Recap / The Big Bang Theory S 3 E 16 The Excelsior Acquisition

Plot

Stan Lee will be making an appearance at the comic book store. Unfortunately, Sheldon has to appear in traffic court the same day.

Tropes

• Actually Pretty Funny: The guys get annoyed by Raj's sound T-shirt, but when he follows Howard's line about Sheldon being guilty with the Law & Order "Thunk-thunk!" sound, they all laugh, and Howard admits that he liked that one.
• Adam Westing: Stan Lee cameos as himself as being a grumpy Deadpan Snarker who easily loses his temper (though it's a bit more understandable with Sheldon than with Raj).
• Alliterative Name: Raj plans to ask Stan Lee about his use of them, and recites a long list of Marvel characters with alliterative names to prove his point.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Sheldon's luck after his court trial fits this trope: he had to pay $533 for the ticket, he now earned 2 points on a driver's license he does not yet possess and he missed getting to meet Stan Lee let alone have gelato with him.
• Artistic License – Law: "I am unable to confront my accuser, a non-human entity, to wit, a camera." This is possibly a parody of the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Court Martial", in which a similar line of argumentation is used with regards to Captain Kirk's accuser being a computer. Of course, it ends up having a Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, since the judge is fully aware that Sheldon's argument is nonsense and dismisses it entirely.
  Judge: [After Sheldon's argument] Very impressive.
  Sheldon: Thank you.
  Judge: Guilty! Pay the cashier.
  Sheldon: Wait, I object! You're completely ignoring the law!
  Judge: Oh, no, I'm following the law - I'm ignoring you.
• Big "SHUT UP!": At the end of the episode when Raj is giving a Long List of characters with Alliterative Names created by Stan Lee, Howard interrupts him by screaming at him "Would you just let it go?!"
• Breather Episode: Nothing bad really happens to Leonard, the show's primary Butt-Monkey, in this episode. Instead, the real Butt-Monkey here is Sheldon.
• Bullying a Dragon: Sheldon lashes out at the traffic court judge with demeaning insults; the outcome is predictable.
• The Cameo: Stan Lee
• Catchphrase Interruptus: When Sheldon does his usual tic of knocking on Penny's door and saying her name three times, this time Penny opens her door after the second time and knocks on it herself and saying her name the third time instead. Sheldon is stunned and comments "That's just wrong".
• Continuity Nod: Sheldon was photographed running a red light to take Penny to the hospital, which occurred back in "The Adhesive Duck Deficiency".
• Courtroom Episode: Most of the episode is about Sheldon preparing for, then blowing his trial at traffic court.
• Deadpan Snarker: The jailer whom Sheldon asks where the bathroom is points to the open toilet sitting next to the gate. Sheldon asks if that really is a toilet, the guard responds, "It ain't a wishing well."
• Didn't Think This Through: It never occurs to Penny that maybe Stan Lee doesn't like fanboys showing up at his house uninvited.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Sheldon, after breaking into Stan Lee's home when he misunderstands a sarcastic statement from him, happily gets the latter's autograph in restraining order form and is able to "hang out" with Lee again for another court trial.
• A Fool for a Client: Sheldon represents himself in court. It goes as well as you expect.
  Leonard: Sheldon's in jail?... For what?
  Penny: What do you think? For doing the same crap he usually does, but to a judge.
• Foreshadowing: Howard when he expresses his sentiment on Sheldon's plan to resist paying the fine.
  Howard: Okay, he's going to jail.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: The judge who presides over Sheldon's case, according to his name-plaque, is one "J. Kirby".
• Fun T-Shirt: Raj wears a shirt with a sound box that plays various musical cues and sound effects. The others, however quickly get annoyed by it.
• Implausible Deniability: At first, Penny denies her involvement in Sheldon running a red light, even when Sheldon points out she's in the traffic camera's picture with him.
• Insane Troll Logic: Each leg of the "milk stool" in Sheldon's argument when he defends himself in traffic court. To wit:
  • He addresses the traffic camera that recorded his moving violation as his accuser even while admitting the camera is, as he worded it, a non-human entity. The camera is merely evidence. Sheldon's accuser is, of course, the state of California.
  • He cites the legal doctrine "quod est necessarium est licitum" (that which is necessary is legal), presumably because he thinks driving someone to the emergency room means you no longer have to obey traffic laws. Of course, that's not at all how the doctrine works - it only allows someone to not comply with certain laws if doing so would cause something much worse to happen (like if Penny was going to die if Sheldon didn't run the light, which obviously was not the case).
  • He claims that, since he only has a learner's permit, Penny being a bad instructor (as she was the one who told him to run the red light) absolves him of responsibility. Except that drivers with learner's permits are obviously still required to obey all traffic laws. Not to mention that Sheldon was fully aware that running a red light was illegal, making Penny's "instructions" entirely irrelevant.
• Jeopardy! Thinking Music: One of the sounds on Raj's T-shirt.
  Leonard: I can't decide if I want Stan Lee to sign my Journey into Mystery 83, first appearances of Thor, or my Fantastic Four number 5, first appearance of Doctor Doom.
  Raj: [Plays Jeopardy! music]
  Leonard: Hmm... Alex, I'm going to go with: What is you're a dumb ass?
• Jerkass Ball: Penny was handed the ball when she tried to deny that the night where Sheldon drove her to the hospital ever happened.
• Never My Fault: Sheldon makes a fuss when he is summoned to court and stubbornly claims he is not guilty, preparing an entire speech in his defense instead of just paying a fine and moving on. When he arrives at court he gives a lackluster defense for himself and when the judge immediately declares him guilty he starts insulting the judge, which ends up getting him thrown in jail for contempt of court. After he is released for apologizing and pays his fine he still believes that the apology was an undeserved one and he blames Penny for all of the misfortune he suffered and being unable to meet Stan Lee, even though he caused it all himself for not sucking it up and paying the fine when he was told to.
• Noodle Incident: Sheldon takes getting a restraining order from Stan Lee in his stride, since he already received one from Leonard Nimoy.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: You can tell that the traffic court judge was actually being very patient with Sheldon's poor behavior and was far more merciful to Sheldon than you'd expect from a typical judge.
• Rule of Three: Raj recites long lists of Marvel characters with alliterative names thrice in the episode.
• Sarcasm-Blind: While Stan Lee berates Sheldon and Penny for trespassing on his property, he states "Why don't I just invite you in to watch the big game?", which Sheldon interprets as an actual invitation and leads directly to Stan calling for his security guards.
• The Trouble with Tickets: Sheldon contests his ticket rather than pay the $533 fine, as Penny suggested. He ends up being jailed for contempt of court.
• With Friends Like These...: Sheldon is really put off that his friends would rather go see Stan Lee rather than be by his side during his court day, especially since it means they'd be going without him. Though since he is normally the one this trope applies to, this is more of a case of Laser-Guided Karma, since chances are if any of them were in his situation he would have abandoned them to go see Stan Lee himself too.