The Dumpling Paradox

"The Dumpling Paradox" is the seventh episode of the first season of The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on November 5, 2007.

Summary
Penny's promiscuous friend Christy from Nebraska is in town, she is easily seduced by Howard. This takes up all of his time, leaving no space for his normal activities with the gang. Sheldon is distraught at the empty void in the team caused by Howard's departure.

Extended Plot
Howard shows Leonard and Raj the new voice recognition technology on his phone which turns out to be severely flawed. As the gang has wasted several minutes of their game time, Sheldon pesters them to commence Halo Night, but is interrupted by Penny, who then starts talking about her uninvited old friend from Nebraska; Christy. She accidentally mentions Christy's promiscuity, which quickly alerts Howard. While Penny is explaining Christy's history, they discover that Howard has disappeared and has been hitting on Christy. Surprisingly, Howard succeeds in seducing her and gets busy with her, leaving the gang short of one Halo player.

As Sheldon detests playing one-on-one, Penny has to replace Howard. Penny turns out to be naturally gifted at playing Halo, which angers Sheldon as he believes she is cheating. Penny, having had a fun night, retreats to her apartment only to come back moments later because Howard and Christy are using her bedroom for sexual intercourse. As a result, Penny sleeps in Leonard and Sheldon's apartment (though when the turn out the lights and head off to bed, they forget Raj is still in the kitchen, forcing him to sneak out). The following morning, Sheldon takes issue with Penny interrupting his Saturday routine of watching Doctor Who, when suddenly Howard makes a dramatic entrance and says "Hola, Nerd-migos", later followed by Christy. Penny asks Christy where she will stay, Howard offers Christy to stay at his mother's house. As Christy leaves, Penny warns Howard that Christy will sleep with him only as long as he keeps buying her things, but Howard simply responds "Really? Yay!"

Later, as Leonard, Sheldon and Raj are in a Chinese restaurant, Sheldon realizes Howard's importance in maintaining the integrity of the group. This point is reinstated when the gang asks Penny to play with them on Halo Night, but she refuses as she has plans to go dancing. As a result, Sheldon and the gang march over to Howard's to confront him. But before they are able to confront him, they overhear Howard's mother and Christy having a big argument, which drives Howard out of the house. The argument leads to Christy breaking up with Howard, allowing him to return for Halo Night. While the gang is playing, Penny and her friends, knowing the guys are too engrossed in the game to notice them, have a laugh by telling the gang they want to have sex with them. Leonard does look up wondering what just happened and then goes back to his gaming.

Quotes
[The guys are at Leonard and Sheldon's place  and Sheldon's place for Halo night. While Sheldon is setting up the Xbox 360 to the T.V., Leonard, Howard and Raj are trying the new voice search on Wolowitz's phone.]

Howard: Watch this, it's really cool. (To phone) Call Leonard Hofstadter.

Phone: Did you say: Call Helen Boxleitner?

Howard: No, CALL LEONARD HOFSTADTER!

Phone: Did you say: Call Temple Beth Seder?

Howard: NO...!

Leonard: Hey, Hey, Here let me try. (To phone) Call McFloono McFlooneyloo (chuckles).

Phone: Calling Rajesh Koothrappali.

[Raj looks up in confusion and shock, then his phone rings.]

Raj: Oh, ho, ho, it's very impressive. And a little racist.

[Penny, Sheldon, Leonard, and Raj are playing Halo at Leonard and Sheldon's apartment]

Sheldon: OK, that's it! I don't know how but she's cheating. No one can be that attractive and this skilled at a video game.(Sheldon walks away furiously)

Penny: Wait, wait Sheldon, come back you forgot something.

Sheldon: What?

Penny: This plasma grenade (she throws a plasma grenade at this character; She and Leonard are laughing; Raj is surprised) (laughs), look, it's raining you. (laughs on)

[Sheldon, Leonard & Raj go to convince Howard to join them for Halo Night].

Leonard: Sheldon, think this through. You're going to ask Howard to choose between sex & Halo.

Sheldon: No, I'm going to ask him to choose between sex & Halo 3. As far as I know, sex has not been upgraded to include high def graphics & enhanced weapon systems.

Leonard: You're right. All sex has is nudity, orgasms, and human contact.

Sheldon: My point.

Christy: (From inside the house) I'M JUST SAYING, YOU COULD TAKE THE DAMN PLASTIC OFF THE COUCH ONCE IN A WHILE!

Mrs. Wolowitz: WHY?! SO YOU AND HOWARD CAN HUMP ON IT?!

Howard: LADIES! Ladies, I'm sure there's a middle ground.

Christy and Mrs. Wolowitz: SHUT UP, HOWARD!

Howard: You girls talk. I'm gonna take my scooter out for a little spin.

[Howard leaves and finds the guys on the front porch.]

Christy: YOU HAPPY?! YOU DROVE YOUR OWN SON OUT OF THE HOUSE!

Mrs. Wolowitz: WHY DON'T YOU STOP BUTTING IN WHERE YOU DON'T BELONG?!

Howard: Hey, What are you guys doing in here?

Christy: WHY DON'T YOU START TREATING HIM LIKE A MAN THEN?!

Sheldon: I~It's Halo Night.

Mrs. Wolowitz: HE'S NOT A MAN, HE'S A PUTZ, AND DON'T YOU TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME, YOU GOLD DIGGER!

Christy: WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!

Mrs. Wolowitz: YOU HEARD ME, AND I'LL TELL YOU SOMETHING ELSE: YOU'RE BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE! 'CAUSE AS LONG AS YOU'RE AROUND, HOWARD IS OUTTA THE WILL!

Christy: YOU KNOW WHAT, I'VE GOT BETTER OFFERS! I'M OUTTA HERE!

Mrs. Wolowitz: THAT'S RIGHT! ''[Mrs. Wolowitz bangs on the door with a crash.]'' GO BACK TO BABYLON, YOU WHORE!

Howard: So, Halo Night, huh?

Raj: I thought she was the whore of Omaha.

Sheldon: Shh!

[The guys are playing Halo 3, and the atmosphere is intense]

Howard: Sheldon, you got him in your sights! Fire, he's charging his plasma rifle!

Sheldon: I can't shoot now, I'm cloaking!

Leonard: Raj, kill Sheldon!

Raj: I can't see him!

Sheldon: That's why they call it cloaking, dead man!

Leonard: Well, just start throwing grenades!

Raj: I'm all out!

[Penny and her three friends enter the apartment]

Penny: Hey guys, my friends and I got tired of dancing, so we came over to have sex with you.

[The guys are too engrossed in their game to even notice the girls are present]

Leonard: Raj, now jump in the tank!

Sheldon: We said no tanks!

Raj: There are no rules in hell!

Howard: MED PACK! I NEED A MED PACK!

[Penny turns to her friends]

Penny: Told ya!

[They leave, laughing]

Leonard: [on his feet now] There's a sniper, use your rocket launcher!

Raj: All I've got is a needler, and I'm all out of ammo!

Sheldon: And now you're out of life!

[As he's about to kill Raj, Leonard suddenly pauses]

Sheldon: Why'd you hit pause?

Leonard: I thought I... heard... something.

Raj: What?

Leonard: Oh, er, never mind, sorry!

[They resume playing]

Critics
"There is something missing from this episode. The story lacks a real punch and the jokes are solid but not spectacular. It is a credit to the show though that it feels close to something really good here rather than feeling like a disappointment." - The TV Critic's Review

Trivia

 * In this episode Leonard's family name Hofstadter is revealed for the first time; thus giving his full name Leonard Leakey Hofstadter.
 * Raj comments on Leonard's suggestion on cutting him in half to play Halo 3 in teams in front of Penny, whereas he normally is rendered mute, though it is possible that he didn't notice her.
 * At Szechuan Palace, Sheldon explains that the gang's standard order includes the steamed dumpling appetizer, consisting of four dumplings to be divided among the four of them. Later, in "The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition", Sheldon is horrified when his dumplings are steamed, exclaiming that "...you hear stories of this sort of thing, but you never think it'll happen to you".
 * Sheldon says, "Okay, assuming we could dance, which we can’t, there are three of us and two of them," which is contrary to his statements in "The Agreement Dissection", "No, thank you, but for the record, I’m an excellent dancer, proficient in the rumba, waltz and cha-cha. ... In the South, pre-adolescent children are forced through a process called cotillion, which indoctrinates them with all the social graces and dance skills needed to function in 18th century Vienna."
 * Sheldon suggests to Penny that she sleep facing the door so as to protect herself against marauders. In "The Hamburger Postulate", however, when he sleeps on the couch, he does so with his feet to the door.
 * Penny explains that Christy was engaged to her cousin but was sleeping with her brother, so she's kind of family.
 * Leonard and Sheldon own an earthquake kit that supports a man for two days.
 * Sheldon wakes up at 6:15 every Saturday morning, pours himself a bowl of cereal, adds a 1/4 cup of 2% milk, sits in his spot, turns on BBC America & watches Doctor Who.
 * Sheldon keeps his red toothbrush in a Plexiglas under UV light.
 * This is the first time we hear Howard's mother.
 * When Sheldon is watching Doctor Who, The Master's laser screwdriver can be heard, making it likely that the episode was "" or "".
 * There are several inaccuracies in this episode regarding the Halo scene:
 * In the real game of Halo 3, you can't actually shoot off someone's head, but it's possible that Penny might be exaggerating what she actually did.
 * In Halo 3, there are no med packs.
 * Howard says to shoot the person that's charging their plasma rifle, but a plasma rifle only shoots repeated shots of plasma. A plasma pistol has the ability to charge a shot.
 * Sheldon states that if he could afford the rent he'd ask Leonard to leave. In "The Financial Permeability", Sheldon states that his expenses account for 46.9% of his after tax income. As expenses must include his rent, clearly he can afford the rent on his own assuming a roughly 50/50 agreement with Leonard.
 * When Christy is introduced to Leonard and Sheldon, Sheldon shakes her hand even though in "The Benefactor Factor" he refuses to shake hands because he has what he calls, "not a touch phobia, it's a germ phobia". However, she did just shower.
 * Sheldon states that he would watch the "last 24 minutes of Doctor Who. Although at this point it's more like Dr. Why Bother?" The current Doctor Who series has episodes 45 minutes long. He did not stand there talking for 21 minutes, and it's highly unlikely that he came in 15-20 minutes late. He would've missed most of the episode.
 * Sheldon claims that he has watched Doctor Who "Every Saturday since I have lived in this apartment." The present run of Doctor Who began in 2005, at least two years after he moved into the apartment (assuming he started living in the apartment in 2003, which would correspond to his statements in "The Luminous Fish Effect" and "The Staircase Implementation").
 * The morning after "Halo night" is revealed to be a Saturday, due to Sheldon's expression regarding his watching of Dr. Who, but at the end of the episode when the guys ask Penny to play Halo with them Halo Night is said to be Wednesday night, not friday night.