The Big Bang Theory season 11, episode 18 recap
By John Dotson
After March Madness caused a long break, The Big Bang Theory is back with a hilarious new episode including guest star Bill Gates!
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In the previous week’s episode Sheldon and Amy struggled to secure a wedding venue for their much-anticipated wedding and Howard and Bernadette debated who should stay home with their two kids. This week brought new developments for Bernadette, as well as a crazed fixation among the men over the arrival of Bill Gates.
Leonard also gets himself into a pickle with Penny and most likely finds himself in the doghouse next week.
Read below to find out what happened on the latest episode!
Mom Brain
Throughout the show, Amy and Bernadette spend a lot of time doing girl stuff. What Amy begins to notice though is Bernadette has a weird fascination with Bob the Builder and is hooked on the show the way people used to be hooked on Breaking Bad.
Amy further notices the strangeness with Bernadette when she takes her out to dinner and attempts to engage in intellectual discussion, but Bernadette’s reflex is to discuss baby books. She also cuts Amy’s meat up during dinner.
The symptoms Bernadette exhibits are a symptom of what Amy calls “mom brain,” which is a natural occurrence after a mother has a child. Bernadette is pretty self-aware about her obsessive need to do motherly things and pushes herself to the point of over-compensating with intelligent talk. She even reads a morbid children’s book to her baby about global warming.
In the end, Howard and Amy are able to make her realize her over-the-top motherly tendencies are not such a bad thing.
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April Fools
In the early parts of the episode, we find out Penny has been tasked by her work to oversee Bill Gates as he arrives in town. This begins a hilarious conflict inside Sheldon about whether she is telling the truth. April Fools Day is right around the corner and he is suspicious it’s just another trick for him to fall for.
As the show pushes forward, we find out Leonard actually met the billionaire when he was a little kid. Raj, and Howard try to persuade her to let them meet Bill Gates, but Penny shows Leonard their itinerary and explains how it’s too full to make room for any of them. She leaves the house, and Leonard reveals he saw the hotel he is staying at on the phone. So, the boys hatch a plan to go to his hotel and meet him behind Penny’s back.
Leonard, Raj, and Howard get to the hotel, and the Bill Gates encounter goes awkwardly as expected. Leonard goes full fanboy and conveys how much his work means to him, and then Leonard starts groveling. Apparently, after this, the episode implies Leonard further embarrassed himself by messing up Gates tie.
Upon returning home, Penny is waiting and says she has a surprise for Leonard. She explains a social function opened up where Leonard can come meet Bill Gates again. Clearly, he got himself into a jam.
So, the next day, Leonard pretends to be sick to avoid having to tell Penny he snuck behind her back to meet Bill Gates. She leaves, and makes a humorous observation about his “pale and clammy” skin complexion, to which Leonard quietly says, “that’s just my regular pale and clammy.”
This leads to a time-lapse to much later in the day, where Leonard is playing games alone, and he gets a call on Skype. When he answers, it’s Penny calling to check on him, but there’s a catch. She has a surprise for him, and the surprise is Bill Gates on the video chat. This wraps up with Leonard being busted.
No Gates for Sheldon
Poor guy. Throughout the episode, Sheldon is trying to decide whether or not Penny is telling the truth about her handling Bill Gates, and once he finds out it’s a real thing, he gets deceived by his friends anyway. Sheldon does not get to meet the famous billionaire, but karma swung around and found Leonard– so, it evens out. In the end, Leonard tries to plan an apology dinner for Penny but ends up having it with Sheldon instead.
Final thoughts
This was a pretty fun episode for a return and a decent cameo for the show. I would’ve personally liked to see the interaction between Bill Gates and Sheldon. Not much progress in the episode as far as Amy and Sheldon’s wedding but there are plenty of episodes left this season.
Next: Watch The Big Bang Theory Season 11, Episode 18 live online: Free live stream
The Big Bang Theory airs Thursdays on CBS at 8/7c.
What do you think? Did you enjoy this episode? Tell us in the comments below!