The Isolation Permutation

The Isolation Permutation is eigth episode of fifth season of the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. It aired on 3rd November, 2011.

Summary
Amy, Penny and Bernadette are excitedly discussing dresses for Bernadette's wedding, only for Sheldon to get fed up with them, unsuccessfully trying to be discreet in his blaming Penny for it, and they leave. The next day, Amy is at Caltech after being given a grant to purchase a strain of Mad Cow Disease, making everyone uncomfortable. However, Howard absent-mindedly complains at constantly being texted non-stop by Bernadette with pictures of the dresses they want to buy. This makes Amy realise they are doing it without her, and she leaves, looking visibly upset.

Later, Leonard is playing Horse racing with Xbox Kinect, but Sheldon becomes concerned when Amy doesn't respond to any of his attempts to contact her, and Leonard offers to drive him there to find out what's going on. When they arrive, she is playing "Everybody Hurts" on her harp, while crying, and Sheldon, unwilling to proceed, attempts to persuade Leonard to take him home. Leonard, however, sees an opportunity and immediately knocks on Amy's door using Sheldon's knock, and leaves, stranding Sheldon at Amy's apartment. Amy initially desires to be left alone, but she invites him in, and explains that Penny and Bernadette's snubbing her has left her feeling depressed. After asking him to keep an open mind, she explains her desire for physical contact, and makes a list of proposals involving them getting intimate, while Sheldon makes a series of counter-proposals that involve less intimacy, but will still be soothing to her. They eventually agree to just cuddle, and she snuggles up him on her couch. The next morning, however, Sheldon storms into the cafeteria and confronts Howard and Leonard, explaining that his night of designing a lego Death Star had been ruined by his having to cuddle with Amy, and demanding that they get Penny and Bernadette to apologise to Amy.

That evening, after Howard and Leonard explain what happened, Penny and Bernadette are dismayed, and explain they had gone without Amy because she was over-enthusiastic and would've been a hindrance to their dress shopping. They nevertheless feel guilty, and visit Amy at her laboratory to apologise. However, their efforts to do so are merely brushed off by Amy, who describes herself as a "tumor" in an otherwise functional brain. That night, Sheldon gets a call from Amy, who has gotten drunk in a liquor store parking lot, and he and Leonard rush over to help her. She once again attempts to persuade Sheldon to have sex with her, and embarrasses him by calling him "cuddles." He instead insists that he and Leonard take her home, and Leonard helps her up. The next day, Penny and Bernadette return to Amy's laboratory, and Bernadette, in an effort to apologise to her once and for all, asks her to be her Maid of Honour. Amy is immediately excited and forgives them at once.

The episode ends with Amy filming a dress shopping trip with Penny and Bernadette. She is as over-enthusiastic as they'd feared, and even barges into Penny's dressing room before she's even dressed.

Trivia

 * Sheldon originally designated the night he spent with Amy for solving the Spacetime Geometry in Higher Spin Gravity and building a Lego Death Star.
 * Raj understands fashion and dresses.
 * Leonard refers to himself as "single" in this episode, suggesting he and Priya have broken up after the events of the previous episode.
 * Leonard is too tall to be a jockey and is afraid of horses.
 * Amy had a semester away in Norway and her so-called friends locked her in the sauna with a horny otter.
 * Amy had a cousin who died the day before her wedding due to gas inhalation. She was supposed to be the maid of honour and the dresses are still unused.
 * In The Infestation Hypothesis, Amy claims to know only two songs she can play on her harp, "The Girl From Ipanema" and the theme song to "Diff'rent Strokes." She has now added "Everybody Hurts" to her repertoire.
 * On Amazon.com, the Lego Death Star seen in this episode costs $898.98.
 * For someone with an eidetic memory and an IQ of 187, Sheldon did not think to try to reach Amy by telephoning her, an idea Leonard gave him after he complained that all his other communication methods have failed.
 * Sheldon is someone who detests touching and other forms of physical contact, however, during his counter-offers with Amy at her apartment, he did suggest to pat her head, give her a neck massage, and later on agreed to cuddle with her.
 * Sheldon has always emphasized how Amy is not his girlfriend, but when a drunk Amy called him Cuddles at the parking lot, earning a frown from Leonard, Sheldon simply said "Yes, Cuddles, we cuddled. Grow up Leonard" indicating that he does not care what his friends might say regarding his relationship with Amy.