The Big Bang Theory – The Separation Agitation

By: Jennifer Vinzileos

This past episode was packed with two completely separate, but funny stories! Get ready as the gang prepares to meet Bert’s (Brian Posehn) new girlfriend, who is surprisingly stunning and makes the group question motive. Meanwhile Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), Howard (Simon Helberg) and Stuart (Kevin Sussman) all grapple with separation from little Halley. How will they fare?

Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Amy (Mayim Bialik) have decided to revive their “Fun With Flags” show for a special episode titled “Fun With Flags Behind The Flags: A Retrospective.” Enlisting the help of Raj (Kunal Nayyar) and Howard to play some kitschy theme music along with annoying Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) about the history of the show, Shamy (Sheldon/Amy) then open up phone lines to their fans to find out their thoughts on the show. With no calls coming in for an awkward amount of time, Amy finally sees a call come in only to find out it is Bert, who has been calling everyone to tell them about his new girlfriend. Sheldon hangs up on Bert to keep the lines open for other callers only to have Bert call again and tell them that his girlfriend’s name is Rebecca (April Bowlby) before they hang up on him again.

With Bernadette’s return to work approaching, Howard decides to take off of his job to bring her, Halley and Stuart to the zoo for a fun day. Unfortunately, the zoo has the opposite effect as Bernadette reads how other mothers in the wild nuture their young for more than the four months of maternity leave that she had, upsetting her. Later at dinner that night Bernadette has calmed down and realizes that she should raise her daughter to be a little more independent, unlike how Howard’s mother was with him.

At the university Bert and his new girlfriend Rebecca are invited over to dinner by Sheldon, Raj and Leonard. When Bert arrives with his date the group is surprised as how gorgeous and un-nerdy Rebecca is. Once the group gets her to talk, they find out that Rebecca met Bert on an online dating site. Unfortunately, they only met after Bert decided to update his profile and mention his geology grant money. It is obvious that Rebecca only shows interest in Bert for the things he can give her and Bert is strangely okay with this, even purchasing an 80-inch flat screen for her on their first date.

On the first day back to her job Bernadette, Howard and Stuart all get very emotional over leaving Halley at the daycare. When Howard goes to drop her off he stands outside of the room and looks through the glass. Bernadette calls in via FaceTime to which Howard shows her Halley before she starts her day. But Howard is not the only one lurking around as Stuart now pops in to the daycare. Both Howard and Stuart grapple with the idea of leaving Halley there and ultimately decide to take her out and go for a fun trip to the aquarium. Later on that night when Howard and Stuart return they try to play it off that they picked up Halley from daycare, but Bernadette received a call from the center and is aware that they were out all day with Halley.

Back at the Hofstadter residence while Sheldon peruses to find any comments about their “Fun With Flags” Retrospective episode, Bert shows up at the apartment announcing his breakup with Rebecca. Earlier in the day Sheldon, Leonard and Raj had tried to encourage Bert to find a girl who wants him for more than just his money, but Bert was fine spoiling Rebecca as it was the first girl who showed interest in him. Raj attempts to console him but his own financial status causes that plan to backfire. As Bert leaves the apartment determined to buy Rebecca a jet-ski to win her back, Sheldon muses on how him and Leonard managed to snag their respective women. Sheldon with his intelligence and Leonard with his persistence to wear down Penny. Leonard immediately chimes in with how Bert will eventually run out of money, but he will always be able to wear down his wife.

The next day Bernadette, Howard, and Stuart are all at the daycare center to say goodbye to Halley for the day. At first it is difficult for Bernadette to leave, but then after she tries to get Halley’s attention by tapping on the glass and fails she goes into one of her annoyed rants and pounds on the glass. This immediately makes all the other babies in the daycare cry and Bernadette thinks this is a good time for them to leave.

Shamy decide to do one more “Fun With Flags” special about the behind the scenes of their behind the scenes. As they wait for people to call in and comment, they receive another call from Bert. And sounding much happier than he did the day before Bert shares his happiness in getting back together with Rebecca, explaining that buying her the jet-ski worked.

What will happen with Bert’s new relationship? There’s only so much money in that grant. And with Halley in daycare it will be fun to see how Howard and Bernadette adjust to returning to their work. Sadly this upcoming week is a rerun but join me the week after for an all-new episode of The Big Bang Theory!