"The Closure Alternative" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on April 25, 2013. Directed by Mark Cendrowski. Teleplay by Steven Molaro, Jim Reynolds and Steve Holland, based on a story by Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady and Tara Hernandez.
When one of Sheldon's favorite shows is cancelled without a proper ending, Amy tries to help him get over his obsessive need for closure. Meanwhile, Raj discovers a secret about his new girlfriend Lucy (Kate Micucci).
Tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch: Sheldon gets mad at Penny for recording Paul Blart: Mall Cop and other movies on his DVR with limited storage and demands she answer honesty because "This is not a trial... that'll come later."
- Blatant Lies: When Sheldon finds movies on his DVR that he did not record, he (correctly) assumes Penny did it and proceeds to grill her saying a trial will come later. Leonard comes to her "defense" by lying maybe Chinese hackers did it. Sheldon rebuffs it makes no sense for the Chinese to record anything on their DVR, let alone a ridiculous comedy like Paul Blart: Mall Cop, but rather than continue this pointless interrogation Sheldon just deletes them much to Penny's dismay.
- Sanity Slippage: Sheldon goes through one as he endures Amy's closure-curing therapy.
- The Stinger: At the very end, Sheldon successfully gets a hold of the Alphas creators on the phone, and asks what was the ending going to be like. Upon hearing it, Sheldon decides it wasn't worth materializing and so he's glad Alphas ended the way it did.
