- Title: The Big Bang Theory – The Re-Entry Minimization
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Howard (Simon Helberg) returns from space but is disappointed when he doesn’t get the hero’s welcome he expected and only a sick Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) shows up to meet him at the airport. His first night back home brings a full night of unexpected surprises with Bernadette’s cold ruining their first romantic night together and his discoveries that Raj (Kunal Nayyar) has replaced him with Stuart (Kevin Sussman) from the comic book store and his mother is having an affair with their dentist (Ken Lerner).
In the episode’s B-story a friendly game night of Pictionary turns into a heated battle of the sexes between Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and Amy (Mayim Bialik) versus Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki). This leads to entire night’s worth of makeshift games as including everything from Where’s Waldo to wrestling to a pie eating contest. Needless to say the guys don’t fare any better than they did at Pictionary, no matter what game is chosen.
Howard’s growing frustration at a world that has moved on without him and the group’s enhanced competition make for a pair of amusing stories that only cross in the episode’s final scene. “The Re-Entry Minimization” isn’t a great episode, but it has its moments (Bernadette’s sick seduction techniques not being one of them) and showcases several things Sheldon apparently isn’t good at including Pictionary and attempting long division while off-balance.