The Big Bang Theory – The Military Miniaturization

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

Last week’s episode left most of us aw’ing all over the place as Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) had an actual wedding that their friends and family could attend. This week, we witness the meeting between Howard (Simon Helberg) and Colonel Williams (Dean Norris) where wend out just what the Air Force wants with Leonard, Howard and Sheldon’s (Jim Parsons) gyroscope.

While Leonard and Sheldon start off the episode discussing a theory about society being a video game, Howard  and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) walk in and start to talk about the upcoming meeting with Colonel Williams. While Howard and Leonard are nervous that this could mean their project becomes “Classified” and is taken away from them, Sheldon is thrilled at the prospect of becoming a “faceless cog” in the military world.

Meanwhile, Penny, Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) and Amy (Mayim Bialik) are across the hall hanging out when Bernadette receives a congratulatory text from co-worker Barbara Chen about her pregnancy. Since Bernadette did not tell anyone except for Penny about the pregnancy she wonders how people at work figured it out. Penny initially tells her she didn’t say anything, but as soon as a fuming Bernadette leaves she admits to Amy that it was her. Instead of being shocked at the admission, Amy is more interested in how Penny was able to lie so well.

After another nervous discussion about their meeting with Colonel Williams, adding in a video chat with Howard’s lawyer cousin Marty (Josh Zuckerman), the guys pull together and bring the Colonel into their lab to show him the gyroscope. His reaction is nothing like what they expected, as Colonel Williams is impressed by the work they have done and advises them that the Air Force would like to provide funding for them to continue their work to make the gyroscope smaller for their use. The Colonel at this time also shares that he went to M.I.T. and is an engineer himself, which pleases Howard. The one person who is not impressed is Sheldon, who stands by biting his tongue as Colonel Williams talks about his M.I.T. education and mixes up Star Wars and Star Trek references. But it is when the Colonel tells the boys that M.I.T. could take over the project and shrink the gyroscope down in four  months that Sheldon finally can hold back no more and slightly insults the Colonel before challenging that the guys can accomplish this task in half that time.

In Bernadette’s office, Penny stops by to see her falling asleep at a seminar for a new sleeping pill. Clearly, Bernadette has still not found out who blabbed about her pregnancy and is on the warpath. When Penny admits that she was the one who told everyone, Bernadette asks her to leave.

Later, Amy brings Bernadette dinner and it is then that Bernadette shares that she wasn’t ready to tell anyone about her pregnancy because of how hard it has been for her to achieve the success she has. Being petite with a young voice has made her journey difficult and having her private life shared like that could only make it worse. In the end, Bernadette goes to visit Penny and forgives her, knowing that it is important for her to keep working hard and create a great life for her children.

With the project green-lighted to move to a more secure location on campus, Howard and Leonard pack up their project and prepare for a long two months. Leonard laments on not being able to cook Penny breakfast in the morning, quipping that that’s the only reason she stays in the marriage. Raj is sad because his friends will be extremely busy on the other side of campus working, no longer near him. Funnily, that sadness is forgotten as Sheldon, Howard and Leonard enter their new work digs, testing out the retina scanner to gain access to their new temporary workspace.

Join me next week for a new episode of The Big Bang Theory as the boys rush to meet the deadline for their gyroscope!