The 43 Peculiarity Season 6, Episode 8 -  Aired November 15, 2012

The 43 Peculiarity

Howard and Raj are intrigued when they notice Sheldon disappears every day at 2:45. When they secretly follow Sheldon down to the basement, they are made even more curious by the number 43 written on a blackboard. Meanwhile, Leonard gets jealous when Penny invites a guy in her history class over to study.

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Guest Stars: Margo Harshman as Alex, Ryan Cartwright as Cole

Writers: Chuck Lorre (Story), Dave Goetsch (Story), Anthony Del Broccolo (Story), Steven Molaro (Teleplay), Jim Reynolds (Teleplay), Steve Holland (Teleplay)

Director: Mark Cendrowski

Viewers: 17.63 million Households Rating: 11.2/18 Adults 18-49 Rating: 5.7/17

Available on iTunes

Episode Lists

  • Leonard & Penny: Key Episodes Leonard & Penny: Key Episodes

    The key moments in Leonard and Penny's relationship including the first time they saw each other across the hall, their first kiss, their first date, breaking up and getting back together, the first time Penny says "I love you", a couple of proposals, their engagement, two wedding ceremonies, and finally Penny getting pregnant.

Episode Notes

  • The title refers to the number on the blackboard in the room Sheldon went to each day at 2:45, and Howard and Raj's curiosity over its meaning.

Episode Quotes

Sheldon: You may not realize it, but I have difficulty navigating certain aspects of daily life. You know, understanding sarcasm, feigning interest in others, not talking about trains as much as I want. It's exhausting!

Sheldon: (Playing hackey sack) One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Drat. I'm never going to get to forty-three again. One, two, three, four. Rats.

Penny: Hey! Shouldn't you be out with your gang spray painting equations on the sides of buildings?

Penny: What am I supposed to say?
Leonard: Say "Can't talk right now, hanging with my boyfriend. England sucks. You suck. USA number one."

Raj: What are you drawing over there?
Sheldon: It's a hypothetical containment field for a Frisbee-sized wormhole that could serve as a portal to a parallel universe.
Howard: Oh, you silly doodlebug.
Leonard: You know, a lot of scientists believe that making contact with other life-forms would probably not end well for us.
Sheldon: It's a Frisbee-sized wormhole, Leonard. You can block it with a Frisbee. Calm down.

News Stories

Title Date Posted
Episode 6.08 Ratings: Largest audience yet November 16, 2012

Last night's episode of The Big Bang Theory delivered the show's largest audience yet for the second week running and hit a season high in the adults 18-49 demographic.  Full story

CBS Announces Episode 6.08 November 6, 2012

CBS has issued the press release for the November 15 episode of The Big Bang Theory. Margo Harshman reprises her role as Alex in the episode. Ryan Cartwright (Alphas, Bones) guest stars as Cole in the episode.  Full story

Recap

As the guys eat in the cafeteria, Howard notices how Sheldon always excuses himself at two forty-five. Leonard points out this isn't part of Sheldon's bathroom routine, and Howard notices the time is left blank on Sheldon's public calendar. Howard is all the more intrigued about the twenty minutes every day when Sheldon disappears, so Howard and Raj decide to figure out where Sheldon is going each day.

Penny is in her apartment with Leonard, and is texting a guy she met at school who's working with her on a report. Leonard is uncomfortable with the idea of Penny chatting to another guy, especially one who has a English accent. Leonard is sure the guy is hitting on her, but Penny reassures him they're just friends. Elsewhere, Howard and Raj meet Sheldon outside his office at two forty-five. They invite him to visit the genetics lab to see a glow-in-the-dark bunny, but Sheldon says he's not interested and walks off. When Howard asks him where he's going, Sheldon dodges the question.

Howard and Raj follow Sheldon down a corridor in the basement, where Sheldon unlocks a door and enters an old storage room. The guys try to see if they can hear what Sheldon's doing in there, but they're no wiser. Back at the apartment, Leonard is waiting by the door, staring out the peephole to keep an eye on Penny's apartment. Sheldon's comments don't help Leonard's feelings of insecurity. Elsewhere, Howard and and Raj break into Sheldon's secret room and find a board with the number forty-three written on it, though they have no idea what it means.

As Leonard waits by his door, he hears Penny letting her friend, Cole, out of the apartment and saying good bye. Leonard rushes out of the apartment to catch up with Cole. Leonard pretends to not know who he is and asks Cole if he's moving into the apartment on fifth. When Cole explains he was just visiting a friend, Leonard admits he knows the girl on fourth but keeps his distance because her scary boyfriend is in a gang called The Scientists. When Leonard finishes talking to Cole, he finds that Penny followed him down and has witnessed the whole display.

In the university cafeteria, Leonard is talking to Sheldon's assistant, Alex, about his problems with Penny, missing the signs that Alex is attracted to him. Meanwhile, Raj and Howard are trying hard to understand what fourty-three means. Later, Leonard and Penny meet in the stairway of the apartment. Penny is mad at Leonard for not trusting her and embarrassing her in front of her friend, who knew exactly who Leonard was. Leonard explains how hard it is seeing so many guys hit on her. Penny reassures him that he's the one she's with, and he's the one she loves. They both realize this is the first time Penny has ever said she loves Leonard. They both agree to pretend it's not a big deal otherwise they'll both start crying.

Howard and Raj are watching a stream of Sheldon's secret room on their laptop. They see Sheldon documenting an experiment with a wormhole generator. After Sheldon generates a wormhole and pokes his head through, he re-emerges with an alien creature stuck to his face. Sheldon then drops the same plastic creature on their laptop as Howard and Raj watch. Sheldon tells them he found their camera and replaced the video feed, leading Raj and Howard to apologize for spying on him. Sheldon explains how daily life is stressful and exhausting for him, and how the twenty-minutes in which he goes to that room allow him to turn his mind off and recharge. Howard and Raj still want to know what he does down there, but Sheldon tells them they will never know.

Later, in his secret room, Sheldon is playing hackeysack but is struggling to beat his record of forty-three.