The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition

"The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition" is the nineteenth episode of the second season of the  sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on March 30, 2009.

Summary
Penny is not the only girl in town when another, more successful actress named Alicia moves into the building and the guys can't do enough for her.

Extended Plot
Sheldon is horrified upon hearing the news that the people in the apartment above him are moving out. Since they made almost no noise, Sheldon considered these people to be great upstairs neighbors even though he'd never met them. Howard offers to take the apartment, but is quickly deterred by his mother upon telling her that he would be leaving. Sheldon and Leonard are the first to greet the new tenant in the lobby, while Sheldon checks her boxes for anything noisy. The new tenant named Alicia moves in upstairs, and becomes an immediate rival to Penny. Alicia is also an aspiring actress, and Penny sees that she uses the guys for whatever she needs, albeit Sheldon who couldn't care less about her attention.

Penny hangs out in Sheldon and Leonard's apartment and Sheldon, out of context, mentions a fact about rival queen bees that inspires Penny to fight back for the guys' attention. Dressed in her best clothes, Penny visits the guys in Alicia's apartment and tells them a science joke that backfires on her. In the laundry room, Alicia mentions that she'd gotten a role on CSI as a dead hooker before asking Penny about how much physicists made and mentioning that the guys would be painting her apartment later. Penny calls Alicia out on it, Alicia calls Penny a bitch and accuses her of doing the same thing. Penny and Alicia get into a fight that spills out into the lobby, where it is witnessed by the guys.

Later, a bruised Penny is having dinner with the guys in Sheldon and Leonard's apartment. Hearing Alicia turn on music upstairs, Sheldon immediately blames Leonard for setting up her stereo on the setting. Immediately after, they hear the bed beginning to move, and Sheldon mistakes it for Alicia "jumping on the bed".

Critics
"Excellent stuff. It’s sad in a way that it has taken two seasons to finally produce a proper character episode for Penny. But when it is this good, I won’t complain." - The TV Critic's Review

Quotes

 * Howard: ENOUGH WITH THE GUILT, MA, WE'LL STILL SEE EACH OTHER, AND I'LL COME OVER EVERY NIGHT AND HAVE YOU FOR DINNER!
 * Mrs. Wolowitz: THE HELL YOU WILL! WHAT AM I RUNNING HERE, A FANCY RESTURANT?! DOES THIS LIKE OLIVE GARDEN?!
 * Howard: OKAY, I GET IT, YOU'RE ANGRY... YOU DON'T WANNA SEE YOUR LITTLE BIRD LEAVE THE NEST!
 * Mrs. Wolowitz: LITTLE BIRD?! YOU'RE ALMOST 30! FLY, FOR GOD'S SAKE!
 * Howard: FINE! I'LL STAY! YOU'RE HAPPY, CRAZY OL' LADY! I SURE AS HELL HOPE SO BECAUSE YOU'RE RUININ' MY LIFE!


 * Sheldon (to Penny):Ah, mimicry. I've been working on my impression of Admiral Ackbar. "It's a trap!"... You have to imagine me with a giant squid head.


 * Howard: Oh my god! Girl fight! (Grabs Leonard's arms)
 * Leonard: What are you doing?!
 * Howard: I know you, you're stupid enough to break it up!


 * Penny: They aren't like other guys. They're Special.
 * Alicia: Okay, they're special and..?
 * Penny: Well let's see how can I explain this. Um. They don't know how to use their shields.
 * Alicia: Shields?
 * Penny: Yeah, You know like in Star Trek and you're in battle, and you raise the shields. (Realizing what she said) Where the hell did that come from?

Trivia

 * This is the highest rated episode by The TV Critic.
 * Valerie Azlynn has, in fact, been in a CSI:NY episode, but not as a prostitute.
 * Sheldon has a lifting belt now, as he stated otherwise in "The Big Bran Hypothesis".
 * When Sheldon and Leonard meet Alicia for the first time, the dialogue among the three are quite analogous to that when Sheldon and Leonard first met Penny in the pilot: repetitive "hello's" and Leonard's redundant explanation.
 * Penny is seen wearing a Penny Blossom that she made in the previous episode.
 * The line "The horror" was referencing the film .
 * The line "They're here" was referencing the film .
 * The pink spotted dog seen in the milk crate during Alicia's discussion with Sheldon while she is moving in can be seen previously in Season 2 on Penny's dining room table.