The Mystery Date Observation

"The Mystery Date Observation" is the eighth episode of the ninth season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on Thursday, November 12, 2015.

Summary
Amy has a formal date which Penny and Bernadette and a reluctant Leonard, secretly spy on. Sheldon has Howard and Raj help him find a new girlfriend since they found Amy for him.

Extended Plot
Penny and Leonard are eating breakfast in 4A. Leonard is making Sheldon breakfast since he is having a rough time. Amy broke his heart, the DVR didn't record the last minute of Doctor Who and a crow followed him home. Even though it is oatmeal day, Leonard made him French Toast sticks and oatmeal. Sheldon walks in cheerily and greets Dr. and Mrs. Hofstadter. He announces that he is going to start looking for another woman. Sheldon observes that French toast and oatmeal might be a lot of carbohydrates for a man on the prowl and suggests the Leonard eat it because he is married and doesn't have to watch his weight anymore. Penny discourages that behavior.

Sheldon invited Howard and Raj over since they had originally found Amy for him; it is only logical for them to help him find a new female companion. Howard wonders if she is ready since Amy hurt him. Sheldon compares his time with Amy to a piece of Juicy Stripe chewing gum, sweet and enjoyable until it turns into a flavorless lump of sadness. he is looking for a woman who is educated, intelligent who shares his interests while retaining her own unique point of view. She has to be kind, patient and can't imagine her life without him by 10:00 PM.

Amy in trying on a new dress in 4B. She is a little shy to show her new dress to Penny and Bernadette because she is really stepping out of her comfort zone. Finally coming out in a very modest dress, Penny assures her that all of her comfort zones are covered. Amy says that there are many people who would consider the brain the sexiest organ. Penny tells her that nobody ever bought her a drink at a bar because her brain popped out of her shirt. They continue to press Amy for details about her upcoming date. The guy is British, named Dave (Stephen Merchant) and they are going that night to an Italian restaurant. Amy asks if Penny has any high heel shoes with higher heels than the ones she was trying on. Penny said that she got rid of all of her high heels when she married Leonard. Bernadette convinces Penny to go spy on Amy to find out more about her date. She doesn't think that she is sneaky; because she is so short it's adorable.

Working on Sheldon's new girl, Howard wants to put him on every dating site available. Sheldon is worried that his page might be answered by a computer simulating a human, but Raj wonders if that would bother him. he was afraid the computer would do a better job. Sheldon insists at no one doesn't a better job of pretending to be a human than himself. As an alternative, Sheldon wants the women to battle for him in a battle of wits and for the winner to come through the door, sit down next to him and quietly watch Daredevil with him. To present Sheldon as a prize, they decide to set him up on Craigslist as a intelligent Caltech professor seeking a girlfriend and that she has to solve a series of puzzles to get his contact information. Raj and Howard are actually jealous of those candidates who get to solve the puzzles and they already have seen the prize.

Leonard and Penny are walking down the stairs. Leonard thinks that they are going to see a documentary on soda can recycling, but Penny insists that they are going to meet up with Bernadette for their surveillance of Amy and her date. Leonard wants to see what the Big Soda companies don't want you to know, while Penny wants to find out who Amy is with and she thinks that Leonard is a weird little guy.

Sheldon puts the Sheldon Cooper Girlfriend Challenge online. The questions requires the knowledge of science, fantasy and flags facts. If she solves them she is intelligent, tenuous and socially awkward and has nothing better to do on a Saturday night. That sounds too good to be true to Sheldon.

At the restaurant, Amy and Dave start talking about their previous relationships. Dave was married and left England after his divorce. He wanted children and she wanted a French pastry chef. Amy says that she had only one relationship that after five years was becoming more work than it should be. She decribes him as Caltech theoretical physicist and calls him Sheldon. Dave asks if she means Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Dave would love Sheldon's job and had been following his work for years. He keeps asking Amy questions to her annoyance. too much work for what she was getting. dating and Dave is excited that she used to date Sheldon. It turns out that Dave is a big fan of Sheldon’s. The date then starts going downhill as Dave spends the rest of the night asking questions about Sheldon.

Bernadette, Penny and Leonard spying on the date from Bernadette’s car across the street. Bernadette isn't a stalker, she is just a girl with military level spy equipment who kept tabs on her boyfriends. Penny thinks that he is cute, while Leonard comments that they are having fun and wishes that he could hear them. Bernadette forgot her parabolic microphone. Penny also thinks that he likes her, but he is just asking her about Sheldon. Bernadette returns with the videos she took. Leonard just wants to leave and go see the movie. Bernadette wonders why she even brought him. They're married so she has to take him everywhere. Bernadette remarks sarcastically, "I hear you."

The dinner date continues with more questions about Sheldon. Has asks how long it took him to write a certain paper. The answer was an hour and a half, one of her dates which is much like this one. Dave also wants to be introduced to him. He thinks that it would be weird to meet her ex-, but keeps going back and forth about the invitation.

Back in the car, Leonard needs a bathroom break and Bernadette hands him a bottle.

The other guys are counting down to 10:00 PM. No one arrives at the apartment. Howard remarks that it was a fun experiment, while Sheldon is convince that someone will show up. Raj wonders if he really wants someone who exactly like him. Opposites do attract. Sheldon comments that it that is true, he should spend his time with them.

When their dinner is over, Amy tells him that it's late and they should go. Dave apologizes that he has been stupid talking all night about her ex-boyfriend. He's not as smart as you know who. And he doesn't want her to forget to introduce him.

The girls notice that the couple under surveillance is coming toward them. Bernadette panics and backs into the car behind them which is Dave's car. Amy wants t know what they are doing their and Bernadette turns the tables asking her the same thing. Leonard returns and Dave is excited to meet Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, though Leonard is reluctant to shake his hand considering where he came from.

At a minute to go, the guys count down the last sixty seconds. Sheldon is worried that it might be Jennifer Lawrence since he didn't like "The Hunger Games". Their watch tick down and no one shows up. Raj consoles with that when it is suppose to happen, it will happen. A moment later there is a knock at the door and it is a girl named Vanessa Bennet (Analeigh Tipton). She is late because she was at a boring symposium on atomic spectroscopy and the puzzles save her life. She know Klingon, Sanskrit and facts about flags. They speak to each other in both languages and are smiling at each other. She just had to meet him. Sheldon calls her a special lady, but since she didn’t complete the challenge on time Sheldon shuts the door in her face much to the shock and disbelief of Raj and Howard. Sheldon explains that she was late, and she found atomic spectroscopy boring.

Finally, Amy is in her car with Dave at the end of her date and she ends things with him. After he again mentions Sheldon Cooper twice, Amy tells him to get out of her car.

Critics

 * Jesse Schedeen at IGN - As Howard and Raj assisted Sheldon in finding a new partner, it became clear that what he really wants is Amy 2.0 - someone who's going to be intelligent enough to respect his genius but submissive enough to put up with his complicated rules and eccentricities. That lightning bolt isn't likely to strike twice…But surprisingly enough, his quest actually ended in a victory of sorts. The scene between Sheldon and his new potential love interest (Warm Bodies' Analeigh Tipton) was entertaining, if brief…Sheldon foolishly dismissed what is probably the only other woman in southern California who's a perfect match for him…Elsewhere, Penny and Bernadette became obsessed with spying on Amy and her new boyfriend, Dave (played by The Ricky Gervais Show's Stephen Merchant). Here again, the episode was amusing enough, but no moment really stood out…Luckily, Bernie is pretty reliable about keeping things entertaining when placed in the spotlight.

Trivia
The storyline of this episode does not show Bernadette driving back to the Wolowitz house by herself in a temper because she was so fed up with Leonard being included in hers Penny's Mystery Date and the storyline of this episode also does not show Leonard and Penny finally getting to the movies now the mystery date is over.
 * Stephen Merchant ("Dave") and Analeigh Tipton ("Vanessa") star as Amy and Sheldon's respective dates.
 * Amy ends things with Dave after it is revealed he is obsessed with Sheldon.
 * Analeigh Tipton returns to The Big Bang Theory last appearing in "The Panty Piñata Polarization" (S2E7) as one of the models that Howard and Raj meet at the house they found used in "America's Top Model".
 * Per the title. Mystery Date is a board game from the Milton Bradley Company originally released in 1965. The object of the game is to be ready for a date by acquiring three matching color-coded cards to assemble an outfit. The outfit must then match the outfit of the date at the "mystery door". The date is revealed by spinning the door handle and opening the plastic door on the game board.
 * Bernadette and Amy share no scenes at Apartment 4A with the other three men (Sheldon, Raj and Howard) in this episode.
 * Raj and Howard share no scenes with Leonard and the girls (Amy, Bernadette and Penny) in this episode.
 * Another episode with a "Previously on the Big Bang Theory" segment. It summarizes two clips from the previous episode (S9E7) and it is narrated by Kaley Cuoco.
 * Sheldon is only seen with Leonard and Penny in Apartment 4A a flashback of the previous episode (S9E7) and the opening Apartment 4A scene of this episode.
 * Sheldon shares no scenes with Bernadette and Amy in this episode.
 * Penny made Sheldon French Toast on oatmeal day in "The Gothowitz Deviation" (S3E3).

Quotes

 * (The last scene of the restaurant where Amy is dating Dave for one last time, whilst the waitress gives them the bill and leaves their table)
 * Dave: You know, I once drove 500 miles to hear him speak at Stanford.
 * (He takes a sip of wine whilst Amy puts on a mad smile. He puts his glass down)
 * Amy: I have a DVD of that lecture.
 * Dave: Really? Wasn't it great?
 * Amy: (shakes her head and speaks) Not as a Valentine's present, no.
 * Dave: Well, the next time you watch it, I'm the bloke who asked the question that he said was stupid and obvious. It was the nicest thing he said to anyone there.
 * Amy: That's, um, terrific. Listen, I'm-I'm kind of tired. Can we call it a night?
 * Dave: Oh, gosh. Sorry, I've just spent the whole night talking about your ex-boyfriend. I'm such an idiot.
 * Amy: No, you're not.
 * Dave: Well, maybe not an idiot, but certainly not as smart as... someone we won't mention.
 * Amy: (smiles sweetly) Thank you.
 * Dave: But you said you might introduce me to him-- I'm free on Thursday.
 * (Amy lifts herself off the chair and it pans to the scene of Bernadette's car to which Bernadette worryingly sees them through the glasses with Penny looking puzzled next to her)
 * Bernadette: (with a worried surprise) Hey, hey, they're leaving.
 * Penny: (gasps) What? Here, give me, give me.
 * (Bernadette quickly gives the binoculars to Penny in a silent panic)
 * Penny: (sees them turn a corner of the street through the glasses and suddenly panics) Oh, my God. Oh, my God, they're coming right towards us.
 * Bernadette: (panicking) We got to get out of here.
 * (Bernadette grabs her seatbelt strap in a panic)
 * Penny: (asks Bernadette a panicky question) Okay. Well, wait, what about Leonard?
 * (Penny now grabs the strap of her seatbelt and Bernadette yells at her with enormous anger)
 * Bernadette: (megafully cross) Oh! He and his tiny bladder can take the bus!
 * (She angrily puts her seatbelt straight on with immediate rage, Penny now immediately has her seatbelt on. Bernadette starts the engine, drives backwards for one second, hits the front of Dave's car (of which a couple of giant airbags blow up to the front window of Dave's car at the same time) and both Bernadette and Penny gasp one at a time).
 * Bernadette: (in a completely big panic) Oh, no!
 * (She turns off the engine. Now both she and Penny take immediately of their seatbelts and run out Bernadette's car in a really huge panic together. By the time Amy and Dave arrive to the scene Penny slams her side door first and Bernadette slams her side door last)
 * Dave: (with an angry shock) She just hit my car!
 * Amy: What are you guys doing here?
 * Bernadette: (she is gigantically pleased and surprised to see Amy) Oh! Hey, Ames! What are you doing here?
 * (Amy has nothing to say this as of the shock, Leonard walks up after hearing what was happening. he is holding the clothes-soap bottle he had peed in in his hand)
 * Leonard: (surprised) What happened?
 * Dave: ''(surprised to see Leonard) OMG! Aren't you Leonard Hofstadter?
 * Leonard: (nervously) Yeah.
 * Dave: I saw you speak at Stanford with Sheldon Cooper! (her turns to a rather cross Amy) Amy, can you believe it? It's Dr. Leonard Hofstadter!
 * Amy: (sarcastically) No! pinch me!
 * Dave: It's an absolute pleasure to meet you. Can I shake your hand?
 * Leonard: I don't know if you want to do that-- I was just... (He suddenly shakes his hand) Okay, never mind.
 * (Bernadette just smiles crossly at the handshake and says nothing)
 * Dave: Amy, I'm never washing this hand again.
 * Leonard: (grinning awkwardly) You really should.


 * Penny: Aren’t you worried you’re making French toast on oatmeal day?
 * Leonard: Ah, well, what’s this? A pot of oatmeal? Or, thanks to out, what I will now call “gloat-meal”.
 * Penny: Oh, I don’t want credit for that.


 * Sheldon: All I’m looking for is an educated, intelligent woman who shares my interests while retaining her own unique point of view. She should be kind, patient and most important unable to imagine life without me by 10:00 tonight.


 * (The scene at Penny's apartment)
 * Penny: (calling) Come on, Amy, show us the dress.
 * Amy: (out of vision) Okay. But I'm really stepping outside of my comfort zone here.
 * (Penny has just sat down with Bernadette. Penny's bedroom door now opens and out comes Amy walking up to the girls looking all smartened up for the date with Dave)
 * Penny: (unhappily) I don't think any of your comfort zones are showing.
 * (Amy looks down at her heels and the floor)
 * Bernadette: (informing Amy) Yeah, it's your third date-- maybe you could go more sexy.
 * Amy: Well, some people think the sexiest organ is the brain.
 * Penny: No one ever bought me drinks at a bar because my brain just popped out of my shirt.
 * Amy: (asking the girls crossly) Do you have any heels higher than this? He's pretty tall. Ooh.
 * Bernadette: Ooh, tall! Finally some details about this mystery man.
 * Penny: Yeah, come on, tell us more.
 * Amy: Well, I told you his name and that he's tall. What more do you need?
 * Bernadette: (smiling with curiosity) Did you kiss him yet?
 * Amy: Just a little peck on the lips.
 * (both Penny and Bernadette squeal with excitement)
 * Penny: (begging Amy) Well, we're your best friends-- give us one more detail and we promise we'll leave you alone.
 * Amy: Fine. Um... he's British.
 * (both Penny and Bernadette squeal with excitement again )
 * Amy: (chuckling) All right, that is a juicy one.
 * Penny: (curious) All right, where is Tall British Dave taking you?
 * Bernadette: (asks Amy with higher happiness) Tea and basketball?
 * Amy: To that new Italian place on Walnut.
 * Bernadette: (seeming to like the sound of it) Oh, nice.
 * Amy: I'm gonna go look for other shoes.
 * Penny: Good luck. I threw out all my tall ones when I married Leonard.
 * (Amy reacts and moves away to Penny's bedroom)
 * Bernadette: (whispers her plan to Penny) Hey, you want to swing by that place tonight and get a look at this guy?
 * Penny: (whispers her answer) We don't even know what time they're gonna be there.
 * Bernadette: (grumblingly) I'll just call the restaurant, pretend I'm Amy and check the reservation.
 * Penny: (in a mad tone) Damn, you're sneaky.
 * Bernadette: (she is now very cross) Yeah, but I'm little, so it's adorable.
 * (Bernadette now sips her wine crossly and Penny nods her head in agreement)


 * Sheldon: Can I help you?
 * Vanessa: Um, are you the physicist that placed the ad on Craigslist?
 * Sheldon: Yes.
 * Vanessa: Hi, I’m Vanessa Bennet. Sorry it took a while for me to get here, but I was stuck in this boring lecture on atomic spectroscopy when I came across your ad. I Ands it saved my night. Some of your puzzles were…were really fun. I never had to translate Klingon into ancient Sanskrit before.
 * Sheldon: well, careful…it’s addictive.
 * Vanessa: (Klingon phrase). Or as they say in Sanskrit. (Sanskrit phrase).
 * Sheldon: And just like that you’re a Klingon-Sanskrit junkie.
 * Vanessa: Anyway I-I just had to meet the person responsible for such a brilliant idea. And I don’t need to tell you there aren’t a lot of men who loves, physics, archaic languages and the flags of the world.
 * Sheldon: I am a bit of a unicorn. Well, you certainly seem like a special lady. Uh, but as you know you missed the deadline, so thanks for playing.


 * (The apartment scene when Sheldon returning back to the couch after closing the door when he has finished meeting Vanessa and he now sits in his spot).
 * Raj: (yelling at Sheldon) how could you send her away.
 * Sheldon: She was late. And... she found atomic spectroscopy boring. Well, I wouldn't coitus her with your genitals.
 * (Howard and Raj are now cross by the things that Sheldon has said)


 * Dave: This is fun. I haven't dated much since my divorce.
 * Amy: Well, I'm having a good time, too. If you don't mind me asking, why did you and your wife split up?
 * Dave: Oh, you know how it is-- we wanted different things. I wanted children, and she wanted a pastry chef named Jean-Philippe.
 * Amy :Oh, I'm... I'm so sorry.
 * Dave: No, it's-it's fine. It's why I left England. It reminded me too much of her. Cold, gloomy and easily accessed by a Frenchman through a tunnel.
 * (Pan to the scene of Bernadette's car where Leonard [in the back]and Penny [next to Bernadette's driving seat in the front] run into the car with excitement and bang the doors)
 * Penny: Hey. So, where are they?
 * Bernadette: Across the street, in the left window.
 * (Scene of the outside of the restaurant)
 * Penny: (background voice) Oh, damn it.
 * (Pans back to the close-up of Penny in Bernadette's car)
 * Penny: we should have brought binoculars.
 * (Bernadette crossly produces a pair of binoculars)
 * Bernadette: Right here.
 * (Penny takes the binoculars off Bernadette)
 * Leonard: We just happen to have those in the car?
 * Bernadette: Kinda. Before I met Howie, I liked to keep close tabs on my boyfriends.
 * Leonard: By stalking them?
 * (Bernadette obviously isn't happy with Leonard's question about 'stalking').
 * Bernadette: (she is not amused) No. Stalkers are creepy. I'm just a harmless little girl with military-grade spy equipment.
 * (scene of Penny looking through the glasses. pan to the circle of Amy and Dave's restaurant window)
 * Penny: (background voice) Oh, there he is.
 * Bernadette: (background voice) He's cute, right?
 * (pan back to the scene of Bernadette's car)
 * Penny: Yeah!
 * Leonard: Can I see?
 * Penny: (quite snappy with Leonard) What, now you're interested? You didn't even want to come.

I know, but you guys make being a crappy friend look fun.
 * Penny (with shifty happiness) Fine.
 * Leonard: Yeah, okay,
 * (The scene of the circle to Amy and Dave's restaurant window)
 * Leonard: (background voice) I see him.
 * (pan back to the scene of Bernadette's car)
 * Leonard: It looks like they're having a nice time. I wish I could hear what they're saying.
 * (A close-up of Bernadette)
 * Bernadette: Yeah, I should've brought my parabolic microphone.
 * (A close up of Penny)
 * Penny: Your what?
 * (Back to the close up of Bernadette)
 * Bernadette (snaps crossly at Penny) Nothing. Not important.
 * (The restaurant scene of Amy's and Dave's conference)
 * Dave: So you've never been married?
 * Amy: No, I mean, to be completely honest, I've... I've only been in one long-term relationship.
 * Dave: Oh. What happened with that?
 * Amy: That's a good question.
 * '(Bernadette walks past them through the window with her coat and phone. She has a disguise of a black baseball cap and sunglasses. She is holding the cap brim at the same time. Amy now speaks to Dave)
 * Amy: After five years, it was just feeling like more work than it should be.
 * Dave: (background voice) Oh, that's too bad. (Close up of Dave) Was he a neurobiologist like you?
 * Amy: No. He's a theoretical physicist at Caltech.
 * (Bernadette [with her black cap disguise] passes the window back to her car whilst she is videoing them, She pulls her sunglasses down for a second and puts them back on again and exits the window]
 * Dave: I love teaching math, but that would be my dream job. What's his focus?
 * Amy: Um... used to be string theory, now it's dark matter. But... let's not discuss Sheldon. Let's get back to you.
 * Dave: Wait, you're not talking about Dr. Sheldon Cooper?
 * Amy: I'm trying not to. Do you know him?
 * Dave: No, but I've followed his work for years. He's a rock star. You've got to tell me about him. What's he like?
 * (Amy opens her mouth which pans to the scene of the restaurant window through the circle and it now pans to the suspicious Penny with the binoculars)
 * Penny: He really seems into her.
 * (The car door opens and Bernadette excitedly gets into her driving seat with proudness, she giggles 'oh' and quickly takes the black baseball cap off and puts it out of sight)
 * Bernadette: I took a video. I forgot how much fun this is.
 * Leonard: Okay. we saw them. Can we go catch the movie?
 * (Here is the scene to which Bernadette got very cross all of a sudden while Penny sighs in the background)
 * Bernadette: (she asks Penny crossly) Why'd you bring him
 * Penny: (informing her sadly) I had to we're married now
 * Bernadette': (speaks quietly and crossly) Ugh, I hear that.
 * (Penny now shakes her head, Leonard looks out the window and Bernadette carries on looking at the video crossly).


 * (The restaurant scene of Dave and Amy chatting whilst having pasta meals together)
 * Dave: I'm sorry, just one more question about Sheldon.
 * Amy: Sure, why not?
 * Dave: It's more of a four-part question, really.
 * (Amy looks at Dave for a second)
 * Dave When he wrote his paper on supersingular prime numbers, how long did it take?
 * Amy: Um... about an hour and half.
 * Dave: Wow! I mean, wow! And you were there to see it? Yes.

Yep. We were on a date. Very much like this one. Mm. I doubt it was like this one. I mean, he's a genius, and I wasn't even smart enough to figure out why my wife always smelled of croissants.
 * Amy:What was the rest of your question?

Do you think you could introduce me to him? Really? You-you want me to introduce you to my ex-boyfriend? You're right, it's-it's weird. No, wait. Do it. No. I changed my mind. I'd be too nervous. Oh! I don't know what to do.
 * (Amy glares for a second and it pans to Bernadette's car with a silent unhappy Penny, Bernadette is looking through the glasses and Leonard is getting rather fed up)
 * Leonard: Are we gonna be much longer? I really have to go to the bathroom.
 * (Bernadette cunningly and crossly produces an empty clothes-soap bottle as a way to shut him up)
 * Bernadette: Right here.
 * (Leonard starts to reach for it)


 * (The ending scene where Amy stops her car and drops Dave off back at his house)''
 * Dave: Uh, thanks for driving me home.
 * Amy:  (sighs)No problem. I'm really sorry about your car.
 * Dave: Oh, it's all right. If you're free next weekend, I'd love to take you out again.
 * Amy: Um... listen, you're a really nice guy, but I just... I don't think this is working out.
 * Dave: Oh. Okay.
 * Amy: (sighs) I'm... I'm really sorry.
 * Dave: No, it's... at least the same woman that rejected Sheldon Cooper rejected me.
 * Amy: There you go. (she does an awkward chuckle)
 * Dave: If I ever do meet him, we'll have that in common. Sure. Heh. And... he's kissed you and I've kissed you, so if you think about it...
 * Amy: (yells at him) Okay, get out.
 * (Her starts to exit Amy's car).