The Big Bang Theory The Birthday Synchronicity Season 10 Episode 11 Editor’s Rating 4 stars * * * * « Previous Next » Melissa Rauch as Bernadette, Simon Helberg as Howard. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS

There’s a birth day and a birthday happening with the Pasadena gang, and while one is obviously a bigger deal in the grand scheme of things, I have to admit that the adult birthday proves to be a lot more fun. Emphasis on adult part.

When we last saw the very pregnant Bernadette, she had gone into labor and was being rushed to the hospital by her husband (Howard), his best friend (Raj), and their weird pseudo friend (Stuart) who now lives with them. It’s no wonder the admitting nurse is confused by the birth party — she asks if Bernie knows who the father is, or if this is a “Mamma Mia! situation” — nor does she recommend a home birth after telling them to leave and come back when Bernie’s contractions are closer together.

In the meantime, news of Baby Wolowitz’s impending delivery has reached Shamy, halting a birthday celebration that began with Sheldon waking Amy up at midnight to give her a gift. It’s a functional MRI of his brain, right after he did a Sudoku puzzle, so it’s “ripped.” She loves the unusual yet thoughtful present, especially after Sheldon points out that his orbital frontal cortex is lit up on the MRI because he was thinking of her at the time. Sheldon Lee Cooper, you sweet talker.

It is also Sheldon who reminds Amy that her birthday means it’s time for their annual — and remember, it has so far been limited to that — coitus, which, again, unusual, but given how far forward Sheldon has moved on this topic, it’s also thoughtful and romantic. Or it was, until Penny and Leonard knock on Shamy’s door to tell them they need to head to the hospital to be with the Wolowitzes. And Raj and Stuart. “Childbirth, looming coitus … it’s a banner night for female genitals,” Sheldon says.

As Shamy and Lenny prepare to go, they get the call about a false alarm, and Shamy heads back to the bedroom to resume their coitus sequel. The interruption has messed with their flow, though, so Amy tries to jump-start the passion with a surprise: She visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and purchased costumes. She models one for Sheldon, gives him a Gryffindor robe of his own, and after he stops pouting about the fact that she visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter without him, they get their groove back.

Until Raj comes knocking on their door.

He accidentally revealed the sex of Baby Wolowitz — I’m about to do it on purpose: It’s a girl! — so Bernie and Howard kicked him out of the house. Leonard and Penny also booted him from their apartment, and when he tries Amy and Sheldon for a place to hang out, Amy slams the door in his face so she and Sheldon can resume their Potter friskiness.

That’s when Penny informs them Bernie is really, truly, honestly in labor this time, and they once again put the brakes on coitus and rush off to the hospital.

The birth details of Halley Wolowitz — yep, that’s her name — are pretty simple, as the writers wisely skipped an actual delivery-room scene, since that’s been done a zillion times. Instead, Halley’s birth doubles as a remembrance of Howard’s mama (and the late, great actress Carol Ann Susi, who played the character). Howard and Bernie discuss Mrs. Wolowitz while mulling over options for the baby’s name, and when the rest of the gang goes to see Halley for the first time in the hospital nursery, they can’t identify her … until one newborn lets out a wail that sounds just like Mama Wolowitz.

As for Shamy’s coitus quest, after Halley’s birth, they spent the rest of the day at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. They arrive home carrying bags of merch and wearing even more, and as Sheldon points his wand at Amy — his Harry Potter collectible wand, you potty brains — he tells her it’s time for “Hankius Pankius.”

She’s amazed he still has that much energy left. “Amy! I just saw a magic train and reported somebody for cutting the line,” Sheldon says. “If that’s not foreplay, I don’t know what is.”

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