The Big Bang Theory pulled out the emotional stops in “The Monster Isolation”, as Raj caved in and Sheldon opened up. (Well, sort of.)
“The Monster Isolation” began with Raj on his coffee date with Lucy, the girl he picked up at the end of last week’s Valentine’s Day episode. He thinks it’s going great, but Lucy excuses herself to go to the restroom and makes a break for it, leaving Raj in a temporary state of happy oblivion.
A few days later, a concerned Howard, Leonard, and Bernadette try to check in on Raj, who has not left his apartment since being stood up. The place is in shambles and Raj is even worse, but he insists that he is reconciled to living his life alone, and must devote his life to the study of the Universe. (Also, why leave the apartment when you’ve got Amazon?)
Howard and Sheldon run into Lucy in the comic book store, where Howard confronts her over mistreating Raj and extols Raj’s virtues. Lucy is shyly regretful and asks Howard to give Raj her number, to which he reluctantly agrees.
In the interim, Raj has completely fallen apart; Howard finds him alone in his apartment wearing nothing but underwear and a plastic lobster bib. He refuses her number at first, vowing to stay strong and lonely… but then runs after Howard, nearly naked, screaming for the number.
(No seriously, Lucy, he’s a catch.)
Lucy stops by Raj’s apartment later (Raj is fully dressed and cleaned up, thank goodness) but she doesn’t want to stay. She apologizes for leaving and says that new situations are difficult for her; she considers herself “kind of broken”, and doesn’t think Raj wants to date her. Raj disagrees, and insists that he can match her crazy for crazy, with insanity left to spare. Lucy isn’t convinced, but agrees to go on one date with Raj, wherein he will prove their dysfunctional compatibility.
In the meantime, Penny appears on an episode of Fun With Flags, and gives Sheldon some acting advice along the way. On Amy’s insistance, he thanks her; touched, Penny invites him and Amy to her acting class’s performance of A Streetcar Named Desire, to which (subsequent to cajoling and threatening) he agrees to go.
Sheldon, Amy, and Leonard attend the play – Sheldon is more eager once he learns the title. Even he impressed by Penny’s acting skills, though he sits through the play waiting in vain for an actual streetcar to arrive.
The Big Bang Theory will be on hiatus next week, but will return on March 7 with “The Contractual Obligation Implementation”:
Leonard, Sheldon and Wolowitz speak to junior high girls about careers in science. Meanwhile, Koothrappali plans a date with Lucy.