"The Cushion Saturation" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on March 2, 2009. Directed by Mark Cendrowski. Teleplay by Bill Prady and Lee Aronsohn, based on a story by Chuck Lorre.
At the university's faculty paintball game, Howard is supposed to cover Leonard, Raj and Sheldon as they make a desperate advance, but instead he stays behind in a shack. Then Leslie Winkle (Sara Gilbert) shows up. Since their department has no chance of winning, Leslie suggests they should just relax and have sex. Howard agrees, setting aside their long-standing animosity towards each other.
A couple of days later, at Apartment 4A, Penny accidentally shoots the cushion of Sheldon's favorite spot on the sofa with Leonard's paintball gun. Leonard and Penny then try to hide the fact that they stained Sheldon's spot. The stain won't come out with household cleaners. When Sheldon returns, it doesn't take him long to discover what has happened.
Penny pays a dry cleaner. Sheldon is skeptical. The job will take a week, during which Sheldon is even more obnoxious than usual. When the cushion comes back, it looks good as new. Sheldon is unsatisfied, forcing Leonard to make a startling revelation about something else in Sheldon's life that changed, and the extreme lengths Leonard has gone to in order to not make Sheldon unhappy.
Howard and Leslie continue having sex. Howard is happy to accept other perks from Leslie, like some specialized equipment for his research and a trip to a super collider in Geneva. Of course Leslie wants more in return than just sex: she wants him to be her date to a wedding. Howard balks, but then agrees when Leslie rescinds the Geneva trip.
At the next paintball game, Penny comes in as a ringer, she's the team's best hope. But Sheldon, still angry about what happened to his favorite sofa cushion, shoots Penny. Against the rules of the game, Penny shoots Sheldon back. So Leonard shoots Sheldon. Then Sheldon also violates the rules to shoot Leonard. Howard, Leslie and Raj decide to surrender, then go to Denny's.
Tropes
- Crazy-Prepared: When the Szechwan Palace shut down, Leonard bought four thousand of their take-out boxes in order to keep Sheldon from finding out. Penny assumes he made it up to distract Sheldon, only for him to mournfully admit he wishes he had.
- Dramatic Sit-Down: Played for Laughs. To make Sheldon forget about what happened to his spot, Leonard tells him that their favorite Chinese take out place closed down two years ago. Sheldon is so shocked he sits down on his spot anyway, only to later tell Leonard that he still does not like it.
- I Love the Smell of X in the Morning: Raj says "I love the smell of paintball in the morning" when preparing to play paintball.
- Paintball Episode: The episode begins and ends on the paintball field. Both have incidents of "friendly fire", first from Leslie, then from Sheldon.
- Revenge Before Reason: The final scene has the guys and Leslie bring Penny with them to their next paintball game as a secret weapon. After Leonard finishes explaining the plan, Sheldon shoots Penny as revenge for his cushion, even though she was their only hope of winning. Penny and Leonard then shoot Sheldon for this with Sheldon shooting Leonard back, and the other members of the team decide to surrender before the game even starts.
