The Anything Can Happen Recurrence

"The Anything Can Happen Recurrence" is the twenty-first episode of the seventh season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on Thursday, April 24, 2014.
==Summary==
On Anything Can Happen Thursday, the couples are split up into different groups after Amy and Bernadette lie about having dinner together without Penny. Howard and Raj watch a horror movie that Emily likes. Penny has dinner with Sheldon and takes him to a psychic.
==Extended Plot==
Sitting around the kitchen island, Penny is telling Leonard how in her movie, ape hair is slowly growing over all her body ending last with her cleavage which the film director thinks is important for the plot. Her bathroom facilities are at the gas station across the street that she has to use while dressed as half an ape. Sheldon is struggling to find a new field of study and eliminates possibilities that Leonard thinks are significant fields. To get Sheldon's mind off of his troubles, Leonard suggests reinstating "Anything Can Happen Thursday". Sheldon agrees and no one can think of something new to do. Sheldon wants to order pizza or calzones. Penny wants to do something that's free. Sheldon also suggests a group that meets in Griffith Park and reenacts fantasy scenes from "Lord of the Rings". He even has a wizard's hat for the occasion. Finally, they leave to walk around until they can find a new restaurant to have dinner. After again being annoying, Penny kids that since its "Anything Can Happen Thursday," they can push Sheldon down the stairs. 
At Mrs. Wolowitz's, Raj and Howard are hanging out. Raj suggests that he gets Cinnamon to take her pills by hiding it in her food and he can do the same for his mother. Raj wants to watch a DVD, but his mother doesn't have a great selection which includes her colonoscopy. Raj brought "House of 1000 Corpses" which Emily loves and wants to watch with him. He wants to preview it so he can act cool watching it with Emily. Howard agrees and Raj tells him that he's a good friend and he owes him one until Mrs. Wolowitz screams that she needs help out of the bathtub.
Walking around Sheldon is not happy that they haven't prescreened their choices on-line. Across the street there is an Asian fusion restaurant that Sheldon feels will remind him too much of science. Penny sees Bernadette and Amy having drinks a a bar together. Amy said that she was sick and Bernadette told everyone including Howard that she had to work late. Sheldon knocks on the window three times and yells at them "Why did you lie to us?"
Raj and Howard's movie is full of murder, cannibalism and satanic rituals, though Howard had just helped his mother out of the tub so he has seen horror. Raj pulls it out of the Netflix envelope and finds a yucky hair on it. Howard tells him that he's really going to do great watching the movie.
Amy is tired of listening about Sheldon obsessing about what to do after string theory. Bernadette mentions that Penny keeps complaining about how miserable she is making her movie Serial Ape-ist 2: Monkey See, Monkey Kill. Amy adds that that doesn't mean that they don't still love her. Penny asked Leonard if that was true about her complaining and Leonard tells her that he loves her. She tells everyone that she needs a break from them and leaves with Sheldon to go have dinner with him. They are going to spend the evening complaining to each other. Sheldon agrees, as he starts to talk again, she tells him to shut up.
At an Asian Fusion restaurant, Sheldon doesn't understand his mix of food cuisines. Sheldon tells Penny that she doesn't complain too much about the movie though he doesn't seem to listen to her in the first place. Penny wants to know why he isn't upset with Amy. Sheldon tells her that he is upset and plans to bring her to this terrible restaurant on their next date night.
Raj and Howard are disgusted by the movie and the chicken that Mrs. Wolowitz had devoured though she didn't see the pill in it. Raj wonders what is wrong with Emily if she enjoys this movie. Howard tells Raj that he would go out with anyone, including someone who has the body parts of ex-boyfriends in her freezer. 
Leonard stays and has dinner with the other girls. Amy feels bad about lying to Sheldon. Bernie admits to making up to Howard by dressing in a sexy Catholic school uniform. That probably would work with Sheldon since he would give her homework. Leonard says that he and Penny have a relationship based upon honesty though the girls know that Penny lies to him.
Penny and Sheldon get their fortune cookies and Penny suggests that his answer is in his fortune. For Sheldon the only cookie with something good in it that can solve life's problems is Oreos or Nutter Butter cookies. Penny gets "People turn to you for guidance and wisdom" which Sheldon scoffs at. Sheldon gets "Your warm and fun loving nature delights everyone" and Penny tells him to try another cookie. She also admits to never having to pay for food with money.
Shutting off the movie again, Raj wants a girl who likes "The Sound of Music". Howard tells him that he is the girl in the relationship that likes that movie. Penny then calls Howard and tells him that Bernie lied to him. He then tells Raj that he is having sex with a Catholic school girl that night.
Bernie gets a call from Howard and still puts on with the lie. However, he reveals that he knows everything, so she apologizes and says she will put on her uniform. Leonard tells Amy that they should hang out more often, but Amy thinks that that is weird. He learns that Penny is taking Sheldon to a psychic. She can be very persuasive to Leonard, but then they do have sex together. Amy also admits that she is jealous of Sheldon and Penny's friendship. Leonard tells her that they have known each other for a long time and that since she grew up around horses, she knows how to not spook them. Amy just wants Sheldon to be that comfortable around her all the time. Bernie comes in saying that she has to go since Penny ratted her out. Also, she tells him that the watch that Penny is getting Leonard for his birthday came from money she got out of his wallet. 
Sheldon tells the psychic that there is no scientific basis for her profession and that she is a fraud, though no offense. Penny tells him to ask her a question. Sheldon says that he did having thought of it expecting her to read his mind. He was asking about the next "Star Trek" movie. The psychic tells Sheldon that he is having problems with a woman in his life. This woman he is in a romantic relationship with, has dark hair and is in a field similar to his. She tells Sheldon that Amy is the key to his happiness and that all of his problems will be solved by giving into this relationship. Penny thinks the psychic has his situation nailed down. Sheldon gets mad and leaves calling his experience a rare word: malarkey.
On Raj's date with Emily, they sit down to watch the movie. She was previously a nanny, so if he gets too scared, she can still change his diaper, she kids him. Raj admits that he finds these movies disturbing and weird, as does Emily though they also turn her on. Raj immediately starts the film.
Finally, a contrite Amy goes to Sheldon's apartment; she is wearing a trench coat. Feeling bad about lying to him, she wants to make things up with him. She opens up her coat and is wearing the uniform of a Catholic school girl and smiles. Sheldon silently gulps and says that unless she has the movie "Gravity" on Blu-Ray under her skirt, he doesn't know what she is doing.
==Credits==
* Guest starring:
** Carol Ann Susi as Debbie Wolowitz
** Laura Spencer as Emily Sweeney
** Kimberly Herbert Gregory as Ms. Davon
* Teleplay: Tara Hernandez, Jim Reynolds & Steve Holland
* Story: Steven Molaro, Eric Kaplan & Adam Faberman
==Critics==
*Jesse Schedeen for IGN- "While I don't necessarily agree with the criticisms that the big Bang Theory is fundamentally worse now than it was in its early seasons, episodes like this do show the series' age. The writers dusted off an old concept and didn't find a huge amount of comedic value as a result. There were certainly some funny moments this week, most involving the ever-appealing Sheldon and Penny pairing, but this definitely wasn't one of the more memorable installments of Season 7." 
*Dhruv Rao of The DR Club gave the episode a B: "The writers do a good job with the plot by turning the night into a fan-favorite Penny-Sheldon bonding episode. The dinner and the psychic are perfect examples of the comedy that the fans expect out of any random episode. So, that's why the episode is a hit. Amy's insecurity was a new level which we never expected, and once again it unveils a whole new array of possible plots for the next season, as does the psychic's advice that Sheldon should invest his time in Amy now. The A-plot receives a thumbs up. But, the B-plot was rather half-baked: I didn't really enjoy the two friends watching a horror movie. You can't really call that a story, can you? Moreover, the Mrs. Wolowitz jokes got old in the fifth season; so try and keep them in control." 
*IMDb user reviews 
==Notes==
*Title Reference: The revival of "Anything Can Happen Thursday".
*Taping date: April 1, 2014
*Chuck Lorre's vanity card. 
*This episode was watched by 16.44 million people with a rating of 4.5 (adults 18–49).
*Total viewers including DVR users 21.56 million.
*The Big Bang Theory was ranked #1 for the week ending April 26, 2014.
*This episode aired in Canada on April 24, 2014, with 3.429 million viewers with a weekly ranking of #1.
*Episode transcript 
==Costume Notes==
*Sheldon wears his blue "73" t-shirt. 
*Leonard wears a green t-shirt featuring the visible light spectrum.
==Trivia==
*Penny has a similar hairstyle of short hair, which will be similar to her new hairstyle from the next season onward. She is however again not seen with short hair in the next episode of this season.
*Sheldon considers research in cosmology, dark matter, CP violation in neutrino oscillations, proton decay, and axions.
*Tied with the longest episode title "The Contractual Obligation Implementation" (S6E18).
*Anything Can Happen Thursday was first established in "The Hofstadter Isotope" (S2E20).
*In fact Sheldon was conducting researches on dark matter in "The Pirate Solution" (S3E4) when he hired Raj who was nearly deported, thus it is curious that he needs to use Leonard's opinion on this field.
*This time is the first time Leonard and Amy have spent time on their own together since "The Pulled Groin Extrapolation" (S5E3).
*Sheldon and Amy have another relationship moment like last season's love spell game play in "The Love Spell Potential" (S6E23).
*The couples are split up into different groups again like they did in "The Scavenger Vortex" (S7E3).
*Penny goes to see the psychic again after "The Psychic Vortex" (S3E12) dragging Sheldon along. Sheldon previously dismissed psychics in "The Tangerine Factor" (S1E17).
*Raj and Howard do not like Emily's favorite horror movie despite following some horror franchises.
*Amy again shows her kinky side to Sheldon.
*When Sheldon is describing Penny's babbling as "wa wa wa" he was using the sounds the adults used on the old Charlie Brown cartoon specials.
*The psychic's name is Ms. Davora.
*This episode was originally broadcast on Thursday.
*On the original Mickey Mouse Club television series, Anything Can Happen Day was on Wednesday. 
*The tacos Sheldon and Penny have at the Asian Fusion restaurant are similar to the "spaghetti tacos" from iCarly. 
*Whiteboards feature an exposition of GUT from the paper of Baez and Huerta, . 
*The psychic tells Sheldon to give himself to his relationship with Amy and that once he does all his other pursuits will come into focus. Once Sheldon and Amy are preparing to get married after completely giving himself to her, he gets inspired by Amy for his Asymmetric String Theory work that nets both of them a Nobel Prize. 
==Quotes==
:Sheldon: Hello. I didn’t expect you this evening.
:Amy: Well, I was just feeling so bad about lying to you the other night, I wanted to make it up to you.
:Sheldon: This is how "Anything can happen Thursday" turns into "It won't stop coming out Friday".
----
:Fortune Teller: Your spirit guides are telling me that you're in a romantic relationship.
:Penny: Yes! Yes, your spirit guides are on fire!
:Sheldon: My spirit guides can go suck an egg.
----
:Sheldon: (Sheldon swallows after seeing Amy in schoolgirl uniform) Unless you have gravity on Blu-ray under that skirt, I don't see where you're going with this.
----
:Penny: So we’re about to shoot this scene in the movie where this killer ape DNA is slowly taking over my body.
:Leonard: O.K.
:Penny: But I realized their gluing everywhere except my cleavage. So I ask the director why and he says it’s important to the story that my boobs be the last things to turn ape.
:Leonard: It’s sweet that he thinks there’s a story.
:Penny: Oh there’s not even a bathroom on the set. I have to go to the gas station across the street. I mean, I was dressed as half an ape and I wasn't even close to the most disgusting person in there.
----
:Sheldon: Amy’s sick.
:Leonard: Oh, what’s wrong with her?
:Sheldon: Well, she talks a lot. She always wants to hold hands.
----
:Penny: What the hell? (Sees Bernadette and Amy toasting through the window) What? She’s not working late.
:Sheldon: And Amy doesn’t look sick.
:Penny: Why would they lie to us?
:Sheldon: That’s a good question. (Knock, knock, knock) Amy and Bernadette. (Knock, knock, knock) Amy and Bernadette. (Knock, knock, knock) Amy and Bernadette. Why did you lie to us?
:(Bernadette and Amy look distraught at each other as they are both not very happy with Sheldon's three window knocks).
----
:Penny: You’re not working late. Why did you lie to me?
:Sheldon: And Amy, you told me you were sick, but you look just as pale and tired as always.
:Amy: (complains to Sheldon) I’m sorry. I just needed a break from hearing you obsess about what to do after string theory.
:Bernadette: (complains to Penny) I kinda wanted one night where we didn't have to hear about how miserable you were making this movie.
:Amy: (completely fed up) None of that means we don’t love you.
:Penny: (she's so cross by this) I don’t complain that much about the movie, (she asks Leonard crossly) have I?
:Leonard: (nervously) I also love you.
:Penny: Well you know what? Maybe I need a break from all of you. Come on, Sheldon.
:Sheldon: Where are we going?
:Penny: (she's completely steamed with fury) We’re gonna have Anything Can Happen Thursday, you’re gonna tell me all about your science stuff and I’m gonna complain about my movie, and we’re gonna support each other because that’s what friends do.
:Sheldon: Okay. ‘Cause if I had to pick now, I’d probably go with dark matter because…
:Penny: (she's still really furious) Shut up.
----
:(The wine bar scene where Bernadette, Leonard and Amy are sitting down feeling so depressed)
:Amy: [worryingly] I do feel bad about lying to Sheldon. How am I going to make it up to him?
:Bernadette: [she sighs and speaks crossly] I’ll tell you what I’d do with Howard, but I don’t think dressing up like a Catholic school girl is going to work with Sheldon.
:[Amy has a serious think for five seconds]
:Leonard: He’d probably give you homework.
:Amy: [1st time: she's asking Bernadette crossly] Did you lie to Howard about tonight?
:Bernadette: [she speaks grumpily] Of course.
:Amy: [2nd time: she's asking Bernadette crossly] And you don’t feel guilty about it?
:Bernadette: [she is now very cross] Between Penny’s gorilla movie and Howard’s gorilla mother, I had no choice.
:[Amy thinks for a second]
:Leonard: Thankfully Penny and I have a relationship based on honesty.
:[Amy snorts grumpily for one second]
:Leonard: What? I don’t lie to her.
:Bernadette: [she's still very cross] Oh, we know you don’t lie to her.
----
:Penny: Hey, maybe the answer to your career question is in one of these (fortune cookies).
:Sheldon: Penny, there’s only one cookie with something in the middle that solves life’s problems and that’s an Oreo. Or a Nutter Butter if you’re in a pinch.
----
:Bernadette (on phone) : Yeah, honey, I’m still stuck at work. Really? Penny said that? Okay, it’s true. I’m sorry. I’ll see you at home. Yeah, yeah, I’ll put it on.
----
:Leonard: You know, we never hang just out like this. Why is that?
:Amy: I know. It's weird, right.
:Leonard: Yea, we should do it more often.
:Amy: No, I mean it’s weird right now.
----
:Leonard: (Phone text sound) Ah, its Penny.
:Amy: Is she still mad?
:Leonard: Oh, doesn’t seem like it. She got Sheldon to go to a psychic with her.
:Amy: A psychic? He considers them not just mumbo jumbo, but extra-jumbo mumbo jumbo.
:Leonard: Well, Penny can be very persuasive. She’s gotten me to do a lot of things I wouldn’t normally do.
:Amy: Because she has sex with you.
:Leonard: Yeah, she does.
:Amy: Can I confess something? Once in a while, I get a little jealous of how close Penny and Sheldon are.
:Leonard: Really?
:Amy: I mean, not in a romantic way. It’s just, she really has some sort of connection with him.
:Leonard: Well, well they’ve known each other a long time, and Penny grew up around horses, so she knows how to approach him without making him skittish.
:Amy: Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they’re friends. I just wish he’d be that comfortable around me already.
:Leonard: Well, it took him a long time to get comfortable around me, too.
:Amy: Really? What did you do?
:Leonard: Something terrible in a former life? I don’t know.
----
:[The restaurant scene of Bernadette returning back to the table to get her bag and coat in fury]
:Bernadette: (she is so very cross) I gotta go. Penny ratted me out to Howard. FYI she’s getting you a watch for your birthday with money she took out of your wallet.
:[Bernadette smacks the top of Leonard's arm hard and leaves the restaurant crossly]
----
:Sheldon: I don’t mean to be rude or discourteous, but before we begin, I’d just like to say there is absolutely no scientific evidence to support clairvoyance of any kind. Which means again, no insult intended, that you’re a fraud, your profession is a swindle and your livelihood is depended upon the gullibility of stupid people. But again, no offense.
:Penny: Sheldon, ask your question.
:Sheldon: OK, I just did. What was it?
:Penny: Oh, for God Sakes. Look he’s a physicist who trying to figure out what his next field of study should be.
:Sheldon: For your information I was asking her about the next Star Trek movie.
:Penny: I can answer that one. I’ll be bored.
:Fortune Teller: All right. Why don’t we begin? Your spirit guide is telling me that there’s a woman in your life that you’re having problems with.
:Sheldon: That’s an easy guess. I’m a clearly annoying person and have problems with both genders.
:Fortune Teller: I know. You clearly are. But I’m seeing a specific woman that you’re in a romantic relationship with.
:Penny: Oh, oh. Here we go.
:Fortune Teller: Does she have dark hair?
:Penny: Yes. Yes. Your spirit guide’s on fire!
:Sheldon: The majority of people have dark hair. Even you at one time.
:Fortune Teller: Does she work in a similar field to you?
:Sheldon: Ha. The opposite. She’s a neurobiologist, I’m a theoretical physicist. My spirit guide can go suck an egg.
:Fortune Teller: They’re telling me that you have difficulty being close with her.
:Penny: Oh, he does. He so does. What should he do?
:Fortune Teller: He should give himself to this relationship. Once he does all his other pursuits will come into focus.
:Penny: Sheldon, did you hear that? Amy is the key to your happiness.
:Fortune Teller: Exactly. Personally and professionally everything will fall into place once you commit to her.
:Sheldon: Do you what this is? I reserve this word for those rare instances for it is truly deserving. This is malarkey.
:Penny: Wow. You really struck a nerve. I never heard him use the M word before.
----
:Raj: Here we go, House of a 1,000 Corpses.
:Emily: Now, just so you know, I was a nanny for three years, so if you get scared, I can totally change your diaper.
:Raj: Actually, I have to tell you something. These kind of movies really aren’t my thing, so, last night, I watched it just to see what I was getting myself into.
:Emily: Okay.
:Raj: And I have to be honest, I thought it was disturbing and weird, and it made me wonder what it says about someone who enjoys it.
:Emily: I wonder that, too.
:Raj: Then, why do you watch these things?
:Emily: Can I tell you something without you judging me?
:Raj: Sure.
:Emily: They kind of turn me on.
:Raj: And play.
==Gallery==
BBT Leonard and Penny talk.jpg|Discussing what to do on Anything Can Happen Thursday.
Hap1.jpg|Audience phone photo.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 01.jpg|Trying to decide what new field of science to study.
Sheldon with whiteboard 3.jpg|Sheldon need to find a new field of study beyond string theory.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 12.jpg|Sheldon and Penny having dinner together.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 13.jpg|Heading off to look for a new restaurant.
Sheldon with hat.jpg|Sheldon wants to go to a fantasy game event.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 14.jpg|Leonard ends up having dinner with Bernadette & Amy after Penny dumps him.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 11.jpg|Penny drags Sheldon to a psychic.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 10.jpg|Raj and Howard watching "House of 1000 Corpses".
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 09.jpg|Howard at his mother's.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 08.jpg|Penny drags Sheldon to a physic.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 03.png|The psychic Penny and Sheldon go to see.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 02.png|Penny never has to buy dinner.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 04.png|Penny agreeing with the psychic.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 07.png|Emily snuggling up next to Howard.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 06.png|Amy tries to make up things with Sheldon the way Bernadette does to Howard. No reaction.
The Anything Can Happen Recurrence 05.png|Emily and Raj enjoying a scary movie together.
==References==
* Taping Report by stardustmelody and totabcn
Category:Episodes
Category:Season 7 (The Big Bang Theory)
Category:Raj-Emily Together
Category:Movies
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