The Big Bang Theory Recap: The Friendship Turbulence

The Friendship Turbulence episode of The Big Bang Theory opens with the gang sitting around making fun of each other's careers. Penny reveals that she turned down a part in a sequel to the Serial Apeist movie that she was in. Penny says that in the sequel they attempt to clone her character from her corpse, but her DNA gets mixed with the ape, and her character winds up running around with ape hands and feet. Sheldon quips, "Am I missing something or isn't that the part she was born to play?" Leonard questions why Penny would turn down paid work and continue to burn through her savings. Sheldon makes fun of Howard's career, and Howard points out that he works at the same university as Sheldon. Sheldon quips, "Yes, and Hawkeye is in The Avengers, but no one ever says, 'Help Hawkeye.'" Bernadette questions why Sheldon always feels the need to put down her husband. Sheldon says that Howard started it by calling him a cross between Pee Wee Herman and C3PO ten years ago. Howard's insult started off years of insults and pranks between the two. Raj walks Amy home, and Amy quizzes him on how his online dating is going. Raj says he hasn't been doing online dating anymore because no one was writing him back. At the university, Howard tells Sheldon that he was thinking they should try to be better friends. Sheldon quips, "Really, I was thinking what we have now was a bit much." Howard says he got two tickets to go visit NASA at Houston, and he says Bernadette can't go, so he invites Sheldon to come with him. Raj tells Amy that he went back on the online dating site and found a girl's profile that he really liked. Raj says that he wants to write Emily, but he wanted to run what he wrote by Amy first. Raj starts to read something poetic, and Amy says he needs to talk normal and not be all creepy. Raj asks Amy to write a letter to Emily for him. Penny is driving Sheldon to the pharmacy, when her car breaks down. Penny says she can't afford this right now. When Sheldon reassures her that it might be just something minor, there is a huge clanking sound and smoke starts billowing out of the engine. The guys are sitting around playing a board game, and Sheldon says he wants to be on his good friend Howard's team. Penny interrupts and Leonard goes outside to talk to her. Penny tells Leonard about her car problems. Leonard suggests that Penny take the movie part that she passed on, but Penny says they already cast someone else. Raj asks Amy if she's heard back from Emily. Amy says that Emily wrote back and wasn't interested. Amy says that Emily thought Raj was too shy and passive because he had Amy write her. However, Amy and Emily hit it off, and they're meeting for coffee, so Amy offers to try again. Bernadette and Howard pick up Sheldon to take him to the airport. Howard tells him it's not every day that he gets to tour NASA with a real astronaut, and Sheldon asks who the real astronaut is. On the plane, Sheldon keeps bugging Howard by getting up and going to the bathroom. Sheldon says when he was a kid that astronauts were his heroes, and when Howard went into space, it made him realize they would send just anyone up there. The plane hits some turbulence, and Howard and Sheldon start to freak out. Penny is getting a ride from Leonard to go back to being a waitress. When Penny points out that it isn't Leonard's car, Leonard says that he bought the car for her. Penny gives Leonard a hug. Amy is having coffee with Emily and talking up Raj, when Raj bursts in uninvited. Raj gets poetic, and Emily thinks Raj is a weird guy with no boundaries. She gets up and leaves. As the plane continues to hit turbulence, Sheldon and Howard apologize to each other. Sheldon tells Howard, "If you weren't my friend, there would be a hole in my life, like when Firefly was canceled, but not as big." The plane finally gets through the turbulence, and Sheldon and Howard are holding hands. Howard asks if they should stop holding hands now, but Sheldon gasps, "In a minute."