- Title: The Big Bang Theory – The Proton Transmogrification
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Although Sheldon (Jim Parsons) initially appears unaffected by the news that his childhood idol Professor Proton (Bob Newhart) had died, the scientist finds his own way to work through the loss inspired by the man’s funeral taking place on Star Wars Day. As Raj (Kunal Nayyar) and Howard (Simon Helberg) continue to celebrate without him, the physicist locks himself in his bedroom where he is visited in his dreams by and Obi-Wan version of the former science celebrity who, despite not knowing anything about Star Wars, eventually helps Sheldon admit and work through his grief.
Attending the funeral without any of the rest of the gang, Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) get into a bit of a (mostly good-natured) argument over proposals which Leonard leads 2-1. Trying to even the odds, Penny proposes to Leonard expecting him to immediately decline, but instead her boyfriend takes his time savoring the moment. Although it doesn’t have the same emotional payoff as Sheldon’s story, Leonard driving Penny crazy (who is already a bit put off when she realizes how much Star Wars knowledge she’s picked-up over the years) is always fun to watch.
The other storyline involves Amy (Mayim Bialik) and Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) spending some time together baking a Star Wars cake in part to help cheer-up Sheldon but mostly to avoid watching six movies neither cares about. However, by the time the gang reunites at the end, with Sheldon having come to terms with his grief and embraced Leonard (literally) and the holiday (figuratively), their work at avoiding the movie marathon proves to be wasted as they all settle in to celebrate the holiday.
