The Separation Triangulation Season 11, Episode 14 -  Aired January 18, 2018

The Separation Triangulation

Raj gets caught in the middle of a domestic dispute when he learns the woman he's dating, Nell, is still married to her husband, Oliver. Meanwhile, when Sheldon rents his old room back so he has a place to focus on his work, he annoys Leonard by being the perfect tenant.

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Guest Stars: Walton Goggins as Oliver, Beth Behrs as Nell

Writers: Chuck Lorre (Story), Eric Kaplan (Story), Maria Ferrari (Story), Steven Molaro (Teleplay), Steve Holland (Teleplay), Tara Hernandez (Teleplay)

Director: Mark Cendrowski

Available on iTunes

Episode Notes

  • The title refers to Raj being caught in the middle of a separated married couple, Nell and Oliver.

> Roommate Agreement

When Sheldon proposes leasing his old room back from Leonard and Penny, he draws up a rental agreement. Leonard attempts to kick Sheldon out within the agreement's allotted trial period, but Sheldon has sneakily stipulated that the times in the contract refer to Eastern Standard Time, so Leonard is three hours too late.

Sheldon informs Leonard that a new long-form version of the rental agreement is now in force and requires Leonard to provide with him lemon-flavored sparkling waters.

Episode Quotes

Sheldon: No, the campus isn't safe at night. There's raccoons and undergrads just walking around like they own the place.

Raj: Uh, you know, my secret to making great omelets is that I beat the egg whites separately. Speaking of which, how long have you been separated? Speaking of which, how long have you been separated?
Nell: About two weeks.
Raj: That is not a lot of weeks. In fact, that's the bare minimum to get to the plural "weeks".

Sheldon: What time does the trial period end?
Leonard: 12:00, noon.
Sheldon: Yeah, what does it say after that?
Leonard: Eastern Standard Time.
Sheldon: That was three hours ago. And, uh, since you didn't exercise your right to revoke, I exercised my right to extend, triggering this long-form rental agreement of which you're already in violation.
Leonard: This is just a-a bunch of paper. You can't enforce this.
Sheldon: Hire a lawyer. Let's find out.
Leonard: This is not happening.
Sheldon: Be that as it may, page nine says that you have to provide me with lemon-flavored sparkling waters, so chop-chop.

Leonard: Hey, Sheldon.
Sheldon: Hello.
Leonard: Hey. So, your contract provides for a three-day trial period, and I don't think this is working out. So, to put it in legal terms, the party of the first part would like the party of the second part to get out.

Howard: Look at this cute picture of Halley in the bath.
Leonard: Aw, that's great.
Howard: Want me to send it to you?
Leonard: No, on your phone it's cute, on my phone it's a crime.

News Stories

Title Date Posted
1114 'The Separation Triangulation' Press Release January 9, 2018

CBS has issued the press release for the January 18 episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Separation Triangulation". Beth Behrs (2 Broke Girls) and Walton Goggins (Justified, The Shield) guest star in the episode.  Full story

Recap

Raj is wrapping up a show at the planetarium as Howard and Leonard sit in the audience. Before they go other to see Raj at the end of the show, a woman goes to him to ask for a picture together. Raj is charming and flirty with the woman, who really enjoyed his show. After she leaves, Howard and Leonard are annoyed is still being overly charismatic with them.

As the guys eat in the university cafeteria, Howard shows them a cute picture of Halley on his phone. Sheldon then decides to share a cute picture of his own, showing an equation he wrote. Raj takes the opportunity to show the guys a picture of him in bed with an attractive woman, explaining he met her at the planetarium and she then invited him out for a drink. Sheldon mentions that he also has a date that night, with string theory.

Back in his apartment, Sheldon takes a selfie in front of a whiteboard with his equation on it. When Amy arrives home, she is happy to see him excited, until he tells her she can’t sit on the couch as it’s where his important works goes. Amy offers to go to the bedroom, but Sheldon doesn’t want to make her leave her own apartment. He offers to tidy up for the night, although he admits it’s hard for him to accommodate Amy like this.

Raj is making breakfast for Nell, the woman he met at the planetarium, in her kitchen after spending the night. When she reveals her husband never used to cook for her, Raj is surprised to hear she was married and is even more surprised to hear she technically still is. Nell explains that she’s only been separated from her firefighter husband for two weeks, causing Raj to worry about a potentially jealous man with an ax.

At the kitchen table in their apartment, Leonard is quizzing Penny on facts about her company’s pharmaceuticals when Sheldon enters the apartment. After he says hello, walks straight to his old room, and leaves a short time later, Leonard asks him what he’s doing. As Sheldon explains that he was checking his old room because he needs a place to work in the evening, Penny and Leonard try to shut that conversation right down.

In Howard and Bernadette’s bedroom, with Bernadette still confined to her bed, Raj talks about his mixed feelings about dating a woman who only just separated from her husband. Raj doesn’t like being the third wheel in their relationship and is worried about her husband’s feelings.

Back in their apartment, Leonard is talking on the phone with Sheldon, refusing to let him use his old room again. Sheldon argues that they wouldn’t even know he’s there, but Leonard is sure they would and hangs up. Sheldon storms out of his old room, angry that Leonard hung up on him. After Sheldon tells them he needs the office so he can respect Amy, he gives them a rental agreement he has written up. Leonard is bothered by the idea Sheldon can just walk in any time, but Penny points out he does that now and at least this way they’ll get paid.

At the planetarium, Raj finishes practicing his show as Howard watches on. When a guy comes in looking for Rajesh Koothrappali, he explains he’s Nell’s husband. Raj apologizes to the man, saying he didn’t know she was married until after they’d started seeing each other. As Howard and Raj try to leave the room, they hear the guy crying about the state of his marriage. After Raj goes back to comfort him, Oliver apologizes for coming there and admits he just wanted to see who she replaced him with.

As Leonard and Penny watch TV, Leonard turns it off to tell her he’s uncomfortable with Sheldon being back in the apartment. Penny wonders why, as Sheldon hasn’t made a sound all day, but Leonard explains that Sheldon was annoying all the time they lived together. By being a perfect guest now, it’s clear Sheldon was doing it on purpose for all those years. When Leonard goes to Sheldon’s room, he answers the door and asks if he’s being too loud. After Leonard accuses him of being the ideal tenant, Sheldon wonders if he should be less considerate and Leonard doesn't know what to say.

Raj is talking to Howard and Bernadette in their bedroom as they eat ice cream, telling them about how he met Oliver and now feels bad for him. Meanwhile, Leonard goes to Amy’s apartment to complain about how polite Sheldon is being. Amy tells Leonard that if Sheldon gets too much he can send him back there as she misses him. Amy admits she doesn’t want to tell Sheldon to come back, though, as he is actually trying to be respectful of her feelings.

As Nell and Raj kiss in her apartment, he starts imaging Oliver watching them and commenting on their relationship. Eventually, Raj realizes he can’t do this and tells her he met Oliver. When Nell says Oliver is being jealous and possessive of her, Raj comes to his defense and starts to take his side. After Nell says that Raj is crazier than her husband, Raj encourages her to give Oliver another chance, and if not he will still sleep with her.

When Leonard goes to Sheldon’s room with a copy of the rental agreement, he says the three-day trial period stated in the contract has expired and he doesn’t want to extend it. Sheldon points out a timezone technicality which means the trial period expired hours ago and Leonard missed his opportunity to kick him out. Sheldon pulls out a long-form agreement, which he claims Leonard is now in violation of. Sheldon says that the new agreement requires Leonard to bring him with drinks, so Leonard gets ready to leave the apartment to get sparkling water for Sheldon. When Penny notices Leonard is smiling, he says this new arrangement with Sheldon now feels right.

When Raj wraps another show at the planetarium, Oliver comes over to speak to him. He says Nell was so angry with Raj for what the creepy stuff he said earlier that she thinks he seems great in comparison, so they are now back together. After Raj congratulates Oliver, they go out for food together - without Nell.