Recap / The Big Bang Theory S 4 E 2 The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification

The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification is the 2nd episode of the 4th season of The Big Bang Theory. It is notable for featuring Apple, Inc. engineer and entrepreneur Steve Wozniak.

Plot Synopsis: Sheldon, who anticipates technological innovations in the future, decides to do everything he can to prolong his lifespan such as exercising more, restricting his dinners to cruciferous vegetables and finally using a robot to guide him so he doesn't have to leave his room anymore.

Tropes

• Bad Ol' Badger: Sheldon mentions that one of his uncles died when he was attacked by a badger in the chimney.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Penny at Howard for laughing at her financial problems and Raj for making those sexist comments about her since she keeps mooching off Leonard for food.
• Brain Uploading: Sheldon plans to have his consciousness implanted on a robotic body. Cue Penny asking, "Didn't you already do that?"
• Broke Episode: Penny has absolutely no money, but she seems to have disturbingly little concern about it because she can always monetize her beauty (as she's very much taking advantage of Leonard).
• The Bully: Raj and Howard constantly taunt Penny for her inability to afford her own food.
• The Bus Came Back: Penny sings "Soft Kitty" again.
• The Cameo: Steve Wozniak, one of the co-founders of Apple, Inc. who designed the first Apple I.
• Comically Small Bribe: Penny offers Howard and Raj her underwear in exchange for paying off her debt to Leonard for $1400 consisting of her apartment rent and free food. Both seems to be seriously considering it.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Sheldon didn't foresee what if his robot has to open door knobs to enter his office.
  • Sheldon comes up with some games to play in the car with Leonard, not realizing all of them requires him to look at the screen even though Leonard is driving.
• False Reassurance: This exchange between Sheldon and Steve Wozniak.
  Sheldon: You're my 15th favorite technological visionary.
  Wozniak: Only 15th?
  Sheldon: It's still 6 spots above Steve Jobs.
• Gasshole: Sheldon gets a bad case of gas after eating Brussels sprouts, which he initially mistakes for appendicitis... until he lets out a huge fart. Later, he rips another one after falling on Penny while jogging.
• Gassy Scare: What Sheldon thinks is appendicitis turns out to be just bad gas.
• A Good Name for a Rock Band: Admit it, Leonard's failed nasty insult towards Sheldon—"yammering sphincter"—is this.
• Hypocrite:
  • Also doubles as Insane Troll Logic, Sheldon calls Leonard crazy for driving to work, all the meanwhile Sheldon sends a robot with a live cam of him in Leonard's car because how else can he get to work?
  • Penny can count too when she angrily tells Howard and Raj to knock it off with the jokes comparing her to a prostitute mooching off Leonard for rent money and food. She announces she'll pay back Leonard, but a few minutes later Penny asks Howard to pay her debt to Leonard ($1400) by putting up her underwear for sale.
• Jeopardy! Thinking Music: Sheldon plays it on the recorder while playing a driving game with Leonard.
• Lame Last Words: Sheldon states that he once had an uncle named Carl whose last words were "I think that there is a badger in our chimney. Hand me that flashlight."
• Mix-and-Match Critters: Sheldon wants to develop a dog and octopus hybrid, a "dogapus". "Man's underwater best friend."
  Leonard: Wait a minute, you hate dogs.
  Sheldon: A dogapus can play fetch with eight balls. No one can hate that.
• Pretty Freeloaders: Penny keeps mooching off of Leonard even though they don't date anymore. Raj makes sexist insults about her (whispering it to Howard's ear).
• Remote Body: Sheldon rigs a "virtual presence device" to take his place on the outside world. It's basically a video screen on a mobile stand with one of his shirts draped on it. He insists that the others behave as if the device were him, which no one does.
• Ruptured Appendix: Sheldon thinks he's suffering from appendicitis, and reflects on the irony of a vestigial organ killing him just as he's committed himself to taking better care of his body. Fortunately for him, he was just overreacting to having gas.
  Sheldon: Oh, Lord, I think it's about to burst! [Loud fart] On the other hand, it might have been the Brussels sprouts.
• Shockingly Expensive Bill: Penny's debt to Leonard comes out to $1400. Leonard pays for her rent, gas and food.
• Shout-Out:
  • To Looney Tunes in the Cold Open.
    Leonard: Whatcha doing there? Working on a new plan to catch the Roadrunner?
    Sheldon: The implication being that I am Wile E. Coyote?
    Leonard: Yes.
    Sheldon: And this is a schematic for a bird-trapping device that will ultimately backfire and cause me physical injury?
    Leonard: Yes.
  • Two to The Wizard of Oz: First when Sheldon introduces his robot self and tells the others to "pay no attention to that man in the bed", then when he refers to Steve Wozniak as "the Great and Powerful Woz".
  • Howard does a couple of jokes comparing Sheldon's robot to R2-D2 (which Raj complains he stole from him).
  • Penny recognizes Steve Wozniak from his appearance on Dancing with the Stars.
• The Shut-In: Sheldon decides that the best way to prolong his lifespan is to stay in his room forever, only interacting with the outside world through a robot. He immediately forsakes this plan when Steve Wozniak offers to sign his Apple ][ and he runs out with it to the Cheesecake Factory... and trips down the stairs and breaks it.
• The Singularity: Sheldon hopes to live long enough to see it happen. According to him, it entails downloading his consciousness into a robot.
• Staircase Tumble: Sheldon does this twice in the episode. The first time is when he goes jogging with Penny and trips down the stairs and falls on her. The second is when he rushes out to have his Apple II signed by Steve Wozniak, then he trips and it gets broken in the fall.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: Wozniak takes one look at Sheldon's virtual presence device and identifies it as exactly that.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Apparently the main cast like pizza a lot and eat it every Thursday night. Earlier episodes showed them eating Chinese take-out frequently, especially in Seasons 1 and 2.
• Trolling Translator: Raj whispers to Howard to suggest that Sheldon go jogging with Penny. When Penny asks how Raj knows she jogs, he whispers a response to Howard, but Howard decides to have a little fun...
  Howard: Oh, he watches you from his car with high-powered binoculars.
  Penny: Oh, my God! That is so creepy!
  Howard: I know! [Raj whispers to Howard] And he says he's not gonna stop. [Raj whispers again] Yeah, well, then see a shrink and figure out how to talk to women.