"The Proton Transmogrification" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on May 1, 2014. Directed by Mark Cendrowski. Teleplay by Steven Molaro, Eric Kaplan and Steve Holland, based on a story by Jim Reynolds, Maria Ferrari and Jeremy Howe.
As the Star Wars holiday May 4 is coming up, Howard, Leonard, Raj and Sheldon plan a Star Wars movie marathon. Sadly, Arthur Jeffries passes away, he was beloved to Leonard and Sheldon as "Professor Proton" on TV.note
Arthur's funeral is scheduled for May 4. Sheldon decides not to go to the funeral because he prioritizes the Star Wars holiday and considers mourning pointless because death is inevitable. Leonard does go, with Penny, while Howard and Raj join Sheldon for the Star Wars movie marathon as planned. However, Sheldon is affected by Arthur's death, and Arthur (Bob Newhart) shows up in Sheldon's dreams as a "Force ghost."
Meanwhile, Amy and Bernadette bake a spherical cake decorated like the Death Star, but are beset by some logistical difficulties. By the time the two of them arrive at Apartment 4A with the cake, they hope that the movie marathon is almost over, but are instead disappointed to learn that Sheldon has demanded Howard and Raj start over from the beginning.
Tropes
- Book Ends: Near the beginning of the episode, Leonard tries to comfort Sheldon with a hug after telling him Arthur Jeffries is dead. Close to the end, Sheldon wordlessly hugs Leonard after he comes back from the funeral.
- Call-Back: Leonard says he regrets not saying "yes" when Penny proposed to him. They have quite an argument about it.
- Hates Being Touched: Leonard tries to give Sheldon a comforting hug when he delivers the sad news, but Sheldon does not understand the concept. Subverted later on when Sheldon initiates a hug with Leonard on his own, a non-verbal way of asking for physical comfort.
- Heroic BSoD: While he tries to act aloof and insist there's nothing to be upset about, it becomes increasingly clear that Sheldon was devastated at hearing the news about Arthur dying. Much of his time in the episode is spent idling in his room as he tries to come to terms with the loss.
- Killed Off for Real: Arthur Jeffries dies, although he continues to appear in Sheldon's dreams in this episode and in later episodes (next one is "The Opening Night Excitation").
- N-Word Privileges: When watching The Phantom Menace, Penny agrees with the others that Jar-Jar Binks is stupid, only for them to get offended and Raj saying that only they are allowed to do that.
- Parody Assistance: For the dream scenes where Arthur appears as a Jedi ghost in the swamps of Dagobah, Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic helped with the sets and effects for authenticity.
- Pop Culture Holiday: In-Universe. The episode takes place on Star Wars Day, May 4 (due to "May the Fourth" sounding like "May the Force [be with you]").
- Shout-Out:
- Leonard denies being a crybaby, but Penny points out that he cried during Toy Story 3.
- Ghost-Arthur thinks his Obi-Wan robes belong to Friar Tuck.
- Spirit Advisor: Arthur appears in Sheldon's dreams as Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Empire Strikes Back to give him advice.
- Who Writes This Crap?!: Sheldon is watching an episode of Professor Proton:Arthur Jeffries: Here's a fun fact: after owls eat, they spit out the parts of their food that they can't digest, in the form of a pellet. Isn't that a hoot? We'll be right back after I fire my writers. (Owl hoots) Aww, shut up.
