The 2003 Approximation

"The 2003 Approximation" is the fourth episode of the ninth season of the  sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on Monday, October 12, 2015.

Summary
Leonard and Penny finally tell Sheldon that they moved in together leaving Sheldon very upset. He wants to go back to a time when he had no emotions in before he met Leonard, Penny and Amy. Raj and Howard attempt to form a after Stuart wants to host live music in his store.

Extended Plot
Leonard, Penny and Sheldon are returning from the  with an extremely happy Sheldon until he notices them taking his new bin to Penny's apartment. Penny tells Sheldon that since they are it makes sense for Leonard and her to be. Sheldon gets upset claiming that the whole wonderful was to deliver bad news to him. Also there was not a bin at the container store that could hold his disappointment in them.

Sheldon is visiting Bernadette to seek  comfort and encouragement about Leonard moving out since his relationship with Amy is strained. Bernadette was honored that he turned to her until she found out she was a picked after his mother, Leonard's mother and his Meemaw were unavailable making her seventh. And kept giving him the same. Sheldon is feeling abandoned so Bernadette suggests that this is an opportunity to find a new since he has had others in the past. Sheldon muses that maybe he can find a better roommate and then rub that in Leonard's ; maybe he could get Chris Pratt. Bernadette then suggests that he take Stuart as his roommate; however, Stuart says that he is much too happy living with them.

Stuart, Raj and Howard are hanging out at the comic book store and Raj finds a where  is taking on  . Howard wonders how that could be, while suggests that may be a. Stuart asks if the guys know any since he would like to have live  in the comic book store a few times a week giving the place a "staying in business" vibe. Any kind of music is fine, but the music he likes best is free. Raj and Howard have always wanted to play together. Raj wants to play, a mixture of and  themes. Howard likes the idea and even has a band name he has been holding since - "Footprints on the Moon".

Sheldon and Leonard are going over the paperwork to officially ‘unroommate’ him. Leonard has to return his apartment and then as his new  Leonard gets an apartment key. Also he signs up for the ten year roommate reunion and turns ownership of the over to Sheldon in every. When it gets to the point for Leonard to sign and make it official he hesitates and says “Man, this is harder than I thought”. Sheldon says “Oh, it’s easy..L..e..o..n...” And then Leonard signs out of.

Raj and Howard are working on their filk. Raj suggest a story where the  goes up against. The versus the  which blows Howard mind. "Thor and Dr. Jones. One plays with and the other plays with bones." Raj figures that like with the, they are going to melt off with their song.

Sheldon starts to new roommates and asks the  which  on the  is too big for its. The answer is. The next candidate is asked if on average he better or worse than he does at the present time. The next one is dismissed because he has a on his. Up next he describes the as being  and in the, though he is running a. He is on skpe with Amy who is not going to be his roommate. Eleven people have walked out on him. He asks Amy what has happened to him. He used to be disengaged from his emotions and as then. Feeling are a part of life she replies. Sheldon blames Leonard, Penny and Amy with him with emotions. He's like the who was given a heart by the. Amy tells him that he is missing the point of the. Then Sheldon is like made into a real boy due to the wicked.

Penny and Leonard are going out to eat and Leonard suggests the usual weekly Thai food. Penny tells him that he can choose anything he wants since he no longer lives with Sheldon. He goes through a dozen possible and finds himself most comfortable with Thai food. They run into Sheldon in the lobby who has reset himself to 2003. He is too emotionally vulnerable and is going back to his last stable version like any [operating system] before he met Leonard and had to deal with emotions. Therefore he doesn't know who they are since he hasn't met them and they must exit the premises before he calls the on his new stylish.

At, Leonard is still worried about Sheldon. Penny explains that he is fine and is just a man in his 30's living like he is a man in his 20's. Leonard doesn't live with him anymore. he can set the to whatever  he wants and go to the  at any time. He still feels like they are abandoning him though he can still be contacted on once they invent the  in his.

Bernadette and Amy are having a drink with Amy saying that she can't believe Sheldon ran a credit check on her. Bernadette offers her a $1000, to take in Stuart if she is looking for a roommate. Amy declines, however, Bernadette thought she had a, weirdo shaped hole in her life. Amy defends him as, but brilliant and insightful. Calling him a weirdo is not fair, she adds as... Penny and Leonard visit the which is now empty except for two, the  on  and a giant  reel for a  just as Leonard found it when he first met Sheldon. It is now 2003. Everything has been moved into the spare. Sheldon is dealing with everyone abandoning him. Leonard tells him that they are just across the hall. "" replies Sheldon to Penny says that people don't say that now or in 2003.

Raj plays the song for Emily who thinks that it is cute, but that she likes music that people can to. Also she gives him several that rhyme with  that Raj couldn't come up with. Raj tries to dance to it and then tells Howard the problem. Howard insists that their group does songs that make people think. Finally Howard realized that Raj played it for Emily and he was acting on her comments. Howard accused her of breaking up the band, quits himself and orders Raj out of his house. Raj storms out, but they quickly reunite.

Leonard and Penny have brought over dinner with Penny telling him that it seems like a big change, but it isn't. Sheldon disagrees and starts that Amy is gone and soon they will be. They'll buy a  and instead of getting together a couple times a, they will get together a couple times a , and mainly for special occasions "Like when Howard and Bernadette , or when Raj’s creepy girlfriend finally tells where she hid his body or at Amy’s when she is marrying someone better than me." After that Penny feels bad and then agrees that they won't change things that much and they will stay at his place. At least half the time, adds Sheldon to which Penny agrees to Leonard's confusion. Sheldon is going to be like their which is fine with Sheldon who runs off to create a revised roommate agreement.

The gang (except Amy) is at the comic book store listening to Howard and Raj. Everybody is polite and acting like they are enjoying the music. When the song ends, Stuart asks if they could play something that they could dance to.

Critics

 * Jesse Schedeen at IGN - Of all the character drama brewing on The Big Bang Theory lately, perhaps no subplot is more compelling than Sheldon's fear of having to live his life without Leonard and Penny as his constant companions. For most close groups of friends, marriage means moving on and new lives for all involved. But for a guy like Sheldon, phrases like "moving on" and "starting a new life" are the stuff of nightmares. This episode was notable for diving headlong into this ongoing conflict and Sheldon's inability to embrace change. And it made for an enjoyable conflict, even if it felt like the writers were forestalling the conflict rather than trying to bring it to a head.
 * IMDB user reviews

Trivia

 * Leonard and Penny finally move in together.
 * Sheldon fears that Amy could meet and marry someone else which upsets him greatly.
 * Despite breaking up with him, Amy still defends Sheldon.
 * Bernadette is once again dismissive of Sheldon and Amy's relationship by trying to offload Stuart on to her instead.
 * This could also be considered a reversal of the events in "The Spoiler Alert Segmentation" (S6E15), where Amy wanted to move in with Sheldon, but he didn't want to.
 * First time Laura Spencer is listed in the opening credits.
 * Sheldon gives his new neighbor (Leonard) a key to his apartment despite Penny already having an emergency key.
 * During the scenes when Leonard moves out and Sheldon changes the apartment back to '2003', Sheldon is wearing the same black Flash t-shirt that he wore the day he met Leonard in 2003, in "The Staircase Implementation" (S3E22)
 * Amy only has two appearances in this episode.
 * 1. One appearance via Skype telling Sheldon that she'll not be his roommate and consoling him over feeling abandoned.
 * 2. One physical appearance at the wine bar having a discussion with Bernadette about defending Sheldon.
 * Amy shares no scenes with the six other members of the gang (Howard, Raj, The 'Lenny' couple, Emily and Stuart) in this episode and she also does not come to the comic book store with Stuart, Sheldon, Bernadette, the 'Lenny' couple and Emily to watch Raj and Howard sing their song at the end of this episode.
 * The first time Sheldon mentions his mother to Bernadette on her own and the first time Sheldon mentions Leonard's mother to Bernadette, of whom she still hasn't met once again as of this episode since four previous season episodes ago:
 * Bernadette still hasn't met Leonard's mother since "The Maternal Congruence" (S3E11) of which is an episode in Season 3 that she didn't have a guest appearance in before becoming a main cast member from Season 4 onwards.
 * Bernadette still hasn't met Sheldon's mother since Season 4's "The Zazzy Substitution" (S4E3) and Season 5's "The Rhinitis Revelation" (S5E6) of which were two episodes of the entire show that she didn't appear in as a main cast member.
 * Bernadette still hasn't met both Leonard's and Sheldon's mothers since "The Maternal Combustion" (S8E23) of which was an episode in Season 8 where she was busy getting Raj, Howard and Stuart to clean up after themselves at the Wolowitz house.
 * Both mothers (Sheldon's and Leonard's) of whom Sheldon has mentioned to Bernadette do not get featured in this episode because there are no guest appearances by Laurie Metcalf and Christine Baranski in any scenes of this episode.
 * Bernadette is only seen with three appearances in this episode.
 * 1. One physical appearance with a speaking part with Sheldon on the couch at the Wolowitz house discussing about a number of things. Before one quick chat with Stuart before he leaves the Wolowitz house.
 * 2. One small speaking appearance with Amy at the wine bar discussing about defending Sheldon.
 * 3. One small silent appearance with the 'Lenny' couple, Emily, Stuart and Sheldon at the comic book store watch Raj and Howard sing their song at the end of this episode.
 * Bernadette has no speaking appearances with Emily, Howard, Raj, Penny and Leonard in this episode.
 * Sheldon had previously mentioned his mother to Bernadette and the four other gang members (Raj, Howard, Penny and Leonard) at the apartment dinner scene of "The Gorilla Experiment" (S3E10)

Quotes

 * Sheldon: Blue Icees and a trip to the container store? It’s like I died and went to the post-mortem, neuron-induced hallucination commonly mistaken as heaven.


 * (The scene of Sheldon on the couch in the living room at the Wolowitz house with Bernadette putting down a tray of beverages)
 * Sheldon: Thank you for letting me come and speak with you.
 * Bernadette: Of course.
 * Sheldon: My relationships with Amy and Penny are currently strained, I’m turning to you for female comfort and encouragement.
 * Bernadette: Aww. I’m honored.
 * Sheldon: I tried reaching out to my mother, but she was in Bible study. Leonard’s mother is on a book tour. My Mee-maw is taking a nap and after a while Siri started repeating her answers.
 * Bernadette: (informs him crossly) So I’m your seventh choice.
 * Sheldon: Yeah, I know. Top ten, pretty exciting.
 * Bernadette: (asking him crossly) How can I help you?
 * Sheldon: Well, in addition to Amy leaving me, Leonard's moving in with Penny. It's difficult not to feel abandoned.
 * (Bernadette thinks crossly for a second)
 * Bernadette: (suggests to him crossly) Well, why don't you look at this as an opportunity? You had other roommates before Leonard. (Sheldon nods for one second whilst thinking) Maybe this is a chance to find someone new.
 * Sheldon: Hm. Perhaps I could find someone better than Leonard. Someone I can rub in his face. Chris Pratt's all the rage right now. (Bernadette smile shiftily for one second) I wonder how he'd feel about taking the smaller bedroom.
 * Stuart: (coming down the stairs) Hey.
 * Bernadette: Hey. (asking Sheldon happily) You know who would be the perfect roommate?
 * Sheldon: Gandalf, but he's a smoker.
 * Bernadette: Stuart. He's been living with us for a while now. I'm sure he'd love to get us out of his hair.
 * Stuart: (starts to leave immediately) Nope, couldn't be happier.
 * Bernadette: Well, Sheldon's looking for a...
 * Stuart: (he's now gone in a hurry) Nope.
 * Bernadette: He'll think about it.
 * Stuart: (out of sight) No I won't!
 * (The sound of the front door slamming is played to the scene of Sheldon and Bernadette gazing round the living room)


 * Sheldon: Just a few more signatures and then we’ll be finished. Initial here to acknowledge that you returned your key. Okay.as my future neighbor, I’d like you to have a key. Initial here to acknowledge that you received it.
 * Penny: I’m proud of you. You’re really taking it well.
 * Sheldon: It’s not like I’ll never see you two again. Which brings us to article 23 subsection C-please check here to reserve your spot at the ten year roommate reunion.
 * Leonard: Do I really have to do that now?
 * Sheldon: NO, but if you want chicken and get stuck with the fish, that’s on you. All right. oh and lastly, please initial here to confirm that ownership of the living room couch is hereby transferred to me in perpetuity all throughout the universe and all alternate universes except for those universes where owning a couch is forbidden by the hive queen. In which case, all glory to the hive queen. All right, all that’s left is to sign and date the document, and we will officially no longer be roommates.
 * Penny: What’s the matter?
 * Leonard: It’s harder than I thought.
 * Sheldon: Let me help you. L..E..O..N..
 * Leonard: That helped. (Signed)


 * Sheldon: I appreciate your interest in the apartment. I just need to ask you a few standard questions.
 * Sure.
 * Sheldon: It says here you're a chemist. Which element on the periodic table do you feel is too big for its britches?
 * Is that supposed to be a joke?
 * Sheldon: Looks like argon's not the only one with an attitude problem. In general, would you say that you smell better, worse or the same as you do right now? I was going to ask you what is the best fruit, but then I realized what I want to ask you is why is there a Band-Aid on your forearm, but then I realized what I really want to ask you is just can you just go? You're healthy. You have a job in the sciences. I've got to say, if this credit report comes back good, you're the frontrunner.
 * ''(Scene of a really disgruntled Amy on Skype played for five seconds. Sheldon looks at her for a couple of seconds).
 * Amy: (she is so furious) I'm not gonna be your roommate, Sheldon.
 * Sheldon: (sighs) But I met with 11 people, and they all walked out. And that Hollywood phony Chris Pratt never tweeted me back.
 * Amy: (she is still furious) I'm sure you'll find somebody else.
 * Sheldon: I suppose. What happened to me Amy? (Amy frowns) Years ago I was completely disengaged from my feelings. I’d say it was a happier time, but I was disengaged from my feelings, so who can tell.
 * Amy: (she is completely fed up) I don’t know how to help you. You know, feelings are a part of life.
 * Sheldon: They didn’t used to be. (Amy has an angry think) You and Leonard and Penny, you all poisoned me with emotions. I was like the Tin man perfectly content until that evil wizard gave him a heart.
 * Amy: (still in a fully bad mood) I don’t think that was the point of the movie.
 * Sheldon: Fine. Then I was like Pinocchio before that jerk Geppetto made him a real boy.
 * Amy: (finally loses her temper)There you go.


 * Penny: Well, honey, you don’t live with Sheldon anymore so you can have anything you want.


 * Sheldon: I realize I’ve become too emotionally vulnerable so like an operating system I’m restoring my life to the last stable version, which was in 2003, the day before I met Leonard.
 * Leonard: You heard him. No.
 * Penny: Hang on. You actually think it’s 2003?
 * Sheldon: No, just because I’m living my life like it was twelve years ago doesn’t mean I’m delusional. And since it’s 2003, I don’t know who you are, so please exit the premises before I call the police on my stylish new flip phone.


 * (The scene of Bernadette and Amy at a table for two in a swanky wine bar)
 * Bernadette: [surprised] I can't believe Sheldon has asked you to be his roommate.
 * Amy: [also surprised] I can't believe he ran my credit.
 * Bernadette: [speaks to Amy crossly] Hey, if you're open to living with someone great. I'll give you $1,000 to take Stuart.
 * Amy: [calmly] You really should've gone on the Internet and checked how long that kind of thing lives before you got one.
 * Bernadette: [speaks to her with a concerned smile] I thought you just might have a pasty weirdo-shaped hole in your life.
 * Amy: [not very happy] Hey, I know Sheldon’s quirky, but he’s also brilliant and insightful. I think calling him a weirdo is a little unfair.


 * Leonard: Buddy, I know moving in with Penny feels like a big change, but it’s not.
 * Sheldon: How can you say that? Amy’s gone, and you two are married now, so it’s only a matter of time before you're gone too.
 * Penny: Okay, you don’t know what’s going to happen.
 * Sheldon: No, I do. Eventually you’re going to want more space, and you’re going to move into a house.. And then instead of dinner a couple of times a week, it’ll only be a couple of times a month, and then only on special occasions like when Bernadette divorces Wolowitz. Or- or-or like when Kootherpali’s weird girlfriend admits where she buried his body. Or Amy’s wedding where’s she marrying someone better than me.