The Big Bang Theory – The Fetal Kick Catalyst

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

Last we watched, Howard (Simon Helberg) and Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) had the unpleasant experience of finding Raj (Kunal Nayyar) and Stuart (Kevin Sussman) in their hot tub. Meanwhile, Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) navigated Amy (Mayim Bialik) and Sheldon’s (Jim Parsons) fight about taking their relationship to a next level. What can the group get into this week?

Penny receives an invite to be a guest celebrity at the Van Nuys Comic Con, after doing the movie Serial Apeist. Leonard encourages her to attend the convention as she will have nerds fawning all over her for it. In the end, she agrees to participate and her and Leonard get to work preparing for the con.

Across the hall, Amy and Sheldon are having dinner when Amy suggests to Sheldon about entertaining their friends. Sheldon is not so sure as he feels it will be too complicated to have friends over. He initially talks Amy out of the idea, but then decides to surprise her by holding a brunch with Bert (Brian Posehn), Stuart, and Sheldon’s Romanian neighbor Mrs. Petrescu (Michelle Arthur). Sheldon sees this brunch as a test run for potential friend gatherings, which makes Amy happy that he is trying.

While in bed asleep, Howard feels the baby kick and wakes up Bernadette. He now begins panicking that they’re not ready for the baby that is on its way. Bernadette doesn’t seem too phased, but later that day Howard and Raj return from a day of baby shopping without Bernadette’s input. Howard has purchased a crib and agreed to a test-run for a minivan. Later, while unloading the crib from the minivan, Howard pulls a muscle in his back which results in a trip to the hospital room.

At the convention, Leonard has taken his prep seriously for Penny’s celebrity status. Armed with a change-maker and several glossy photos, Leonard takes pleasure in helping Penny. When the first fan, Daniel (Brian Safi) approaches Penny for an autograph, he tells her how he thought this was the worst movie he had ever seen with Penny being the worst actress. Later, another fan named Nolan (Josh Banday) approaches the table and is a bit nicer, but is in disbelief when Leonard tells him that he is married to Penny. Later, Nolan and his friends Christopher (Tucker Albrizzi) and Jeff (Jareb Dauplaise) gather round while Leonard shares his story about how he snagged the hot chick while Penny looks on bored.

Brunch is in full swing, even though Sheldon took about forty-five minutes to open a bottle of champagne for mimosas. Aside from Bert and Stuart, we also get to meet one of the other tenants in the building, Mrs. Petrescu, who has learned English by reciting commercials. When Stuart arrives, brunch begins and it is a success until Sheldon lets it slip that their test run went well. Stuart, who views Amy and Sheldon like family to him, gets offended that he doesn’t consider him a top tier friend and is ready to leave. Sheldon apologizes and they reconcile.

In the minivan, Bernadette and Raj are driving Howard to the hospital. Howard notes on how comfortable the minivan is, continually trying to sell Bernadette on the car. Bernadette may be the pregnant one, but Howard is acting more like the one in labor as he keeps complaining about his back. Raj then puts on one of Howard’s favorite movies and finds a way to keep him occupied, quipping to Bernadette how he knows how to deal with Howard. Bernadette then caves and agrees they can keep the minivan.

In the last scene, Amy is cleaning up brunch while Sheldon and Stuart continue their day drinking. Both drunk on mimosas, they compliment each other over and over. Amy asks Sheldon to help her clean up from brunch, but Sheldon is having none of it as he is spending time with Stuart.

With the experiment continuing to provide positive results, will Amy and Sheldon ultimately decide to officially move in together? When will we meet Baby Wolowitz? Join me next week for another episode of The Big Bang Theory!