TEXT: [ The apartment ] [SCENE_BREAK] Amy: I just read about an experiment designed to see if you could make two people fall in love in a matter of hours. Leonard: That doesn't sound right. My research has shown that it takes three to five years of shameless begging. Penny: Honey, neither of us comes off good in that story. Raj: Yeah, I-I... I saw that article you're talking about. Uh, the participants ask each other a series of questions designed to promote intimacy. Amy: And then they finish it off by staring into each other's eyes for four minutes. Sheldon: Oh, that's nonsense. I proclaimed my love for you. And the last time I looked into your eyes was when you thought you had conjunctivitis. Amy: Other than the fact that I had it, that was a magical night. Penny: Raj, would you ever try an experiment like that with Emily? Raj: What? I don't need science to win her heart. I have my family's wealth for that. Leonard: I'm telling you, you can't create love in a few hours. Right? Penny: Oh, careful. You're poking at the whole foundation of The Bachelor. Sheldon: Yeah, but we don't have to debate this. We're scientists. We can conduct our own research. I propose that we imprison two street people and... Amy: No. Sheldon: You didn't even let me finish. Amy: Forget it. Sheldon: So, you can experiment on all the apes you want. But I want to manipulate the emotions of two captive human beings, suddenly I'm the monster. Raj: Why don't you just do the test? Sheldon: In the interest of science, I'd be willing to. Penny: What? You're okay with an experiment where you have to answer awkward questions about your innermost feelings? Sheldon: Yes. Penny: Please, can I do it with him? Please? Leonard: I've been listening to Sheldon's feelings on things for ten years. Tag, you're it. Raj: Yeah, but what if the experiment works? Penny: I
SUMMARY:
Amy has read about an experiment claiming two people can fall in love by asking each other a set of personal questions and staring into each other's eyes for four minutes. Sheldon and Penny try it in her apartment. Penny reveals she wishes she was as smart as her friends, and Sheldon wishes he had Penny's ability to understand social interaction. They bond as Sheldon tells Penny a secret: that it is his birthday. They do not fall in love but happily reflect on their friendship. Sheldon is startled when his friends throw him a surprise party when he returns home. Raj, Emily, Leonard and Amy try a bit of interactive theater where participants have to solve puzzles to get out of a room. The four are disappointed after their scientific skills solve everything in six minutes. Meanwhile, Howard and Bernadette are at the airport having returned from his mother's funeral in Florida and are outraged the airline has lost her ashes. Howard feels guilty that he knowingly rejected his last chance to spend time with his mother by not driving her to her flight. He is relieved when her ashes are found but Bernadette worries he will put them in their bedroom.