The Roommate Transmogrification
Encyclopedia
"The Roommate Transmogrification" is the fourth season finale of the television series The Big Bang Theory
that first aired on CBS
on May 19, 2011. It is the twenty-fourth episode of the fourth season of the series and the eighty-seventh episode overall. Aarti Mann
continues her recurring role of Priya Koothrappali in this episode.
make fun of Leonard because of his lactose intolerance
, however, when Bernadette announces that her dissertation has been accepted, earning her a Ph.D.
and a well-paid job, Leonard
seizes his chance and starts to mock Howard
with the other guys, degrading him for being the only non-doctor in their group. Later, Bernadette decides to buy Howard an expensive Rolex
watch as a present and tells him to "let her worry about the money", a comment that deeply disturbs Howard. Meanwhile, Leonard's and Priya's noisy sexual encounters annoy and disgust Raj
, as they always hang out at his apartment because of Sheldon
. When Priya wears his Halloween Lieutenant Uhura
costume during a Star Trek
sex fantasy, he leaves and spends the night at Sheldon's apartment (after a short visit to Howard's place, where his mother creeped him out). When Leonard finds him in his bed the next morning, he apologizes and proposes that Raj moves in with Sheldon until Priya finds her own place. Raj immediately takes a liking to the idea, and, after Sheldon's usual bureaucratic procedures (including a modified "temporary roommate agreement" and a will
), he moves in with him. He then prepares a fancy dinner to ingratiate himself with Sheldon. The latter is delighted and starts to realize that Leonard actually was a bad roommate. Penny comes over to ask for their Wi-Fi
password (as she doesn't want to pay for her own) and then stays for dinner. She and Raj both get drunk from the wine Raj served. When Sheldon starts to get annoyed by them and opts to go to bed, Penny tells Raj that she "screwed up", as she shouldn't have broken up with Leonard, and that she would be "on" him (Raj) if they weren't friends. They wake up in Leonard bed the following morning nonetheless. Priya receives a video call from her parents and orders Leonard to hide in the bedroom, as she still doesn't want them to know that she is dating him. Leonard overhears the Koothrappalis talking about Priya moving back to India the following month and then storms in to confront her and also happens to reveal that they are in a relationship.
At the end of the episode, Sheldon discovers Leonard sleeping on the couch at their apartment, as he is still mad at Priya, just before Howard shows up and announces that he had a fight with Bernadette over the watch. Penny wakes up and is horrified when she notices Raj. She tells him that last night never happened and tries to sneak out of the apartment, however, as Raj and Penny come out of Leonard's room, they are busted by all the others. Penny just states that "it’s not what it looks like" and leaves Sheldon, Leonard and Howard confused. The former saying "What does it look like?".
IGN
's Jenna Busch gave the fourth season finale a positive review stating that "For the most part, the episode was strong". Busch did, however, criticise the cliff-hanger of the episode by stating: "a Penny/Raj hookup just seemed a bit off. Even if you were fine with that, the ending still seemed kind of soft to me". Busch then complimented the show's season by saying "there have been so many great moments throughout this season. Even when I've critiqued the show, there has always been something to love. I can't wait for next season to start".
Carla Day from TV Fanatic.com gave the episode an extremely positive review by saying "I found the installment and each of the stories to be hilarious and/or to propel the characters forward. Overall, as a season finale, it gave me the laughs I expect and left me sitting in anticipation for the show to return in September". Day did give the cliff-hanger a mixed review by writing "At first, I thought it was pretty funny, but now, I think it is just sad" and "I'm going to wait until the show returns and I can see how it all plays out before I decide if I like this new entanglement or not". Day then praised the season as a whole and complimented the three new female characters by saying "Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this season, in particular, the growth of our nerdy friends and the addition of Bernadette, Amy and even Priya to the mix".
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
that first aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
on May 19, 2011. It is the twenty-fourth episode of the fourth season of the series and the eighty-seventh episode overall. Aarti Mann
Aarti Mann
Aarti Mann is an American actress. She has starred in several television programs, including a part in the sci-fi drama Heroes. She is best known for playing the role of Priya Koothrappali in The Big Bang Theory.-Biography:...
continues her recurring role of Priya Koothrappali in this episode.
Plot
During another night out at the Cheesecake Factory, the guys and PennyPenny (The Big Bang Theory)
Penny is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by American actress Kaley Cuoco.Penny is the main female character on the show. She is Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper's neighbor across the hallway, and the main love interest of Leonard...
make fun of Leonard because of his lactose intolerance
Lactose intolerance
Lactose intolerance, also called lactase deficiency or hypolactasia, is the inability to digest and metabolize lactose, a sugar found in milk...
, however, when Bernadette announces that her dissertation has been accepted, earning her a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
and a well-paid job, Leonard
Leonard Hofstadter
Leonard Leakey Hofstadter, Ph.D., is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Johnny Galecki. Leonard is an experimental physicist from New Jersey who shares an apartment with colleague and best friend Sheldon Cooper...
seizes his chance and starts to mock Howard
Howard Wolowitz
Howard Joel Wolowitz, M.Eng is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Simon Helberg.Among the main male characters in the show, Howard is distinguished for lacking a doctoral degree, for still living with his mother, and for believing himself to...
with the other guys, degrading him for being the only non-doctor in their group. Later, Bernadette decides to buy Howard an expensive Rolex
Rolex
Rolex SA is a Swiss watchmaking manufacturer of high-quality, luxury wristwatches. Rolex watches are popularly regarded as status symbols and BusinessWeek magazine ranks Rolex No.71 on its 2007 annual list of the 100 most valuable global brands...
watch as a present and tells him to "let her worry about the money", a comment that deeply disturbs Howard. Meanwhile, Leonard's and Priya's noisy sexual encounters annoy and disgust Raj
Rajesh Koothrappali
Rajesh Ramayan "Raj" Koothrappali, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Kunal Nayyar....
, as they always hang out at his apartment because of Sheldon
Sheldon Cooper
Sheldon Lee Cooper, B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D., Sc.D. is a fictional character from Texas on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Jim Parsons...
. When Priya wears his Halloween Lieutenant Uhura
Uhura
Nyota Uhura is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films, and the 2009 film Star Trek...
costume during a Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
sex fantasy, he leaves and spends the night at Sheldon's apartment (after a short visit to Howard's place, where his mother creeped him out). When Leonard finds him in his bed the next morning, he apologizes and proposes that Raj moves in with Sheldon until Priya finds her own place. Raj immediately takes a liking to the idea, and, after Sheldon's usual bureaucratic procedures (including a modified "temporary roommate agreement" and a will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
), he moves in with him. He then prepares a fancy dinner to ingratiate himself with Sheldon. The latter is delighted and starts to realize that Leonard actually was a bad roommate. Penny comes over to ask for their Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
password (as she doesn't want to pay for her own) and then stays for dinner. She and Raj both get drunk from the wine Raj served. When Sheldon starts to get annoyed by them and opts to go to bed, Penny tells Raj that she "screwed up", as she shouldn't have broken up with Leonard, and that she would be "on" him (Raj) if they weren't friends. They wake up in Leonard bed the following morning nonetheless. Priya receives a video call from her parents and orders Leonard to hide in the bedroom, as she still doesn't want them to know that she is dating him. Leonard overhears the Koothrappalis talking about Priya moving back to India the following month and then storms in to confront her and also happens to reveal that they are in a relationship.
At the end of the episode, Sheldon discovers Leonard sleeping on the couch at their apartment, as he is still mad at Priya, just before Howard shows up and announces that he had a fight with Bernadette over the watch. Penny wakes up and is horrified when she notices Raj. She tells him that last night never happened and tries to sneak out of the apartment, however, as Raj and Penny come out of Leonard's room, they are busted by all the others. Penny just states that "it’s not what it looks like" and leaves Sheldon, Leonard and Howard confused. The former saying "What does it look like?".
Reception
On the night of its first broadcast on May 19, 2011, the episode was watched by 11.30 million households. The episode was the fourth least watched episode of the season, despite it being the season finale.IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Jenna Busch gave the fourth season finale a positive review stating that "For the most part, the episode was strong". Busch did, however, criticise the cliff-hanger of the episode by stating: "a Penny/Raj hookup just seemed a bit off. Even if you were fine with that, the ending still seemed kind of soft to me". Busch then complimented the show's season by saying "there have been so many great moments throughout this season. Even when I've critiqued the show, there has always been something to love. I can't wait for next season to start".
Carla Day from TV Fanatic.com gave the episode an extremely positive review by saying "I found the installment and each of the stories to be hilarious and/or to propel the characters forward. Overall, as a season finale, it gave me the laughs I expect and left me sitting in anticipation for the show to return in September". Day did give the cliff-hanger a mixed review by writing "At first, I thought it was pretty funny, but now, I think it is just sad" and "I'm going to wait until the show returns and I can see how it all plays out before I decide if I like this new entanglement or not". Day then praised the season as a whole and complimented the three new female characters by saying "Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this season, in particular, the growth of our nerdy friends and the addition of Bernadette, Amy and even Priya to the mix".