The Celebration Reverberation Season 11, Episode 11 -  Aired December 14, 2017

The Celebration Reverberation

As Sheldon plans a birthday celebration for Amy, Howard is looking forward to Halley's first birthday. Meanwhile, Leonard has the holiday blues when he receives a Christmas letter from his brother detailing his many accomplishments.

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Guest Stars: Kevin Sussman as Stuart, Pamela Adlon as Halley (O.S.)

Writers: Steve Holland (Story), Eric Kaplan (Story), Alex Ayers (Story), Dave Goetsch (Teleplay), Maria Ferrari (Teleplay), Jeremy Howe (Teleplay)

Director: Mark Cendrowski

Available on iTunes

Episode Notes

  • The title refers to the consequences of Sheldon and Howard's attempts to celebrate Amy and Halley's birthdays.

Episode Quotes

Sheldon: Can I get you anything else?
Amy: No, thanks. I think I'm good.
Sheldon: You sure? There's still plenty of pork fat. Although, if we don't eat it, I suppose we could turn it into soap.
Amy: That might taste better.

Sheldon: Uh-oh.
Amy: What?
Sheldon: I left the food out.
Amy: You afraid it's gonna go good?

Amy: I know we only have coitus on my birthday, but I don't know if I can wait until midnight.
Sheldon: Oh, well, you'll be glad you did. Everyone knows the best foreplay is rigid adherence to a strict schedule.

Sheldon: And then after dinner, we will have birthday coitus.
Penny: Do you think that will also be historically accurate?
Leonard: I assume like the rest of frontier life, it'll be exhausting and short.
Sheldon: You're exhausting and short.

Sheldon: So this is for Amy's birthday. Can I leave it here?
Leonard: Sure. What is it?
Sheldon: A butter churn.
Penny: Aw, that's what I got her.

News Stories

Title Date Posted
1111 'The Celebration Reverberation' Press Release December 1, 2017

CBS has released the synopsis for the December 14 episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Celebration Reverberation". This will be the last new episode of The Big Bang Theory in 2017.  Full story

Recap

As Sheldon, Leonard and Howard shop at the comic book store, Sheldon asks Stuart if he can use his back room to smoke some meat. Sheldon explains that he wants to give Amy  an historically-accurate “Little House on the Prairie” dinner for her birthday. When Leonard asks Howard about Halley’s birthday, which is the same day as Amy’s, he says they’re not planning anything big because she’s one, Bernadette’s on bed rest and he’s lazy. When Raj arrives, he greats the guys but things are still frosty between him and Howard. Howard says he’s willing to patch things up, but he accuses Raj of acting like a baby. Stuart tries to make the friends work things out, until Raj mentions he has a free ticket to the opening of Star Wars: The Last Jedi that night which can be Stuart’s. Stuart tells Howard and Raj had a good run.

As Sheldon, Leonard and Raj eat in the university cafeteria, Leonard asks who wants to go see the Star Wars movie again. Raj and Sheldon are both in. When Howard arrives with invitations for Halley’s birthday, he says Bernadette pointed out only a heartless person would not throw a party for their child. After Howard hands Sheldon and Leonard an invitation, he gets ready to walk away from the table. Raj, outraged that he’s not being invited to his god-daughter’s first birthday, storms out of the cafeteria.

When Penny enters the apartment while looking at a piece of mail, Leonard asks what she’s reading. After Penny says it’s the holiday card from his brother, Leonard complains that it’s just a way for his brother to brag about his life. Sheldon arrives with a butter churn and asks if he can leave it there as it’s part of his plan for Amy’s birthday dinner. Sheldon leaves Leonard jokes about Sheldon’s annual tradition of birthday coitus.

Howard goes to the comic book store to ask Stuart if he’s coming to Halley’s birthday party. When Stuart says he is, Howard asks if he could bring a few things, including party supplies and guests. Stuart tells Howard not to stress out as Halley is only one and won’t remember the party, but Howard explains it’s really for Bernadette as she is feeling guilty about all the things she’s missing with Halley.

When Amy arrives home, she wonders if the power is out because the room is lit by candles. Sheldon explains that he doesn’t know about electricity as he is just a farmer boy living in a little house on the prairie. Amy is ecstatic at Sheldon’s birthday surprise. When Amy asks if he knows he birthday isn't until tomorrow, Sheldon says the meal is just step one of her birthday weekend. The pair sit down to eat their rustic meal.

Back in the apartment, Leonard stands at a clear whiteboard as Penny arrives home from work. Leonard says he’s going to write his own Christmas letter and is making a list of all the cool things they did that year. When Penny asks if she can help, Leonard wonders if she can think of a single cool thing they did that year. Penny suggests their jobs are going great, but Leonard points out his military project was taken away and she isn’t thrilled with her job. Penny remembers their anniversary, but they did forget it at the time. They write down “still employed” and “still married” but struggle to think of anything else.

When Raj gets a knock on the door of his apartment, he welcomes Howard, who apologizes for not inviting him to Halley’s party. After Raj accepts the invitation, Howard then asks Raj to plan the party. Raj is insulted that the only reason Howard’s apologizing is because he needs something. Although Raj won’t help Howard, he agrees to do it for Halley.

Back in Sheldon and Amy’s apartment, they’re still eating dinner. When Sheldon asks Amy if he can get her anything else, she says no thanks and decides to go sit down on the couch. After Sheldon starts to get flirty with a dirty limerick, Amy asks if it’s getting hot in there - but not from the romance. Amy thinks there may have been something wrong with the food. When Sheldon rushes to the bathroom and starts throwing up. Amy heads to the kitchen sink.

The next morning in Howard and Bernadette’s backyard, Howard is impressed by how quickly Raj was able to organize a party. There’s pink birthday decorations up, a table with food and drinks, and a bounce-house ready to set up. After Howard tells him he saved the day, Raj reminds him it’s for Halley not for him.

Sheldon and Amy lie in bed looking awful after a rough night. When Sheldon asks if it’s time for them to have coitus, Amy can’t believe he could even of think of that when they’re feeling so bad, but Sheldon says he has annual needs like any man. Amy agrees if he can do it while she just lays there, without touching her. After Sheldon says he’ll try, he doesn’t move before asking Amy if she wants to go again.

Over in their apartment, Penny gets up and finds Leonard still seated in front of the whiteboard. He’s added two more entries to the list, but it’s still very sparse. Penny says this is silly as their lives are great. Leonard agrees but it still bothers him because it feels like everyone else is moving forward while they’re stuck. Leonard wonders if they should think about what’s next in their lives, like buying a house or having a baby. Penny admits she wants to do those things someday, but there’s lots of things she wants to do first. Leonard says they should start doing those things, so Penny suggests going on a trip. Leonard tells her they could take a day trip out to Catalina and Penny agrees. As they talk, Sheldon rushes into the apartment to use the bathroom, where he loudly vomits.

Back at Howard and Bernadette’s house, Howard gets off the phone with Bernadette’s sister, whose kids are sick and won’t be attending the party. After a bed-ridden Bernadette shouts out to ask how the party is going, Howard tells her their friends will be there soon. Raj is amazed that the only other people Howard invited are their friends. Meanwhile, Sheldon asks Amy how she’s feeling as they lie in bed. After Amy lists her many uncomfortable symptoms, Sheldon agrees that he’s feeling better, too.

Meanwhile, Howard and Raj are alone in the backyard as no party guests have arrived yet.  When Howard starts sulking about how badly the party turned out, Raj points out how much effort he went to arrange it in a day. Raj is angry that he got no help from Howard, and decides to celebrate the birthday on the bounce-house. An agitated Howard follows Raj into the bounce-house, where they argue over the break-up in their friendship. Howard admits it hurt him when Raj walked out on him. After Raj shoves Howard down onto the floor of the bounce-house, he returns the favor. When they realize how much fun it is, they keep pushing each other down. As they release some of their tension, they start to forget about their argument and just have fun.

When Sheldon and Amy arrive at the party, Leonard and Penny are already there. Bernadette shouts down that Halley is awake and ready for the party, so everybody but Sheldon and Amy head inside. When Sheldon suggestively tells Amy it’s still her birthday and they’re both feeling better, she points out there is nobody in the bounce house. Sheldon agrees to go jump for a bit before finding a room to have coitus in.