The Bad Fish Paradigm

The Big Bang Theory"The Bad Fish Paradigm"
Season 2
Number 1
Episode information
Production code	3T7351
Directed by	Mark Cendrowski
Original air date	September 22, 2008
The Big Bang Theory Episodes
Previous	"The Tangerine Factor"
Next	"The Codpiece Topology"

"The Bad Fish Paradigm" is the first episode of the second season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on Monday, September 22, 2008.

Plot

Summary

Leonard returns from his date with Penny. She then asks Leonard to take it slow. She confesses to Sheldon that it is because she thinks she isn't smart enough to keep his interest. The stress of keeping this secret gets to Sheldon, causing him to give in and tell Leonard. Unfortunately, Penny is not happy with Leonard’s suggested resolution.

Synopsis

We open to Leonard and Penny returning from their date (from end of Season One). As they kiss in the hallway, we see that they are being watched on video. Penny tells Leonard that they'll take things slowly, and goes into her apartment. Leonard enters his apartment and glares at Howard and Raj who have been watching his interaction with Penny. When he asks Sheldon why he let them spy on him, Sheldon explains that they exploited his complete lack of interest in what he was doing.

Howard notes for Leonard's benefit that the video will be the equivalent of a black box when their relationship blows up. Leonard feels that Penny's comment about taking things slow is indicative of wanting to savor it, while Howard thinks it's more along the lines of "this fish tastes bad, so spit it out". Howard points to the video as evidence that shows that Penny was not as aroused as they others thought she should be.

Later, Sheldon is in the laundry room folding his clothes with his flip-fold. Penny comes in to do laundry. Sheldon tries to warn her that some of the machines have various problems, which Penny ignores and dumps a full load of unsorted clothes into the first clothes washer and haphazardly pours in laundry detergent. Penny tries to ask Sheldon for evaluation of her relationship with Leonard and if they have a chance together. Sheldon asks if she has a working knowledge of physics, speaks Klingon, or knows any card tricks. Penny has no skills in these areas, and worries that Leonard will look down on her for not even completing a community college program. She asks Sheldon to keep this a secret from Leonard. Sheldon is upset because now he knows the secret, but didn't agree in advance to keep it secret, and secrets can't be imposed on an ex post facto basis. He tries to comfort Penny by educating her that it's physiologically impossible to die of embarrassment.  

Later, as Sheldon and Leonard return home, Sheldon ponders how he couldn't become a Green Lantern on his own (since it requires the Guardians of Oa to confer the status), but that he COULD become Batman with enough start-up capital. They run into Penny and Leonard asks her out again. Penny hems and haws and says she'll have to check her work schedule. After she leaves, Leonard panics that he IS the bad fish. Sheldon begins to behave awkwardly, including a facial tick, trying to feign no knowledge of Penny's feelings towards him, and ultimately storms out of the apartment. Sheldon arrives at The Cheesecake Factory and begs Penny to release him from the burden of keeping the secret. Penny tells him to just forget what she told him. Sheldon sulks that he is incapable of forgetting anything, noting that "I haven't forgotten a single thing since the day I stopped breast feeding" (on a drizzly Tuesday).

Sheldon arrives at the apartment and announces that he's moving out. Leonard wants to know why, and Sheldon compares it to Munchausen's Trilema; (a circular argument, a regressive argument, and an axiomatic argument); to wit: "...there doesn't have to be a reason...either the reason is predicated on a series of sub-reasons leading to an infinite regression, or it tracks back to arbitrary axiomatic statements, or it's ultimately circular..i.e. I'm moving out because I'm moving out". Howard and Raj arrive after attending a display of plasticized human cadavers. Howard liked the exhibit; some of the skinless chicks were hot. Sheldon announces he's going to pack. Raj asks what Leonard did to cause this, and they list Sheldon's major pet peeves, to see which one Leonard may have violated. Sheldon returns almost immediately, carrying his pre-packed disaster evacuation bag (recommended by the Department of Homeland Security and Sarah Connor, from The Terminator movies).

He announces that until he can get a place of his own, he'll be staying with friends. Howard immediately evacuates the apartment. Raj tells Sheldon that his apartment is too small, prompting Sheldon to remind him that Manushya Yagna (the feeding, care taking, or offering of what one has to others) of the duties of a Hindu householder. Raj panics and as an attempt to evade bringing Sheldon home, states "I hate trains". Sheldon knows better; "don't be ridiculous, you love trains". Raj relents and they leave. Leonard realizes that "this could work", and plops down in Sheldon's spot on the couch.

At Raj's apartment, Raj tells Sheldon that the building used to be a watch factory. Sheldon questions if Raj is concerned about negative health effects from residual radium from the luminous dials, and Raj replies "not until now". Sheldon laments that he didn't bring his Geiger counter...then laughs, because, of course, he did. They are watching an Indian movie and argue about Indian actresses, Sheldon berating Raj that he appears to be unfamiliar with Bollywood/Indian cinema.

At Howard's house, there's is a "stripper-gram" at the door. Howard opens the door, Raj pushes Sheldon in and yells "tag...you're it" then makes a quick escape. Howard yells at him "shouldn't you have put it in a brown paper bag and set it on fire first?"  Cut to later that night as Sheldon and Howard go to bed. Sheldon is laying on an air mattress on the floor of Howard's bedroom, noting that it has terrible support, but quipping that he's fine sleeping on "a bouncy castle". Howard makes Sheldon take the bed so he'll shut up. Lying in bed, Sheldon is unnerved by the Halle Berry poster on the ceiling. Sheldon proceeds to ponder on the various Catwomen, eventually noting that his favorites, in order, are Julie Newmar, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eartha Kitt, Lee Meriwether, and Halle Berry. Howard begs Sheldon to go to sleep. "I'm trying...I'm counting Catwomen." Sheldon then turns to counting his favorite X-Men (in order: Professor X, Night Crawler, Wolverine]], Cyclops, Ice Man, Storm, Angel, and The Beast.

Later back at the apartment 4A, Leonard answers the door and Howard dumps Sheldon, who is obviously drugged. Howard admits to giving Sheldon a glass of milk...with a handful of his mother's Valium in it. Tag, Leonard is it.  Sheldon tells Leonard that he can't tell him the secret that Penny didn't graduate from community college. Leonard gets it that Penny thinks he's too smart for her.

The next day, Leonard visits Penny and lets her know that Sheldon spilled her secret. He has brought her a pamphlet for the Pasadena Community College. Penny asks if it's fine with Leonard if she's not smart, and Leonard answers "absolutely".  As Penny, offended, slams the door on him, Leonard notes to himself "this time I know where I went wrong" and sees a hidden camera and yells, "Bite me!"

Gallery

Trivia

Notes

Costumes

• Sheldon starts the episode with blue, black, and pink "Triple Threat" tee  by Kirra (discontinued). Then spends the rest of the episode in his most frequently worn t-shirt: yellow ManBot on a green shirt. This episode crosses two days, but Sheldon wears the shirt, then pajamas, and then we don't see what he's wearing the next day. Leonard wears his adrenaline molecule t-shirt and his red Cassette Tapes shirt (originally sold at Target, but now only available from RedBubble.com, use search term "Leonard cassette").

Set Notes

• In season 1, the boys used a blue XOX Good Grips tea kettle.  You can see it on the stove in just about every episode, including episode 17, the final one for the first season. As season 2 opens, the kettle is now a deep orange color.
• This episode is also the first episode where we see Sheldon using his Flip-Fold in the laundry room.
• As Sheldon is counting cat women, we don't see the Halle Berry poster he's referring to on the ceiling over Howard's bed, but these tend to be the most popular:
  • Halle Berry Bikini
  • Halle Berry Pose
  • Halle Berry Pose 2
  • Advanced IMAX

Cultural references

• Title Reference: Howard dubs Leonard as "bad fish" in his metaphor in which he describes that Leonard the bad fish tastes bad, Penny wants to slow down the eating (relationship).

Rating

• This episode was watched by 9.36 million people with a rating of 3.6 (adults 18-49).

External Links

v - e - d

Media The Big Bang Theory • Young Sheldon • Video Characters Main Characters: Leonard Hofstadter • Sheldon Cooper • Penny Hofstadter • Howard Wolowitz • Rajesh Koothrappali • Amy Farrah Fowler • Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz • Stuart Bloom • Emily Sweeney • Leslie Winkle Recurring Characters: Barry Kripke • Wil Wheaton • Althea • Kurt • Eric Gablehauser • Mary Cooper • Debbie Wolowitz • V.M. Koothrappali • Mrs. Koothrappali • Mike • Stephanie Barnett • Beverley Hofstadter • President Siebert • Zack Johnson • Priya Koothrappali • Wyatt • Mike Rostenkowski • Mrs. Rostenkowski • Alex Jensen • Janine Davis • Lucy • Professor Proton • David Gibbs • Claire • Stephen Hawking • Alfred Hofstadter • Colonel Richard Williams • Denise Minor Characters: Christy Vanderbel • Lalita Gupta • Toby Loobenfeld • Dennis Kim • Dimitri • Missy Cooper • Blain • Tom • Octavia • Maria • Lourdes • Ramona Nowitzki • Kathy O'Brian • David Underhill • Alicia • Mikayla • Captain Sweatpants • Lonely Larry • Dr. Crawley • Bethany • Sarah • Skeeter • Professor Laughlin • Abby • Martha • Officer Hackett • Sandy • Glen • Venkatesh Koothrappali • Sebastian • Louie/Louise • Joyce Kim • Mrs. Gunderson • Joy • Mrs. Fowler • Angela Page • Professor Glenn • Mrs. Latham • Todd Zarnecki • Susan • Randall • Colonel Richard Williams Episodes Season 1: Pilot • The Big Bran Hypothesis • The Fuzzy Boots Corollary • The Luminous Fish Effect • The Hamburger Postulate • The Middle-Earth Paradigm • The Dumpling Paradox • The Grasshopper Experiment • The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization • The Loobenfeld Decay • The Pancake Batter Anomaly • The Jerusalem Duality • The Bat Jar Conjecture • The Nerdvana Annihilation • The Porkchop Indeterminacy • The Peanut Reaction • The Tangerine Factor Season 2: The Bad Fish Paradigm • The Codpiece Topology • The Barbarian Sublimation • The Griffin Equivalency • The Euclid Alternative • The Cooper-Nowitzki Theorem • The Panty Piñata Polarization • The Lizard-Spock Expansion • The White Asparagus Triangulation • The Vartabedian Conundrum • The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis • The Killer Robot Instability • The Friendship Algorithm • The Financial Permeability • The Maternal Capacitance • The Cushion Saturation • The Terminator Decoupling • The Work Song Nanocluster • The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition • The Hofstadter Isotope • The Vegas Renormalization • The Classified Materials Turbulence • The Monopolar Expedition Season 3: The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation • The Jiminy Conjecture • The Gothowitz Deviation • The Pirate Solution • The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary • The Cornhusker Vortex • The Guitarist Amplification • The Adhesive Duck Deficiency • The Vengeance Formulation • The Gorilla Experiment • The Maternal Congruence • The Psychic Vortex • The Bozeman Reaction • The Einstein Approximation • The Large Hadron Collision • The Excelsior Acquisition • The Precious Fragmentation • The Pants Alternative • The Wheaton Recurrence • The Spaghetti Catalyst • The Plimpton Stimulation • The Staircase Implementation • The Lunar Excitation Season 4: The Robotic Manipulation • The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification • The Zazzy Substitution • The Hot Troll Deviation • The Desperation Emanation • The Irish Pub Formulation • The Apology Insufficiency • The 21-Second Excitation • The Boyfriend Complexity • The Alien Parasite Hypothesis • The Justice League Recombination • The Bus Pants Utilization • The Love Car Displacement • The Thespian Catalyst • The Benefactor Factor • The Cohabitation Formulation • The Toast Derivation • The Prestidigitation Approximation • The Zarnecki Incursion • The Herb Garden Germination • The Agreement Dissection • The Wildebeest Implementation • The Engagement Reaction • The Roommate Transmogrification Season 5: The Skank Reflex Analysis • The Infestation Hypothesis • The Pulled Groin Extrapolation • The Wiggly Finger Catalyst • The Russian Rocket Reaction • The Rhinitis Revelation • The Good Guy Fluctuation • The Isolation Permutation • The Ornithophobia Diffusion • The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition • The Speckerman Recurrence • The Shiny Trinket Maneuver • The Recombination Hypothesis • The Beta Test Initiation • The Friendship Contraction • The Vacation Solution • The Rothman Disintegration • The Werewolf Transformation • The Weekend Vortex • The Transporter Malfunction • The Hawking Excitation • The Stag Convergence • The Launch Acceleration • The Countdown Reflection Season 6: The Date Night Variable • The Decoupling Fluctuation • The Higgs Boson Observation • The Re-Entry Minimization • The Holographic Excitation • The Extract Obliteration • The Habitation Configuration • The 43 Peculiarity • The Parking Lot Escalation • The Fish Guts Displacement • The Santa Simulation • The Egg Salad Equivalency • The Bakersfield Expedition • The Cooper/Kripke Inversion • The Spoiler Alert Segmentation • The Tangible Affection Proof • The Monster Isolation • The Contractual Obligation Implementation • The Closet Reconfiguration • The Tenure Turbulence • The Closure Alternative • The Proton Resurgence • The Love Spell Potential • The Bon Voyage Reaction Season 7: The Hofstadter Insufficiency • The Deception Verification • The Scavenger Vortex • The Raiders Minimization • The Workplace Proximity • The Romance Resonance • The Proton Displacement • The Itchy Brain Simulation • The Thanksgiving Decoupling • The Discovery Dissipation • The Cooper Extraction • The Hesitation Ramification • The Occupation Recalibration • The Convention Conundrum • The Locomotive Manipulation • The Table Polarization • The Friendship Turbulence • The Mommy Observation • The Indecision Amalgamation • The Relationship Diremption • The Anything Can Happen Recurrence • The Proton Transmogrification • The Gorilla Dissolution • The Status Quo Combustion Season 8: The Locomotion Interruption • The Junior Professor Solution • The First Pitch Insufficiency • The Hook-up Reverberation • The Focus Attenuation • The Expedition Approximation • The Misinterpretation Agitation • The Prom Equivalency • The Septum Deviation • The Champagne Reflection • The Clean Room Infiltration • The Space Probe Disintegration • The Anxiety Optimization • The Troll Manifestation • The Comic Book Store Regeneration • The Intimacy Acceleration • The Colonization Application • The Leftover Thermalization • The Skywalker Incursion • The Fortification Implementation • The Communication Deterioration • The Graduation Transmission • The Maternal Combustion • The Commitment Determination Season 9: The Matrimonial Momentum • The Separation Oscillation • The Bachelor Party Corrosion • The 2003 Approximation • The Perspiration Implementation • The Helium Insufficiency • The Spock Resonance • The Mystery Date Observation • The Platonic Permutation • The Earworm Reverberation • The Opening Night Excitation • The Sales Call Sublimation • The Empathy Optimization • The Meemaw Materialization • The Valentino Submergence • The Positive Negative Reaction • The Celebration Experimentation • The Application Deterioration • The Solder Excursion Diversion • The Big Bear Precipitation • The Viewing Party Combustion • The Fermentation Bifurcation • The Line Substitution Solution • The Convergence-Convergence Season 10: The Conjugal Conjecture • The Military Miniaturization • The Dependence Transcendence • The Cohabitation Experimentation • The Hot Tub Contamination • The Fetal Kick Catalyst • The Veracity Elasticity • The Brain Bowl Incubation • The Geology Elevation • The Property Division Collision • The Birthday Synchronicity • The Holiday Summation • The Romance Recalibration • The Emotion Detection Automation • The Locomotion Reverberation • The Allowance Evaporation • The Comic-Con Conundrum • The Escape Hatch Identification • The Collaboration Fluctuation • The Recollection Dissipation • The Separation Agitation • The Cognition Regeneration • The Gyroscopic Collapse • The Long Distance Dissonance Season 11: The Proposal Proposal • The Retraction Reaction • The Relaxation Integration • The Explosion Implosion • The Collaboration Contamination • The Proton Regeneration • The Geology Methodology • The Tesla Recoil • The Bitcoin Entanglement • The Confidence Erosion • The Celebration Reverberation • The Matrimonial Metric • The Solo Oscillation • The Separation Triangulation • The Novelization Correlation • The Neonatal Nomenclature • The Athenaeum Allocation • The Gates Excitation • The Tenant Disassociation • The Reclusive Potential • The Comet Polarization • The Monetary Insufficiency • The Sibling Realignment • The Bow Tie Asymmetry Season 12: The Conjugal Configuration • The Wedding Gift Wormhole • The Procreation Calculation • The Tam Turbulence • The Planetarium Collision • The Imitation Perturbation • The Grant Allocation Derivation • The Consummation Deviation • The Citation Negation • The VCR Illumination • The Paintball Scattering • The Propagation Proposition • The Confirmation Polarization • The Meteorite Manifestation • The Donation Oscillation • The D & D Vortex • The Conference Valuation • The Laureate Accumulation • The Inspiration Deprivation • The Decision Reverberation • The Plagiarism Schism • The Maternal Conclusion • The Change Constant • The Stockholm Syndrome Locations The Apartment Building • Apartment 4A • Apartment 4B • The Elevator • California Institute of Technology • Wolowitz House • The Comic Center of Pasadena • Pasadena • The Cheesecake Factory • Raj's Apartment • Amy's Apartment • Howard and Bernadette's Apartment • The Stairs • Sheldon's Old Office • Raj's Old Office • Sheldon's New Office • Howard's Lab • The University Cafeteria • Kripke's Plasma Lab • International Space Station • The Kinetics Lab Songs Transportations See Also Unaired Pilot