- Sheldon tries to overcome his fear of birds, while Leonard and Penny attempt to hang out together strictly as friends.
- A blue jay perched on his apartment window ledge is too much for ornithophobic Sheldon to handle. As no one - even the authorities (gasp) - seems to want to help him shoo away the bird, a scared Sheldon does whatever he can to get rid of the bird in any way he can. He turns to his two biologist friends, Amy and Bernadette, who try to help him get him over his fear. Their attempts have unexpected results. Meanwhile, Penny asks Leonard if he wants to go see a movie with her. He realizes that Penny's invitation is not a date, despite he deep down wanting it to be. But once he gets over the notion that this event is not a date, Leonard is able to relax and enjoy his time out, even more than when they were actually dating. As Leonard makes it abundantly clear to Penny that it not being a date has its own consequences, Penny decides to take her own actions to prove to Leonard that it is indeed not a date.—Huggo
- Penny and Leonard meet in the lobby, where Penny has received leftover salmon from the cheesecake factory. She learns that Leonard and Sheldon are watching Star wars (which they have watched a thousand times already), but only the 2nd time on blue ray. Penny invites Leonard to the movies with her. Penny says it would not be a date, but merely just a man and a woman hanging out and not having sex at the end of the night like a lot of Leonard's dates.
When they get into the apartment, they found Sheldon freaking out over a black-throat Magpie-Jay (called a "Blue Jay" by Sheldon) perched on the window sill, trying to shoo it away. Penny is amazed that Sheldon is afraid of birds. Sheldon explains that it is called Ornithophobia and that someday it will be recognized as a true disability and the landlord will be required to put a giant net over the building, adding that he has fear of nets too. Penny and Leonard leave for the movies. Leonard tells Sheldon to ignore the bird so Sheldon pulls the curtain to cover the window, noting that it is a good idea since attention is what birds want. The bird makes a sound and Sheldon starts freaking out again. Sheldon continues his attempts to shoo away the bird, this time by mimicking a cat's meow, but to no avail. Leonard comes out all dressed up to go out with Penny. He asks Sheldon what he thinks of his outfit, stressing that he does not want to give an impression to Penny that he thought it was going to be a date. He ends up going back inside his room to change as Sheldon decides to call Animal Control, but they just laugh at him. Sheldon draws a cat's face on a piece of paper and attempts the cat meow sound again, resulting in another failure. Meanwhile, after changing his outfit again, Leonard finally dressed up like how he used to dress up everyday to work.
At the movies, Penny wants to watch a Jennifer Aniston movie, but Leonard wants to watch a documentary on building a dam on a river in South America. Penny insists on her choice and Leonard almost gives in until he tells her that he should pick this time since in the past they always followed Penny's choices. Leonard confesses that he only went along with them since he was expecting sex at the end of the night and, since this night was a non-date and sex was off the table, they should watch the documentary. Leonard even asks Penny to pay for her own ticket.
Back at the apartment, an impatient Howard and Raj are waiting for Sheldon to finish his work on his ultrasonic blast machine before starting the Star Wars movie. Sheldon asks Howard's assistance to finish setting up the machine and, while Howard works on it, Sheldon shares his ordeal with birds with Raj, which includes a parrot calling him a "fat-ass". Howard finishes working on the machine, calling it Sheldon's "bird death ray". Sheldon tells him that it is not a death ray and, if he did have one, he would be in his lair, enjoying the money the people of the Earth gave him for not using it. He starts the machine, but it does not scare the bird away, instead shattering the window.
Penny and Leonard are hanging out at Brady's Beer after the movie. Leonard suggests that Penny enjoyed the movie since she teared up when the village got flooded and the people had to relocate. Penny denies it, saying she only teared up because she was thinking how come the people could leave yet she could not. Leonard laughs and asks Penny if she would like some French fries since he was getting some for himself. Penny says no and Leonard asks again by saying that she always says that, but ends up eating half of his fries. Penny says that she only ate the "little crispy ones" that Leonard does not like, but he says he likes them and prefers to save them for the end, but they are gone before he can eat them and he kept quiet about it. Penny interrupts, answering that he was expecting sex at the end of the night and Leonard agrees. He asks again if Penny would like some fries and she says yes. Leonard says "great" and asks her for money for her fries. While he goes to get their fries, Penny ends up flirting with Kevin (Blake Berris), a screenwriter who is sitting behind their table. Penny even sits at Kevin's table, leaving Leonard alone.
Meanwhile, Sheldon tries to watch television, but the jay makes a noise again, causing him to get frustrated. Sheldon goes inside the closet and comes out with a broom while wearing Boba Fett helmet. He carefully opens the window and tries to shoo the bird away using the broom, but the bird flies into the apartment and lands on Sheldon's spot on the couch.
Back at the bar, Penny tries to sound intelligent by telling Kevin about the documentary she just saw about generating electricity and preserving the environment, while Leonard sits alone sulking. Leonard finally stands up and asks to speak to Penny. He tells her that he knows she is going out of her way to talk to that guy because he said that their outing was not a date. Penny says she thinks the guy is cute and tells Leonard to talk to other girls if he wants to.
Back at the apartment, Sheldon enlists Amy and Bernadette's help to get rid of the bird. Amy asks Sheldon what he expects them to do and he says that, since they are both biologists, they should know how to deal with living things like the bird. Bernadette tells him that she specialized in microorganisms while Amy studied brains. Amy adds that neither of them minored in bird-shooing. Bernadette asks Sheldon to come back into the apartment when the bird is perched on her arms. She suggests that the bird may be someone's lost pet. Amy tells him that the only way to get over a fear is to interact with it, just like what he did with the mailman. Sheldon approaches the bird slowly, but backs away. Bernadette immediately yells, "Oh, just pat the bird, you big baby!", prompting Sheldon to stroke the bird. He still insists on flushing the bird down the toilet.
At the bar, Leonard finally finds someone to talk to, a woman named Laura (Ashley Austin Morris). He lies to her about the stuff he enjoys such as hiking, karaoke, and Jennifer Aniston movies. Penny comes over and apologizes for ditching him. He says he is fine with it and asks her to go away. Penny says Kevin left and asks to hang out. Leonard says that she only wants to hang out with him now that Kevin is gone. Penny asks Leonard what he has been telling Laura about her, but Leonard refuses and asks her to go hang out with other guys there. Penny asks Laura whether Leonard told her he owns two Star Trek uniforms and he wears them even when it is not Halloween. Leonard retaliates by saying Penny thinks Cold War are only fought during winter. Penny responds with that half of Leonard's dirty movie are animated. Leonard replies by asking if Kevin knows that Penny's acting career involved a long-running role as waitress in a local production of The Cheesecake Factory. Penny asks if Laura knows about Leonard's lucky asthma inhaler. Leonard asks Penny to spell "asthma". Penny can't and asks him to take her home. Leonard initially refuses but, noticing that Laura has left, agrees.
Meanwhile, Sheldon has overcome his fear of birds and is infatuated by the black throat magpie jay, holding and gazing at it longingly. He asks Bernadette to take a picture of him and the bird, saying he will use the picture on a mug, mouse pad, and calendar. Sheldon starts calling the bird his "little Lovey-Dovey". Bernadette tells him the bird still looks like someone's pet and they should make poster. Sheldon agrees but says the posters should have the words "Is this your bird? Not anymore!", and starts planning the fun things he will do with the bird, including carrying messages to all his enemies. Amy says Sheldon can borrow her cage if he wants since one of her test monkey slipped over a banana peel and broke its neck. Sheldon declines and says Lovey-Dovey will sleep in his own nest which he will retrieve from the window sill and put in his room, but the moment Sheldon opens the window, the blue jay flies out.
Penny and Leonard return to the apartment building and see Sheldon's poster of his missing jay on their way up the stairs, neither looking as if they had enjoyed the non-date. Leonard breaks the ice by saying that they went out, met some interesting people and said horrible things about each other; so it was a magical night. Penny replies that she is not innocent, but Leonard calls her stupid and she calls him an "asthmatic dumb-ass". Leonard thinks maybe they are not ready to go out as friends, but Penny says she likes the "take-charge and cocky" Leonard. Leonard immediately changes his mind and puts sex "back on the table" saying that he can be anything she wants him to be. Penny shakes her head and says good night. When Leonard enters his apartment, he tells Sheldon he had a weird night. Sheldon says he had a great night and takes off the orange blanket covering what turns out to be the jay's nest with an egg in it, revealing that the bird is female. He tells Leonard that he is going to be a mommy.
Title reference: Sheldon overcoming his fear of birds, most commonly referred to as "ornithophobia".
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content