Love took a few different forms, while zombies proved vaguely disappointing on The Big Bang Theory season 8, episode 16.
The experiment
Amy tells the gang about a test she has heard about, which suggests it’s possible to make people fall in love within hours. The test involves a series of questions, and ends with the pair staring into each other’s eyes for four minutes.
Everyone is skeptical of this, and Sheldon and Penny decide to put the test to the test. Neither is particularly concerned with falling in love.
Amy and Leonard are not worried either. They decide to hang out with Raj and Emily, and go to a zombie-themed “escape room.” They solve the puzzle in like five minutes, and this barely even counts as a plot line.
Come closer
Sheldon and Penny begin the test. They agree that having dinner with Robert Downey Jr. would be cool, and neither of their ideal perfect days involve their current significant others.
When Penny begins to make light of the questions, Sheldon suggests that she is avoiding intimacy. Reluctantly, Penny admits that she would like to be as smart as the rest of the gang. Sheldon admits that he wants to read people’s minds, because social situations are extremely stressful for him.
“Well, now I wish I had the ability to make that stuff easier for you,” Penny says. She feels briefly affectionate for Sheldon, until he makes fun of her.
Go get Mama
Meanwhile, Howard and Bernadette are stuck in the airport while the airline tries to find the bag with Mrs. Wolowitz’s ashes. Howard is extremely distressed by this news, and it gets worse when the airline attendant admits that the bag may have been picked up by a passenger connecting to an international flight.
Howard and Bernadette wait in the airport, Howard struggling with his guilt and grief. The bag and the urn are ultimately found, but not until Bernadette scares the living daylights out of the airline attendant.
Howard promises his mother never to leave her again, much to Bernadette’s chagrin,
Eye to eye, heart to heart
As Sheldon and Penny progress through the questions, Sheldon admits that it is his birthday. He has always kept this a secret, and Penny promises not to tell.
Penny and Sheldon begin the last part of the test, staring into each other’s eyes for four minutes without talking. They both find it weird, though Sheldon doesn’t have as much trouble making eye-contact with Penny, as he feels comfortable with her.
Penny says that she thinks of Sheldon like a little brother; he says he thinks of her as a mother. They marvel at having known each other for eight years already, though Sheldon is distinctly less sentimental about this. When the four minutes are up, Sheldon pronounces the experiment a failure as they are not in love, but they both admit they feel closer to each other.
Penny walks Sheldon back to his apartment, where the rest of the gang has arranged a surprise birthday party for Sheldon.