The Big Bang Theory – Recap & Review – The Zazzy Substitution

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The Big Bang Theory
The Zazzy Substitution

Original Air Date: Oct 7, 2010

Theresa – Staff Writer
theresa@thetwocentscorp.com

If you wanted more Amy Farrah Fowler, as I did, this episode will make you very happy. Mayim Bialik got nearly every zinger in this one, and there were too many great moments to count!

We open with “Shamy” playing a game they invented called Counterfactuals, where they ask each other hypothetical questions about alternate worlds (such as, In a world where rhinoceroses are pets, who would win World War II?). When Leonard can’t catch on to the random, convoluted logic of the answers, Amy insults his intelligence.

Later, at The Cheesecake Factory, Raj is sharing the juvenile words he uses for bathroom time (hint: one is boom-boom) when Sheldon and Amy arrive. And speaking of bathroom time, we find out that Amy wears feminine hygiene products continuously to “avoid surprises”. TMI, Amy. TMI. Despite this revelation, what Amy finds offensive is being referred to as “Shamy” by Penny. Before their order is even taken, she manages to insult everyone there and Leonard’s had enough.

Once they lose Amy, Leonard tells Sheldon that Amy is obnoxious and shouldn’t socialize with them anymore. Sheldon insists that since he “suffered in silence” when Penny was around, Leonard should reciprocate his patience. Instead, the boys decide to hide out at Penny’s, where Raj gets drunk and rude, and Howard corrects Penny’s feet-pumicing technique. Sheldon is more than willing to see Leonard’s point, however, when Amy refers to theoretical physics as “cute”.

After the most esoteric fight ever wherein Amy concludes that her mapping of information processing makes all of Sheldon’s thoughts hers, they mutually agree to terminate their relationship. To fill his new void of companionship, Sheldon gets a cat. Then, to keep the cat (Dr. Robert Oppenheimer) company, he gets many more cats, including one who is quite “zazzy”. I don’t know what zazzy means, but I did find out that a group of cats is called a “clowder”.

Leonard resorts to drastic measures and calls Sheldon’s mom. Mrs. Cooper invites Amy over for dinner, and using some reverse psychology, gets those two crazy kids back together. Reunited, Sheldon and Amy give away the cats, and some random cash, to children at the park.

There was so much to love about this episode that I’ll let it go that Sheldon somehow never knew Amy’s opinion of his work. All of Mayim Bialik’s lines and delivery, along with Jim Parsons’ face every time he called the cat “zazzy” made this a fantastic episode. The visual joke of the “Cats $20” sign was so out of left field, but it was one of many moments that caused me to laugh out loud. I had a hard time narrowing down the best lines for this one, but I’ll leave you with a few, and you can add some more in the comments!

Best Lines
Sheldon: I should have warned you, one has to navigate a labyrinth of social nonsense before one can be fed here.
Amy: Really? I assumed an establishment called The Cheesecake Factory would function more efficiently.

Howard: Tell us about your work, Amy.
Amy: I doubt you’d understand. Sheldon tells me you only have a Master’s degree.

Sheldon: Are you suggesting the work of a neurobiologist like Babinski could ever rise to the significance of a physicist like Clerk-Maxwell or Dirac?
Amy: I’m stating it outright. Babinski eats Dirac for breakfast and defecates Clerk-Maxwell.
Sheldon: You take that back.

Howard: Women, huh? Can’t live with ’em, can’t successfully refute their hypotheses.

Amy: Your mother thinks you might be losing your mind over me. As a neurobiologist, I was curious.