photo: cbs
The Alien Parasite Hypothesis
Original Air Date: Dec 9, 2010
Theresa – Staff Writer
theresa@thetwocentscorp.com
We return from our little hiatus to find our gang of geeks pretty much where they always are: eating take-out in Sheldon and Leonard’s apartment. After a monologue from Sheldon about why 73 is the best number, they understand why the girls didn’t want to join them for dinner.
And where are the girls? At their own dinner! Apparently they’ve got quite the girl gang happening after sleepover bonding a few episodes go.
Zack, Penny’s dumb date who thought the boys were going to blow up the moon in last season’s finale, bumps into them at the bar. Amy finds herself attracted to him, but doesn’t catch on at first, since that’s not really a feeling she’s familiar with. Sheldon helps her make a chart of all the things her various symptoms – elevated heart rate and localized throbbing, for example – could mean. Slightly less likely than hosting an alien parasite was sexual arousal. Since one of her symptoms is also involuntarily saying “hoo”, there’s also a predictable but still classically funny “Who’s On First”-type exchange. Then it gets weird.
Amy proposes that Sheldon is rejecting the arousal hypothesis because he’s jealous. Sheldon, already upset by her calling Star Trek “cheap science fiction” and slicing brains incorrectly, denies her accusation and leaves. He runs into Penny in the laundry room and tells her the issue, and Penny implies he can do something to, uh, take care of Amy’s needs. Never one to see things normally, Sheldon decides to call all the listed Zack Johnsons until he finds the right one to proposition on Amy’s behalf.
They go to the bar to meet Zack, where Amy doles out the most erudite pick-up soliloquy ever uttered. However, upon hearing how dumb he is, she decides to take Sheldon’s earlier Star Trek advice and suppress her urges like a Vulcan. She shakes Zack’s hand, which seems to satisfy her physical needs. Sheldon flashes Zack the “live long and prosper” sign and they’re out. As they walk away, Amy experiments with holding Sheldon’s hand, but decides it does nothing for her.
Meanwhile, Howard and Raj find out that someone was bitten by a radioactive rat in the biolab, but unfortunately did not turn into a superhero. This causes an argument about whether Raj (if he became Rat Man) would be the superhero or the sidekick. Raj is very afraid of spiders, so Howard gives him a “bravery test”, taunting him to stick his hand in a jar with a huge spider. Raj finally concedes, and when Howard asks why, Raj tells him, in perfect unaffected delivery, that the spider is crawling up his arm. They decide to settle this the old-fashioned way: wrestling. They suit up, call Leonard in as the referee, and then … circle each other for several hours.
Interesting to see them play with Sheldon’s sexuality, or lack thereof, a little bit more. He does truly seem unaffected by such things, and I thought it was great they kept it that way, but whether or not he was actually jealous was left very ambiguous, I think. How did you take him wanting to leave – as his being jealous, or being offended by the idea he could be subject to such a thing? And how about the way seems to have split into guy geeks and girl geeks – great for us girl geeks, or kind of pandering? I’m still undecided, but I’d love to hear your Two Cents in the comments!
Best Lines
Howard: What if the Earth was in danger and the only way to save it was to stick your hand in a jar with a spider?
Raj What if the Earth was in danger and the only way to save it was to take a shower in a locker room and let other guys see you naked?
Howard: (distressed) Oh come on, that’s never gonna happen!
Penny: That’s thinking ahead!
Sheldon: The alternative would be to think backwards. And that’s just remembering.
Penny: I’m suggesting there might be something you could do about Amy’s urges.
Sheldon: It’s illegal to spay a human being.
TheTwoCents 
OMG. How funny was the “HOO” exchange? (Don’t care how similar it is to “who’s on first” .. it was HILARIOUS and so very Sheldon!) Loved every single thing that AFF did and said (Mayim is brilliant.). Her shaking Zack’s hand and her physical reaction was HILARIOUS. Nice to know she’s normal. But I loved, LOVED, Shamy hholding hands, and was sad that it did “nothing” for her. 😦
I loved Sheldon going to Penny for “advice” and him having zero clue what Penny was really talking about. It’s interesting to watch him “get things” in his own way. He’s growing up but not really. Does that make sense? 🙂
I love (I loved everything, let’s be honest..) that there’s now girl’s night and boy’s night. Bernadette talking about being smarter than Howard? ROFL!
Simon Helberg in a red wrestling unitard made me giggle. 🙂
I agree, I am loving Mayim AND Amy, though I’ve seen elsewhere some fans aren’t digging the character too much. Personally, I think I’d actually rather not see her succumb to socialization – she’s funny as the extreme character.
I was surprisingly conflicted on the hand-holding! Part of me got all girly about it and thought the quiet little gesture was adorable, and the rest of me was like, NOOO, Sheldon doesn’t hold hands!