The Lizard-Spock Expansion
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| The Lizard-Spock Expansion | |
|---|---|
| |
| | |
| Chronology | Season 2, Episode 8
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| Airdate | November 17, 2008
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| Guest star(s) | Sara Rue as
Dr. Stephanie Barnett Carol Ann Susi as Mrs. Wolowitz Jennifer Hale as News Announcer (V.O.) Robert Clotworthy as Announcer (V.O.) |
| Teleplay | |
| Story | |
| Director | |
| | |
| ← "The Panty Piñata Polarization" | → "The White Asparagus Triangulation" |
| | |
| ← Season 2 | → Season 3 |
"The Lizard-Spock Expansion" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on November 17, 2008.
Contents |
Summary
Edit
Howard accidentally gets the Mars rover stuck in a ditch while trying to impress Stephanie Barnett. Stephanie finds herself more interested in Leonard than Howard and dates Leonard instead.
Extended PlotEdit
Sheldon, Raj and Leonard are arguing about what to watch when Howard shows up with an eye patch on. Howard explains that this along with his negs (Negative Compliments meant to throw a woman off their game) are all a part of his plan to pick up women. He then tries it on Penny, but miserably fails.
Later, Leonard and Sheldon are debating on what to watch when Howard calls with an emergency, the gang heads over to the university. Howard then explains he got the Mars rover stuck in a crevasse while trying to impress Stephanie Barnett, a girl he picked up at the bar. Howard appoints Leonard to drive her home as she doesn't have permission to be there. On the way home, Stephanie passionately kisses Leonard. He felt guilty about it, but after confirming that Howard didn't have a shot with her Leonard makes out with Stephanie.
Added by Adam hoAt the Laundry room, Penny notices Leonard's new clothes and asks who's the girl he's dating. Leonard then fills her in and she assures him that he is not a bad person for stealing Stephanie from Howard. Leonard tries to inform Howard that he is dating Stephanie, but before he is able to do so, Stephanie calls Howard to inform him about it. Howard then says Leonard is dead to him.
Later, Leonard tries to talk to Howard, but he continues to pretend Leonard is dead to him. Stephanie stops by and tries to speak with Howard, he acknowledges her but doesn't speak to her. Stephanie then mentions that her roommate Lisa would be disappointed to not meet Howard. Upon hearing this Howard is overjoyed and acknowledges both their existences.
In the final scene, Howard is seen sending a voice message to Lisa on the phone, when the boys call his attention to the news announcement which told that the Mars rover, which had fallen into the crevasse, had found conclusive data that there may have been life on Mars, but they will never know who to credit for this discovery. The episode ends with Howard saying, "Son of a bitch."
QuotesEdit
- Sheldon: Oh, look! Saturn 3 is on.
- Raj: I don't want to watch Saturn 3. Deep Space 9 is better.
- Sheldon: How is Deep Space 9 better than Saturn 3?
- Raj: Simple subtraction will tell you it's six better.
- Leonard: Compromise. Watch Babylon 5.
- Sheldon: In what sense is that a compromise?
- Leonard: Well, 5 is partway between 3 and…never mind.
- Raj: I'll tell you what. How about we go 'Rock-Paper-Scissors'?
- Sheldon: Ooh, I don't think so. Anecdotal evidence suggests that in the game of 'Rock-Paper-Scissors', players familiar with each other will tie 75-80% of the time due to the limited number of outcomes. I suggest 'Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock'.
- Raj: What?
- Sheldon: It's very simple. Look -- Scissors cuts Paper, Paper covers Rock. Rock crushes Lizard, Lizard poisons Spock. Spock smashes Scissors, Scissors decapitates Lizard. Lizard eats Paper, Paper disproves Spock, Spock vaporizes rock, and as it always has, Rock crushes Scissors.
CriticsEdit
"I really want to like this episode, the comedy is good, the focus is on Leonard for once but unfortunately I can’t. The writers lack of thought it annoying and again they limit the show. There seems to be a desire from the producers to keep the show from evolving. That’s a loss for the viewers because this show has the potential to be so much more." - The TV Critic's Review
NotesEdit
- Title Reference: When Raj wanted to play Rock-Paper-Scissors to determine what program they will watch, Sheldon proposes they play Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock, which is an expansion to Rock-Paper-Scissors.
- Chuck Lorre's vanity card [1]
- This episode was watched by 9.76 million people.
Trivia Edit
- Sheldon is a fan of Saturn 3, Raj likes Deep Space 9, and Leonard proposes watching Babylon 5, since numerically, it's between the two. This devolves into arguing over which is better, and only resolves to somewhat agree that Star Trek 5 is worse than the others (see the Note).
- "Rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock" is an expansion of the classic Rock-paper-scissors game by Sam Kass, which turns the classic three-way game into five-way, while keeping the original associations in the three way game, as so:
- SCISSORS cuts PAPER
- PAPER covers ROCK
- ROCK crushes LIZARD
- LIZARD poisons SPOCK
- SPOCK smashes SCISSORS
- SCISSORS decapitates LIZARD
- LIZARD eats PAPER
- PAPER disproves SPOCK
- SPOCK vaporizes ROCK
- ROCK crushes SCISSORS
- The DEFCON (Defense Readiness Condition) numbers do indeed count down, with a lower number indicating a higher-level of emergency than a larger number.
- On the series My Babysitter's a Vampire (episode: Flushed [2012]), the protagonists Ethan, Benny and Rory draw lots by playing Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock.
- In the season 1 episode, "The Grasshopper Experiment," Leonard lightly scolded Sheldon for having left with Raj's date, saying friends should not do such things. However, he himself practically does the same thing in this episode, the major difference being that he intended to date Stephanie, while Sheldon had no romantic intentions.
