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The Big Bang Theory - The Separation Triangulation - Review: "Stuck in the Middle"

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Happy Saturday! I hope you're having a fantastic weekend; as fantastic of a time as Leonard and Howard are having at Raj's planetarium show.


They're enamoured.

Raj has his 'low talker' (all of my fellow Seinfeldians, you know what I mean ;) ) voice on as he takes us on a journey to planets beyond. After the show, the guys walk over to their *literally* star-studded pal, but someone else got to him first.


Beth Behrs! Oh man... please let something happen between Raj and Beth Behrs, TBBT writers. PLEASE!

The two take a selfie, and Beth heads off into the abyss. I'm feeling a little starstruck! At Beth Behrs. Oh, and the planetarium show, too.

The guys are eating lunch in the cafeteria when they begin exchanging pictures on their phones. Howard shares a photo of Hallie in the bathtub. Awwe! Sheldon shows off his child... String Theory.


... Awwe? Actually, I really am happy to see Sheldon excited about String Theory again. Finally, Raj gives the guys a glimpse at a pic of him and none other than Beth Behrs!


Pretty girl. Raj. Photo. Together. The guys need a minute to digest this news. Eventually, Leonard calls Raj a dog in Hindi, and he proceeds to bark. What supportive pals.

Later, Amy returns home from work to find this:


*Dipping my toe into pop culture with a modern day selfie with #bae. Or something like that.

Amy loves that Sheldon's happy, except his enthusiasm has taken over their entire living space. Amy doesn't want to intrude, but Sheldon becomes the bigger person (it's true, he does!) and says he'll clean everything up out of respect for Amy. He claims he's learning to think of how he'd feel if he was in someone else's shoes.


Empathy. The Tin Man is learning empathy.

The next morning, looks like someone had a sleepover with another someone!


What a cute pair. Raj is making Beth breakfast, which is a hit. Everything's going well, until she reveals her husband could never cook.


The... H... word?! While Beth is devouring her Omelette a la Koothrappali, Raj begins the inquisition process. Turns out Beth and her ex split two weeks ago, and she's moved on. Also, he's a firefighter. I guess he put the fire out in her heart. Raj is visibly concerned. This dude just can't catch a break with women.

Meanwhile, Leonard is quizzing Penny on different drug names and uses.


She does pretty well! Other than a slight mixup involving the colour yellow. I'll leave it there. Sheldon walks in mid-test, making a b-line down the hall in their apartment. A moment later he returns to the living room. After the obvious question of "what are you doing?" is asked, Sheldon explains that he wanted to see what they had done with his old room as he's looking for a private study sp--


Y'all know what they're saying.


Oh well. Back to his shared apartment with his fiancée he goes. Woe is Sheldon.

That night, a whole other kind of slumber party is happening.


It's time for Bernie and Howard to realize Raj will forever be 'the wedge'. He wants Bernadette's opinion on how long she'd wait after a breakup with Howard to enter the dating game. No question! A long, hard eight days.


Two days of crying, six of working on her revenge body! She has no mercy. Also, I really respect her plan. I'm conflicted.

Seems like Sheldon's still fighting for space at Penny and Leonard's.


The odds aren't in Sheldon's favour.


Unless he's already there. Sheldon proposes a rental agreement that would involve him only using that one room - no eating their food, or using their bathroom. Leonard's still opposed. Penny sees a financial opportunity. You know what they say, happy wife, happy life!

Raj is at the planetarium, performing his show. For one.


Before he can do another rehearsal, an unfamiliar man walks in and asks which of them is Raj.


Hmmm...

Oh boy, it's Nell (AKA Beth)'s husband! He demands Raj stop seeing his wife. Without a second thought, Raj complies and scurries off with Howard.


He starts to cry, and Raj feels compelled to console the man. Not much is helping, though. Raj slept with his wife.

Raj offers him a drink, or a laser show. Whatever works. Minus the laser show - he doesn't know how to turn it on. The ex says he wanted to see who Nell had replaced him with. Raj doesn't consider himself a replacement, as their relationship was special; although Nell never said that. Howard backs away slowly. Raj tries to make the situation better by saying he hardly knows Nell.


And they slept together. Nice.

Back at Penny and Leonard's, Sheldon is being a model tenant. Between keeping quiet and focusing on his work, he's practically invisible. Leonard believes the years of annoyance on Sheldon's part was obviously an act given his good behaviour tonight. He marches over to Sheldon's former room, and demands that he be... better... worse... he's not too sure what he wants.


Confucius say... what?

Raj is back at Bernadette and Howard's, and it seems like him and Nell's ex really hit it off. So much so, that they went out for pie. Turns out him and Nell have a sweet backstory - something along the lines of meeting at the DMV and falling in love instantly.


First Bernie said she'd replace him in eight days. Now Raj is hanging out with another man. If only Howard had some of his mom's brisket to stress eat right now.

Leonard walks into Amy and Sheldon's and explains Sheldon's good behaviour and how it's pissing him off.


Peculiar. Amy says she misses having Sheldon around, which Leonard sees as an opportunity to encourage him to come back. Amy doesn't want to do that, as Sheldon's being empathetic. Looks like they're caught between a rock and a Sheldon. Oh, and apparently Leonard's angry face and Sheldon's constipated face are reminiscent of each other.


So endearing.


It appears as if Raj isn't fazed by Nell's ex's sadness.


Or... is he? He's a life-size figment of Raj's imagination, expressing how much he misses Nell. Raj tries to ignore it, but can't. He reveals how he spent the evening with Oliver, and that Nell should consider giving him a second chance. If things don't work out, they can resume sleeping together!


Nell's pissed. But still, like, really pretty. Beth doesn't have a bad angle.

Leonard believes he's found an out on Sheldon working in his apartment - a three day trial period ending at noon. Sadly, he missed one crucial element of the agreement: the trial period ended at noon EST. Sheldon's back and ready to attack, presenting Leonard with a new and improved, full time rental agreement. Sheldon then points out that the agreement states Leonard has to bring him sparkling water. He closes the door in Leonard's face.


Leonard tells Penny what just happened, but, weirdly enough, he has a smile on his face. In his words, "it just feels right".


It's Sheldon and Leonard's world. Penny's just living in it.

Finally, Raj is putting on another planetarium show with a long, drawn out ending. Once it's done, Oliver approaches. Him and Nell talked things over, and Raj became creepier in comparison. They're going to give things another shot!


The two decide they're going to celebrate over some pie, and now I want to try this House of Pies place out. Seems like it can bring anyone together. Perhaps I should invite Zac Efron to accompany me - a little pie, and bada boom bada bing!

I really like that this episode was centred around Raj. While it's sad things didn't work out between him and Nell, it was hilarious watching him and Oliver bond over Oliver's heartbreak and then his announcement that him and Nell were getting back together. I still have faith that Raj will find his happily ever after eventually - it's just not meant to be right now. You know what they say, though: love comes when you least expect it. Maybe we should stop focusing on Raj finding love and just let it happen organically. Until then, I hope Raj and Oliver stay close. And that Oliver takes him for a ride in his firetruck.

Down below, let me know what your favourite moment of this episode was (mine was definitely Raj and Oliver hugging it out), if you believe Raj will find true love by the end of the series, and if you were surprised by Leonard's reaction to Sheldon's full time rental agreement.

Catch The Big Bang Theory Thursday Nights on CBS.





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