"The Monster Isolation" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on February 21, 2013. Directed by Mark Cendrowski. Teleplay by Steven Molaro, Eric Kaplan and Steve Holland, based on a story by Chuck Lorre, David Goetsch and Maria Ferrari.
This episode picks up where the previous one left off. Raj has just met Lucy (Kate Micucci) and left the lonely singles' party with her to go to a coffee shop. At the coffee shop, Raj prattles on and on about himself. When Raj asks Lucy to talk about herself, she takes the opportunity to go to the restroom and sneak out of the place.
Devastated by this rejection, Raj confines himself to his apartment, vowing to never leave again. His hygiene quickly deteriorates. Worried for him, his friends intervene and get Lucy to go see Raj. Lucy explains her crippling social anxiety. Raj says he's very pathetic as well. Maybe the two of them do have a future together after all.
Meanwhile, Penny gives Sheldon some pointers to appear more natural on Fun with Flags. Amy urges Sheldon to express his gratitude to Penny, so he does. Then Penny invites Sheldon to a theatrical production in which Penny has a starring rôle.
Sheldon doesn't want to go to the theater, until he learns that it's a production of A Streetcar Named Desire. However, Sheldon is disappointed that there don't seem to be any streetcars in the production.
Tropes:
- Bad "Bad Acting": Parodied. Penny gives Sheldon an acting tip for his webseries Fun with Flags, and he suddenly thinks he's an expert on "inviting people in".
- Bathroom Breakout: During her first date with Raj, Lucy excuses herself to go to the bathroom. While Raj congratulates himself on how great the date is going, Lucy is seen running away outside the window.
- Broken Bird: Lucy admits that she has anxiety issues, which is why she ran out on Raj. She even calls herself "broken". Raj explains that he's "broken" too.
- Dung Fu: The reason Amy is no longer running her monkey nicotine addiction study.Amy: You can get animals addicted to a harmful substance, you can dissect their brains, but you throw their own feces back at them, and suddenly you're unprofessional.
- Just Here for Godzilla: In-Universe, Sheldon only goes to see Penny in A Streetcar Named Desire because it had "streetcar" in the title.
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Howard goes to Raj's apartment because he somehow sensed his friend wasn't well. Sure enough, Raj was dejected because Lucy ran out on him.
- Previously on…: We're reminded of how Raj met Lucy in the previous episode.
- The Shut-In: Raj becomes one after being left by Lucy, staying in his apartment and ordering lobster from Amazon.Raj: From now on, I'm a monk. I renounce all worldly pleasures. Except for lobster. And garlic butter.
