The Thespian Catalyst

"The Thespian Catalyst" is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of the  sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on Thursday, February 3, 2011.

Summary
Sheldon gets a lot of negative responses about his physics. After talking to Amy, he decides to take lessons from Penny because he believes it will help him entertain his. Meanwhile, Raj, who is without a girlfriend, is having daydreams romantically involving Bernadette.

Extended Plot
Sheldon gives a lecture making his usual condescending comments. Meanwhile, the gang is enjoying the tweets of the people that attended Sheldon's ; all negative towards him from. When he arrives home, he expects the reaction to his lecture to be monumentally positive, but his friends proceed to read out some of the tweets.

Later, at the Cheesecake Factory, Raj mentions how it's sad to "accidentally walk into a bar and have no one hit on you." This statement makes Leonard and Howard think Raj's deprivation of female company has caused some issues. Bernadette comforts and reassures Raj.

Amy tries to cheer Sheldon up, but on failing that she proposes he take lessons as it is the responsibility of the teacher to "communicate as well as entertain and engage." Sheldon goes to Penny to ask for acting lessons; she agrees after he offers to pay her. Sheldon's first acting class in ends up stressing Penny, and in the second, they act out a  that Sheldon wrote based upon a  story when he was ten years old; "Where No Sheldon Has Gone Before." Penny takes the role of Mr. Spock, saying Sheldon needs to be out of his comfort zone so Sheldon plays his mother who is sending him off to the  at the request of Mr. Spock, who says that he is the best hope to bring peace to a vast and troubled. Eventually the script brings out very emotional feelings from Sheldon. He cries because in the play he doesn't want to get taken away. Penny calls his mother to help him settle down: "Hi, Mrs Cooper. It's Penny. Yeah, I think I broke your son". Then she has Sheldon talk to his mother, who begs her not to let Spock take him to the future.

Raj has a in which Howard has been offered a fellowship, but he has to leave the country and while he is away requests that Raj satisfies Bernadette's sexual needs; Raj willingly agrees to it. Later he that Howard is hit by a truck and is not going to make it, but is able to convey his, which is for Raj to take care of Bernadette sexually; again he agrees. The final dream sees Bernadette approaches him infuriated, but the scene quickly changes into a -style dance routine proclaiming their love to each other. Snapping out of each of these, Raj eventually comes to the conclusion that he is definitely not gay.

Critics

 * The TV Critic: "This is exactly what you would expect from the show: two good story ideas which go nowhere. The writers are far more interested in creating jokes around their initial concepts than actually bringing them to a conclusion. I think the show suffers because the best jokes come out of fully realized stories."
 * The A.V. Club gives this episode a B.
 * IMDb user reviews

Costume Notes

 * Leonard wears his Ames Brothers "Wisdom" shirt. and his periodic table shirt.
 * Sheldon wears his "73 Prime" t-shirt

Trivia

 * Howard says, "FYI, I think that’s what Darth Vader said just before he started building the Death Star." Darth Vader did build the Death Star, as explicitly revealed in The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader: Of all the operations that Darth Vader oversaw, the most important was the construction of the Death Star, a moon-sized battle station that, when finished, would be equipped with a super-laser capable of destroying entire planets.
 * In the beginning of the scene where Howard, Leonard, and Raj are at the Cheesecake Factory, Bernadette can be seen in the background tending the bar.
 * Penny does not appear as the Cheesecake Factory waitress with Bernadette at the table where the three men (Raj, Howard and Leonard) are sitting at in the Cheesecake Factory scene of this episode. She might be at home in her apartment doing different stuff whilst waiting for Sheldon and his script pieces to come her apartment and she might have a different shift on some different days.
 * Neither Amy nor Sheldon is sitting on that empty chair at the round table with Howard, Raj and Leonard in the Cheesecake Factory scene of this episode. Not even one of the members in the "Shamy" duo (Sheldon or Amy) is there in that same scene either.
 * The was actually renamed Syfy.
 * Raj considers s to have high.
 * One of the apparel Sheldon wears, more specifically in the scene where he knocks on Penny's door earlier in the episode, contains a number 73. This statement is a reference to the episode "The Alien Parasite Hypothesis".
 * Sheldon serves as a guest lecturer on the topic of .
 * Penny has Mary Cooper's phone number memorized or has it on.
 * When Raj is day dreaming he can speak in front of women, or at least Bernadette, for whom he has a crush at this time.
 * Raj's hallucination with Bernadette turns into an.
 * Penny's acting skills seen.
 * In "The Work Song Nanocluster", Sheldon says that Penny has a "don't knock on my door before eleven o'clock or I punch you in the throat" rule. However, in this episode, Penny requests that he come over at 9AM for his acting lesson.
 * (Bollywood Dance Number Lyrics):
 * Raj: Like the wild elephant, I am trumpeting my love for you,
 * Bernadette: Like a hidden flower, my sweet fragrance comes into view,
 * Raj: My heart burns for you like a sun at noon.
 * Bernadette: My desert welcomes you like the rain in monsoon.
 * Raj: You are my heart.
 * Bernadette: My universe.
 * Raj: You are my heart.
 * Bernadette: My universe.
 * Both: My universe.
 * Both: You are my heart, my universe (x3)
 * Both: My universe...

Quotes

 * (Penny calls Mrs. Cooper)
 * Penny: Mrs. Cooper, hey, it's Penny, yeah, I think I broke your son. Okay, hold on. (hands the phone to Sheldon) Talk to your mother.
 * Sheldon: Mommy, I love you, don't let Spock take me to the future.


 * Raj: Dance number aside, I am so not gay.


 * Sheldon: Now, in this pivotal scene, Sheldon's mother, played by you, argues with an emissary of the united federation of planets, Mr. Spock, the role I will bring to life.
 * Penny: Okay, that's fine, but let's try and get you out of the comfort zone.
 * Sheldon: Why would we want to do that? It's called the comfort zone for a reason.
 * Penny: Okay, the whole point of this is to loosen you up a little, so I'm thinking you'll play the role of your mother, and I will bring the life to Mr. Spock.
 * Sheldon: I'm sorry, you'll be Spock?
 * Penny: It's only logical.


 * Sheldon: Oh, tweets about my lecture. Hmm. That's rather unfair. That's downright cruel. Plus, insects has six legs. Yeah, I'm not familiar with the acronym KMN.
 * Leonard: Oh, uh, from the context, we think it means kill me now.
 * Sheldon: Well, I suppose everyone's entitled to their own opinion. I think I'll turn in. I didn't want to teach those poopy heads, anyway. (Goes into his room)
 * Howard: FYI, I think that's what Darth Vader said just before he started building the Death Star.