The Spock Resonance Season 9, Episode 7 -  Aired November 5, 2015

The Spock Resonance

While being interviewed for a documentary about Spock from "Star Trek," Sheldon struggles to suppress his emotions about his recent break-up with Amy. Also, Wolowitz and Bernadette butt heads over remodeling his childhood home.

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Guest Stars: Wil Wheaton as Himself, Casey Sander as Mr. Rostenkowski, Adam Nimoy as Himself, Stephen Merchant as Dave

Writers: Chuck Lorre (Story), Jim Reynolds (Story), Tara Hernandez (Story), Steven Molaro (Teleplay), Steve Holland (Teleplay), Jeremy Howe (Teleplay)

Director: Nikki Lorre

Viewers: 14.81 million Households Rating: 9.7/16 Adults 18-49 Rating: 3.7/13

Available on iTunes

Episode Notes

  • The title refers to the Spock documentary being produced by Adam Nimoy for which Sheldon is interviewed, leading to an uncharacteristic display of emotion as Sheldon struggles to repress his feelings of loss over his break-up with Amy.

Episode Quotes

Wil Wheaton: Hey, Sheldon. This is Adam Nimoy.
Adam Nimoy: Nice to meet you.
Sheldon: Oh, it's nice to meet you. I admire your father's work very much.
It's not every day I get to meet someone whose life's journey began in my hero's scrotum.

Howard: May I say something?
Bernadette: Is it about how I can't have new wallpaper 'cause your dad left when you were little and your mom died?
Howard: Never mind.

Sheldon: As a child, when faced with a dilemma, my mother encouraged me to ask, "€œWhat would Jesus do?" The answer to that was always, "Love thy neighbor." But my neighbor had a dead tooth, so that wasn't going to happen.
But that's why I changed it to, "€œWhat would Spock do?"
Adam Nimoy: Did you find that helpful?
Sheldon: Yes. Oh, for example, three years ago when I discovered Penny was eating all my Pop-Tarts, instead of getting angry or vindictive, you know, I got a floor safe.
Penny: I knew I could smell 'em.

Mike Rostenkowski: You know, I know you don't want to hear this, but it wouldn't take that much work to turn that den into a nursery.
Howard: Why wouldn't I want to hear it?
Mike Rostenkowski: 'Cause Bernie said you didn't want kids.
Howard: That's not true at all. I wish she'd get pregnant, believe me. I'm climbing on top of her every chance I get.
In a loving and respectful manner.

Bernadette: Hey. You got a minute?
Howard: Not really. Visigoths are kind of up my butt right now.
Bernadette: Pause the game, Howard.
Howard: "Howard?" Uh-oh. Make room, Visigoths.

News Stories

Title Date Posted
907 'The Spock Resonance' Pictures November 3, 2015

We have added pictures from this week's new episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Spock Resonance", to our gallery. Adam Nimoy, son of the late actor Leonard Nimoy, appears in the episode. Wil Wheaton guest stars and Casey Sander returns as Bernadette's father, Mike Rostenkowski.  Full story

907 'The Spock Resonance' Press Release October 27, 2015

CBS has issued the press release for the next episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Spock Resonance", which airs Thursday, November 5 at 8/7c on CBS.  Full story

Recap

In the apartment, Leonard tells Penny and Raj about a study that says people who were popular at thirteen don’t do well later in life. Sheldon comes out of his bedroom to say he got an email from Wil Wheaton about a Spock documentary that Leonard Nimoy’s son is working on. Wil suggested Sheldon would be a good fan to interview. Sheldon asks Penny for advice on appearing in front of the camera.

When Bernadette goes into the living room to talk to Howard, he’s busy playing video games. Bernadette asks him to pause the game so they can talk about redecorating the house. Howard doesn't like to talk about changing things he grew up with, but Bernadette says she wants it to feel like her house too. Bernadette insists she’s redecorating either way and will be removing everything that depresses her, so she suggests he not be one of those things. When Howard asks if he can say something, Bernadette wonders whether he’s going to try guilt her about how his father left and his mother died.

In the apartment, Sheldon phones Amy to leave a message to see whether she wanted to come and see him interviewed for the Spock documentary. After there’s a knock at the door, Sheldon opens and greets Wil Wheaton, who introduces him to Adam Nimoy.

When Bernadette goes to see what Howard’s doing in the kitchen, he tells her he’s making a bologna sandwich like his mother used to make before his dad left and she died. Bernadette says she was thinking they should start by redecorating just one room and suggests the kitchen. Howard says it’s the room he most associates with his mom. After Bernadette proposes the bathroom instead, Howard says he wants to change his answer. Bernadette suggests the dining room. As Howard tries to guilt trip her again, Bernadette says she’ll go pick out paint samples.

As Adam Nimoy sets up his camera in the apartment, he tells Sheldon they’re just going to have a conversation, so try to pretend the camera is not there. As Leonard, Penny and Wil watch from the kitchen, Sheldon gives his name and occupation and talks about his earliest memory of Spock. Sheldon relates that while watching his first episode of Star Trek, “The Galileo Seven”, his brother came in, sat on his head and farted. Sheldon says the promise of a cold, rational world is what appealed to him most. Sheldon tells Adam about his most treasured Spock collectible, the autographed napkin given to him by Penny. Sheldon goes to his wall-safe to retrieve the napkin

When Raj goes to Howard’s house, Bernadette and her father are measuring the dining room. Bernadette says she and her father were talking about taking down the wall separating the dining room from the living room. After Raj argues it’s a pretty great wall, Bernadette can’t believe Howard brought Raj over to take his side. After Howard says they can’t take the wall down as it’s load bearing, Raj points out it would be easy to find out down in the crawl space.

Back in the apartment, Sheldon shows his Leonard Nimoy napkin to the camera, explaining it contains Leonard Nimoy’s DNA. Wil mentions that Adam is also Leonard Nimoy’s DNA, but Sheldon points out that Adam is only 50% Nimoy. After Penny asks Sheldon what else he’s hiding in the safe, he mentions his passport, his Wil Wheaton action figure] and his last will and testament. After Penny notices a ring box, she is shocked when Sheldon explains it’s an engagement ring he was going to give to Amy. When Penny asks whether Amy knew about the ring, Sheldon says she broke up with him before he got the chance to broach the subject. Penny says that must have been devastating for him, but Sheldon insists it was fine. As Penny tries to comfort him, Sheldon gets emotional and wonders why nobody will listen to him when he says it’s okay. Sheldon tries to change the subject back to Spock.

As Sheldon is being interviewed, he says is mother used to encourage him to ask “What Would Jesus Do?” when he faced a dilemma. Sheldon preferred to consider “What Would Spock Do?”. Sheldon says the entire point of emulating Spock was to rise above human emotion, which he’s spent a lifetime mastering. After Penny scoffs, she tells Sheldon he’s missing the point of Spock, who was still half-human. Penny points out that Sheldon, despite pretending he doesn’t, has feelings just like anyone else. Sheldon says he’s not emotional, even though he was rejected by a girl he had an engagement ring for. When Penny points out he’s yelling, Sheldon storms off and questions why no one believes him when he says he’s put the Amy nonsense behind him.

As Howard and Mike crawl beneath the house, Mike says they must be under the dining room now. Mike tells Howard he knows he won’t want to hear it, but it wouldn’t take much work to turn the den into a nursery. When Howard wonders why he wouldn’t want to hear it, Mike says Bernadette told him he doesn’t want kids. Howard says that’s not true at all, he really does want kids and wishes she would get pregnant. As Howard tells Mike that Bernadette’s the one who doesn’t want kids, Bernadette jumps up and down on the floor above, shouting about an earthquake.

In the apartment, Penny tells Leonard she can’t believe Sheldon was going to propose to Amy. When Sheldon comes out of his bedroom, he wonders whether they’re going to put his outburst in the Spock documentary. Sheldon decides there’s no point dwelling on it. Sheldon thinks being upset over Amy all the time isn’t going to accomplish anything, so he’s going to take action. Sheldon tells Leonard and Penny he’s going to find Amy and ask her to marry him. If she says yes, they can put this all behind them.

In the kitchen, Bernadette tells Howard and Mike, who are covered in dust, she should explain why she fibbed. Bernadette admits she didn’t want to disappoint her father by saying she was the one who didn’t want kids. Mike tells her she doesn’t need to worry about him, but want her to miss out. Mike says raising kids was the best experience of his life, Bernadette reminds him that her mother did all the work. After Mike excuses himself, Raj points out Bernadette had a father who didn’t help out and Howard doesn’t help out. Howard accepts he should do more and tells Bernadette that things would be different if they had a kid. When his dad left, he promised himself that if he ever had a chance to be a father he would always be there. Bernadette promises to think about it.

As Sheldon approaches Amy’s building, he gets the ring out of his pocket. When he looks across the street, he sees her with a gentleman, who kisses her goodbye. Sheldon puts the ring away and turns back.

As a dejected Sheldon watches Star Trek back in the apartment, he scoffs when Spock claims all he knows is logic. When Sheldon asks Leonard how he could have been so foolish to try follow in the footsteps of a made-up race of aliens, Leonard tells him that instead of idolizing fictional characters, he can now focus on the real people in his life.