TEXT: : The comic book store. Sheldon: Smell that? That's the smell of new comic books. Oh, yes! Howard: They're on me today, boys. Raj: You're paying? Have you been selling your sperm again? Howard: No, I'm celebrating. As we speak, the space shuttle is docking at the International Space Station where it will deploy the Wolowitz Zero-Gravity Waste Disposal System. Raj: Oh, get over yourself, it's a high-tech toilet. Leonard: Just think. Thanks to your hard work, an international crew of astronauts will boldly go where no man has gone before. Howard: Is that supposed to be funny? Sheldon: I believe it is. The combination of the Star Trek reference and the play on words involving the double-meaning of the verb to go suggests that Leonard is humorously mocking your efforts in space plumbing. Howard: Okay, make your little jokes, but of the four of us, I'm the only one making any real-world contribution to science and technology. Raj: He's right. This is an important achievement, for two reasons. Number one, and, of course, number two. Sheldon: Oh, clever! Playing on the use of cardinal numbers as euphemisms for bodily functions. Stuart: Here, Sheldon, I pulled the new Hellboy for you. It's mind-blowing. Sheldon: Excuse me, spoiler alert. Stuart: I didn't spoil anything. Sheldon: You told me it's mind-blowing, so, my mind is going into it pre-blown. And once a mind is pre-blown, it cannot be re-blown. Stuart: I'm sorry. Sheldon: Said the Grinch to Christmas. Stuart: Uh, hey, Leonard, can I talk to you about something? Leonard: Oh, sure, what's up? Stuart: Remember I went out with your friend Penny a couple weeks ago? Leonard: Yeah, vaguely. Raj: Sure you remember. You went to the bar and made a fool of yourself trying to pick up strange women. Leonard: What about it? Stuart: Well, uh, the thing is,
SUMMARY:
Howard celebrates the launch of his latest invention, a zero-gravity human-waste disposal system (a space toilet) to be used in the ISS, by buying all of his friends new comic books. However, later Howard discovers he made a mistake that will cause the toilet to fail and burst after 10 flushes, so the guys convene to try and fix it (a la Apollo 13's Ken Mattingly), working for a whole night to find a solution and even testing the toilet with meatloaf from Howard's mother, all thewhile he treats it like it's a classified weapon. At the end of the episode, the ISS astronauts report to NASA that they are all going on an unscheduled "spacewalk", implying that Howard ultimately failed. At the comic book store, Stuart tells Leonard that he is having a second date with Penny and asks for advice. Leonard deliberately avoids Stuart for as long as possible, and finally gives him bad advice. The next day, Leonard feels guilty and goes to apologize to him. Stuart reveals the date went well until they started making out in his car and Penny accidentally called him "Leonard." Leonard is secretly delighted.