"The Skank Reflex Analysis" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on September 22, 2011. Directed by Mark Cendrowski. Teleplay by Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady and Steven Molaro, based on a story by Eric Kaplan, Maria Ferrari and Anthony Del Broccolo.
After getting caught leaving Sheldon and Leonard's apartment after sleeping with Raj, Penny worries that her behavior has screwed things up permanently with her friends. Meanwhile, Sheldon takes command of their paintball team, but the guys are too worried about their own personal problems to take it seriously.
Episode Tropes:
- Bad "Bad Acting": The hemorrhoid commercial Penny starred in.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Raj's got a crush on Bernadette, and assumed something might be going on since she is always nice to him. Bernedette just exasperately replied that she is nice to everyone.
- But Liquor Is Quicker: Penny reflects on how she becomes more promiscuous while drunk, calling herself "Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Whore".
- Crucified Hero Shot: Sheldon letting himself get shot at paintball, specifically spoofing Platoon.
- Deathbed Promotion: Parodied when Sheldon assigns himself the rank of Captain of the guys' paintball squad. During the match, in order to revitalize the fighting spirit of the guys, who were uninterested in the game because of personal issues, Sheldon sacrifices himself by standing in the open and calling out, causing him to be 'killed'. In a later scene Leonard proposes a toast to 'Captain Sheldon Cooper', only for Sheldon to remark that it is actually Major Sheldon Cooper, having granted himself a battlefield promotion with his 'last breaths.'
- Hard on Soft Science: Sheldon's hatred towards geology comes up, as he shouts "Geology is not a real science!" to draw the fire of the opposing team during paintball.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sheldon pulls a rather hilarious one during paintball to inspire Leonard, Howard and Raj to always be there for each other, by standing out in the open shouting "Geology isn't a real science!" and he gets hit by a lot of paintballs as if he's been shot during a war.Howard: DAMN THOSE SONS OF BITCHES!!!
- Implausible Deniability: When Leonard reveals that Raj was making love poems about Bernadette, Howard's fiancé, right in front of Howard, Raj tries to deny it, assuring Howard that Leonard is "talking rubbish". Then when Leonard recites the same inappropriate poem Priya told him Raj made ("Oh Bernadette, please play my clarinet!") Raj says "that could be about anyone".
- Internal Reveal: Both Howard and Bernadette find out about Raj's infatuation over the latter. And neither of them are happy about it.
- Intimate Hair Brushing: Amy is brushing Penny’s hair. After she's done, she asks Penny to brush her hair, too.Amy: Ninety-nine, one hundred. It’s like a waterfall of liquid gold. My turn.
- Literal-Minded: Sheldon tries to figure out what happened between Penny and Raj, and immediately eliminates they slept together since that's what appears to have happened and Penny said "it's not what it looks like". All it takes is Leonard pointing it out to Sheldon that she lied for him to figure it out, and he seems upset it took him so long to realize something so obvious.Leonard: They slept together Sherlock.
Sheldon: No, you weren't listening. She said, it’s not what it looks like.
Leonard: ...She lied.
Sheldon: ...Oh. - Not a Game: Sheldon is upset at the others not taking their paintball game seriously.Sheldon: You think this is a game? Was the Battle of Antietam a game? Was the sack of Rome a game?
Leonard: Yes, no and no. - Not What It Looks Like: Penny says this after she's caught coming out of Leonard's bedroom with Raj. Sheldon took it literally and spent a long time trying to figure out what they did, eventually concluding that Penny was checking Raj's anal region. Leonard and Howard think that Penny lied and that she did have sex with Raj, but as we find out later in the episode as Raj tells Penny.......it wasn't what it looked like.
- Paintball Episode: The B plot. Notably, Sheldon takes off his goggles while doing his Heroic Sacrifice, which in real life is prohibited for safety reasons.
- Previously on…: The episode starts with a quick review of what happened in the previous episode.
- Throw the Dog a Bone:
- After an overall pretty miserable episode for the gang, at the end they manage to win one of the universities paintball tournaments after Sheldon inspires the others with a sacrifice.
- Penny finally lands a role in a tv commercial, after four seasons of failing to get any parts for her acting career.
