"What is wrong with you?!"

It’s a little late for Halloween talk, but Sheldon’s plans aren’t any less evil or diabolical. See how he cons Leonard into a “teachable moment,” how Penny needs to pick up a social skill or ten, and how Raj fares without his season premiere girlfriend, Lucy.

Night of the Living Lucy.

In Sheldon and Leonard’s “box of junk,” Leonard finds a DVD he knew he was supposed to return…seven years ago. (The Super Mario Brothers movie. I’ve seen it.) To communicate how he feels when an issue sits on his brain like, oh, say, an itchy sweater, Sheldon forces Leonard to wear the sweater until he can return the DVD in question. Leonard agrees, as always, to prove a point.

By the time his point transforms into a constellation of hives across his chest, Sheldon reveals he actually paid off the DVD way back when; then kept the movie around to teach lessons by.

I was waiting for Leonard to chuck the cover at Sheldon’s face. I would have. Dead center of the forehead.

But I’m not Leonard and his saint-like patience. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a Sympathize with Sheldon theme arise from an episode this season. I wonder what the network aims to prove.

On the side, Penny spies Raj’s ex-girlfriend, Lucy, at The Cheesecake Factory. She clearly didn’t know about Lucy’s social anxiety (or know anything about how to define racism), because she made Lucy fly the coop and—repeatedly—manipulated Raj’s chances with any girl ever. Lucy or otherwise.

Lucy, as it turns out, is seeing someone else. Seems out of character to me, but I won’t question the writer’s decision to not bring her back for a closing curtain.

When the network announced next week’s Thanksgiving special, I admit, I had a brief moment: we never had a Thanksgiving special? Grab your cocoa and come back to the couch next Thursday at 8, where we figure out if Penny will earn her divorce.
That’s right. Her divorce.