The Lizard-Spock Expansion

The Lizard-Spock Expansion is the eighth episode of the second season of the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. It aired on November 17th, 2008.

Summary
Howard accidently gets the Mars rover stuck in a ditch while trying to impress Stephanie Barnett. It turns out Stephanie is more interested in Leonard than Howard and dates Leonard instead.

Extended Plot
Sheldon, Raj and Leonard are arguing about what to watch when Howard shows up with an eye patch on. Howard explains that this along with his negs (Negative Compliments meant to throw a woman off their game) are all a part of his plan to pick up women. He then tries it on Penny but miserably fails.

Later, Leonard and Sheldon are debating on what to watch when Howard calls with an emergency, the gang heads over to the university. Howard then explains he got the Mars rover stuck in a crevasse while trying to impress Stephanie Barnett, a girl he picked up at the bar. Howard appoints Leonard to drive her home as she doesn't have permission to be there. On the way home, Stephanie passionately kisses Leonard. He felt guilty about it but after confirming that Howard didn't have a shot with her Leonard makes out with Stephanie.

A news broadcast informs the gang that because of the loss of data, NASA is unlikely to determine the cause of the Mars rover's "malfunction." Leonard heads out to meet Stephanie at her place, Leonard and Stephanie make out and proceed to initiate sexual intercourse, while Howard continually tries to fix a date with Stephanie.

At the Laundry room, Penny notices Leonard's new clothes and asks who's the girl he's dating. Leonard then fills her in and she assures him that he is not a bad person for stealing Stephanie from Howard. Leonard tries to inform Howard that he is dating Stephanie, but before he is able to do so, Stephanie calls Howard to inform him about it. Howard then says Leonard is dead to him.

Later, Leonard tries to talk to Howard but he continues to pretend Leonard is dead to him. Stephanie stops by and tries to speak with Howard, he acknowledges her but doesn't speak to her. Stephanie then mentions that her roommate Lisa would be disappointed to not meet Howard. Upon hearing this Howard is overjoyed and acknowledges both their existences.

In the final scene, Howard is seen sending a voice message to Lisa on the phone, when the boys call his attention to the news announcement which told that the Mars rover, which had fallen into the crevasse, had found conclusive data that there may have been life on Mars, but they will never know who to credit for this discovery. The episode ends with Howard saying, "Son of a bitch."

Critics
"I really want to like this episode, the comedy is good, the focus is on Leonard for once but unfortunately I can’t. The writers lack of thought it annoying and again they limit the show. There seems to be a desire from the producers to keep the show from evolving. That’s a loss for the viewers because this show has the potential to be so much more." - The TV Critic's Review

Chuck Lorre Productions #227
Dear George Lucas,

May I call you Mr. Lucas? On behalf of the writers of The Big Bang Theory, I would like to thank you for your astounding body of work, which has awakened the child within us and unleashed our dreams. That being said, we hope you don't take offense at our good-natured jest regarding your most recent animated efforts. Yes they were cheap shots, but we can't help but hold you to a higher standard&mdash;a standard of your own making. In closing, we are all looking forward to Indiana Jones 5-The Curse of the Golden Catheter. Oops, sorry again.

Very Truly Yours,

The Writers

P.S. To William Shatner, director of Star Trek 5, Go ahead, sue us.

Trivia

 * Sheldon is a fan of Saturn 3, Raj likes Deep Space 9, and Leonard proposes watching Babylon 5, since numerically, it's between the two. This devolves into arguing over which is better, and only resolves to somewhat agree that Star Trek 5 is worse than the others (see the Production Note).
 * RPSSL.gif"Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock" is an expansion of the classic Rock-paper-scissors game by Sam Kass, which turns the classic three-way game into five-way, while keeping the original associations in the three way game, as so:
 * SCISSORS cuts PAPER
 * PAPER covers ROCK
 * ROCK crushes LIZARD
 * LIZARD poisons SPOCK
 * SPOCK smashes SCISSORS
 * SCISSORS decapitates LIZARD
 * LIZARD eats PAPER
 * PAPER disproves SPOCK
 * SPOCK vaporizes ROCK
 * ROCK crushes SCISSORS
 * The DEFCON (Defense Readiness Condition) numbers do indeed count down, with a lower number indicating a higher-level of emergency than a larger number.
 * On the series My Babysitter's a Vampire (episode: Flushed [2012]), the protagonists Ethan, Benny and Rory draw lots by playing Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock.