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"The Recollection Dissipation"[1] is the twentieth episode of the tenth season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on Thursday, April 6, 2017.

Summary[]

Sheldon pushes himself to the limit when he collaborates on projects with Leonard and Wolowitz as well as Amy on the same day. Also, Bernadette is nearing the end of her maternity leave and must return to work, but she seems reluctant to do so.

Extended Plot[]

Sheldon is attempting to work on both Leonard’s and Amy’s project simultaneously. He is carrying around a backpack that contains soup and water reducing his feeding time. Even though he is exhausted, he has good ideas for both projects in the few minutes he spends with them.

10

What's wrong, Bernie?

Running back and forth, Amy, Leonard and Howard admit that they are all wrong about Sheldon's help.

Bernadette is borrowing Stuart’s laptop to catch up on emails at work. She admits that Halley will be fine between Stuart, her parents and daycare and that it'll be nice to be out of the house and be intellectually stimulated. Finally Bernadette does get upset about leaving Halley and asks Stuart not to tell Howard how she's feeling about returning to work.

Penny finds Sheldon doing laundry on a Thursday. He slipped and fell on his soup sack while also sneezing twice, Penny wonders if he's getting sick.

While Stuart is making an apology dinner, Howard suggests that they go to the zoo that weekend before she heads back to work. He also says that it'll be easier for him to drop Halley off at daycare unless Bernadette wants to do it.

The next morning, Sheldon is making toast for Amy who sends him to bed because he is sick. Later that day, Amy is taking care of Sheldon who's under a blanket sleeping on the couch in Apartment 4A. Sheldon doesn't know where the day has gone. Leonard saw him at their lab acting kind of loopy. Also, he misplaced his lab notebook on their classified project.

10

Where have I been?

Howard asks Stuart why Bernadette has being acting weird lately. Stuart claims not to know.

No one can find Sheldon's notebook and Amy doesn't know why Sheldon has a memory gap. Raj checks Sheldon's location history using his phone GPS. The phone's log shows that Sheldon went from his apartment to the university to a cowboy bar causing Sheldon to have a flashback dancing at that bar.

Howard goes to talk to Bernadette though she's busy on her laptop. Finally she admits she's having a tough time about going back to work as it feels like there's no right option; abandoning Halley or her career. Howard doesn't know which the right choice is either, but she can always change it if they're unhappy.

When the guys arrive at the cowboy bar, everybody knows Sheldon. He had also bought a round of drinks for the whole house. When Sheldon asks the bartender about the notebook there, the man hands back the “top secret quantum guidance system” notebook. Sheldon had told everybody. After leaving the bartender erases some calculations that Sheldon did on the bar's chalkboard.

Back home, Sheldon thanks Amy for making him tea, which he's drinking out of his hydration backpack. Sheldon needs one more thing. Amy gets out an autoharp and plays Soft Kitty for him - in English, German and Mandarin.

Credits[]

  • Guest starring:

Notes[]

  • Title Reference: Sheldon has memory problems.
  • Taping date: March 14, 2017
  • This episode was watched by 12.59 million people with a rating of 2.7 (adults 18–49).
  • Total viewers including DVR users 17.11 million.
  • This episode aired in Canada on April 6, 2017.
  • Chuck Lorre's vanity card [1].

Critics[]

  • Caroline Preece at Den of Geek! - The Recollection Dissipation sees Sheldon pulling a Mrs. Doubtfire on Amy and Leonard, but the twist is that everyone knows about it and it's not remotely funny...I still enjoy whenever Bernadette gets to wrestle with motherhood yet still be a real character, and the exchange between Penny and Sheldon in the laundry room is the kind of sweet and familiar scene the show used to do so well. I also laughed at the gag about Sheldon having to be a tutor to much larger men should he go to prison...And Stuart also gets to be a person here, with Bernadette confiding in him her worries about going back to work now that her maternity leave is over. It's a welcome glimpse of what Stuart's role in the household...But Amy is otherwise engaged, as we see from the final scene. I'm just going to go ahead and assume that Mayim Bialik can genuinely sing Soft Kitty in German and Mandarin, because she's just that awesome. [2]
  • IMDb user reviews
  • Episode transcript [3]

Trivia[]

  • In this episode, Sheldon cannot seem to recall some of the past events in his life, which is normally out of character for him due to his eidetic memory.
  • Howard kept a secret from Bernadette involving the death of her aunt Trixie for six years.
  • Soft Kitty returns in this episode after its last occurrence in "The Anxiety Optimization". This time, it's sung by Amy in three different languages to sick Sheldon. In a sheer coincidence, a little over before this episode's airing, The Big Bang Theory staff won the lawsuit regarding the copyright issues over "Soft Kitty".
  • Penny is now more aware of Sheldon's habit of saying facts about something she may bring up.
  • The daycare that looks after Halley banned Stuart from the premises.
  • Sheldon unintentionally spills information about the secret quantum gyroscope he, Leonard, and Howard have been working on.

Quotes[]

Amy: [talking about Sheldon] How could he not remember a day?
Penny: Well, people who are abducted by aliens lose time. I mean, maybe it happens to the aliens, too.

[first lines]

Penny: Hey Leonard, if you're not busy tomorrow, I have to do a little reception at work.
Leonard: Oh, I would, but we need to make a push on the air force project.
Penny: Are you sure? We're celebrating our new ADD drug. I mean it'll probably be over in like six minutes
Amy: Did you say you guys are working on the guidance system tomorrow?
Leonard: Yeah, why?
Amy: Well, Sheldon said that he was going to work with me on our quantum perception project.
Leonard: We've had this planned for a week.
Amy: Well, he reconfirmed with me this morning.
Raj: Guys, before this gets ugly, remember - the winner gets Sheldon.

Amy: Why did you tell Leonard you're working on the gyroscope tomorrow?
Sheldon: Because I am.
Amy: But you said you were working for me.
Penny: Uh-oh! Somebody's got two dates to the nerd prom.
Sheldon: I have a plan to work on both projects simultaneously. [to Penny]
Sheldon: And for your information, the summer conference on algebraic topology at Caltech is nerd prom.


Gallery[]

References[]


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