'The Big Bang Theory' recap: 'The Big Bear Precipitation'

On this week’s The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon uses a virtual reality to experience nature. Even though he hates the outdoors, Amy found a study that shows spending time in the wilderness has cognitive benefits.

Amy feels that Sheldon needs to get out of the virtual forest and into a real one, so Penny suggests they rent a cabin. Penny and Leonard are up for the trip, but Sheldon hates the idea. Amy then points out that if Leonard goes, he may come back being smarter than Sheldon. This makes Sheldon quickly change his mind.

Penny, Leonard, Amy and Sheldon, with his mosquito-netted hat, arrive at a cabin of a doctor Penny works with and lets them use. As soon as they get in, Sheldon drops his pants and insists that they do a tick check. Amy is more than willing to help out because, as she says, “safety first!”

The rain forces the gang to stay indoors, so Penny suggests that they play “Never Have I Ever,” a game where a person says something they have never done and everyone that has done it has to take a drink. This leads them to learn that Sheldon has been arrested. He reveals that he jaywalked because he saw an aggressive looking Girl Scout in the midst of cookie season. Sheldon noticed that a cop saw the whole thing and was shocked that he didn’t do anything about it. He accused him of not doing his job and impersonating a police officer, which led to his arrest.

More things get revealed, such as Penny cleaned the sink with Sheldon’s toothbrush and Leonard named his genitals “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” The game takes a turn for the worst when Penny finds out that Leonard has a secret bank account because he feels like Penny can’t handle money. Penny gets upset, saying she makes more money than he does. Leonard defends himself, saying that she has a lot of credit card debt and it is just a savings account for emergencies. Penny storms out of the room.

Leonard apologizes to Penny and she admits that she has a secret, too. She hates her job because she doesn’t like flirting with doctors for sales. She is only doing it to get out of debt because that is the grown up thing to do. Leonard tells Penny he loves her before mentioning that he never made love in the forest while raining before. This prompts Penny to get up and go take a drink.

Sheldon and Amy later play the game. They go back and forth trying to get the other to take a drink. Sheldon eventually wins the duel when Amy admits that she has pressed every button in an elevator before.

In tonight’s subplot, Raj has been getting very involved in Bernadette’s pregnancy. He wants to be “part of the experience” so he finds lactation doctors, sends Bernadette birthing videos and also orders an ultra sonic microphone to hear the baby's heartbeat. Howard thinks that he is going overboard, but Bernadette thinks he is just being supportive. That is when Raj walks in with a giant teddy bear that is larger than himself.

Bernadette and Howard have a talk with Raj and he agrees to back off. He says he will get the giant teddy bear out of their way, but this proves to be a difficult task as he knocks into things and falls over it.

Bernadette starts to cry because she feels bad about what happened with Raj. Either that or her baby hormones are kicking in; she isn’t quite sure. Howard says he will go tell Raj to come back. Bernadette asks him to also bring back the bear. When Raj comes back, they hear the baby’s heartbeat with the ultrasound microphone and are amazed that they made a person together. Raj, of course, feels like he helped even though Howard makes it clear to him that he didn’t.