The Jiminy Conjecture

"The Jiminy Conjecture" is the second episode of the third season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on Monday, September 28, 2009.
==Summary==
Leonard and Penny's first night together goes awkwardly and they try to figure out what to do about it right now, while Sheldon and Howard wager on the identity of a species of a cricket.
==Extended Plot==
Sheldon, Howard and Raj in the Comic Book Store, with Howard arguing to Sheldon that Wolverine (Marvel Comics)|Wolverine was not born with bone claws. Leonard arrives and the others are surprised he is not with Penny. As Wolowitz and Koothrappali pry a little more, they discover Leonard is not as happy with the sex as he thought he would be, characterizing it as "just fine". The scene ends with Sheldon settling his argument with Howard by quoting the specific issue (Wolverine: Origin) and page number 22 that contain the info on Wolverine's claws; Sheldon then criticizes the others for thinking about sex rather than comic books.
At the apartment, Sheldon is disappointed to discover the Indian food has been purchased from somewhere different than usual. When Leonard again uses the phrase 'just fine', Howard begins to mock him without alerting Penny. Sheldon is oblivious and quickly goes into the discussion they had earlier. This revelation causes Penny to leave in embarrassment. When Leonard gets mad at Sheldon and Howard as she leaves, Sheldon thinks he has crossed a line, and tries to figure out what it is.
Leonard and Penny then have an argument in her apartment. Leonard defends his comment of 'fine' by saying, "You put it in front of wine or dining and you've really got something!" Penny says it was "Okay", and says, "You put in front of Dokey and you've really got something!" They decide they should have had some wine first, and when Leonard explains how it would have a negative effect science|scientifically Penny responds, "Don't talk, just drink."
Back in apartment 4A, Howard and Raj are discussing Shiksa goddesses, which Raj finishes by pointing out Leonard has one and Howard doesn't. Following this fact Sheldon finally determines the line he crossed. Hearing a cricket, Sheldon claims he knows the species from its chirping speed and the temperature. Howard, still angry from losing the previous disagreement on Wolverine's bone claws, says Sheldon is wrong. After, Howard proposes a bet which is rebuffed, he calls Sheldon a chicken, resulting in him going into a childhood experience when he was chased by a chicken. Eventually they bet Howard's rare Fantastic Four, against Sheldon's rare The Flash. Raj casually states they must find the cricket to determine its species and is greeted by shock.
We quickly see what Leonard and Penny are doing after Raj wonders what the 'non-pathetic' people are doing. After making out and a long pause, Leonard says, "More wine?" responded to by, "Hit me."
Back to the bet, we see them search the closet, and then continue into the hallway. Sheldon convinces Howard to check The Elevator shaft. When Howard threatens he could beat Sheldon up with Kung Fu, Sheldon says he would win due to his older siblings. Raj responds with, "Oooh, tough talk from a man who was once treed by a chicken."  We again quickly see Penny and Leonard in Penny's apartment, now very drunk, repeating the word "schnapps" because it is "fun to say." Sheldon has now climbed into the elevator shaft, and as the others check The Stairs his flashlight's batteries run out. He closes with, "It's really dark down here." Leonard is now throwing up, and Penny comes in and after a small conversation she does too.
The next day, Raj and Sheldon are arguing about the finally-found cricket's name. Howard and Raj think it should be Toby, while Sheldon argues it should be an appropriate cricket name, like Jiminy Cricket or Jiminy. After Howard enters with an insect guide, they still argue its species. They ask Raj, but he no longer cares. After Leonard enters and claims he had a horrible night, they just continue bickering, paying almost no notice to Leonard, and settle to allow Professor Crawley, a noted entomologist, to identify it. As they leave, still arguing the cricket's name, Leonard claims he could throw a rock and hit three better friends.
The three then enter Professor Crawley's lab, and discover Rajesh has a fear of bugs. Sheldon jokes that since he is also afraid of women, ladybugs must render him catatonic. When Professor Crawley enters, it is revealed he is a 60-ish, irritable man who has become furious now that the funding to his lab has been cut. Throughout their conversation, Professor Crawley claims he can identify every insect and arachnid on the planet (among discussing his divorce and agreeing with Sheldon that Toby is a stupid cricket name) and settles the bet by saying Toby is a common field cricket. Sheldon protests at first, but after an aggravated outburst from Professor Crawley, he concedes.
In the lobby of the apartment building, Sheldon informs Penny of the bet. When Penny says she is upset about her relationship, Sheldon tells Penny that she can always return to being friends with Leonard. He tells Leonard he spoke with her, though regarding it as the most unimportant part of the day. Leonard confirms Sheldon has again crossed a line, and after thinking for a few seconds on how he has again crossed a line, Sheldon exclaims, "Oh, who cares?"
Leonard goes over to Penny's and asks what Sheldon told her. After a brief discussion, they decide to follow Sheldon's advice and return to being friends. After a hug, they both spring into a long kiss and as Leonard closes the door he finishes with, "Okay dokey" as the audience cheers while applauding.
==Credits==
* Guest starring:
** Lewis Black as Professor Crawley
* Teleplay: Mark Harelik
* Story: Jim Reynolds
==Critics==
*"This is an enjoyable simple episode. Penny and Leonard struggle to find their sexual chemistry. They consider giving up on their relationship, but they like one another too much to let that happen. The story is not told as well as it could have been but at least the writers had their hearts in the right place...Meanwhile the equally simple plot on the other side of the door involves Howard finally calling Sheldon's bluff. It was an interesting idea for the story. Sheldon over thought the identity of a common cricket, summoning his vast knowledge to try and make himself seem more intelligent...A decent episode. At least decent from the perspective of what the show generally produces, not what it is capable of." - The TV Critic's Review
*IMDb user reviews
==Notes==
*Title Reference: Deduced from the argument over the cricket's name, Sheldon argued to name the cricket "Jiminy", while Howard and Raj kept calling it "Toby".
*Chuck Lorre's vanity card 
*This episode was watched by 13.27 million people with a rating of 5.3 (adults 18–49).
*This episode aired in Canada on September 28, 2009.
*Episode transcript 
==Costume Notes==
Sheldon sports his ManBot t-shirt, arguably his favorite as it is the one he has worn in more episodes than any other - and in more colors (green, blue, and purple), also his TV Test Pattern t-shirt. Leonard wears a red periodic table shirt and a light blue Lord of the Flies shirt, unknown source.
  Howard wears a Green Lantern belt buckle, and a black and white checkered belt with a devil buckle.
==Set/Prop Notes==
Proof for Wolverine being born with retractable bone claws actually does appear on page 22 (the last page) of Origin (2001) #2, part two of a six-issue miniseries.
Dyson Ball Vacuum Cleaner. Taken out of the living room closet as the boys search for the cricket in the apartment. Absolutely makes sense that the hypochondriac Sheldon would have an asthma friendly certified vacuum with HEPA filter and hygienic dust bin.
The comic book that Sheldon loses to Howard is significant. It is The Flash, Volume 2, issue #123, "Flash of Two Worlds". Not only is this issue, released in September 1961 worth some $1,200 in excellent condition (which you know Sheldon's is), it is also the first comic where DC made reference to the concept of the {{Wiki|Multiverse_(DC_Comics)|multiverse]] . 
==Trivia==
*The Roommate Agreement states that a meeting, vote, and pedantic discussion is required before changing any arrangements in food, such as switching to a new restaurant, which happens around 3 minutes into the episode. As Sheldon walks in Leonard states that they brought food from Mumbai Palace (switching from Tandoori Palace). Despite this, Sheldon does not use the Roommate agreement to object, as he does in most other apartment and domestic disputes with Leonard, and is instead distracted by explaining to Penny that, just like the new food, her sex life with Leonard is "just fine." For Sheldon, any change, even a temporary switch for one night, would likely be unacceptable but his preoccuption with trying to figure out what he did wrong in publicly discussing the issue, apparently leaves him to time to object, and he continues eating.
*Sheldon is actually wrong; the scientist whose work he bases his cricket identification on is actually Amos Dolbear, NOT Emile Dolbear. He came up with a formula (Dolbear's Law) to state a relationship between air temperature and the number of cricket chirps per minute. Dolbear never actually stated a specific species of cricket; subsequent researchers simply assumed it was a snowy tree cricket.
* Sheldon says to Raj, "His name isn't Toby. Toby is an absurd name for a cricket." When Professor Crawley likewise states that Toby is a stupid name for a cricket, Sheldon nudges Howard, rather than Raj and says, "Told you." It is possible that Howard named the cricket or that he had a similar conversation with him as well.
*Sheldon incorrectly pronounces nihil/nīhil /ˈnaɪhɪl, ˈni-/ (Ecclesiastical Latin: [nahy-hil] or Classical Latin: [nee-hil]) as nēhil [nay-hil].
*Sheldon claims that "we haven't established that I'm wrong once", most likely referring to the Wolverine (Marvel Comics)|Wolverine bone claws argument at the comic book store. On other occasions Sheldon has been proven wrong, like in "The Staircase Implementation", which is a flashback episode:
**"Firefly" would run "for years"; it only ran for one season before it was canceled.
**Microsoft Zune would be more popular than the Apple iPod; sales for the former dwindled while the latter would become a Global Icon.
*Yet on Sheldon mistakes in this episode:
**At the end of the encounter with Professor Crawley Sheldon turns to Howard and says "Apparently I was wrong. Congratulations!"
**When Penny says to Sheldon "You may be right about me and Leonard.", Sheldon replies "Of course I am right! What are the odds I'd be wrong twice in one week?"
*The bug professor's name sounds like "crawly" as in Mattel's "Creepy Crawlers" bug maker or the way bugs move across the landscape.
*Stuart Bloom is absent from the Comic Book Store. An unknown man is seen behind the counter.
*Instead of laughter, this episode ends with the sound of applause and the studio audience cheering.
*Billy Sparks, one of Sheldon's childhood bullies, is indirectly mentioned for the first time.
==Quotes==
:(In the comic book store, Sheldon and Howard are arguing over Wolverine's claws.)
:Howard: Sheldon, you're wrong! Wolverine was not born with bone claws.
:Sheldon: Howard! You know me to be a very smart man. Don't you think if I were wrong, I'd know it?
:Howard: OK, first of all....
:Raj: Give it up dude. You're arguing with a crazy person.
:Sheldon: I'm not crazy! My mother had me tested!
----
:Prof. Crawley: I haven’t even packed yet, and you’re already measuring my lab for one of your godless laser machines.
:Howard: No, you don’t understand. We just want to ask you a question.
:Prof. Crawley: Let me ask you one first. What’s a world renowned entomologist with a doctorate and 20 years of experience to do with his life when the university cuts off the funding for his lab, huh?
:Raj: Ask rhetorical questions that makes people uncomfortable?
----
:Prof. Crawley: Of course I can. I can identify every insect and arachnid on the planet. Not that that’s going to keep me from having to move in with my daughter in Oxnard. And we’re not talking Oxnard at the beach. No! We’re talking Oxnard in the onion fields.
----
:Penny: Oh, hey.
:Leonard: Hey. Uh, what did Sheldon say to you?
:Penny: Not a lot. Just that we always have the option of going back to being friends.
:Leonard: Is that what you want?
:Penny: (confused) I don’t know. I mean, you have to admit things seemed simpler when we were just friends.
:Leonard: (agreeing) I guess.
:Penny: It would take the pressure off.
:Leonard: It would, wouldn’t it?
:Penny: So, we’ll just be friends.
:Leonard: (smiles) Good, good.
:Penny: Come here.
:(She gives him a hug. After a moment of silence, they both launch ino a passionate kiss and immediately enter her apartment.)
:Leonard: (closing door) Okey-dokey.
==Gallery==
The Jiminy Conjecture 01 - ask professor.jpg|Looking into the species of their cricket.
Professor Crawley.jpg|Consulting Professor Crawley.
The Jiminy Conjecture 21.jpg|Drinking snuffs.
The Jiminy Conjecture 14.jpg|Too much to drink.
The Jiminy Conjecture 13.jpg|Professor Crawley.
The Jiminy Conjecture 12.jpg|Sheldon.
The Jiminy Conjecture 11.jpg|We can always stay friends.
The Jiminy Conjecture 10.jpg|Why don't we stay friends?
Gamma9.jpg|Penny talking to Sheldon.
The Jiminy Conjecture 09.jpg|Penny.
The Jiminy Conjecture 08.jpg|Let's loosen up.
The Jiminy Conjecture 07.jpg|I talked to Sheldon.
The Jiminy Conjecture 06.jpg|Drinking together.
The Jiminy Conjecture 05.jpg|Professor Crawley.
The Jiminy Conjecture 04.jpg|The sex was Okay.
The Jiminy Conjecture 03.jpg|Looking for the cricket.
The Jiminy Conjecture 02.jpg|Meeting at their mailboxes.
Vanity Card 258.jpg|Chuck Lorre Productions, #258.
The Jiminy Conjecture 16.jpg|Looking for the cricket in the closet.
The Jiminy Conjecture 17.jpg|It's a bet.
The Jiminy Conjecture 15.jpg|Looking in an insect textbook.
Category:Episodes
Category:Season 3 (The Big Bang Theory)
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Category:Leonard Hofstadter
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Category:Rajesh Koothrappali
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Category:Sheldon's mother had him tested
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