Hofstadter Isotope

Hofstadter Isotope
Hofstadter Isotope
Writers	David Goetsch
Director	Mark Cendrowski
Starring	Kevin Sussman as Stuart, Lori Shields as Raj's girl, John Altobello as a comic store customer
Air Date	6 April 2009
Vanity	Card #248
Guide	Episode #220
Quotes	Episode #220
Forums	Discuss Episode

Season 2, Episode 20 (0220)

Dead Hooker Juxtaposition . . . << Hofstadter Isotope >> . . . Vegas Renormalization

Summary

While a fellow comic book-loving pal of the guys romances Penny, Leonard and Wolowitz venture out into the world of "Ladies' Night" at a local bar.

Full synopsis:

It's "Anything Can Happen Thursday", the boys' attempt to expand their Sheldon-imposed rigid schedule. They order Thai food instead of the usual pizza, but Sheldon's digestive system can't handle it. He suggests instead that they go to the comic book store, which is typically what they do on Wednesday night. Howard suggests that they go to a bar and pick up women, but the comic book idea wins out.

As they're leaving, they meet Penny in the hall, who asks them to buy a comic book for her nephew, then agrees to come along to pick out the appropriate title after Sheldon confuses her with a vast number of options. At the store, Penny meets Stuart, the proprietor, who manages to get her phone number after he charms her by drawing a sketch of her.

The next night, Stuart asks Penny to go with him to an art show where one of his pieces is being displayed. Leonard and the guys encounter Stuart and Penny leaving and Leonard is very upset. Stuart, in his opinion, is practically the same person as Leonard, so why does she like Stuart over him? Leonard then demands that Howard take him to a "bar with women".

At the bar, Howard makes a series of bizarre attempts to pick up girls as Leonard watches incredulously. All his efforts fail miserably. However, Raj succeeds in getting a girl, which baffles Wolowitz. In a last ditch effort, Howard affects an Indian accent and approaches yet another woman, but this fails as well.

Meanwhile, Sheldon meets Penny and Stuart in the hall when they return from their date and insinuates himself into their evening to debate Stuart about the identity of The Batman following the Batman R.I.P. storyline. Sheldon "wins" the discussion when Stuart announces he is tired and wants to leave. Penny, however, has fallen asleep, so the two tiptoe out.

Episode Outline

I. Living room, "Anything Can Happen Thursday" evening

• Sheldon complains about having Thai food for dinner. He suggests the guys go to the Comic book store, while Howard wants to go to a bar.

Titles and opening theme

II. hallway in front of apartment

• The guys leave for the Comic book store. Penny joins them.

III. Comic book store

• Leonard introduces Penny to the owner of the store, Stuart. To his horror, Stuart starts flirting with Penny, who is rather smitten.
• Howard and Sheldon fight over a comic book.

IV. Living room

• Leonard wonders why Penny was interested in Stuart. Sheldon tries to comfort him.

V. hallway in front of apartments, Friday night

• The guys come home and meet Penny and Stuart who are about to go on a date.
• Frustrated Leonard asks Howard to take him to a "bar with women".

VI. Bar

• Howard tells Rajesh off for the drinks he wants to order and tells Leonard about his strategy to pick up women.

VII. hallway in front of apartments

• Penny and Stuart come back from their date get interrupted by Sheldon.
• Sheldon starts to occupy Stuart with a question about Batman.

VIII. Bar

• Howard and Leonard try to decide which woman to approach.

IX. Penny's apartment

• Sheldon and Stuart fight over the Batman question, while Penny falls asleep.

X. Bar

• Howard's attempts to impress the ladies fail. Meanwhile, Rajesh gets lucky.

XI. bedroom of Rajesh's hook up

• Rajesh finds himself in the arms of a lady.

Resources

List of entries from this episode

Wikipedia episode guide

IMDb page for this episode

Photos from the taping of this episode

Comments

This episode is similar in some ways to the next one, "The Vegas Renormalization", beginning with the opening scene of the boys sitting around eating Thai food. The story lines focus on dating relationships, particularly on the failure of the boys in their varied attempts to get girls. However, this episode sets up the dynamic for the ending of the second series with Penny going out with Stuart. Ever since the Leonard-Stephanie relationship, Penny and Leonard have been in a very interesting place. Leonard has even joked about their relationship in the past tense (when Penny shoots a paint ball into Sheldon's spot on the couch and says "What are we going to do?", Leonard tells her that she's on her own with this one and that "You had your chance at 'we'...").

Now all of Leonard's suppressed feelings are coming back out with the introduction of the "Hofstadter isotope", Stuart, and he is conflicted and upset. The Stuart story arc is not mentioned in the next episode but will be back in the episode after that to stir the pot and set us up for the break between seasons two and three.

Timeline

This episode takes place over a two-day period. The first part is the third Thursday of the month ("Anything Can Happen Thursday"), which if we're assuming April 2009 would be the 16th. The next day is Friday (Chinese food and vintage video games) and Stuart has asked Penny out.

Notes and Trivia

According to IMDb, the song playing in the bar where Howard takes Leonard and Raj to pick up girls is "Pieces of You" by Hot Seconds.

Title

An isotope is a variation of an element, essentially the same atom but with a slight difference in the atomic mass. Stuart, from what Leonard can tell, is practically identical to himself, hence a "Hofstadter isotope".