"The Clean Room Infiltration" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on December 11, 2014. Directed by Mark Cendrowski. Teleplay by Eric Kaplan, Jim Reynolds and Steve Holland, based on a story by Maria Ferrari, Tara Hernandez and Jeremy Howe.
Amy hosts a Victorian Era-themed Christmas dinner for her friends. Raj's father (Brian George) also attends, he bores Penny and Raj with complaints about his soon-to-be ex-wife.
Bernadette drives Sheldon to the dinner. Sheldon complains about Amy's insistence on holiday traditions like exchanging gifts. Sheldon decides to get back at Amy by giving her a framed picture of himself on Santa Claus's lap. Then, theoretically, Amy will feel guilty for not having gotten Sheldon anything.
Howard and Leonard are wrapping up an experiment in the university's clean room when a pigeon flies in. Leonard blames Howard for failing to close the loading door. They call Raj for help. Raj agrees to go help, since he'd rather not spend too much time talking to his depressed father.
Once Raj arrives, the pigeon leaves the clean room, but then comes back. It looks like Howard, Leonard and Raj are going to miss the Christmas dinner. Leonard is thinking of calling Building Services and admitting he allowed the clean room to be contaminated.
Then, Penny, on the phone, suggests that they falsify the clean room sign-in sheet. Howard likes that suggestion, and convinces Leonard and Raj to do precisely that.
At the dinner, Sheldon gives Amy the framed photo. Amy loves it, and it turns out she actually has a gift for Sheldon: Amy called Sheldon's maternal grandmother, Connie, for a cookie recipe, then Amy made cookies according to that recipe.
Tropes
- Christmas Episode: Amy throws a Victorian Christmas party.
- Continuity Nod: Leonard mentions the various times Howard has screwed up and tried to cover it up, including the time he lost the Mars Rover (Season Two's "The Lizard-Spock Expansion") and losing Raj's dog (Season Six's "The Proton Resurgence").
- CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable: Howard is forced to administer it to a pigeon. The clean part is subverted when Howard complains of the victim's breath.
- Gift-Giving Gaffe: Invoked when Sheldon thinks the way to punish Amy for being forced to celebrate Christmas is to give her a present when they agreed not to, so she would feel bad that she didn't give him one. He chooses a photo of him with Santa with a recorded message saying, "I hope you treasure this as much as I treasure you", which would be touching if it wasn't done in spite. It backfires, as not only is Amy touched but she did get him an even more thoughtful present, cookies made with the recipe from Sheldon's beloved Meemaw. Sheldon is overwhelmed with emotion.
- Loving Details: Sheldon describes how Amy's eyes sparkle when she watches old French movies, and how her fingers move when she listens to harp music.
- Mall Santa: Sheldon actually goes to one to get ideas on what to give Amy for Christmas.
- Not Again: Howard seemingly kills the pigeon with a fire extinguisher and utters this phrase, then explains that when he was ten, he sat on a blue jay.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: After Leonard and Howard succeed in removing the pigeon from the lab, a crow flies in.
- Shout-Out:
- Themed Party: Raj sarcastically wishes Amy luck getting the guys interested in one.
