The Big Bang Theory (2007–…): Season 9, Episode 4 - The 2003 Approximation - full transcript

An impending change to his living arrangements inspires Sheldon to revert to 2003, before he met Penny and Leonard. Raj and Howard form a band for the comic book store.

What a wonderful day, thank you.

Oh, we're glad
you had fun.

Blue Icees and a trip
to The Container Store?

It's like I died and went
to the post-mortem,

neuron-induced hallucination
commonly mistaken as heaven.

I still don't understand
why you bought that pill caddie.

You're a young man.

Age is a state of
mind, Leonard.

In here I'm 90.

Why are you taking
your bins over there?

That's just where
I need them.



You know, she doesn't have
a lot of closet space.

What's wrong with your closet?

Uh...

Well, honey, you know,

now that Leonard and I
are married,

it kind of makes sense
that we actually live together.

So that's all this day was?

A plan to butter me up
before delivering bad news?

Come on, buddy.
No, I thought we were friends.

You asked for a sip of my Icee.

If you had your own straw,
I might've said yes.

Sheldon, please, we already
feel bad about this.

You know what they don't sell
at The Container Store?

Something large enough
to contain my disappointment.



Although,

if anyone did, it would be them.

♪ Our whole universe
was in a hot, dense state ♪

♪ Then nearly 14 billion years
ago expansion started... Wait! ♪

♪ The Earth began to cool ♪

♪ The autotrophs began to drool,
Neanderthals developed tools ♪

♪ We built the Wall ♪
♪ We built the pyramids ♪

♪ Math, Science, History,
unraveling the mystery ♪

♪ That all started
with a big bang ♪

♪ Bang! ♪

Thank you for letting
me come speak with you.

Of course.

As my relationships
with Penny and Amy

are currently strained,
I'm turning to you

for female comfort
and encouragement.

Aww.

I'm honored.
I tried

reaching out to my mother,
but she was in Bible study.

Leonard's mother
is on a book tour.

My Mee-Maw was taking a nap,

and after a while Siri
started repeating her answers.

So, I'm your seventh choice.

Yeah, I know, top ten,
pretty exciting.

How can I help you?

Well, in addition
to Amy leaving me,

Leonard's moving in with Penny.

It's difficult
not to feel abandoned.

Well, why don't you look at this
as an opportunity?

You had other roommates
before Leonard.

Maybe this is a chance

to find someone new.

Perhaps I could find someone
better than Leonard.

Someone I can rub in his face.

Chris Pratt's
all the rage right now.

I wonder how he'd feel

about taking
the smaller bedroom.

Hey.
Hey.

You know who would be
the perfect roommate?

Gandalf, but he's a smoker.

Stuart.

He's been living with us
for a while now.

I'm sure he'd love
to get us out of his hair.

Nope, couldn't be happier.

Well, Sheldon's looking
for a...

Nope.

He'll think about it.
No I won't!

Have you seen
this Archie comic?

It's actually
Archie versus Predator.

How could Archie
defeat Predator?

I don't know.

Maybe Jughead's a Terminator.

Hey.
Hey, Stuart.

Do you guys know any musicians?

Why?

I was thinking it might be cool

to have live music here
a few nights a week.

You know, give
this place more

of a "staying in business" vibe.

What kind of music
are you thinking of?

I like all kinds of music,
but my favorite genre is free.

Hey, we've always talked

about playing together.

Well, it could be fun

to try a little acoustic thing.

Oh, we could play
"filk" music.

What's that?

It's been around for years.

It's like folk music,
but with a sci-fi/fantasy theme.

I like it.

It sounds exactly like something

I shouldn't be expected
to pay for.

Dude, if we do this,

we're gonna need
a cool band name.

You know, I've actually
(chuckles)

had one I've been
sitting on for years.

Really?

It was for this power trio

I tried to put together
in junior high,

but I was short two friends.

What is it?

Footprints on the Moon.

I just got chills.

So did I.

Me, too.

But I-I might have Lyme Disease.

Just a few more signatures,
and we'll be finished.

Initial here to acknowledge
that you've returned your key.

Okay.

As my future neighbor,

I'd like you to have a key.

Initial here to acknowledge
you received it.

I'm proud of you.
You're taking this really well.

Well, it's not like I'm never
going to see you two again.

Which brings us to
article 23 subsection C--

please check here
to reserve your spot

at the ten year
roommate reunion.

Do I really have to do that now?

No, but if you want chicken

and get stuck with the fish,
that's on you.

All right.

Oh, and lastly,

please initial here to confirm

that ownership
of the living room couch

is hereby transferred to me

in perpetuity
all throughout the universe

and all alternate universes

except for those universes
where owning a couch

is forbidden by the hive queen.

In which case,
all glory to the hive queen.

All right,
now all that's left

is for us to sign
and date the document,

and we will officially
no longer be roommates.

What's the matter?

It's harder than I thought.

Let me help you.

L-E-O-N...

That helped.

So I have an idea
for a filk song.

Kind of a,

a power ballad,
superhero crossover tale

of epic proportions.

Is it cold in here,

'cause, oh, my.

Okay, so it's a, it's a
David and Goliath story.

It's about man against God.

It's called "Hammer and Whip:

"The Untold Story

of Thor versus Indiana Jones."

Thor versus Indiana Jones?

You just blew my filking mind.

Okay, I don't have it
all worked out yet,

but I was thinking
something like, um...

♪ Oh, Indy ♪

♪ Oh, Indy ♪

♪ The skies are so windy ♪

♪ Is that a flying man
with a killer bod? ♪

♪ Wait ♪

♪ That's no man ♪

♪ It's a Norse god. ♪

Oh yes, definitely.

Hang on.

♪ Thunder clapped as Thor
raised his mighty hammer ♪

♪ Indy rapped,
"That's one bad mamma-jamma." ♪

That-that is so good!

Right?

Mamma-jamma just came to me.

Okay, and here's the hook.

♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

♪ One plays with lightning ♪

♪ The other plays with bones ♪

BOTH:
♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

(harmonizing):
♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

♪ One plays with lightning ♪

♪ The other plays with bones. ♪

Oh, man, that rocks.

Hey, remember
The Ark of the Covenant?

Yeah?
That's how much we're
gonna melt people's faces off.

I appreciate your interest
in the apartment.

I just need to ask you
a few standard questions.

Sure.
It says here you're a chemist.

Which element
on the periodic table

do you feel is too big
for its britches?

Is that supposed to be a joke?

Looks like argon's not
the only one

with an attitude problem.

In general,

would you say
that you smell better, worse

or the same as you do right now?

I was going to ask you

what is the best fruit,

but then I realized
what I want to ask you

is why is there a Band-Aid
on your forearm,

but then I realized what

I really want to ask you is

just can you just go?

You're healthy.

You have a job in the sciences.

I've got to say, if this
credit report comes back good,

you're the frontrunner.

I'm not gonna be
your roommate, Sheldon.

But I met with 11 people,

and they all walked out.

And that Hollywood phony
Chris Pratt

never tweeted me back.

I'm sure you'll find
somebody else.

I suppose.

What happened to me, Amy?

Years ago I was

completely disengaged
from my feelings.

I'd say it was a happier time,

but I was disengaged from
my feelings, so who can tell?

I don't know how to help you.

You know,
feelings are a part of life.

They didn't used to be.

You and Leonard and Penny,

you all poisoned me
with emotions.

I was like the Tin Man,
perfectly content

until that evil Wizard
gave him a heart.

I don't think that was
the point of the movie.

Fine, then I was like Pinocchio

before that jerk Geppetto
went and made him a real boy.

There you go.

So, what are you
thinking for dinner?

Well, it's Thai food night.

Well, honey,

you don't live
with Sheldon anymore.

You can have anything you want.

You're right.

But what?

Mexican?

Italian? German?

Indian? Greek?

Cuban? Chinese?

Pizza? Barbecue?

Korean? Korean barbecue?

How about Thai food?

Oh, thank God

Hey, we're going to dinner.
You want to come?

Oh, I wish I could,

but I realized I've become
too emotionally vulnerable,

so, like an operating system,

I'm restoring my life
to the last stable version,

which was in 2003,
the day before I met Leonard.

You heard him, no.

Hang on.

Wait, you actually
think it's 2003?

No, just because
I'm living my life

like it was 12 years ago
doesn't mean I'm delusional.

And since it is 2003,

I don't know who you are,

so please exit the premises

before I call the police
on my stylish new flip phone.

Are you doing okay?

I guess.

I'm just, you know,
worried about Sheldon.

Well, come on,
he's a grown man in his 30s

pretending to be
a grown man in his 20s.

He's fine.

I hope so.

What else can you do?
Move back in with him?

No, of course not.
I-I just feel bad.

Well, so do I,

but don't you want to live
with your wife

and set the thermostat

to whatever you want

and have your body tell you

when it's time to go
to the bathroom,

you know, not a schedule slipped

underneath your door
every morning?

I did like that he had
the weather on it.

Trust me,
this is the right thing.

I know.

And it's not like
we're abandoning him.

Plus,

we can FaceTime him
whenever we want,

you know, once iPhones
are invented in his universe.

I can't believe Sheldon

asked you to be his roommate.

I can't believe
he ran my credit.

Hey, if you're open to living
with someone great,

I'll give you $1,000
to take Stuart.

You really should've gone
on the Internet

and checked how long
that kind of thing lives

before you got one.

I'm sorry.

I just thought you might have

a pasty, weirdo-shaped hole
in your life.

Hey, I know Sheldon's quirky,

but he's also brilliant
and insightful.

I think calling him a weirdo
is a little unfair.

Hello, 2003!

Hey, we brought you Thai.

Where is everything?

In my present,
it's in the future.

In your present,
it's been crammed in the bedroom

by an enterprising young man

I met in The Home Depot
parking lot.

I know what you're doing.

You're trying to get attention
so we'll feel bad for you,

but it's not happening.

No, what I'm doing
is trying to figure out

how to live my life now
that everyone is leaving me.

Will you knock it off?
We're across the hall.

As the kids are saying today,
"talk to the hand."

They're not saying that.

They are in 2003.

No, they're really not.

♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

♪ One runs from Loki ♪

♪ The other runs from stones. ♪

So, what do you think?

Wow.

Runs from stones means
that-that big boulder,

but I couldn't rhyme anything
with boulder.

Colder, shoulder,

soldier, folder...

Right, yeah, right.

But...

what do you think?

I think it's very cute.

Cute? It's not cute.

Cute is children dressed
as vegetables.

Okay, fine, it's not cute.

Just be honest.
You don't like it.

I didn't say that.

I-I just like music
you can dance to.

You can dance to this!

Um, uh, uh...

♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

♪ One plays with lightning ♪

♪ The other plays with bones. ♪

I'm telling you, dude,
the song has no groove.

You can't dance to it.

Who cares?

I thought the whole point
of Footprints on the Moon

was to write songs
that make people think.

You can do both,

like Michael Jackson's
"Billie Jean."

While you're dancing
you're thinking, like,

"Darn it, whose baby is it?"

Where's this coming from?

A few hours ago,
we both loved this song.

I still love it.

I just think there's
room for improvement.

You played it for Emily,
didn't you?

Yeah, so what?
You are such a wimp.

She didn't like it,
now you don't like it.

No, no. I'm just evolving
as a musician.

You're the one who's stuck
in the past.

The past was lunch!

You know
what's really happening here?

Your girlfriend
is breaking up our band.

She has nothing to do with this.

I am my own man.

Oh, please. Your brain belongs

to whoever's willing
to sleep with you.

That is so not true.
Really?

Remember when you were gonna
get circumcised

for Rachel Bernstein?

That had nothing to do
with Rachel.

It was an overreaction
to a bad zipper injury.

I don't need this.

I'm quitting the band!

Fine, I quit, too!

Then get out of my house!

With pleasure!

(door slams)

(sighs)

Raj, wait.

What took you so long?

LEONARD:
Buddy, I know me

moving in with Penny
feels like a big change,

but it's not.

How can you say that?

Amy's gone,

and you two are married now,

so it's only a matter of time
before you're gone, too.

Okay, you don't know
what's gonna happen.

No, I do.

Eventually you'll want
more space,

and you'll move into a house,

and then instead of dinner
a couple of times a week,

it'll only be a couple
of times a month,

and then it'll only be

on special occasions,

like when Bernadette
divorces Wolowitz.

Or-or-or like

when Koothrappali's
weird girlfriend

admits where she buried
his body.

Or Amy's wedding,

where she's marrying
someone better than me.

Okay, look,

we don't need
to rush into anything.

All right?

Maybe instead of Leonard
moving in with me,

we just leave things
the way they are,

and...

sometimes we'll sleep
over there,

and sometimes
we'll sleep over here.

But mostly here.

Sure.

W-W-What about what you
said in the restaurant?

Well, it's not forever.

It's just for a while.

If you want, we can think of him
like he's our dog.

You can.

I'm happy when you come home.

And I'm scared of fireworks.

And by the way, on July Fourth,
we're all sleeping here.

Fine.

All right, great!

Just give me one minute,

and I'll get started
on a new Roommate Agreement.

Yeah.

Nothing from Pratt. We're good.

♪ Indy' whip snapped ♪

♪ Thor's hammer missed ♪

♪ It was Avenger ♪

♪ Versus archeologist ♪

♪ Indy held his ground ♪

♪ And straightened his fedora ♪

♪ Thor said,
"That's a nice look ♪

♪ In 1944-a" ♪

BOTH:
♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

♪ One plays with lightning ♪

♪ The other plays bones ♪

♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

(high-pitched):
♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

♪ Thor and Dr. Jones ♪

♪ One plays with lightning ♪

♪ The other plays bones. ♪

(song ends)

Play something we can dance to.