The Boyfriend Complexity
Big Bang Theory episode
Chronology	Season 4, Episode 9
Airdate	November 18, 2010
Guest star(s)	Keith Carradine as Wyatt
Teleplay	Bill Prady, Steven Molaro & David Goetsch
Story	Chuck Lorre, Lee Aronsohn & Jim Reynolds
Director	Mark Cendrowski
Episode guide
← "The 21-Second Excitation"	→ "The Alien Parasite Hypothesis"
Season guide
← Season 3	→ Season 5

"The Boyfriend Complexity" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on November 18, 2010.

Contents 1 Summary 2 Extended Plot 3 Critics 4 Quotes 5 Notes 6 Trivia 7 Gallery

Summary Edit

Penny asks Leonard to lie to her visiting father (Keith Carradine) about them getting back together, while Howard, Raj, and Bernadette spend the entire night looking through a telescope.

Extended Plot Edit

Leonard is flattered when he shows up at Penny's door and gets a kiss from Penny. Later, Penny informs him that her critical father Wyatt is visiting, and she asks him to pretend that they're back together because he's the only boyfriend she's ever had that her father likes. Leonard is initially wary of the idea, but gleefully plays along. He gets taken out to dinner and Wyatt calls him a "keeper". Penny also suffers through her father's stories about how stupid her past boyfriends were. Leonard does get Penny to say "I love you" and confess (he also calls her out on the hypocrisy of being mad at him for going along with her stupid, flawed plan), which she finally does while her father and Leonard are Wii fishing. Penny's father confronts her about the hoax; then, after Penny leaves the room, he begs Leonard to get back together with Penny because he wants grandchildren who won't grow up in a house with wheels and knows Penny's next boyfriend(s) won't provide them. Leonard plays along as Wyatt pretends to angrily throw him out of Penny's  apartment.

Meanwhile, Howard and Raj spend the night in a control room for a ground-based telescope operating in Hawaii, hoping to find the star Epsilon Eridani dim, which would be evidence of a planet orbiting it. Raj gets mad at Howard when he discovers that Howard invited his girlfriend Bernadette until he discovers that Bernadette brought wine. When an intoxicated Raj complains that "no girl ever wants to kiss him", Bernadette shows sympathy for him and he attempts to kiss her. Howard attempts to stop Raj, but they end up sharing a lengthy kiss. The following morning, when asked by Leonard and Sheldon, both act awkward around each other.

CriticsEdit

"The stories were generally pleasant and innocuous though. The banter about super heroes was fun and the guys disbelief that Penny could actually be interested in Leonard again was used to good effect. I also very much appreciated Leonard and Penny being smart enough not to include Sheldon in their lies...Another wasted opportunity but it was passable entertainment nonetheless." - The TV Critic's Review

QuotesEdit

Howard: You wanna talk brave? How about Captain America's undocumented Mexican gardener...

Leonard: He's not braver than the guy that uses the bathroom after The Thing (Marvel comics).

Sheldon: As usual, you're all wrong. The bravest person in the Marvel Universe is the doctor who gives Wolverine his prostate exam.

---

Leonard: You'll never guessed what happened to me!

Sheldon: You went out in the hallway, stumbled into an inter-dimensional portal, which brought you five thousand years into the future where you took advantage of the advanced technology to build a time machine, and now you're back to bring us all with you to the year 7010, where we are transported to work at the Thinkatorium, by telepathically controlled flying dolphins?

Leonard: No.

Sheldon: Aw.

---

Leonard: Hold on, do you actually want me to deceive your father with some sham, play-acting and kissing, 'cause I'm good with that.

---

Wyatt: It's nice to have dinner with a boyfriend of Penny's who knows how to use a napkin.

---

Leonard: So, Howard, you get to play with Raj's big telescope last night?

(Howard and Raj misunderstand the statement and overreact.)

Raj: He never touched my telescope!

Howard: Way to go shutting up!

Raj: I did shut up, now you shut up!

Howard: Fine!

(Leonard and Sheldon look at each other with concern and confusion.)

Raj: ... I can't believe you didn't call me this morning...

NotesEdit

• Title Reference: The title refers to Leonard pretending to be Penny's boyfriend to please her father.
• Chuck Lorre's vanity card [1]
• This episode was watched by 13.02 million people for a 4.3 rating.

TriviaEdit

• Penny's father's name is changed from Season 2's "The Maternal Capacitance" when [Penny referred to him as "Bob", however in this episode his name is Wyatt.
• Leonard is the only boyfriend that Penny's parents liked.
• Though pushed by Leonard, Penny does tell him that she "loves" him in this episode.
• Penny's father Wyatt calls Leonard a "keeper" as a boyfriend..
• The majority of events in this episode take place on a Thursday Night as Thursday is "pizza night" . At the end of the night, when Leonard is forcing a kiss out of Penny, Sheldon comes walking up the stairs with a laundry basket. Sheldon does his laundry on Saturday nights.
• Sheldon demonstrates his ignorance of the law in this episode, in the sequence involving the "updated Roommate agreement". He refers to amounts to be paid by Leonard to compensate Sheldon for "Penny's transgressions" as "fines", whereas such amounts are properly understood at law as liquidated damages (but which may be considered penal damages).

Episodes | Season 4

The Robotic Manipulation • The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification • The Zazzy Substitution • The Hot Troll Deviation • The Desperation Emanation • The Irish Pub Formulation • The Apology Insufficiency • The 21-Second Excitation • The Boyfriend Complexity • The Alien Parasite Hypothesis • The Justice League Recombination • The Bus Pants Utilization • The Love Car Displacement • The Thespian Catalyst • The Benefactor Factor • The Cohabitation Formulation • The Toast Derivation • The Prestidigitation Approximation • The Zarnecki Incursion • The Herb Garden Germination • The Agreement Dissection • The Wildebeest Implementation • The Engagement Reaction • The Roommate Transmogrification

GalleryEdit