The Imitation Perturbation

"The Imitation Perturbation" is the sixth episode of the twelfth season of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired October 25, 2018.

Summary
When Wolowitz dresses up as Sheldon for, Sheldon seeks retaliation at Leonard and Penny's Halloween party. Also, Leonard is shocked that Penny doesn't remember their first.

Extended Plot
During take out in the Hofstadter’s apartment, the subject of the fortieth anniversary of the movie “” comes up. Missing the point, Sheldon describes the origins of the holiday while Amy wonders if everyone was going to dress up at work. At Bernadette’s work, someone once dressed up as a triggering a company  which alerted the CDC. Leonard suggests that they throw a Halloween party. Penny used to throw them at the time though Leonard only remembers being invited to one of them. Howard warns them that his costume is going to be very scary.

At Caltech as Sheldon walks down the corridor dressed as from the "" movies, Howard joins him dressed up as Sheldon complete with Flash shirt. Sheldon stares at him and then asks Howard if he did something to his hair. “Yes,” Howard replies as Sheldon walks off and Howard looks astonished.

In the Caltech cafeteria, Leonard is complete with  hat and Raj is   or “Kooth Bader Ginsberg” as Raj wants to be called. Howard joins them dressed as Sheldon as Raj and Leonard laugh at him. “Hello,” exclaimed Howard and the clueless Sheldon. After Raj finds Howard guilty of “Killing it” with his {costume, Howard then gives them interesting facts about the, the word irritable and the word. They guys kid him about his spot and his bathroom schedule. Sheldon is still clueless until Leonard explains Howard’s costume. Sheldon doesn’t want them laughing at him.

Without costume, Sheldon sulks at his desk while his wife Amy enters in the purple dress from the third BTTF movie. Sheldon is no longer interested in costumes while Amy reminds him that she put on a for him though she prefers to breathe. Sheldon wonders if he tries to correct everyone and complains about everyone laughing at Howard as Sheldon. Sheldon feels that they laugh in a derisive way. Not in an instructive way like he does when they are stupid.

Penny comes home to her apartment decorated and exclaims, ".” Leonard won’t give her any candy until she is in costume. Penny claims to be dressed as a pharmaceutical rep who is also a failed actress who traded constant rejection for a bonus and dental plan. Then she wonders why women’s costumes are always sexy this and sexy that.  Leonard then brings up the party that she invited him to and asks what was memorable about it. Penny only remembers throwing up in a pumpkin. Leonard brings up their first kiss together. Penny remembers their first kiss later at his first birthday party when she felt sorry for him. They just remember different things. Leonard remembers falling in love and Penny remembers throwing up in a pumpkin.

Amy goes to the Wolowitzes and tries to get Bernadette to have Howard apologize. Bernie thought it was all in good fun. She reminds Amy that Sheldon called Halley “” and always makes fun of Howard’s magic, job and his alma mater. She adds that Sheldon is the problem and that he should take it up with Howard.

At the party, Raj shows up as the Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg and Anu is dressed as the. Anu quips that Raj is going to interpret her. Stuart is dressed up as a butterfly using one of Halley’s costumes and Bert is dressed up as geologist “Doc” Ewing who won the 1960 Vetlesen prize. Bernadette is and Howard is Bert the chimney sweep. When get home is going to clean out Mary Poppins “chimney”. Penny is a barmaid. While sitting on the couch, Leonard again reminds his of their first Halloween kiss. Speaking with Raj and Anu, he thinks that an arranged marriage is awesome until he realizes that the woman still gets a choice in the arrangement. Sheldon and Amy show up dressed up as Howard and Bernadette. The Wolowitzes are gob-smacked. Bernadette demands to know what they are doing. Amy says that she is being unnecessarily hurtful in a very sweet voice. Sheldon claims not to understand because he went to MIT. Howard congratulates them and then asks them to go change. Amy says she can’t because she has such teeny tiny legs. Sheldon then pulls a quarter out of her nose.

Howard and Bernadette are not speaking on the drive home. Bernadette was hurt and then asks Howard if her voice is that high pitched and annoying. Howard claims that her voice is melodious. Then she wants to know if she is unnecessarily hurtful, but Howard didn’t hear that from her melodious voice.

While cleaning up, Penny does admit that she remembers their first Halloween kiss; however, she hated that that was their first since she was drunk and mad at Kurt. She wanted their first to mean something, so that is why she wants the birthday kiss to be their first. Leonard can live with that as their official first kiss. They start to make out until Stuart shows up. Penny sends him out with the trash and then locks the door. “Where were we?”

Sheldon and Amy are having lunch discussing how hurt Howard’s feeling had made Sheldon a better person. Howard comes over and asks them to apologize since Bernadette is very upset about their costumes. Amy would be glad to as soon as Bernadette apologizes for not getting Howard to apologize to Sheldon. Howard then cited Star Wars in the holochess scene where is told to let the  win.

Bernadette is working in the kitchen while Sheldon enters. Howard let him in and then drove off. Sheldon tells her that he learned that her feeling are hurt. Amy is not the first person to kid her about her squeaky voice. She found it hard to be taken seriously when she was the smallest person in the room. Sheldon felt the same way in high school since he was small and only nine years old. In high school she was “Bernadette the ”. The other kids called him egghead. Bernie was made to breath helium and her voice was so high no one except the dog could hear her. They end up agreeing that they are more alike than they thought since they both took a lot of crap from people growing up.

Finally the guys are sitting down to watch “Halloween” together which Sheldon is finally ready to do. The lights go up and then Amy comes in and asks what the guys think that they are doing. They mention the “Halloween” movie and May demands that Sheldon come home because she was forbidding him to watch it. He leaves and then at their door he tells Amy that she took long enough. Amy screams at him that she had just gotten his text.

Credits

 * Guest starring:
 * Kevin Sussman as Stuart
 * Brian Posehn as Bert
 * Pamela Adlon as Halley
 * Rati Gupta as Anu
 * David Theune as Dr. Graybell
 * Teleplay: Eric Kaplan, Jeremy Howe & Adam Faberman
 * Story: Steve Holland, Maria Ferrari & Tara Hernandez

Critics

 * Caroline Preece at Den of Geek! - The episode’s big argument begins when Howard, perhaps sensing his chance to get one last dig in before the end, dresses up as Sheldon for Halloween. Everyone gets a kick out of it except the joke’s subject, who has to have it explained to him before he even realizes he’s the object of ridicule. The joke is funny for the audience precisely because it’s used sparingly, with Howard quickly changing into a different costume for Leonard and Penny’s impromptu party later that evening...Cue Sheldon and Amy returning the favour and turning up to the party dressed as Howard and Bernadette, with the prize going to Amy for her spot-on impression of Bernadette’s (notably put on by the actress) high-pitched voice and mannerisms. It’s a cutting observation of how Bernadette constantly uses her femininity to get away with being cruel and abrasive, and her rebuttal that she’s had to be that way in order for people to take her seriously feels equally true.
 * IMDb user reviews

Trivia

 * This is the last Halloween-themed episode.
 * Penny may not remember her first Halloween kiss with Leonard, but she had been drinking "a lot".
 * Howard is dressed up like Sheldon Cooper for Halloween and Sheldon is dressed up as Dr. Emmett L Brown from Back to the Future. Sheldon and Amy were dressing like Dr Emmett L. Brown and Amy was dressing like Clara Clayton, but they changed costumes in the party dressed like Howard and Bernadette so Sheldon can get revenge on Howard.
 * Leonard and Penny are having a Halloween party in their apartment and Howard and Bernadette are dressed up as Bert and Mary Poppins.
 * Raj was dressed up as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anu dressed like the constitution.
 * Penny did remember their first kiss, but she wanted to forget about that day, it wasn't good day when she was dating Kurt. Leonard understood.

Quotes
To be entered.