The Jiminy Conjecture

"The Jiminy Conjecture" is the second episode of the third season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on Monday, September 28, 2009.

Summary
Leonard and Penny's first night together goes awkwardly, while Sheldon and Howard wager on the identity of a species of a.

Extended Plot
Sheldon, Howard and Raj in the comic book store, the first two arguing about. Leonard arrives and the others are surprised he is not with Penny. As Wolowitz and Koothrappali pry a little more, they discover Leonard is not as happy with the as he thought he would be, characterizing it as "just fine". The scene ends with Sheldon settling the argument and criticizing the others for thinking about sex rather than comic books.

At the apartment, Sheldon is disappointed to discover the has been purchased from somewhere different than usual. When Leonard again uses the phrase 'just fine', Howard begins to him without alerting Penny. Sheldon is oblivious and quickly goes into the discussion they had earlier. This revelation causes Penny to leave in. When Leonard gets angry as she leaves, Sheldon thinks he has crossed a line, and tries to figure out what it is.

Leonard and Penny then have an in her apartment. Leonard defends his comment of 'fine' by saying, "You put it in front of or dining and you've really got something!" Penny says it was "Okay", and says, "You put in front of Dokey and you've really got something!" They decide they should have had some wine first, and when Leonard explains how it would have a negative effect scientifically Penny responds, "Don't talk, just drink."

Back in apartment 4A, Howard and Raj are discussing goddesses, which Raj finishes by pointing out Leonard has one and Howard doesn't. Following this fact Sheldon finally determines the line he crossed. Hearing a, Sheldon claims he knows the species from its chirping speed and the temperature. Howard, still angry from losing the previous bet, says Sheldon is wrong. After he proposes a bet which is rebuffed, he calls Sheldon a chicken, resulting in him going into a childhood experience when he was chased by a chicken. Eventually they bet Howard's rare, against Sheldon's rare. Raj casually states they must find the cricket to determine its species and is greeted by shock.

We quickly see what Leonard and Penny are doing after Raj wonders what the 'non-pathetic' people are doing. After making out and a long pause, Leonard says, "More wine?" responded to by, "Hit me."

Back to the bet, we see them search the closet, and then continue into the hallway. Sheldon convinces Howard to check the elevator shaft. When Howard threatens he could beat Sheldon up with, Sheldon says he would win due to his older siblings. Raj responds with, "Oooh, tough talk from a man who was once treed by a chicken."  We again quickly see the couple, now very drunk, repeating the word "" because it is "fun to say." Sheldon has now climbed into the elevator shaft, and as the others check the stairwell his 's run flat. He closes with, "It's really dark down here." Leonard is now throwing up, and Penny comes in and after a small conversation she does too.



The next day, Raj and Sheldon are arguing about the finally-found cricket's name. Howard and Raj think it should be Toby, while Sheldon argues it should be an appropriate cricket name, like. After Howard enters with an guide, they still argue its species. They ask Raj, but he no longer cares. After Leonard enters and claims he had a horrible night, they just continue bickering, paying almost no notice to Leonard, and settle to allow Professor Crawley, an, to identify it. As they leave, still arguing the cricket's name, Leonard claims he could throw a rock and hit three better friends.

The three then enter Professor Crawley's lab, and discover Rajesh has a fear of bugs. Sheldon jokes that since he is also afraid of women, s must render him catatonic. When Professor Crawley enters, it is revealed he is a 60-ish, irritable man who has become furious now that the funding to his lab has been cut. Throughout their conversation, Professor Crawley claims he can identify every and  on the planet (among going into his divorce and agreeing with Sheldon that Toby is a stupid cricket name) and settles the bet by saying Toby is a. Sheldon protests at first, but after an aggravated outburst from Professor Crawley, he concedes.

In the lobby of the apartment building, Sheldon informs Penny of the bet. When Penny says she is upset about her relationship, Sheldon tells Penny that she can always return to being friends with Leonard. He tells Leonard he spoke with her, though regarding it as the most unimportant part of the day. Leonard confirms he has again crossed a line, and after thinking for a few seconds, Sheldon exclaims, "Oh, who cares?"

Leonard goes over to Penny's and asks what Sheldon told her. After a brief discussion, they decide to follow Sheldon's advice and return to being friends. After a hug, they both spring into a long kiss and as Leonard closes the door he finishes the episode with, "Okay dokey."

Critics

 * "This is an enjoyable simple episode. Penny and Leonard struggle to find their sexual chemistry. They consider giving up on their relationship, but they like one another too much to let that happen. The story is not told as well as it could have been but at least the writers had their hearts in the right place...Meanwhile the equally simple plot on the other side of the door involves Howard finally calling Sheldon's bluff. It was an interesting idea for the story. Sheldon over thought the identity of a common cricket, summoning his vast knowledge to try and make himself seem more intelligent...A decent episode. At least decent from the perspective of what the show generally produces, not what it is capable of." - The TV Critic's Review
 * IMDb user reviews

Trivia

 * Sheldon is actually wrong; the scientist whose work he bases his cricket identification on is actually Amos Dolbear, NOT Emile Dolbear. He came up with a formula (Dolbear's Law) to state a relationship between air temperature and the number of cricket chirps per minute. Dolbear never actually stated a specific species of cricket; subsequent researchers simply assumed it was a snowy tree cricket.
 * Sheldon says to Raj, "His name isn't Toby. Toby is an absurd name for a cricket." When Professor Crawley likewise states that Toby is a stupid name for a cricket, Sheldon nudges Howard, rather than Raj and says, "Told you." It is possible that Howard named the cricket or that he had a similar conversation with him as well.
 * Sheldon incorrectly pronounces nihil/nīhil /ˈnaɪhɪl, ˈni-/ (Ecclesiastical Latin: [nahy-hil] or Classical Latin: [nee-hil]) as nēhil [nay-hil].
 * Sheldon claims that "we haven't established that I'm wrong once", most likely referring to the Wolverine bone claws argument at the comic book store. On other occasions Sheldon has been proven wrong, like in "The Staircase Implementation", which is a flashback episode:
 * would run "for years"; it only ran for one season before it was canceled.
 * would be more popular than the ; sales for the former dwindled while the latter would become a Global Icon.
 * Yet on Sheldon mistakes in this episode:
 * At the end of the encounter with Professor Crawley Sheldon turns to Howard and says "Apparently I was wrong. Congratulations!"
 * When Penny says to Sheldon "You may be right about me and Leonard.", Sheldon replies "Of course I am right! What are the odds I'd be wrong twice in one week?"
 * The bug professor's name sounds like "crawly" as in Mattel's "" bug maker or the way bugs move across the landscape.
 * Stuart Bloom is absent from the Comic Book Store. An unknown man is seen behind the counter.

Quotes
(In the comic book store, Sheldon and Howard are arguing over Wolverine's claws.)

Howard: Sheldon, you're wrong! Wolverine was not born with bone claws.

Sheldon: Howard! You know me to be a very smart man. Don't you think if I were wrong, I'd know it?

Howard: OK, first of all....

Raj: Give it up dude. You're arguing with a crazy person.

Sheldon: I'm not crazy! My mother had me tested!

Prof. Crawley: I haven’t even packed yet, and you’re already measuring my lab for one of your godless laser machines.

Howard: No, you don’t understand. We just want to ask you a question.

Prof. Crawley: Let me ask you one first. What’s a world renowned entomologist with a doctorate and 20 years of experience to do with his life when the university cuts off the funding for his lab, huh?

Raj: Ask rhetorical questions that make people uncomfortable?

Prof. Crawley: Of course I can. I can identify every insect and arachnid on the planet. Not that that’s going to keep me from having to move in with my daughter in Oxnard. And we’re not talking Oxnard at the beach. No! We’re talking Oxnard in the onion fields.