The Wiggly Finger Catalyst

The Wiggly Finger Catalyst is the fourth episode of the fifth season of CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. It aired on October 6th 2011.

Summary
Penny sets Raj up with one of her friends, and Raj finds he is comfortable talking around her because she is deaf. Meanwhile, Sheldon decides to live his life by the Dungeons and Dragons dice.

Extended Plot
The guys are playing a game of Dungeons and Dragons, when Raj begins eating a whole pie. He says it's because of his loneliness and everyone else has got someone. He goes on to say that he blames the USA for it because their movies and TV shows promise "streets paved with beautiful blonde women with big bazongas".

Meanwhile, at Penny's place, the girls are having a wax (which Amy thinks will include neating up each other's bikini regions). Bernadette mentions that Raj came along with her and Howard to cake tasting and he cried and ate half the samples. Penny points out his loneliness and decides to set him up with someone.

At The Cheesecake Factory, the guys are having dinner and Sheldon says that he will now make all his trivial decisions with the Dungeons and Dragons dice, so he can free up his mind for work. Later Penny comes to ask Howard if he can come with her and they both come back with a girl named Emily, a friend Penny knows from spin class. She introduces her to Raj and reveals that she is actually deaf. Howard helps translate what Raj says to her, and they get along instantly.

The next day, Raj and Howard are at the cafe waiting to meet Emily for a date. They end up staying there all day with Raj saying some pretty controversial or out of the box things which Howard toned down. When they finally leave, Emily kisses him and tells him to text her. Raj brags that he was so smooth.

During pizza night, Sheldon shows his new mustache as a result of the dice. Soon the guys start talking about Raj and Emily, who have been going out for about a month. They soon find out that Raj is showering Emily with gifts and start to get concerned that Emily is a gold digger. As it turns out, Sheldon reveals it wouldn't matter much because, as it turns out, the Koothrappalis are richer than they thought. Leonard decides to go talk to Priya because of this news and Howard tells Penny that Raj also paid off Emily's credit cards, so they decide to talk to her.



Howard and Penny go to the gym where Emily works out and they talk to her about their concerns. However, while Howard is signing for Emily, he gets distracted by some hot women and accidentally cuts to the chase (Are you a gold digger?). Emily gets angry at them and signs a furious message which Howard translates as "Something, something. Who the something do you think you are? Mind your own something business and go something yourself." He realizes shortly after, that she was saying the f-word.

Raj soon finds out about what happened and gets mad at Penny. She explains she only did it to look out for him as she is concerned about Emily taking advantage of him. However, Raj feels that Penny is jealous and dismisses it.

Back at his place, Raj has a surprise for Emily. He gives her a ruby necklace and at that moment, Raj's parents call, saying that they have found out about Emily and are threatening to cut him off if he doesn't break up with her. He decides to choose love over money and tells Emily this. But when he tells her they will have to take back the gifts, the screen then shifts to Penny's place where crying Raj is being comforted by Penny and a glass of wine.



Back at The Cheesecake Factory, Raj is having a cheesecake to compensate for his lack of a woman and Sheldon's dice tell him to not use the bathroom, even though he has had three buttermilks. Penny then comes with the bill and all the guys leave it for Raj to pay, as he is the one with lots of money. Penny also says that he better leave a very good tip.

Trivia

 * Title Reference: As sign language is used to communicate with Emily
 * Unburdened by trivial decisions in this episode, over the course of a few weeks, Sheldon co-authored two papers in notable peer-reviewed journals and came close to figuring out why the Large Hadron Collider has yet to isolate the Higgs boson particle.
 * Howard's previous personality of being a wannabe womanizing sleazebag can arise from time to time.
 * Apparently, Bernadette doesn't mind where Howard gets his motor running as long as he "parks it in the right garage."
 * Sheldon works as a Notary Public. This could be a callback to a line in The Financial Permeability, in which it was suggested, after Kurt wrote an I.O.U, on Leonard's forehead, that if they could find a notary public they could make it legally binding.
 * Sheldon describes Raj's family's wealth as being "About halfway between Bruce Wayne and Scrooge McDuck." The 2011 Forbes Fictional 15 puts Bruce Wayne at $7 billion and Scrooge McDuck at $44 billion, which puts Raj's NET value at approximately $25.5 billion. However, as he was described as being "Richie Rich" rich, this may put his NET value at $9.7 billion.
 * Howard knows how to use sign language among the many languages he speaks.
 * Howard compares his mother with a hideous, foul-smelling, moss-covered ogre.
 * When Raj was 6, he tried to form a boy band called "Frankie goes to Bollywood" but no one wanted to join so his parents got some of the servants to be his backup dancers.
 * Raj worries about eating cake or pie, because he says it goes straight to his hips.
 * Penny is one of those who believes that people with disabilities can't be mean.
 * Katie Leclerc guest stars as Emily and does suffer from hearing loss.
 * Amy wants to be a bridesmaid for Bernadette at the wedding and eventually gets her wish.
 * In this episode, Raj acts as if he has never come into contact, or dated, a deaf woman before, but according to a previous episode in season 4, he actually had a deaf girlfriend once. This is later revealed to be a lie from Raj in The Boyfriend Complexity.
 * One of the few episodes that takes place over a month's time period.

Quotes
Sheldon: I've decided to make all trivial decisions with a throw of the dice, thus freeing up my mind to do what it does best: enlighten and amaze.

Raj: ''Look at that. I have a date. I love America again.''

Raj: If you were me, would you kiss her?

Howard: Yeah, but I'm a make out king!

Howard: It might have been on your lips, but it was my kiss!

Leonard: You think she's taking advantage of him?

Penny: ''Of course not, she wouldn't do something like that. She's deaf.''

Penny: ''Handicap people are nice, Leonard. Everyone knows that!''

Penny: What kind of relationship is it, where you buy her gifts and she gives you sex?

Raj: The best I've ever had!

Penny: He is cuter now that I know he's rich...

Raj: ''What?! You're going to make me choose between the woman I love, and the money which I have very strong feelings for?''

Raj: ''Sometimes I put the TV on mute just to pretend she's still with me... But I can't watch the closed captioning without crying!''

Penny'' Oh, I am so sorry. I wish I could make you feel better.''

Raj: ''Seriously? I'm heartbroken, and you're hitting on me?!''

Penny: ''What?! No!''

Raj: ''Well, look, Penny... You're great, but I had a long talk with my parents, and they said if I date an Indian girl, I get a Maserati.''

Videos
thumb|300px|left|Promo for "S5EP04"