"The Escape Hatch Identification"[1] is the eighteenth episode of the tenth season of the American sitcomThe Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on Thursday, March 9, 2017.
When Raj moves out of his apartment, Leonard and Penny offer him Sheldon's old room. This causes complications for everyone, especially Sheldon, who's having trouble letting his room go.
Extended Plot[]
Leonard and Penny find Raj’s latest Facebook post, stating that he can't afford his rent and needs to find a cheaper place to live. Howard responds that he could live in India, though they wonder if they can help him out by using the garage. Leonard and Penny realize they have Sheldon's old room. Sheldon begs Amy to let him get a life-size Spider-Man statue for the bedroom.
As Raj packs up his belongings from his apartment he gets a phone call from Howard and from Leonard offering him a place to stay. He gets them to negotiate their offers until Penny gives him an ultimatum.
Morning coffee.
Leonard and Penny meet Sheldon and Amy in the lobby. Sheldon insists that he has no problem with Raj moving into his old room. Once alone with Amy, he admits that he is uncomfortable since that was his room even before he met Leonard. He is feeling replaced, even though Amy reminds him that it is not a good time for Raj either.
In apartment 4A Raj is doing everything he can to help with dinner. Sheldon and Amy arrive with a gift for Raj - a blank notebook to write down all the ideas he has in the room, since Sheldon had so many when living in that room. Sheldon tells Raj that he knows how humiliated he must feel. Raj calls him a jerk so Sheldon/Amy leave.
Back in apartment 4B, Sheldon calls Beverly who points out that his old room represented an escape hatch from being in a permanent relationship with Amy. Amy is offended so Beverly suggests Amy has similar feelings, too.
Back in 4A, Raj tells Leonard and Penny that moving in there might have been a bad idea, since problems are already arising. Penny insists they're happy to have Raj. Sheldon returns to apologize and mentions Beverly's theory. She also said that Leonard and Penny taking in a roommate is a buffer to cover up insecurities in their relationship.
Later, Leonard calls his mother to disagree with her. She brings up Penny wanting her brother to stay with them as another example. Leonard wonders if she is right.
When Raj sneaks into Howard and Bernadette’s bedroom and they wake up screaming. Howard didn't return Raj's text. Stuart then arrives with a baseball bat to defend them. Raj was causing troubles for Leonard and Penny and he wants to go somewhere he wasn't causing trouble which he was.
Raj scares Howard and Bernie.
Sheldon can't sleep worried about what Beverly had said about their relationship. Amy is not so bothered; she soothes Sheldon by telling him that he is somebody who likes to have a contingency plan.
Meanwhile, Stuart sets up the couch for Raj, who thinks that they could try getting a place together. Stuart objects that he has a good thing going mooching off Howard and Bernadette.
The next morning, they find a note from Raj saying he moved out. Leonard and Penny agree that there isn't anything wrong with their marriage except that Beverly got into their heads. They also agree to invite Raj back, but not before Leonard shouts within Sheldon's hearing that Cinnamon is loose in the building.
Over in Howard and Bernadette's living room, Leonard and Penny apologize to Raj and invite him back. Howard offers a place in case he wants a change. Raj agrees to come back and that it's only temporary.
In apartment 4B, Sheldon tells Amy he's proud of their relationship since they don't need to fill the holes in their relationship with a third party. Behind them, there's a life-size Batman statue.
Caroline Preece at Den of Geek! - Much more entertaining is Raj, whose default mode is always going to be taking advantage of people, playing Howard and Leonard against each other once they both offer him refuge. Faced with either a garage or Sheldon's old room, I felt the potential gags and storylines flash before my eyes as he measured the bathroom situation and wi-fi against each other. Of course, once Penny gets involved, Raj falls in line...Speaking of Stuart, he's used better here than he has been for weeks. Side characters have always been The Big Bang Theory's secret weapon, but there's a limit to how often it can crap all over Stuart before it feels cruel. He's much better here, as he celebrates his life sponging off his much richer friends. As a perpetually almost-homeless person with generous friends, I related to this. [3]*IMDb user reviews
Based on Beverly's recent appearance, it seems as though despite building up on her mother-son relationship with Leonard previously, she has slightly reverted to her former ways when she strongly believed that Leonard and Penny are taking in Raj as a way to keep their "terrible" marriage intact, which is not at all true, as the two are happily married, despite any fights.
For the first time, Beverly refers to Amy by her name when talking to her.
Raj finally moves out of his apartment, the Raj Mahal. He won't stay in Leonard and Penny's apartment that long, though, since he is difficult to live with. He is twice as bad as Sheldon Cooper living with them. They would ask him to leave pretty soon.
For the second time it is confirmed in this episode that Theodore no longer lives in Apartment 4A anymore since Sheldon's old room is being offered to Raj. The first time was in "The Emotion Detection Automation" (S10E14), when it was revealed that the room was turning into a gaming room, in which Penny's brother Randall would be temporarily sleeping in.
Amy brings up the time Sheldon first said "I Love You" in "The Prom Equivalency".
Stuart has a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, a nod to "The Walking Dead", where Negan dons a baseball bat in the same fashion.
Stuart reveals more about his past life, where he opened up the Comic Book Store after graduating from art school due to nobody hiring for comic book and graphic novel artists.
Quotes[]
Sheldon:(to Amy) I figured out in which order I would eat all my friends in the event of an apocalypse. Because I love you, you're dessert.
Amy:(touched, but disgusted) I wanna say "awww" but I'm gonna say "ewww".
[first lines]
Leonard: Aw, man, did you see this post from Raj?
Penny: What? Is it another video of him and his dog lady-and-the-tramping some spaghetti?
Leonard: No, he can't afford his apartment, and he's asking if anyone knows of a cheap place to live. I want to say India, but it seems mean. [cut to Howard chuckling as Bernadette gets into bed with him]
Bernadette: What's so funny?
Howard: Raj is looking for a cheap place to live, and I wrote India.
Bernadette: Don't post that. Be supportive.
Howard: Maybe you should be supportive of my hilarious jokes. Fine, what should we do?
Bernadette: We're smart; I'm sure we can think of something.
Howard: Want to let him live here?
Bernadette: Oh, we're smarter than that. [Cut to Sheldon and Amy in bed]
Sheldon: I know our apartment is small, but I think we could make room.
Amy: No! We are not getting a life-size Spider-Man statue!
Leonard: [about Raj] We do have Sheldon's old room. If her really needs a place to stay, I guess we should offer it to him.
Penny: You're a good friend.
Leonard: Am I still a good friend if I wait and hope that Howard offers him a place to live first?
Penny: You're an even better husband.
Leonard: That was just because my mother got in my head. It's like being possessed, but instead of Satan it's... it- actually it's the same thing.
Leonard: You are not a burden. We want you to come back and stay with us.
Raj: But I also upset Sheldon, and he's not going to want to come over if I'm there.
Penny: More reasons for you to stay.
Amy: No! No Hulk, no Batman, no life-size statues!
Sheldon: Boy, I'm starting to think you didn't mean it when you said you wanted to spruce up the place.
Amy: He's getting better with dogs. Last week, he took a picture with Pluto at Disneyland.
Sheldon: If real dogs gave out buttons, I'd like them too.
[last lines]
Sheldon: D'you know what? I'm proud of us. Yeah, with Penny and Leonard taking in Raj and Stuart living with Howard and Bernadette, we're the only couple of our social group who doesn't need to fill the holes in their relationship with a third party.
Amy: [flatly] Yup, we're killing it. [Sheldon looks over at a life-size statue of Batman]
Howard: You have a Raj, I have a Stuart, maybe we could take them to the park, let 'em run together.
Leonard: I don't know. Yours looks like he has worms.
Sheldon: Beverly, you know I hold you in high esteem. Could you please skip the part where you pretend not to know the answer and get to the part where you tell me the answer?
Beverly: Very well, but if you don't mind, I would like to pause for effect. [pause] Now...
Penny: You didn't do anything. It's Sheldon.
Leonard: "You didn't do anything. It's Sheldon." That'd make a nice needlepoint pillow.
Raj: How's the bathroom situation with Penny? Is there hair everywhere? Does she use your loofah?
Leonard: I don't have a loofah.
Raj: Well, you can't use mine, so don't ask.
Sheldon: Penny, this flyer came in the mail and is addressed to "occupant". I'm not sure if it's for you or me.
Penny: What's it for?
Sheldon: Uh, roof cleaning.
Penny: It's yours.
Amy: I have memories of that room too. It's where you first told me you loved me.
Sheldon: Actually, that was in the hallway outside my room.
Amy: And there's the love of which I speak.
Sheldon: Beverly, do you have time? Leonard tells me that you're busy.
Beverly: Oh, I just say that because he prattles.
Sheldon: ...Penny would be the entrée, Leonard is basically a cheese course, and because I love you so much, you're dessert.
Amy: I wanna say "aww", but I"m gonna say "eww".
Gallery[]
Discussing their relationship.
Shelkdon is worried.
Dinner in 4A.
write down all your great ideas in my old bedroom like I did.
