Penny finally decides to stick to her new successful career as a pharmaceutical sales rep. And in another storyline, Raj and Leonard tell Sheldon and Howard that they feel pushed aside because they take over projects. Here is what happened in “The Big Bang Theory” Season 8 Episode 21, titled “The Communication Deterioration”:

Recap of episode 21 of “The Big Bang Theory” Season 8:

At the canteen, Sheldon sings songs that he has re-written to get children interested in hard-sciences. They have Sheldon’s creative awfulness written all over them. Raj joins Sheldon, Howard and Leonard at the table and tells them that NASA is looking to create a message for aliens. And he, who is part of a NASA project, has been asked to design a proposal for the message and the delivery system. Raj seeks his friends help. Sheldon and Howard start telling him what he should do, while Leonard keeps quiet. This makes Raj pick only Leonard as part of his team. He sees the other two forcing their ideas on him, while he calls Leonard a “gentleman.”

Later at his apartment, Raj tells Leonard that Sheldon and Howard would have taken over the project and bossed then around. Leonard describes his two friends as alpha males and himself and Raj as second in charge betas. The two, however, are unable to begin, clueless about how to start. Leonard suggests that they call up Sheldon and Howard, but Raj does not agree. When they come up with an idea, they realise that they have built on what Sheldon and Howard were telling them at the canteen.

Meanwhile, Penny knocks three times at the door of Sheldon’s apartment, just the way Sheldon does. She wants to discuss her acting career with him. He is not interested but Penny ignores that and tells him that she has a sales rep job that is going great and she has an audition offer that may screw up things for her. Sheldon has a piece of advice for her but he does not tell, as according to him, he is turning over a new leaf as Raj mentioned that he has a tendency to force his ideas on others. Penny ends up listening to his train talk. Penny asks Sheldon which train she should get on, the one that takes her to the current job or the one that takes her to the movie audition. She convinces Sheldon that she is not using trains to trick him. Sheldon tells her to board a third train that takes her to the movie audition but does not make any career decision before she has more information.

Bernadette finds Howard making a molecular cocktail. Raj and he had always planned of doing something like that. He puts the cocktail photo on Instagram for Raj to see and feel bad. Bernadette figures out that Howard is doing that because Raj excluded him from the space probe project. Howard boasts about his leadership qualities but soon Bernadette shows who the real boss is at home.

Next day at the canteen, Raj and Leonard tell Howard and Sheldon that they can be part of the project. Later that night, the four quirky friends end up talking about passive aggression and how Sheldon and Howard take over the projects, making Raj and Leonard feel pushed aside. At the end, Sheldon says that good things happen when he is in charge and he takes over the project.

Penny goes for the audition. She sees many girls there for the same audition. One of the girls recognises her and notes that she is seeing her after a long time. Penny tells her about the new job. She tells another girl that she makes good money, but she misses acting some times.

Later that night, Penny tells Bernadette and Amy that she walked out of the audition. The audition experience reminded her of how much she hated that world. She does not want to feel the anxiety, depression and negativity but sell drugs to those who feel those things. She thanks Bernadette for changing her life and calls her a good friend. Now that she is making money, Bernadette asks Penny to take her out for a “nice thank you dinner.” Penny says “sure” and Amy wants her to invite her too.

The episode ends with aliens watching Sheldon delivering a message. “That soft link alien looks delicious. I could eat,” one of the aliens says.

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