The Egg Salad Equivalency

The Egg Salad Equivalency is the twelfth episode of the sixth season of The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on January 3, 2013.

Summary
Alex asks Leonard out to dinner, causing him to develop a cocky attitude that irritates Sheldon. Sheldon attempts to direct Alex's attention back to her work, but his condescension and insensitivity cause her to file a sexual harassment claim against him. Meanwhile, the concept of Leonard dating Alex causes Penny to become insecure about herself.

Extended plot
While Sheldon and Leonard are playing giant Jenga, Alex stops by to pick up last night's tapes of his nighttime mumblings because Sheldon explains that he feels that what he says in his sleep might be as important to him as what he says in the daytime. He leaves the room, and Alex asks Leonard if he has any plans for the weekend, going on to say that she will be attending a lecture on subatomic space-time by Caltech theoretical physicist, which Leonard finds interesting. She invites Leonard to go with her, but he is unable to go due to having plans with Penny; Alex suggests that the two of them could discuss the lecture over dinner, stunning Leonard and causing him to knock over the Jenga blocks.

Later, at the cafeteria, Leonard tells Howard and Raj about Alex asking him out, much to Raj's dismay. Raj accuses Leonard of enjoying the situation even though he already has a girlfriend, something which Leonard smugly confirms. He adds that while he has no plans of taking Alex up on her invitation, he enjoys being the object of another girl's attraction. Sheldon joins the group and quickly learns about Leonard's feelings on the situation; he quickly becomes jealous that Alex's attention is not focused entirely on her work, and even more so because Leonard is the one distracting her.

Sheldon tries to decide what to do about Alex and seeks the advice of Penny, Bernadette, and Amy. He tells them about the situation, using fake names in an attempt to conceal the identities of those involved, though the three women quickly deduce who he is talking about. Sheldon refuses to admit who he is really speaking of, and continues to refer to Leonard as Ricardo Shillyshally, Alex as Condelisa, and himself as Doctor Einstein von Brainstorm. Penny asks Sheldon if Leonard returned any of Alex's advances, though Sheldon claims that the situation is not about Leonard and Alex, but Alex and Sheldon. Bernadette reassures Penny that Leonard would never cheat on her. After Sheldon finally acknowledges who they are talking about, he asks the three what he should do to correct the situation. Bernadette tells him that if Alex is doing something to make Leonard uncomfortable, he should confront her and tell her to stop. Sheldon, however, unknowingly makes the situation worse by replying that Leonard isn't uncomfortable since he is enjoying Alex's attention, and this revelation upsets Penny. Oblivious, Sheldon says that their advice has not helped him at all.

Later in his office, Sheldon attempts to confront Alex about what he perceived to be an inappropriate sexual advance on Leonard. Alex denies it, saying that she only invited him to dinner. Sheldon continues to tell Alex that he doesn't like what she did, and tries to discourage her from pursuing Leonard by making a misogynistic comment. Despite Alex telling him that he is making her uncomfortable, he continues and calls her a slave to her desire to reproduce. To finish, he shows Alex an illustrated book on sexually transmitted diseases in hopes that she will be discouraged from having sex with Leonard. Alex, getting more and more shocked, leaves.

Back at the apartment building, Penny and Leonard meet in the hallway. Penny asks Leonard about his good mood twice to see if he will tell her about Alex asking him out; he doesn't, but he tells Penny that he will be in an even better mood once he spends some time with his "special girl". She asks if he means her or Alex since she knows that he enjoys Alex's interest in him. Leonard looks stupefied and Penny storms off, slamming her door behind her.

Knowing that he's unaware of something, Leonard asks Sheldon if he told her about Alex. Sheldon replies that he had, and had gotten no good advice (still believing that the situation is about him). Leonard tells him that he shouldn't have told Penny that he was being hit on. He then gets a call to report to the Human Resources department, since Alex has filed a complaint that he had acted inappropriately. Leonard asks him what he did; Sheldon thinks about it and says that he did nothing because he thinks he is "a delight".

The Human Resources administrator tells Sheldon that Alex has filed a complaint. Sheldon can't see what is wrong since she has a front row seat as he makes scientific history and has free string cheese in his mini-refrigerator, and, he says, he led his assistant away from a life of promiscuity. The administrator tells Sheldon that he had said things that he shouldn't say in the workplace like calling her a slave to her sexual desires and comparing her to an egg salad sandwich. Sheldon said that he sees the confusion, adding that he was not trying to single her out; he said that all women are slaves to their desires including the admin, who is African-American. He calls her a slave again, especially during certain points of her menstrual cycle. The HRA, getting agitated, tells him to shut up. Feeling intimidated, Sheldon throws Howard, Raj, and Leonard under the bus in an attempt to direct her anger away from him.

At the apartment building, Leonard plays a musical apology for Penny on his cello. She accepts the apology, initially trying to deny any hatred for Alex but very quickly admitting that she does hate her, adding that she feels less suited for Leonard than Alex is, saying she is "smart enough to not have to look up words in the dictionary after she talks to you." Penny adds that she is feeling very insecure about their relationship, but Leonard reassures her that nothing is ever gong to happen between him and Alex. He then gets a call to report to the Human Resources department, as do Howard and Raj.

The guys are sitting outside the HRA's office waiting to be called in, and Raj is adding alcohol to his coffee in order to speak to her. Howard points out that he was often called in before he met Bernadette, to the point where he and the HRA are on a first-name basis, as Leonard correctly points out that the only reason why they were called in was because Sheldon threw them all under the bus during his interview. Sheldon shows up and announces that he is filing a complaint against the admin because the explicit language she used during his interview made him uncomfortable. The four are then called into the office.

Some time later, Sheldon sits down and apologizes to Alex because it had been pointed out to him that his language in dealing with her was offensive, adding that he has to take online sexual harassment training. He then asks Alex to take the online course for him as part of her duties because he is so busy. Sheldon leaves the office, leaving behind a very unhappy Alex.

Finally, Penny starts looking at science classes at a local community college, since Alex can talk to Leonard about his work and she can't. She decides that they are all boring. Instead of trying to be a scientist, she decides to look like one and buys a pair of black-rimmed eyeglasses. Leonard is initially skeptical, but becomes extremely excited when Penny puts on the glasses, and they head for his bedroom.

Critics
Oliver Sava of gave the episode an A. Jesse Scheeden of  gave the episode an 8.4 out of 10. Dhruv Rao of The DR Club gave the episode a B.

Trivia

 * Alex invites Leonard to join her in attending a lecture on subatomic by Caltech theoretical physicist, one of the world's leading experts on the astrophysical implications of Einstein's  and a longtime friend of Stephen Hawking. Leonard then states that the lecture is Thorne's take on 's . A world renowned relativist, John Wheeler had mentored Kip Thorne as his doctoral adviser and devised the concept of quantum foam in 1955.
 * As the Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics Emeritus, Kip Thorne is retired. However, he still engages in research &mdash; evidenced by the continued publication of technical articles in refereed physics journals after attaining status in 2009 &mdash; as a member of the TAPIR (Theoretical Astrophysics Including Relativity) group. Thus, the prospect of Thorne presenting such a lecture remains feasible.
 * The song that Leonard sings and plays on his cello to apologize to Penny follows the melody and the lyrical pattern of "".
 * Sheldon gets his friends involved when being questioned by the HRA, similar to his actions when being questioned by Angela Page in "The Apology Insufficiency".
 * This is the second appearance of Raj's, following "The Transporter Malfunction", though the dog is much older. She was also mentioned in "The Date Night Variable" and "The Santa Simulation".
 * In the second scene of the episode, Raj lists a handful of cereal mascots and points out that none of them are female.
 * Not only do Live+Same Day returns have the CBS comedy setting an even higher bar for total viewers (19.25 million), the episode topped its record haul among adults 18-49. The 6.1 rating bests Thursday's fast affiliate showing by a tenth of a point. (The 6.0 adults record was set on Feb. 8, 2010, and matched the next month.)