The Intimacy Acceleration

"The Intimacy Acceleration" is the sixteenth episode of the eighth season of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode will air February 26, 2015.

Summary
Penny and Sheldon conduct an intimacy experiment, while the airline loses the ashes of Howard's mother after they return from her funeral.

Extended Plot
At dinner, Amy mentions that she read an article about how intimacy can be created between two people in an accelerated time frame where participants pose personal questions to each other and then stare into each other's eyes for four minutes. Sheldon wants to perform the experiment on random people while they tell him to do it himself. Skeptical Penny agrees to participate and assures him that she won't fall in love with Sheldon. Heading into Penny's apartment, Sheldon gets Penny to agree to drive him to GaryCon (Dungeons and Dragons) if she falls in love with him.

Amy and Leonard try the same experiment. Question: "If you could eat dinner with anyone in the world, who would it be?" Leonard says Penny. Amy unpleasantly replies that she'd pick the janitor because she's about to throw up. Emily invites Amy and Leonard to join them for a night out. Howard and Bernadette are returning from his mother's funeral.

However, at the airport, Howard is screaming at the woman behind the desk who has lost his mother's ashes and demands the ashes back at any cost.

Starting the experiment, Sheldon is asked the dinner guest question. Sheldon chooses Euclid, the mathematics founder, while Penny chooses Robert Downey, Junior. Sheldon wants to join them for dessert. Emily suggests the group visit an Escape Room where you have to solve puzzles to get out of a room which includes being locked in with a zombie.

Next question to Penny, which is to describe your perfect day. Yoga, beach, drinks and dancing with Leonard who would bring a book. Sheldon would have French toast and travel to the future where his towering intellect is used to save the last remnants of human kind from a predatory alien race. It's far in the future, Amy is dead.

The guys are escorted into a room that is the remains of a mad scientist's laboratory. They are locked in after which a zombie attacks them. Howard is getting more frustrated especially since the attendant suggests that someone could have accidently picked it up and gotten on an international flight. She then offers him 500 frequent flier miles, enough to get him to Sacramento.

Next question: If you could wake up with any quality or ability, what would it be? Either turn water into wine or be as smart as everyone else in their Social group. Sheldon would like to be able to read minds to determine if people are laughing at him, if they're mad at something he's done, or just in a bad mood. Penny has a wave of affection for him that quickly passes.

While zombie cries out that he wants some brains, Amy quickly offers him Leonard's and solves the cipher puzzle. Then they use the answer to open a safe where they find a black light. A riddle is hidden on the wall which Amy quickly solves and finds the key to open the door. Emily had hoped the puzzles would have been harder, but not for the geniuses. What really scared Amy and Leonard is what might happen between Sheldon and the beautiful Penny. At the airport, Howard is bothered that he didn't drive his mother to the airport on her way to Florida since that would have been the last time he ever saw her. Bernadette is moved and informs the attendant, "You'd better find my husband's mother because either way, we're walking out of this airport with a dead woman.", implying that if she doesn't find the ashes, Bernadette will kill her.

Next question. If Sheldon were to die today and couldn't communicate with anyone, what would he most regret not having told someone? Sheldon wants to die on his birthday to avoid present giving and a surprise party which he hates. Penny proposes to not tell anyone. Finally the airport finds Howard's bag and Howard proposes to never let her go again. Bernadette is worried that the urn will end up in their bedroom.

Penny and Sheldon then stare into each other's eye as the experiment ends. They admit to feeling like brother and sister. Sheldon can't believe it's been eight years and that she is still eating their food. Penny can't remember her life before them. Finally, they admit that they are not in love with each other, but do share a new level of intimacy. Penny escorts him home, where Sheldon finds the gang present and shouting "Surprise!" Sheldon lets out a scream heard throughout Pasadena.

Critics
To be entered.

Trivia

 * The GaryCon is held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, a long way for Penny to drive.
 * This is the first episode of The Big Bang Theory involving four of the characters (Amy, Leonard, Raj, and Emily) or any of the characters in an Escape Room.
 * This episode put to rest the Catagory:Shenny couple argument by showing that they didn't fall in love due to the intimacy test and created a stronger brother and sister bond. Sheldon never had as strong of a bond with his siblings, but did have a strong one with his mother.

Quotes
To be entered.