The Weekend Vortex

The Weekend Vortex is the nineteenth episode of the fifth season of the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. It aired on March 8, 2012.

Summary
Raj suggests the guys spend an entire weekend together with a marathon of Star Wars online game; however, Sheldon already promised Amy that he will attend her aunt's 93rd birthday party and meet her family. He tries to buy Amy's aunt a gift at the comic book store. Later Sheldon unsuccessfully asks Penny to get Amy to change her mind. Sheldon agrees to go with Amy, but shows up with his laptop to play along remotely. Amy is peeved, but tells him to go join the game fest. Howard on the other hand invites Bernadette to join their marathon. After she returns, she confides in Penny that she wanted to prove to her family that she had a real boyfriend and not a pretend one. Penny suggests a couple of female reponses (including withholding sex that wouldn't work with Sheldon) and they decide to go over to Sheldon's apartment and make a scene. Amy starts on a rant; however, Raj pops up and does her one better. He complains that he had hope to have the guys gets together like they used to before everyone else had girlfriends and he still had none. Penny tells Amy that that is the way to make a scene. All the women leave and the guys get back to their games. The next morning, Howard's mother is outside yelling at them wondering where her son is and Howard heads home.

Title Reference
The title is derived from the conflict Sheldon faces regarding how to spend his weekend, since he wants to join the Star Wars online game marathon with the guys yet he had promised Amy that he would attend her aunt's birthday party and meet her family.

Quotes
Raj: Hey, wanna spend some time playing the new Star Wars game this weekend?

Leonard: ''Uh, I don't know. I kind of promised myself I'd get off the computer, be more physically active, get some exercise.''

Howard: You're about to walk up three flights of stairs.

Leonard: ''Good point. I'm in!''

Raj: ''You know what would be great? Let's do it like the old days.''

Leonard: You're talking gaming marathon?

Raj: ''Yeah! Starts Saturday morning, go 48 hours, sleeping bags, junk food...''

Howard: Turn off our phones so our moms can't call...

Leonard: It'd be like that World of Warcraft party from a few years ago when the neighbors called the cops on us.

Howard: They called the cops because of the smell, they thought we were dead.

Raj: We were bad-ass back in the day.

Leonard: ''Alright, let's do it! ''

Howard: 48 hours of Star Wars gaming.

Raj: It's on, like Alderaan!

Sheldon:'' Movies or video games? Or board games, or trading card games, or dress up, or comic books, or dramatic readings of novelizations? Yes to all!''

Amy: (About Sheldon) ''He and I have other plans. We are attending my Aunt Flora's 93rd birthday party.''

Howard: ''You're a grown man! Act like one. Tell Amy you wanna spend the weekend having a sleepover and playing video games with your friends. ''

Amy: ''All the food is incredibly soft. It's like a vacation for your teeth.''

Sheldon: ''I always thought if I were enslaved, it would be by an advanced species from another planet. Not some hotsie-totsie from Glendale.''

Penny: You cannot put a sadle on Leonard Hofstadfer.

Penny: (To Leonard) Sorry Stallion, your weird friend Giraffe is here!

Trivia

 * This is the first episode to air after the show's mini-hiatus. The previous episode, The Werewolf Transformation, aired on February 23, 2012.
 * The online game referenced in this episode is Star Wars: The Old Republic. (Refer to this article.)
 * Penny doesn't see a difference between Star Trek and Star Wars, despite knowing that the guys get mad when the two are mixed up. She will invariably guess Star Wars for anything, as seen in The Vegas Renormalization, The Bozeman Reaction, and The Excelsior Acquisition.
 * A couple years ago, the boys had a World of Warcraft party, and the neighboors called the cops on them because of the smell and they thought they were dead.
 * Leonard states he got a nosebleed overthinking his relationship with Penny. In The Speckerman Recurrence, Penny revealed that when Leonard jogs blood pours out of his nose.
 * Penny compares Sheldon to a giraffe. She said he looked like a giant praying mantis in The Cooper-Nowitzki Theorem.
 * Amy referred to Sheldon's pale skin, just as Penny said the physicists she knows are indoorsy and pale in The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis.
 * It is revealed that Amy is from Glendale.

Continuity

 * Leonard mentions "yogurt that helps women poop". This may be a callback to "The Plimpton Stimulation", where Sheldon purchased a supply of said comestible for his guest Elizabeth Plimpton.

Video
354px|left|The Weekend Vortex Sneak Peek 354px|left|The Weekend Vortex Promo