The Big Bang Theory Recap with Spoilers - The Valentino Submergence

The episode opens with Sheldon inviting his friends to a special Valentine's Day live stream episode of "Sheldon Cooper Presents: Fun with Flags" at the college cafeteria. Unfortunately, Leonard, Howard and Raj all have plans on Valentine's Day, although Raj doesn't seem very thrilled with the prospect of spending the romantic holiday with his girlfriend, Emily. Raj is still hung up on Claire, the girl he met last week at the comic store, and so his friends all encourage him to finally break up with Emily. Raj points out that breaking up with someone isn't easy and asks if anyone at the table had ever ended a relationship. He's met with a lot of uncomfortable pauses and Sheldon admitting that he once got in an Uber because he had accidentally ordered it.

Later that evening, Raj asks Penny if she has any advice for breaking up with Emily. Penny tells him to tell the truth, make it quick, and "prepare for lots of tears". Raj says that he's going to have a "pre-cry" to try to clear himself out in advance.

Emily, of course, isn't happy with Raj breaking up with her right before Valentine's Day, but Raj sticks to his guns…until he asks Claire out and finds out she just got back together with her boyfriend. Raj immediately runs back to Emily and asks her to take him back, but she slams the door in his face and Raj is left to cry in Penny's apartment at the prospect of being alone for Valentine's Day.

Meanwhile, Amy and Sheldon are prepping for their livestream of "Sheldon Cooper Presents: Fun with Flags". Sheldon decides to give Amy her Valentine's Day present: a credit in the title of their show. Sheldon pulls off a sheet off a whiteboard to reveal the new title: "Dr. Sheldon Cooper and Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler Present: Dr. Sheldon Cooper's Fun with Flags".

Howard and Bernadette are prepping for their own romantic evening: skinnydipping in their brand new hot tub. Unfortunately, a rat decides to interrupt their plans by taking his own dip in the pool.

Leonard and Penny also run into some unexpected problems, as their dinner reservations are delayed by an hour long wait. Penny tells Leonard to slip the host some money to get things to move faster, but his attempt at discretion winds up with him losing a $20 to another guest.

Sheldon and Amy start their livestream by opening the show up to questions from their viewers. Yes, Sheldon really is a doctor. Yes, Amy is really his girlfriend and no, she's not trying to blink in Morse code to ask for help. Their first phone call is a distraught Raj, who gets cut off by Sheldon when his friend starts asking non-flag related questions about why he's so lonely.

Bernadette fishes the "rat" out of the hot tub and discovers its actually a rabbit. Bernadette immediately starts taking care of the rabbit and wraps it up as if it were a baby (FORESHADOWING!)

Back at the restaurant, Penny tries flirting with the host to get bumped up in line, but storms out of the restaurant in a hurry (with Leonard in tow) when Glenn brings up the vast age difference between them.

Sheldon and Amy's livestream continues to be dominated by Raj's self-loathing. Kripke calls in to commiserate with Raj (he, too is alone on Valentine's Day) and make a quick quip about how he's into young Asian girls before joining the livestream pity party.

Howard and Bernadette nurse the rabbit back to health and name him Valentino. However, Howard turns on the rabbit when it bites him and Howard gets worried he might have rabies.

Leonard and Penny stop for burgers and discuss Penny coming to terms that she's not so young anymore. Leonard suggests they do something "fun", as they still aren't old yet, but his first suggestion of a food fight doesn't go over with Penny.

Amy tries to give Raj and Kripke advice about romance (much to Sheldon's dismay) and eventually hangs up on Kripke when he gets crude about her dating during her break with Sheldon. To cheer Raj up, Amy asks if one of their viewers would be interested in meeting Raj, but the only person who calls in is Kripke, who wants to know how many men Amy's had sex with.

Penny and Leonard try to find something fun to do, but they keep shooting down potential ideas (because they actually are getting old).

Meanwhile, Howard discover there's a test for rabies, but involves killing the rabbit and testing its brain. Neither Howard nor Bernadette are willing to kill Valentino, so Howard goes to the emergency room to get a rabies shot. After Howard leaves, Bernadette confides to the rabbit that she's pregnant.

Sheldon throws a hissy fit about his livestream going sideways, but Amy reminds him that he knows firsthand how hard breakups are. Sheldon finally gives out some worthwhile advice and says that he's glad he and Amy broke up, because it helped their relationship get stronger. Just as Sheldon gets emotional, Leonard and Penny rush into the apartment in goofy heart-themed outfits and start tossing confetti around, thus proving that they're still "young and fun".

The episode ends with Sheldon and Amy toasting to a successful livestream while Leonard and Penny clean up confetti off the floor. Crashing a livestream might be young and fun, but the cleanup certainly isn't.