The Hot Troll Deviation

"The Hot Troll Deviation" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of the CBS sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on October 14, 2010.

Summary
Howard is embarrassed when a secret of why he broke up with Bernadette is revealed and Sheldon and Raj battle at work. The two of them meet to discuss their relationship. Katee Sackhoff and George Takei guest star as Howard's love gurus.

Extended Plot
When the guys run into Howard's ex-girlfriend at the Cheesecake Factory, he ends up confronting his lingering feelings for Bernadette. He seeks help from Penny, who agrees on the condition that Howard reveal the reason behind his breakup. He confesses that Bernadette caught him engaging in cyber-sex with a fellow World of Warcraft player, later revealed to be a male colleague at the university. Howard and Bernadette discuss their relationship at the restaurant and make amends, deciding to give it another try. They go out on a date and are last seen making out in her car.

Meanwhile, Raj needs to find a job or risk getting deported. Sheldon agrees to let Raj work for him in his office. Sheldon and Raj argue about whether or not Raj can have a desk. Sheldon cites budgetary reasons and Raj offers to buy his own desk, provided he can put it in Sheldon's office. Sheldon arrives at the office later to find Raj sitting behind a large and ornate desk. Sheldon demands it be removed, and Raj refuses, leading to an escalating battle of annoyances. Eventually, Sheldon tries to "smoke" Raj out with noxious hydrogen sulfide gas. Raj decides to counter by lighting aromatherapy candles, igniting the gas. Raj covered in black soot and his (recently acquired) parakeet vacate the office in a cloud of smoke with Raj stating that "This is not over."

Katee Sackhoff and George Takei help Howard face his feelings for Bernadette while he is in bed fantasizing and offer him kissing advice at the end of his date with her.

Critics
"I very much like seeing the show bring back a couple of the arc plots in Bernadette and Raj and Sheldon working together. It rewards fans for paying attention and adds depth to the show...As for Howard, he needs Bernadette. I'm relieved to see her back because she seemed to have been written out of the show last season and she makes him a more likeable character...I do appreciate the consistency of having Katee Sackhoff back and all credit to George Takei who camped the hell out of everything they asked of him...Two good stories but neither was well told." - The TV Critic's Review

Quotes
Raj: I'm telling you, if Xenon emits ultraviolet light, then those dark matter discoveries must be wrong!

Sheldon: ''Yes, well, if we lived in a world where slow moving Xenon produced light, then you'd be correct. Also, pigs would fly, my derrière would produce cotton candy, and the Phantom Menace would be a timeless classic.''

Raj: ''You're so arrogant! If you were a superhero, you're name would be Captain Arrogant. And you know what his superpower would be? Arrogance!''

Sheldon: ''You're wrong again. If my superpower were arrogance, my name would be Doctor Arroganto.''

Sheldon: Penny, a moment.

Penny: What?

Sheldon: Nothing, I just wanted Raj to stop talking.

(Raj tries to whisper something to Howard)

Howard: (To Raj) No, no, he won, suck it up.

Sheldon: This isn't a desk, this is a Brobdingnagian monstrosity!

Raj: Is that the American idiom for "giant big-ass desk"?

Sheldon: It's actually British.

Sheldon: ''Why do you even want this here? Its size is completely disproportionate to its purpose.''

Raj: Well seeing as its purpose was to piss you off, I'd say it's spot on.

Sheldon: ''Alright, I see what's going on here. This is the opening salvo to what will be a escalating series of juvenile "tit for tat" exchanges. Well titted.''

Raj: Thank you.

Sheldon: Stand by for my upcoming tat!

Trivia

 * The affair is said to take place under the Bridge of Souls. The Bridge of Souls is a part of the Auchenai Crypts instance in Outland and you cannot get under it in the current state of the game, you also can't have sex in game without a illicit mod.
 * Katee Sackhoff is the second female who plays herself on the show.
 * George Takei is the seventh person to play him/herself on the show.
 * In one scene, Howard can be seen wearing a Pac-Man belt buckle.Vlcsnap-2012-02-25-12h58m12s93.png
 * Raj revealed that he has six siblings, with three brothers and two sisters. (Presumably, one is hermaphroditic.)
 * Leonard is a quarter of an inch taller than Howard.
 * Raj uses a Nerf Dart Tag Hyperfire (Lime Green re-release) in the scene on the right.
 * The Marshmallow Shooter that Sheldon uses in this episode can be ordered at marshmallowville.com
 * The word "Brobdingnagian" derives from the name of the fictional place "Brobdingnag" in British author Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels, thus Sheldon said this word is British. In Brobdingnag all people are giants to normal humans, thus its adjective form "Brobdingnagian" is used to describe anything of colossal size.
 * In the scene before Sheldon enters his office and see's Raj's Brobdingnagian desk, he breaks the fourth wall by looking towards the audience for a moment.
 * Both Katee Sackhoff and George Takei wear costumes from their respective science fiction shows. Sackhoff wears (as mentioned in the episode) her flight suit from Battlestar Galactica, while Takei wears a costume similar to the "civvies" he wore in the films Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
 * This is the only episode in which Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, the main setting for the series, makes no appearance, except in the opening sequence.
 * Leonard can not eat melons.

Video
thumb|400px|left|Howard confesses what went wrong in the relationship