[S8E13] The Anxiety Optimization

Leonard, Raj and Howard are eating at the cafeteria. Howard says he has invented a new game: Emily or Cinnamon. Players have to guess whether quotes that Howard has heard Raj say are about his girlfriend Emily or his dog Cinnamon. Raj insists that he can't be embarrassed since both of them love him. First quote: I want you to know that the bed seems so lonely without you in it. Cinnamon. Second quote: Check it out, I got us matching sweaters. Cinnamon. Leonard saw the Christmas card photo that Raj sent to everyone. Raj says that a man can care about a girl and his dog, it's not strange. Leonard heard him say that to Emily. Sheldon arrives and explains that after talking to Penny. She is working harder to stay attractive in her relationship than he is. Leonard pushes his cake away from his place. Also Sheldon thinks that he has created too pleasant of an environment to work in. To maximize performance he must create a state of productive anxiety. He wants the guys to go out of their way to make his life miserable which they are glad to do.

Sheldon is in Amy's lab wearing a cap with sensors on it and taking a test to set a baseline for his work performance. Since he finished a maze, he wants a treat like a mouse would have been rewarded with. Amy reminds him that his brain would also have been removed with tweezers. To check his problem solving rate, Amy starts to make noises rubbing the outside of a balloon. Sheldon gets annoyed and pops the balloon. Sheldon was aiming for her heart. She needs to irritate him to find his optimal anxiety zone. Sheldon vetoed tickling, polka music and watching Amy eat a banana. She eats it sideways because "that's the way a good girl does it", according to her mother. Amy explains that he is a great scientist who needs to be patient until he makes his scientific breakthrough. Also if he only does solid research, what does it matter? Sheldon feels that she is insulting him which drives his anxiety level up. This result makes him happy which drive the level down. Frustrated his level goes up again starting an anxiety cycle that he continues.

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Penny and the girls are visiting, drinking wine and talking about a Hawaii trip the Zangen sales rep with the best quarterly sales can win. Amy thinks that that would be romantic though she hasn't seen Leonard on the beach with his metal detector. Amy would rather visit the Mauna Kea observatory. Sheldon joins them and wants to increase his anxiety level by spending an evening listening to tasteless uncensored crotch talk. Like when Amy first had girl talk with Penny and Bernadette, Sheldon thinks all they talk about is their body parts and menstrual problems. Penny insists that they talk about the same topics the guys do. Whether werewolves can aquatic locomotionswim, asks Sheldon. The girls actually submit their opinions on the topic. Sheldon found that fun and want to do it again when they are not PMS-ing.

Leonard wakes up at night to find Sheldon is listening to loud noises while wearing his sensor cap. He is listening to Godzilla's roar, the Joker's laugh and Darth Vader to keep him in the anxiety sweet spot. He tried adding Taylor Swift to the noises, but it turns out that he loves her music. Leonard gets Sheldon to switch to his headphones.

Back at Amy's, she demands that Sheldon take the cap off. Sheldon appreciates the nagging which helps his anxiety level. Amy tells him that he agreed to not bring their work to date night. She wants him to take off the cap and put away the notebook even though he is making his most progress in months. Amy doesn't want him to drive himself crazy. Sheldon claims that Isaac Newton worked while thinking that he was an armadillo. Amy says that that is not true, though Sheldon claims that has been hallucinating lately. Amy then demands that he take off the cap. Sheldon stops and then asks what she is going to do if he doesn't. Amy kicks him out of her apartment. On the bus ride back, Sheldon hallucinates that the man sitting next to him (whom he is talking to) is an armadillo named Isaac Newton, who surprisingly understands why Sheldon was so frustrated with Amy.

At the Caltech cafeteria, Sheldon has recovered and is making progress without his anxiety workout. Raj and Emily approaches the gang to join them for lunch. Emily mentions the game they have been playing that involves her. They think it's funny that Raj is sweet and sensitive; however, she finds it Sexual attractionsexy and she kisses him. Afterwards she finds dog hair in his mouth.

Ohhh, there it is. Kate is still mad that Logan didn't explicitly tell her not to go on the date with Hayden, and he's still mad that she hasn't recognized his efforts to make things better. Talking about it again and acknowledging each other's position helps a little bit, and they end their conversation with a smooch. Still, Logan worries that the "leftover resentment" and "feelings of anxiety" could derail things in the future.

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