'The Big Bang Theory' recap: A road trip, George Lucas, and 'Doctor Who'

Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) on 'The Big Bang Theory' (Michael Ansell/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.) (�© 2015 WBEI. All rights reserved.)

A road trip with the high-strung Sheldon Cooper would probably be considered a nightmare for most people, even Leonard, but the two end up hitting the road to speak at a lecture at Berkeley. What begins with monotonous activities such as Sheldon’s “physics car game” and an in-depth analysis of the meaning behind Wild Cherry’s ‘Play That Funky Music’ ends up becoming a real adventure for the two friends.

Once they realize they’re set to arrive ahead of schedule, they decide to take a detour to check out Skywalker Ranch, owned by none other than the director of ‘Star Wars’ himself, George Lucas. They’ll just drive by, they assure one another, but its clear they won’t stop there. Upon arrival they get the guts to actually press the button at the speaker box. They assure security that they’re not crazy fans, ignoring the fact that if you have to open by explaining that you aren’t crazy, you probably won’t get far.

As luck would have it, they do make it past the gate. Once they come face to face with security, they’re told they aren’t allowed inside, but they can get some free hats and T-shirts. This seems to satisfy Leonard, but not Sheldon who had attempted to trick the guards into thinking he was there to record a Yoda voiceover. Once the guards are distracted, Sheldon makes a run for it while Leonard watches on in horror. We don’t get to see it, but we do hear Sheldon’s cries of joy change to cries of agony as he gets Tasered.

After being held by security for hours,  the two are let go without police being called. Unfortunately, they are banned from the ranch for life and miss the lecture they were set to give. Leonard isn’t bitter, though, because Sheldon was able to give him an adventure he’d never forget.

‘Star Wars’ isn’t the only fandom to get some love in this episode. Howard and Bernadette find themselves in a pickle after she insists that he sell his life-size TARDIS, a replica of the time-traveling police box from the cult hit ‘Doctor Who’. They decide to settle the issue the way all happily married couples in healthy relationships do: by waging a ‘Game of Thrones'-inspired battle. As in the HBO hit, they each choose a champion (Bernadette picks Penny, Howard chooses Raj) but instead of a bloody duel, they engage in a game of ping pong.

Bernadette sees the writing on the wall and tells Raj the TARDIS will be his if he throws the game, which he does. This causes Howard to sub Amy in for Raj and Bernadette to pull Penny and replace her with Howard. The game ties up quickly, but Bernie is not going down without a fight.

Once it comes down to the final point, Bernadette convinces Amy to throw the match as well by reminding her that she can replace her bedroom door with the TARDIS doors in an attempt to lure Sheldon inside.

Unfortunately, it's going to take a lot more than that For Amy to get Sheldon into bed. While he is eager to role play in the bedroom, pretending to play Doctor Who isn’t exactly what she had in mind.