The Santa Simulation

The Big Bang Theory"The Love Spell Potential"
Season 6
Number 11
Episode information
Directed by	Mark Cendrowski
Original air date	December 13, 2012
The Big Bang Theory Episodes
Previous	"The Fish Guts Displacement"
Next	"The Egg Salad Equivalency"

"The Santa Simulation" is the eleventh episode of the Season 6 of The Big Bang Theory. Dakin Matthews guest stars as Santa Claus.

Synopsis

The gang leave the girls out of a Dungeons & Dragons game and they all have girls-night which Raj crashes, after his character dies early on. Meanwhile, during the game, Sheldon explains his past Christmases as a youth, which end up revealing why he hates the holiday so much.

Plot

Leonard builds a cardboard fireplace for his apartment, despite getting a paper cut. He tells Penny that the guys are playing Dungeons & Dragons together. Penny asks him if he'd rather play a fantasy board game on a Saturday night rather than be with his girlfriend who let him have sex with her. Meanwhile, Sheldon tells Amy that she isn't invited to play D&D, although she always wanted to play D&D. Bernadette tells Howard that she worked late so that they could be together on Saturday night. Howard tells her that if he doesn't come, then the guys will blame the failure of their night on her. Furthermore, Raj and Stuart originally planned to have dinner, but are more excited about joining the game.

The guys' D&D quest starts with Leonard giving a Christmas gift to Sheldon who complains about Christmas, like the overuse of "t'is" and "t'was". Nevertheless, he pulls out of the scroll from the Christmas stocking that explains their quest starts in a village of massacred elves. They must rescue their leader Santa Claus from a pack of ogres. On Leonard's idea of making a holiday-themed quest in D&D, Sheldon replies that it was like a sandwich of grape jelly and petroleum jelly. In-game, they follow the trail of broken candy canes where Howard finds a secret door, plans to set up an invasion strategy, but Raj rushes in anyway where it is a dark room filled with weapons. He hits a tripwire that triggers a cannon, killing him and also disqualifying Raj out of the game. Raj protests, and asks for resurrection rods, which they refuse.

Penny leads the girls into the apartment to act like runaway model fashion models. Raj asks to come, but first they tell him that he can't come because its girls' night. But Penny invites him.

At the nightclub bar, the girls plan for Raj to find a girl to get laid, hook-up with or a quality relationship. Raj finds a hot girl at the bar they talked for a while, and he leaves her to return to the girls. He finds that she gave him a phony email address. Raj complains that is really his fault since he falls for girls that are out of his league. He did when he fell for his friends' hot girlfriends, Penny and Bernadette. Amy then concludes at some point he'll fall for her. Raj says a definite "no", but Penny and Bernadette urgently try to get Raj to change his comment about Amy, but he keeps saying "no", and that he wouldn't fall for her. Later, he apologizes to Amy if he upset her. After a conversation, Amy tells him that he'll eventually find somebody where Raj hopes that she is as half as a lovely person as Amy. She tells the girls they can leave, obviously getting back at Raj who then tells Penny that now he may fall for Amy, leaving her confused and disgusted.

Meanwhile, during D&D, the characters find a large chest. The door locks behind them, and glowing words appear on the chest as the walls start to close in. Thanks to the clues given, Sheldon figures out the answer and sings "Good King Wenceslas" which stops the walls from closing in. Sheldon knows the song from when his grandparents would sing carols at Christmas time. They tried to resume the game, but Sheldon insists on singing the remaining verses. After a while, he finishes singing the song, they find a pool of melted snowman. Outside the game, Sheldon picks up a cup of eggnog. Leonard says he's glad that Sheldon is getting into the holiday spirit, but Sheldon denies it and claims that he drinks eggnog all year-round. Leonard reveals that his Christmases where bad for him when he was a kid whilst trying to wish Sheldon would get into the spirit. Instead of leaving Santa milk and cookies, Leonard's family left research papers, and in the morning, they were graded by Santa. For Leonard, he gets a C- which he finds displeasing, but Sheldon thinks they must have been great Christmases.

Later, they crack the code to lower the drawbridge. The answer is playing "Jingle Bells" with bells. This act lowers the drawbridge where they find the bloody and beaten Santa in the dungeon. Taking the advantage, Sheldon casts a spell of paralysis on Howard and Stuart, goes in to confront Santa. He confesses that when he was five years old, he asked Santa to revive his grandfather, Pop-Pop, who had died at that time during Sheldon's said age and was the only relative that urged him to follow his dream into science. Instead Santa brought him a set of Lincoln Logs. Sheldon throws away the key, kicks Santa and leaves him to die at the hands of the ogres. Everyone is completely shocked as they now know why Sheldon doesn't like celebrating Christmas, due to a traumatic family tragedy at the time.

That night, Sheldon enters the living room to find Santa Claus leaving him presents and he apologizes for not bringing back his Pop-Pop because according to Santa, his magical power is limited. He has something special for Sheldon, who seems excited. It turns out that Santa is firing a cannon at Sheldon for his revenge. However, it revealed to be Sheldon's nightmare, now realizing he shouldn't blame Santa for his Pop-Pop not coming back to life.

Trivia

• Title Reference: The title refers the symbolical character being rescued in the gang's Dungeons and Dragons game.

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