The Wildebeest Implementation

"The Wildebeest Implementation" is the twenty-second episode of the fourth season of the  sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on Thursday, May 5, 2011.

Summary
While Leonard, Priya, Howard, and Bernadette are having dinner, Penny and Amy have Bernadette as their "double agent" code-named "Wildebeest" to secretly spy on Priya and Leonard. Sheldon "invents" three person chess. Raj tests out a new medication for his social anxiety.

Extended Plot
Penny, Amy, and Bernadette are in a. Amy is in one stall talks to Penny who is in the adjoining one. Amy explains that her previous trips to the toilet have mostly been about excreting, but now she can socialize too.

Penny doesn't enjoy this socializing activity too much as she presumably suffers from. Next, the girls proceed to a, where Bernadette announces that she and Howard have been invited by Priya to dine with her and Leonard. Amy assumes Priya plans to test Bernadette's to the group but Amy wants Bernadette to attend the dinner as a double agent.

Amy is hanging out at Penny's apartment and gets a confirming that Bernadette is at Raj's apartment dining with Priya, Leonard, and Howard. Bernadette soon alerts Amy and Penny about a snide comment Priya made about Penny's career. In retaliation, they lie about Penny shooting a with  in  which will be shown in. Leonard is surprised Penny didn't tell him this fact. Priya asks why he is surprised when he doesn't spend time with Penny, his ex-girlfriend. Leonard, who is now trapped, is at a loss for words, but finally says he wasn't surprised, but "". Bernadette announces Penny is also dating an after she misreads a text saying "" from Amy and Penny.

At apartment 4A, Sheldon is emulating three people as he tests out his three-person chess when, suddenly, Raj knocks on the door and says he needs a. Sheldon makes the excuse that he has company (his other two selves). After some deliberation, he lets Raj in who tells him he has received a new drug his friend claims to be "" for people with. Raj is worried that the s will affect his brain, which is a very important tool in his field. Sheldon reassures him as he believes Raj isn't that smart.

Back at Raj's place, Howard is curious about how Penny met an astronaut. Bernadette tries to answer his question, but soon the lies falls apart and she gradually becomes crankier. Bernadette then heads to the toilet and calls Penny and Amy. She tells them about her dilemma about the lie falling apart. Bernadette mentions Leonard is going to to meet Priya's parents.

Raj and Sheldon go out to a to test out the effects of the drug. Raj approaches a girl and stares at her silently for a moment. Eventually he is able to talk to her and they hit it off quite admirably. Sheldon takes his eyes off Raj for a moment and, when he looks at him again, Raj is already. The woman leaves as Raj becomes completely nude. The drug removed all his social inhibitions.

Back at Raj's, Bernadette asks Priya about her and Leonard's trip to India. After establishing Priya is not getting engaged to Leonard, Bernadette tells Priya she is going to the bathroom but her true intention is to update Penny and Amy. Priya notes that she has been in there a lot this evening and asks if she's okay. Bernadette breaks down and storms off, with Howard following. Priya is at a loss for words at her actions and Leonard says "I think the word you are looking for is 'befuddled.'"

The final scene shows Leonard, Sheldon, and Howard playing a confusing game of three-person chess, and Raj, who is completely naked, still under the effects of the drug.

Critics

 * The TV Critic: "I liked the simple way that situation unfolded. Penny suggested the lie in a simple flick of resentment but the less savvy Amy and Bernadette foolishly took her seriously. The transformation of Amy into a "typical" girl remains fun...The writers lost focus here and presented a fairly mediocre story. However the strong arc plot they have built up for the characters prevented this from feeling too irrelevant."
 * The A.V. Club gave this episode a B.
 * IMDb user reviews

Trivia

 * First episode to show Bernadette at Raj's apartment.
 * First appearance of Raj's bathroom.
 * When Sheldon is working on his three-person chess game, but is interrupted by a lonely Raj, he announces that he has company and later speaks to an empty chair for an aside. Apparently, he has created imaginary opponents to test his chess variant. In "The Porkchop Indeterminacy" (S1E15), Sheldon's twin sister Missy mentioned his imaginary friends during his childhood, to what Sheldon corrects her saying they were imaginary colleagues.
 * Penny is the only one of the girls who does not share any scenes with the guys (Raj, Sheldon, Howard and Leonard) in this episode.
 * Before Raj leaves the apartment, he decides to wear his blue windbreaker which portrays his sadness. He then encounters Sheldon (wearing orange) at his apartment and theorizes that orange should resemble loneliness since it does not rhyme with any word.
 * A few episodes before "The Cohabitation Formulation" (S4E16), Priya states to Raj that if you eat beef, you will have to live with cows for three months and drink their urine but he disbelieves this portion of the Hindu code. In this episode, Raj tells Sheldon that he is taking medication that has a beta-blocker with an extract from cow's urine.
 * While Howard, Leonard, Priya, and Amy consider it implausible for Penny to date an astronaut causing Bernadette grief, Howard later becomes an actual astronaut in the next season (Series 5).
 * First episode to show Bernadette's short temper and aggressive nature, a running gag in future episodes.

Quotes

 * (Amy's phone rings)
 * Amy: Hang on. (she looks at her phone) It's the wildebeest. Priya just made a snide comment about your acting career.
 * Penny: What the hell did she say?
 * Amy: She thinks it's cool you're following your dream, no matter what.
 * Penny: (short pause) That bitch!


 * Priya: Who wants some more coffee?
 * Leonard: Thanks, yeah.
 * Howard: Sure.
 * Bernadette: Let me help you.
 * Howard: Nice to see that the gals are getting along.
 * Leonard: Gals? Who are you, Fred Flintstone?
 * Bernadette: This trip to India sounds fun.
 * Priya: Yeah, I think it will be.
 * Bernadette: Are you concerned your parents might not approve of Leonard?
 * Priya: A little. They’re very old-fashioned.
 * Bernadette: Well, I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s not like you guys are getting engaged, right?
 * Priya: Oh, God, no. We’re not there yet.
 * Bernadette: Not engaged. Very interesting. I have to tinkle.
 * Priya: You’ve been in there a lot tonight. Are you okay?
 * Bernadette: (she answers Priya crossly) Yes. (she asks Priya crossly) Are you writing a book?
 * Priya: Why are you getting upset?
 * Bernadette: (yells at Priya crossly) I’m not upset. Maybe you’re upset.
 * Priya: What’s up with you? (Bernadette mouth something but nothing comes out) Bernadette?
 * (Bernadette mouths for one last second and she finally gets most tremendously fed up and cross by all of this)
 * Bernadette: I can’t do this anymore! I’m a good girl! I went to Catholic school!
 * (Bernadette angrily grabs her handbag, opens Raj's apartment door in a rage and storms out with giant fury leaving Raj's apartment door open)
 * Howard: Okay, well, it’s getting late. This was terrific. (knocks the first Jenga pieces down) You win. (knocks the second Jenga pieces down) Bernie? (He exits)
 * (The sound of Howard slamming the door of Raj's apartment is now played to the scene of the puzzled Priya)
 * Leonard: I think the word you’re looking for is befuddled.
 * (Leonard now sips his coffee and Priya doesn't know what to say)


 * Penny (to the shoes) : All right, guys, you have to go back. I can’t afford you. “No, don’t send us away, we love you.” I love you, too, but you cost more than my rent. “But, Penny, you look so good in us.” Damn it, the shoes are right.
 * Amy: Good golly, Penny, your whimsy is boundless. (Phone rings) What do you got for me, wildebeest?
 * (Scene of the unhappy Bernadette in Raj's bathroom)
 * Bernadette: (upset and panicky) I think they’re on to me. The story’s starting to fall apart.
 * Amy: Calm down. Everything’s going to be okay. (To Penny) We may have to kill her. Bernadette, I’m putting you on speakerphone. Where are you now?
 * Bernadette: (out of vision through the speaker) In the bathroom.
 * Amy: Oh, look at this, another one of our classic bathroom gabfests. What’s the problem?
 * (Scene of Bernadette getting more angry in Raj's bathroom)
 * Bernadette: (answering Amy crossly) They’re just asking me all sorts of questions I can’t answer.
 * (Scene of Amy at Penny's apartment reassuring Bernadette on the phone)
 * Amy: Just change the subject.
 * Bernadette: (out of vision through the speaker) I suppose I could get them back to talking about Leonard going to India to meet Priya’s parents.
 * Penny: (gulps her wine in shock) What?
 * Bernadette: (out of vision through the speaker) They said something about going there this summer.
 * Penny: What, are they getting engaged?
 * Bernadette: (she is so tremendously cross) I don’t know. I was too busy covering my heinie on Amy’s stupid astronaut story!
 * Amy: What astronaut story?
 * Bernadette: (softly and crossly) You texted me Penny’s dating an astronaut.
 * Amy: I texted architect. That’s amusing. Auto-correct must've changed it.
 * Bernadette: (she is so tremendously cross again) Yeah, it’s hysterical.
 * Penny: All right, look, just forget about the astronaut.
 * Amy: Architect. Where would you have met an astronaut?
 * Penny: Look, just find out what’s up with this trip to India.
 * Bernadette: (she's so totally fed up and angry with enormous rage) I don’t want to do this anymore!
 * Penny: Don’t you quit on us!
 * (We now hear Howard knock on Raj's bathroom door)
 * Howard (out of vision): Bernie, you okay?
 * Bernadette (she's screaming with huge anger): It was an architect!
 * (Amy and Penny are shocked by Bernadette's huge angry scream through her phone)


 * Sheldon: Actually I was wondering if I could add a third new chess piece. How do you feel about Prince Joey? The king's feeble minded but well-meaning cousin... The fun thing about Prince Joey is every time he moves, there's a one in five chance he'll kill himself.


 * Sheldon: My catapult flings my bishop to Howard’s Queen’s Gorilla two.
 * Howard: Nice. Okay, rook to transporter pad. And he comes out at Leonard’s Queen’s Bishop five-and-a-third. Check on Leonard.
 * Leonard: Hang on. When is my pawn allowed to use the golf cart?
 * Sheldon: When it’s done charging. Or you land on the time machine. Obviously.
 * Leonard: Oh, oh, Beekeeper to King 12. I capture your Pope and release the swarm. Checkmate on Sheldon.
 * Sheldon: I knew I should have given my Pope the jet pack.
 * Raj: Hey, I've got winners.


 * Raj: She never even got to see my penis. Ta-da!


 * Amy: I must say, Penny, this is great fun.
 * Penny: Glad you’re enjoying yourself.
 * Amy: Until I met you and Bernadette, my trips to the bathroom had been entirely focused on elimination. Now they have a delightful social aspect.
 * Bernadette: Amy, you must’ve been in the bathroom with other women before.
 * Amy: Of course I have. But they were strangers and seemed off-put when I engaged in friendly stall-to-stall chit-chat.
 * Bernadette: Some women don’t like to get chummy when their panties are down.
 * Amy: You okay in there, bestie?
 * Penny: I’m fine.
 * Amy: The reason I ask is that many people experience bladder shyness, the inability to pass urine
 * Penny: Yeah, I said I’m fine. Stop talking to me.
 * Amy: She always this crabby when she urinates?
 * Bernadette: We’re really not that close.
 * Penny: Screw it. I’ll go later.
 * Amy: And I’ll be right by your side.


 * (The opening scene at the ladies shoe shop)
 * Bernadette: (friendly to Penny for one second) Did I tell you Priya invited me and Howard to have dinner with her and Leonard
 * Penny: Oh, that’s nice
 * Amy: (she speaks indignantly) No, it’s not. It’s a strategic manoeuvre. Leonard’s new girlfriend is testing Bernadette’s loyalty to you and the group. That bitch is crafty.
 * (Penny walks away)
 * Bernadette: (1st time: she's asking Amy crossly) You think?
 * Amy: (1st time: she's slightly sarcastic) Of course. How does the cheetah attack a herd of wildebeests? By going after its weakest member.
 * (Bernadette is now a tiny bit cross by Amy's joke)
 * Bernadette: (2nd time: she's asking Amy crossly) Well, what makes me the weakest member?
 * Amy: Your trusting nature coupled with your teeny-tiny body. You wouldn’t last a minute on the Serengeti.
 * (Bernadette is now really cross by this. The hugely cross Penny returns to the scene)
 * Penny: (she gives Amy a very sharp advice) Okay, Amy, you’re being silly. I am not concerned about who hangs out with who. And I certainly don’t have a problem with Leonard’s new girlfriend who wears way too much makeup. Ooh, these are cute. Of course if I buy them, I’ll have to rent my womb out to a gay couple.
 * Bernadette: (she is even more anxious) It doesn’t matter. I’m going to tell her we can’t make it.
 * Amy: (she's being bossy to Bernadette) Oh, no. You have to go.
 * Bernadette: (she is so confused) I don’t understand. I thought I was a teeny-tiny wildebeest.
 * Amy: (2nd time: she's slightly sarcastic) You are, with hair that smells like strawberries. And we’re going to use that to our advantage.
 * Penny: (she's asking Amy crossly) Wait. What are you talking about?
 * Amy: (she tells Penny a shifty plan) By accepting the invitation, Bernadette becomes a double agent inside the enemy camp. She could ferret out Priya’s tactics, identify her weaknesses and feed her false information, such as, Leonard’s no stranger to back-alley cockfights.
 * Bernadette: (she is even more anxious) I don’t know. I’m not a very good liar. They kind of whup that out of you in Catholic school.
 * Amy: (she explains a cunning plot to Bernadette) Don’t worry. I’ll teach you. I did two years of Cub Scouts before they found out I was a girl.
 * (Bernadette isn't too pleased by Amy's cunning plot)
 * Penny: (she now has a devious plot) Okay, I don’t know you people. I’m just an innocent woman wondering if this shoe store will take my Texaco card.
 * (Penny now sneakily walks out of view)
 * Amy: (she's asking Bernadette a shifty question) How do you feel about concealing a recording device in the cleavage of your ample bosom?
 * Bernadette: (she's answering Amy disgustingly) I don’t want anything in my ample bosom.
 * Amy: Come on, Strawberries. Take one for the team.
 * (Bernadette puts the handbag down furiously just as the opening theme song to "The Big Bang Theory" begins).


 * Amy: Oh, my metatarsal are barking.
 * Leonard: You okay?
 * Amy: Yeah, yeah. I’m just breaking in some new shoes.
 * Leonard: Very pretty.
 * Amy: Thank you. Did you know that women wear high heels to make the buttocks and breasts more prominent?
 * Leonard: Hadn’t really thought about it.
 * Amy: Look.
 * Leonard: Uh, sure. Very… prominent.
 * Amy: Please, Leonard, don’t leer, you have a girlfriend.
 * Leonard: Sorry.
 * Amy: So, are you off to dinner with Priya, Howard and Bernadette?
 * Leonard: Yeah. How did you know?
 * Amy: I heard it at the mall, when I was shopping with my girlfriends, ’cause, you know, that’s kind of my life now. Have a good night. Try not to ogle my caboose as I walk away.


 * Amy: I don’t understand. Is this a way to break in new shoes?
 * Penny: No. Once these puppies touch the ground they’re mine, and I’ll have to wear them walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard in order to pay them off. Pretty, pretty, pretty.
 * Amy: Good news: the wildebeest is in the curry.
 * Penny: The what?
 * Amy: Bernadette is with Priya and Leonard. Message received. Commence operation “Priya Wouldn’t Wanna Be-ya.”
 * Penny: Hey. Seriously? Didn’t you get enough of this cliquey crap in high school?
 * Amy: I wish. A clique requires friends. I didn’t have any.
 * Penny: None?
 * Amy: I used to take my lunch down to the maintenance room and eat with the janitor. It was nice until his wife called me a puta and made me stop. Hang on. It’s the wildebeest. Priya just made a snide comment about your acting career.
 * Penny: Wh… What the hell did she say?
 * Amy: She thinks it’s cool you’re following your dream, no matter what.
 * Penny: That bitch!
 * Amy: How do you want to handle it?
 * Penny: Um, okay. Tell Bernadette to tell Priya that I’m on my way to Prague to shoot a movie with Angelina Jolie.
 * Amy: Got it. Is it going to be in 3-D?
 * Penny: What? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.
 * Amy: I’m gonna say 3-D. That’ll let her know the studio has faith in it.


 * Leonard: You’re kidding. 3-D?
 * Bernadette: That’s what I hear.
 * Howard: Then the studio must have real faith in it.
 * Leonard: Wonder why she didn’t tell me.
 * Priya: Have you been spending time with your ex-girlfriend?
 * Leonard: No.
 * Priya: Then why are you surprised she didn’t tell you?
 * Leonard: Well, it’s not as much surprised as, uh, uh, you know, uh. th-th-th-the other thing.
 * Priya: What other thing?
 * Leonard: Well, you know, if you, if, if, if you, uh, I don’t, oh, what’s the word I’m looking for?
 * Howard: I’m not going to help you. This is hilarious.
 * Bernadette: She’s also dating an astronaut.
 * Priya: Wow. That’s very impressive.
 * Bernadette: Yeah. But Leonard’s impressive, too.
 * Leonard: Thank you. Befuddled. The word I was looking for was befuddled.


 * (The scene of Leonard, Priya, Howard and Bernadette playing Jenga together)
 * Howard: Okay, I’m still trying to work this out. How did Penny meet an astronaut?
 * Bernadette: I don’t know. The regular way people meet astronauts.
 * Howard: Most of those guys live in Texas.
 * Bernadette: (crossly) Obviously, this one doesn’t.
 * Howard: Okay.
 * Bernadette: (she is now very cross) Leonard lives here. Priya’s from India. People meet, Howard. God!
 * Howard: Fine.
 * Bernadette: (she is now even more cross) You’ve met lots of astronauts, and I’ve never grilled you about that. I’d thank you to extend me the same courtesy.
 * Howard: I’m not grilling you, I was just curious.
 * Leonard: I still can’t get over the fact that she got a big movie part. Not that I care what my ex-girlfriend’s up to, ’cause I don’t.
 * Bernadette: (she's getting more crosser) Maybe that’s where she met the astronaut, all right?
 * Priya: I’m sorry. What would an astronaut be doing working on a movie?
 * Bernadette: (grunting) He’s a consultant.
 * Leonard: I thought the movie was about 18th-century Vienna?
 * (Bernadette now slams her coffee mug down on the table with complete fury)
 * Bernadette: (she's so tremendously cross) He can’t have a hobby? (she gets up off the couch furiously) Excuse me, I have to pee. (she shouts with the hugest burst of anger) is that implausible, as well?
 * Howard: It’s nice to have another couple to hang with, isn’t it?