The Good Guy Fluctuation

"The Good Guy Fluctuation" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on October 27, 2011.

Summary
Leonard finds himself drawn towards a pretty comic book enthusiast. Meanwhile, Sheldon tries to scare the gang after they pulled a  on him.

Extended plot


Stuart spots a good-looking girl entering the comic book store, tries to speak to her, and fails. She picks up a comic book that Leonard wants and tries to with him to get it. He says that she would be using her for evil which she kids that her  father forbids her from doing that. She introduces herself as Alice (Courtney Ford), another comic book enthusiast. She thinks he is cute and gives him her phone number to discuss trading for the rare comic book.

At the apartment, she shows him a comic she made based on her life which includes her making love with a guy dressed in a costume. Afterwards they end up making out. Leonard finds himself in a : he can either be a "good guy" and stay loyal to Priya, or a "bad guy" and have an with Alice. A discussion with Penny doesn't help but, after Sheldon offers him some advice from, Leonard decides to go to Alice's apartment. They begin kissing as she begins to undress herself and Leonard is not stopping her. Then he winds up changing his mind and confesses to Alice that he has a. She says that she "doesn't believe this" and that she thought he was different than other guys (and not just another jerk). Leonard asks if they can still be friends and that his superpower is being a good guy. He immediately gets thrown out of Alice's apartment.

At Caltech, a successful Halloween prank from the group enrages Sheldon, who starts working on ways to get revenge. However, his efforts always backfire: Leonard reverses his prank on him, Raj thinks the snake Sheldon hid in his top desk drawer is a present, and when he attempts to trick Howard with an, Howard and Bernadette pretend he has a  and scare Sheldon further.

At the end, Leonard s Priya and confesses to his actions. Priya is seemingly okay with it, but then reveals she has also cheated, and had sex with her ex-boyfriend a couple of weeks ago. Priya tells Leonard that it is not a competition, which Leonard disgrees with and tells her that she won. Leonard is upset, and ends the call early. At that moment, Sheldon leaps out from under the couch cushions in, scaring Leonard successfully. He triumphantly shouts "Bazinga, ! Now we're even!"

Critics
"This was very enjoyable. The two plots were set up early on, both were clear and easy to get into with clear motivations for all involved. The Sheldon story played to his strengths. His inability to be subtle and hide his real motives make pranks ideal comedy... Leonard's story was really good. It was a simple moral dilemma that anyone and particularly guys could relate to... This was such a simple episode and it was really effective. It drove the plot while making use of the season and the characters." The TV Critic's Review

Trivia

 * The mask Leonard uses to frighten Sheldon is a mask of the character "Balok" from the Star Trek original series episode "". The character was actually a mask or audio animatronic dummy used by a "not-so-scary" alien life form.
 * Like Raj, Sheldon urinates himself, among other things, when he is scared, just as Raj voted. In The Bozeman Reaction, he utters for the second time, "I am the master of my own bladder," as a frightened Sheldon crawls across a window ledge. The first mention in that episode is simply because he is too scared to go to the restroom, on the other hand.
 * Sheldon aptly says, "It's not suspicious that I'm ; it's consistent with my ." Leonard points this out in "The Infestation Hypothesis", revealing, "Sheldon, you do this all the time; you fixate on some crazy idea and then blow it way out of proportion."
 * Leonard finally meets a beautiful girl who shares his interests and who could give Penny trouble.
 * Alice is played by Courtney Ford, who is married to, an actor known for his role as Superman in . Superman is Leonard's favorite as seen in "The Big Bran Hypothesis", "The White Asparagus Triangulation", and "The Justice League Recombination". Alice even makes a reference to Superman: "I'm forbidden by my Kryptonian father to do so."
 * As Leonard asks Sheldon what he is doing, Sheldon responds, "Science. You wouldn't understand." He similarly mocks Leonard in The Monopolar Expedition when he says, "Perhaps you mean a different thing than I do when you say science."
 * Sheldon uses a, but can't even open a in "The Killer Robot Instability".
 * Oddly, Sheldon does not say anything about Leonard sitting in his spot at the end of the episode. However, Leonard still has it coming when Sheldon scares him.
 * This is the last appearance of Priya in the show.

Quotes
[Raj and Howard attempt to scare Sheldon, but he is unfazed.]

Sheldon: Please, fright depends on an element of surprise. The simple fact is, because I am much smarter than you, and able to anticipate your actions, it is highly unlikely that you two rubes could ever surprise me.

[Unnoticed by Sheldon, Leonard emerges from a closet wearing a mask of Balok from Star Trek.]

Raj: He’s probably right.

Howard: We can’t beat him. He’s just too smart.

Sheldon: [dismissively] Gentlemen. [Turns and sees Leonard in the Balok mask; then screams and faints.]

Howard: [as the trio survey an unconscious Sheldon] Who had money on faints?

Raj: [disappointingly] I had pees his pants.

Leonard: Hang on. [peers closely at Sheldon] Looks like everyone’s a winner.

Sheldon: You think you've poked fun at a milquetoast academic. Well, you've forgotten one thing. I am also a son of the Lone Star State. I’m Texas through and through. And we know how to settle scores down there. If you doubt me, ask Mexico.

Penny: It's a rough month when Halloween and hit at the same time.

Leonard: No, no, I messed up a little, you messed up a lot.

Priya: Well it's not a competition!

Leonard: Oh yeah it is, and you won...

Sheldon: Bazinga, punk! Now we're even.

Alice: I'm forbidden by my Kryptonian father to do so.

Sheldon: I tried to scare an Indian with a snake. Come on, Cooper, you're better than this!

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