The Scavenger Vortex

"The Scavenger Vortex" is the third episode of the seventh season of the  The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on Thursday, October 3, 2013.

Summary
After the gang blows off Raj's mystery, he creates a , with unusual pairings. During the hunt, Amy and Howard bond over their love of music while Bernadette gets competitive.

Extended Plot
At the Cheesecake Factory, Raj complains that no one attended his  (a and solving a  ). He then tells them that he has something even better planned;  an M.I.T.-like  Howard attended M.I.T. and loved to go on them. Leonard adds that they did them at Princeton University, too. Howard thinks that it's cute that he thinks Princeton is a real. Sheldon had planned to say the same thing about M.I.T., but finds that the jab also works for Princeton. Amy says the scavenger hunts were really hard at Harvard. The first challenge was really hard for Amy: trying to find someone to be on a with her. Penny tells them that she used to be in scavenger hunts where they would run around trying to find a  that would sell them. Everyone says that they are going to attend, however Sheldon wants to know if they are agreeing to go or to just trick Raj again. Sheldon has a containing all the items he needs to win the scavenger hunt including a. He knows filthy those rental bowls are. Raj announces the start of the hunt with an ing and some. He has hidden a golden in the city of Pasadena and they must solve ten  to find it. Bernadette and Leonard agree that the teams be the couples. Then Leonard suggests to pick s out of a. Penny gets mad that it seems like Leonard doesn't want her on his team because she isn't smart enough. Leonard switches back to couples, but tells Penny tells him to keep it at mixed couples. Penny picks Sheldon and tells him that they are going to kick his ass. Sheldon objects to Penny and Amy defends her that she is not a liability. Penny asks Amy if she wants her as her. Amy quickly agrees that names should be pulled out of a hat.

The teams are: Sheldon and Penny, Howard and Amy, Leonard and Bernadette. Penny and Sheldon go into her apartment to assemble the puzzle that is the first. Sheldon is that he picked Penny. Penny doesn't know that the on picking her are one in five and that is why Sheldon is pouting. Amy and Howard are in the getting ready to open the first puzzle. Leonard and Bernadette dump it on his bedroom floor. Penny is putting together pieces that fit while Sheldon insists that they start at the edges. Amy shows that she is really good with puzzles because she did a lot when she was growing up. Then she tells him that she is sorry that he didn't get Bernadette. Howard replies that playing a game with Bernadette is like getting in a steel cage with a. Bernadette starts yelling at Leonard to keep working on the puzzle. Penny figures out that it's the comic book store, while Sheldon wants to complete the puzzle. He thinks that there might be another in the puzzle to go to the  store. Howard figures out the comic book store answer and he runs off with Amy. Bernadette yells at Leonard that it is the comic book store and to "Come along, numb nuts." Penny and Sheldon leave last after he finishes the puzzle.

Leonard is driving along with Bernadette worried that Penny is mad at him. He also notes how Bernadette is. She tells him that she probably got that way because she had five and  and then she yells at him to speed up. Amy tells Howard that this time is the first time she was alone in a car with him. Penny has warned her about this situation. She also concludes that they don't have much in common. When asked Amy says that likes s,, , ... Howard then tells her to find some. She likes the idea because Sheldon never lets her since he doesn't want to be mistaken for a member. She finds, , , and. They both love the latter. Finally they are seen singing "" (Bum...bum...bum) driving down the street. At the comic book store, Raj thanks Stuart for letting him use his place. Stuart is fine with that, but would like to be invited to something fun like the Mystery Night or the Scavenger Hunt. Amy and Howard come in and Raj congratulated them for being first. Amy then shouts out that it isn't a to make fun of her for once. She is very happy to be winning. The puzzle is a offered by Batman's nemesis,. Leonard comes running in being yelled at by Bernadette. She asked how she could be faster since she's in and stopped to take a. He has, Leonard reminds her. Howard reads the riddle while Sheldon and Penny run in last. Sheldon tells her that his is a and not a  and he has a bowling ball on his back. Leonard tries to apologize to Penny and wishes he luck which makes Bernadette mad. Leonard tells her to relax and that it'll take time to figure out the hard riddle. Sheldon says that he had got it and leaves with Penny. (Hey, Princeton, look at that. Team - is in the lead.) Howard and Amy whisper to each other and leave. (To the Neil-mobile!) Leonard figures it out again making Bernadette mad. After they all leave, Stuart is standing there alone lamenting that no one bought anything. In the  lab, Sheldon and Penny find a riddle telling them to leave no  unturned. As they search under the rocks, Penny has Sheldon tell her how he solved the riddle. Penny doesn't understand him; however, she can drink a glass of beer. Then Penny notices the  on the door and finds the next clue, a  and, under the poster. Sheldon doesn't want to know how she figured it out. Amy and Howard and singing Neil Diamond's "", (...they're coming  to America...) Bernadette is wildly driving Leonard's car, but he accuses her of it. Leonard is still worried about Penny and wants to her that he is quitting. Bernadette tells him that that is the worse thing he could do since Penny sometimes calls him a pussy. Amy and Howard are still still singing "America" and having a great time together. Sheldon directs Penny to a. Sheldon exclaims that his is better than everybody's since he knew to bring the bowling ball. Amy and Howard are searching the geology lab singing "." In the broken elevator shaft, Leonard is sliding down the mad at Penny from calling him a pussy. Bernadette keeps yelling at him because Penny and Sheldon are catching up with them. Penny and Sheldon jump into their car heading to the. (Let's go!) Leonard and Bernadette jump into their car to head to the. (Let's go!) Amy finds a Neil Diamond next month. (Let's go!) Penny and Sheldon run into the laundry room and find three of  realizing that they're first ones to arrive. Penny gets to go through it due to all the dirty laundry she lives in. Leonard and Bernadette show up and they are all searching their pile of laundry. Penny says that the clue must be in the bag. Leonard repeats her statement. Penny says that there are nothing put pants in the pile. Leonard repeats her statement again. Penny wants to know why he is copying her s when she wasn't even smart enough to be on his team. Leonard wants to know she thinks that he is a... He can't say it in front of Sheldon. Bernadette tells him that she made it up since that was what he was going to be leaving the hunt and was acting like one. Sheldon thinks that they meant the word. Penny tells him that they are going to beat his ass. Leonard insists that he is every bit the Penny is. They find one of Sheldon's with a spot on it. They all head upstairs to Sheldon's spot. Sheldon stays to pre-soak his shirts.

Penny, Leonard and Bernadette are climbing over each other as they reach the fourth floor. Penny is the first in the apartment. None of them finds the coin. Raj walks in wearing a and carrying a  and tells them to check their. Everyone has a gold coin. Penny doesn't understand. Raj makes the point that when they're having fun together they are already. Raj has a coin and says that even he is a winner. Leonard asks if he is kidding him but can't believe it. Penny says that it's the thing she has ever heard. Bernadette tells him that he really sucks...so hard. Raj explained that he didn't want anyone to feel bad. Some of the puzzles were really hard and he didn't know who was going to get Penny. Penny looks at Raj shooting and tells him to run. Raj tells them that they had a wonderful time. Penny then tells him to run to. Raj then runs past Sheldon on the stairs. Sheldon finds the coin and tells the others that he won.

Amy and Howard blow off finishing the scavenger hunt and go to The Cheesecake Factory.

Critics

 * Jesse Schedeen of IGN: "..."The Scavenger Vortex" really played on the idea of nontraditional character pairings. That alone was enough to make this episode stand out...Sheldon and Penny hanging out is nothing new at this point, but they still manage to entertain. As expected, their group quickly emerged as the superior one thanks to Sheldon's keen analytically mind and Penny's ability to see the obvious where her geeky friends can't...The various shots of Amy and Wolowitz enthusiastically lip-syncing to Neil Diamond songs were a hoot, particularly the karaoke number at the very end. But on a deeper level, it was satisfying to see these two goofy characters who are so often dumped upon by the rest find a genuine connection together...This season is quickly shaping up to be more consistent than the last."
 * Dhruv Rao of The DR Club gave the episode a B-, and compared it to the episode of Friends.
 * Oliver Sava of the AV Club gave the episode a C+. Oliver Sava compares the episode with Friends, as well as Dhruv Rao of the DR Club.
 * IMDB user reviews

Costume Notes

 * Sheldon wears his muted Green Lantern logo shirt (appears unavailable). We see his OptiBlocks t-shirt  being examined in the laundry room.Mutedgreenlantern.jpg.

Trivia

 * Many events that happen during the hunt in this episode are referenced in "The Mommy Observation" (S7E18).
 * It is confirmed in this  that Leonard studied at Princeton University, which was previously implied in "The Speckerman Recurrence" (S5E11).
 * Amy explains that she studied at .
 * In the, before the six players decided how they would divide themselves into teams of two, they are actually already sitting beside his/her teammate: Penny sitting beside Sheldon, Leonard beside Bernadette and Howard beside Amy.
 * Nobody wants Penny on their team as she is a "liability", even her boyfriend Leonard, or Amy who always took Penny as her "bestie", which is an unusual move in their . Leonard and Amy both suggest picking names out of a . They know that Penny isn't as smart as the other members of their little group.
 * When being asked by Howard, Amy denies that she has ever played a game with Bernadette. It should be noted that in "The 21-Second Excitation" (S4E08), Penny, Bernadette and Amy had a  and they played ""; and in "The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition" (S5E10) the three played the travel version of "".
 * Amy mentions that she likes, which she watches with Sheldon in "The Raiders Minimization".
 * Amy and Howard find out that they both like the songs of . Both Howard and Neil Diamond are Jewish.
 * Not the first time that Leonard gets distracted by issues in his relationship with Penny. Last time the similar thing happened in "The Cornhusker Vortex" (S3E06), when the four were playing the kites fighting, Leonard is distracted by the problem that Penny seemed not willing to let him see her football-fan friends.
 * At the Laboratory, the poster behind the door exhibits the symbol of the band, which is exactly the answer to the riddle "leave no  unturned". Penny, being familiar with popular , solves this  easily; while Sheldon, taking the riddle literally, is totally unaware the correct answer and chooses to seek under the  specimens.
 * The map coordinate 34.1516,-118.0767 (Google Maps) does point to a in reality - Bowlmor Pasadena. It is formerly named "300 Pasadena", the name that appeared at the gate of the bowling alley in the show, and the name that Google Maps labels it.
 * Howard and Raj have been to the La Brea in "The Cornhusker Vortex" (S3E06).
 * Bernadette is very competitive in this episode and is very eager to win, as a result of having many siblings to compete with.
 * First episode that explores the Amy/Howard friendship.
 * Ironically, during the first puzzle, the pair in Apartment 4A living room is the only pair that consists of neither Leonard nor Sheldon.

Order of Clues
Raj claimed the game consists of ten puzzles, while only some of them are revealed in the show, and some of them are not depicted in detail:
 * 1) The game starts with a (jigsaw) puzzle, with the answer: "the comic book store;" The answer can be easily deduced before the puzzle is finished, but Sheldon insists on finishing it, annoying Penny, and causing their team to fall behind the other two.
 * 2) A riddle attached to the life-size  stand-up at the comic book store, with the answer "Geology Laboratory." Howard and Amy arrives at the comic book store in first place. Sheldon and Penny arrive last, but Sheldon solves the riddle instantly, bringing their team into first place. Leonard solves the riddle the last, annoying Bernadette.
 * 3) A riddle on the table of the Geology Lab, directing the players to find the next hint related to "The Rolling Stones." Penny solves the puzzle easily, while Howard and Amy don't seem to care about the game at this stage.
 * 4) A map coordinate hidden behind  poster on the door of the Geology Lab, sending the players to a bowling alley.
 * 5) A (supposed) puzzle at the bowling alley, content unknown, probably directing the players to the bottom of the broken elevator of the Apartment Building.
 * 6) A  (supposed) puzzle at the bottom of the elevator, content unknown, probably directing the players to the Planetarium.
 * 7) A  (supposed) puzzle at the Planetarium, content unknown, probably directing the players to the La Brea Tar Pits.
 * 8) A  (supposed) puzzle at the Tar Pits, content unknown, probably directing the players to the laundry room of the Apartment Building.
 * 9) Bags of dirty laundry in the washing machines in the laundry room, in which there are several pairs of pants and only one of Sheldon's T-shirts. Each shirt belongs to Sheldon and is stained with one spot, with the answer: "Sheldon's Spot," where the game ends.
 * Note that 5 to 8 is not confirmed to follow that order with the information revealed in the show.

Quotes

 * Raj: I’m going to make you guys a scavenger hunt like they have at M.I.T.
 * Howard: Oh, I love those. I did them every year there.
 * Leonard: We did them at Princeton too.
 * Howard: Oh, that’s cute. Like it’s a real college.
 * Sheldon: Amusing. I was going to say that about M.I.T., but it works for Princeton, too.
 * Amy: Scavenger hunts at Harvard were really tough. I’d always get stuck on the first challenge; trying to find someone to be on a team with me. [Laughs] I guess that story’s more sad than funny.


 * Sheldon: MY BRAIN IS BETTER THAN EVERYBODY'S!!!


 * Raj: Okay, go ahead and divide yourselves into teams of two.
 * Bernadette: We just do couples.
 * Leonard: Couples sounds great or we could mix things up maybe pick teams out of a hat. Whatever.
 * Penny: Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Why don’t you just admit you don’t want to be on a team with me?
 * Leonard: I just said couples sound great.
 * Penny: Hm-mm. Yeah. You don’t think I’m smart enough. You just think I’m going to be a liability. Even though I totally just used liability correctly in a sentence. {Amy nods at her.}
 * Leonard: No, let’s do couples. I want to.
 * Penny: Oh no, no. Let’s mix things up. I choose Sheldon and we’re going to kick your ass.
 * Sheldon: Really? The only time I ever get picked first for the team and I’m stuck with the liability.
 * Amy: Stop that. Penny is not a liability.
 * Penny: Thank you. Do you want me to be on my team?
 * Amy: Maybe we pick names out of a hat?


 * Bernadette: (to Leonard) Oh my god! You did not just slow down for a bird?! You know they fly, right?!


 * Howard: Wow, you’re really good at puzzles.
 * Amy: I did them all the time as a kid. As my mom used to say when you’re doing a puzzle, it’s like having a thousand friends. She was full of fun lies like that.
 * Howard: If it’ll make you feel any better, my mom was just full of pound cake.
 * Amy: Sorry you got stuck with me. I bet you wanted to be with Bernadette.
 * Howard: Have you ever played a game with Bernadette?
 * Amy: No.
 * Howard: Have you ever gone into a steel cage with a wolverine?


 * Amy: To the Neil-mobile!


 * Penny: Hey, Princeton, look at that. Team community college-night school is in the lead!
 * Sheldon: I thought we were the lightning sharks!


 * Amy: Yes! It’s not a ruse to make fun of me. It’s a real game, and I’m winning it!

In Penny's car
 * Sheldon: To the planetarium.
 * Penny: Let's go!

In Leonard's car
 * Leonard: To the tar pits.
 * Bernadette: Let's go!

In Howard's car
 * Amy: There's a Neil Diamond concert next month.
 * Howard: Let's go!


 * Stuart: So no one's gonna buy anything.


 * Penny: Where the hell's the coin?
 * Leonard: Wasn't the answer Sheldon's spot?
 * Raj: Oh, yes, Leonard. Yes, it was.


 * Howard: Hey, how about some music?
 * Amy: Great. Sheldon never lets me listen to music in the car. He doesn't want to be mistaken for a gang member.
 * Howard: Find something you like.
 * Amy: Beatles, boring. Eminem, scary. Weird Al? How old are you? Neil Diamond?
 * Howard: Yeah, I love Neil Diamond.
 * Amy: I love Neil Diamond.