Recaps for all the episodes in Season 5.

Episode 01: The Skank Reflex Analysis
The series picks up hours after the season finale where Penny emerges from Leonard’s room, with Raj right behind her, saying “This isn’t what it looks like.” Sheldon is working through her cryptic statement and trying to figure out what it actually WAS. Annoyed, Leonard finally tells him that it was exactly what it looked like – Penny and Raj slept together. When the four boys reunite in the cafeteria, tensions run high as Leonard is upset with Raj and doesn’t understand how he could do that to him. When Raj confesses that he and Penny are in love, Leonard scoffs and tells him that he was in love with Bernadette just months before. Howard is shocked at hearing this and the three boys start arguing. Sheldon tries to get them to discuss more important matters, like the upcoming paintball tournament. Meanwhile, Penny is distraught over sleeping with Raj and Amy comes over to comfort her. Penny can’t take being in the apartment anymore and goes to stay with Amy. Penny starts questioning her entire life. Everything sucks. She’s ruined things with friends. Her acting career sucks – she can’t even get the hemorrhoid commercial she auditioned for last week. Koothrappali comes over to Amy’s to ask Penny out. She breaks it to him what they did was a huge mistake. Penny says she just wants everything the way it used to be. He reveals they actually didn’t have sex in the conventional sense…he tried to put the condom on and she tried to help him but nothing more happened after that. He still thinks it was a beautiful experience but asks her not to tell anyone about it because he’s a bit embarrassed. She reluctantly agrees. The guys are at the paint ball game but Leonard, Raj and Howard are too upset with each to even care about playing. Sheldon takes it upon himself to inspire his troops and commits “suicide” but running out into the game without his gun. The three guys, inspiried by his matrydom, run out to avenge Sheldon’s death. Back at the apartment, Penny joins the guys who’ve basically forgiven each other. She tells them she’s decided to move back to Nebraska because her life in California hasn’t amounted to anything. While Leonard tries to convince her otherwise, Penny gets a call from her agent, informing her that she booked the hemmorhoid commercial. Penny, inspired again, abandons the idea of leaving. The guys are left with their friend still living across the hall and Raj bragging about how he slept with her.

Episode 02: The Infestation Hypothesis
­Priya returns to India but Leonard and her agree to try a long distance relationship. The video chat daily and Leonard, trying to keep the spark alive, convinces Priya to try virtual sex which Leonard is not very good at. He gives it a last try, undressing in front of his monitor, talking dirty to Priya but soon Leonard realizes Priya is not the one on the other end of the video chat – it’s her parents. Leonard annoyed at Leonard video chatting with Priya heads to Penny’s apartment and is happy to find a new comfortable chair. When Penny tells him she found it on the street he is horrified to think of all the germs that have infested it and that are now on his body – he demands for Penny to get rid of it but she refuses. Sheldon enlists Amy’s help to convince Penny to throw away the chair while Sheldon is freaking out that he has lice crawling all over his body. Amy gives it a try but Penny catches on to Sheldon’s game and tells Amy to leave. Amy fearing she is about to lose her “bestie” takes back everything she just said and tells Penny she loves the chair. Amy sits down on it and both are shocked when a rat that was hiding in the chair jumps out to bit Amy. Penny begs Amy to never tell Sheldon what happened.

Episode 03: The Pulled Groin Extrapolation
With Bernadette, Howard and Raj going to the movies, Penny going to work and Sheldon getting a ride from one of those groups to the train store, Leonard finds himself alone in the apartment with Amy. At first, Leonard is ill at ease with Amy being there, but soon, he grows comfortable with her presence and her contendedness to just sit. Sheldon returns from the train store to find Amy still in the apartment. She tells him that she’s rescinding her invitation to accompany her to a wedding that weekend and instead, Leonard is going to be her date. Meanwhile, Bernadette gets a surprise when Howard talks about how the two of them are going to move in with his mother once they’re married. They get into a fight but he soon convinces her to just spend the weekend with them to try it out. Bernadette agrees and soon Howard discovers that he might be marrying a too-close-for-comfort version of his mother. At the wedding, Amy takes Leonard totask for always being a sad sack. She convinces him to dance with her and he finally agrees. They have a great time and Leonard gets so enthusiastic that he tries to do the splits, thus straining his groin. It doesn’t damper his good time and at the end of the night, Leonard thanks Amy and kisses her on the cheek. Amy immediately goes to Penny and tells that she unwittingly made Leonard fall in love with her. When Leonard tells Sheldon that he and Amy had a good time and she’s a lot of fun, Sheldon immediately karate chops Leonard in the neck, exclaiming, “She’s not for you!” Sheldon gets territorial. About a girl.

Episode 04: The Wiggly Finger Catalyst
­Penny sets Raj up with a deaf girlfriend of hers, solving his problem of talking in front of a woman, and Raj falls for her instantly. He showers her with lavish gifts until his parents soon cut him off and Raj discovers love is not enough for her when she dumps him.

Episode 05: The Russian Rocket Reaction
Sheldon and Leonard run into Wil Wheaton at the comic book store. Wil invites them to a housewarming party. Leonard says he’s actually thinking of going. Sheldon tells Leonard he would be betraying his trust and friendship if he went because Wil Wheaton is one of Sheldon’s mortal enemies. Sheldon further explains that, until Leonard makes a decision about the party, Sheldon is simultaneously his friend and NOT his friend. Sheldon calls this phenomenon, “Schrodinger’s Friendship.” Wolowitz shows up at Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment with big news: He’s going to be an astronaut! Well, sort of. NASA picked his team’s design for a piece of equipment that will be installed on the International Space Station. Someone has to go up with the equipment as a Mission Specialist and as it stands, Wolowitz is the standby backup. Bernadette expresses her concern – going into space is dangerous, plus Wolowitz would have to take an old Russian, Soyuz rocket to get to the space station. Later, Wolowitz is upset that he doesn’t have Bernadette’s support for his big dream. Once the guys get to Wil Wheaton’s party, Wil has a surprise for Sheldon. He gives him an autographed, one sixty-fourth scale mint-in-package Wesley Crusher action figure. He even wrote, “To Sheldon, sorry this took so long. Your friend, Wil Wheaton.” Sheldon is so excited that he shows the box to Brent Spiner. Unfortunately for Sheldon, Brent Spiner rips the package open. This immediately lands Brent on Sheldon’s list of mortal enemies.