having a discussion about how Superman cleans his outfit. Sheldon then goes on about Kryptonian condiments. There's a new guy named Dave Underhill who has received some amazing grant, and Leonard is just falling over himself.

Later at home, they're playing Wii bowling, and they're all wearing bowling shirts, but Sheldon even goes as far as to chalk his hands.

They're talking about Christmas, and Sheldon explains the development of Pagan traditions into Christmas, but he's completely thrown when Penny says she got both Sheldon and Leonard a gift, and Sheldon says that he's now obligated to buy Penny a gift as well. There ensues a discussion about who is going to be saddled with taking Sheldon to the mall. Why didn't they use "rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock" to decide? Maybe they'll have a "non-all-Spock" outcome by now.

Leonard was out with Dave and hurt himself on Dave's motorcycle, so when Dave is taking Leonard back to his apartment, he ends up meeting Penny. Later, Dave is supposed to have a meeting with Leonard, but Dave blows him off to have a date with Penny instead.

Howard and Raj have both taken Sheldon to the mall, where they're in a "Bath & Body Works" kind of place, and Sheldon is trying to figure out what kind and size to get because he doesn't know what Penny got him, so he doesn't know what a reciprocal gift would be. Sheldon ends up admitting that he's afraid of bears - guess he wouldn't be very happy with Gloomy. Sheldon's solution is to buy a bunch of different sizes of gift baskets, which Howard and Raj help him carry into the apartment and room. He figures that once he sees what Penny has given him, he will excuse himself to his room and pick out the one that most appropriately matches the worth of what Penny got him and then he'll just return the rest.

Leonard goes over to see Penny, who is depressed and mad. It turns out that Dave is married, and Penny says that one should delete the pictures of their naked wife from their celphone before trying to take pictures of their naked girlfriend. Of course, Leonard picks up on the fact that Penny was naked, not that Dave is married.

Penny then comes over to the apartment with the guys' gifts. She gives Sheldon his present first - which Sheldon is stunned to discover is a napkin signed by Leonard Nimoy, and he's even more shocked when Penny says it's a little dirty because Nimoy used it. Sheldon comes to an amazing realization - "All I need is a healthy ovum, and I can grow my own Leonard Nimoy." Ummm, yeah, Sheldon, it's not a chia pet. Penny then says that she's only giving him the napkin. I didn't get the implication, but the husband did, that she's not giving him the ovum as well. Sheldon is about to cry, and the facial expressions during this whole segment on Penny and Sheldon were just priceless. Sheldon then excuses himself to his room.

Penny gives Leonard his gift - which is motorcycle lessons, because of his mishap with Dave's motorcycle. Leonard gives Penny her gift - which is a science set for kids, because Penny had pretended to Dave that she was totally into science.

Sheldon comes out of his bedroom and brings every single gift he bought. (I *knew* that was what he was going to do.) Penny is shocked, and Sheldon says yes, he knows it's still not enough, so he gives Penny a hug instead, which amazes her, but which she's happy about.

My only question was - after the previous week's episode about Stephanie, why was there zero mention of her at all in this episode? Are she and Leonard totally kaput? He didn't want to break up with her, just have her move out. Guess we'll see.