The Terminator Decoupling

"The Terminator Decoupling" is the seventeenth episode of *The Big Bang Theory*’s second season (the thirty-fourth episode overall), which aired on CBS on March 9, 2009. Guest stars include actress Summer Glau and cosmologist George Smoot.

In the episode, Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj take the Coast Starlight train to a conference in San Francisco, where Smoot is delivering a keynote. Sheldon insists on the train, and they discover Summer Glau is also aboard. Raj and Howard argue over who will approach her first. Unable to talk to women without alcohol, Raj buys a drink from the catering car. Howard prepares an opening line, but Raj swoops in and uses the same line: "It's hot in here, it must be Summer." Their conversation goes well until Howard points out Raj is drinking non-alcoholic beer; the placebo effect fails, and Raj leaves. Howard tries to talk to Glau but annoys her. He asks for a photo, which she agrees to, but his continued advances anger her, and she breaks his phone. Leonard then musters courage to introduce himself, but Glau gets off the train as he speaks.

Meanwhile, Sheldon realizes he forgot the flash drive with the paper he wanted Smoot to read. He reluctantly asks Penny to enter his bedroom, find the drive, and email him the paper. When Sheldon presents the paper to Smoot and proposes joint research, Smoot rejects the idea, disappointing Sheldon.

George Smoot, a Nobel Prize winner in Physics (2006) for work supporting the Big Bang theory, was a fan of the series and wrote to the producers requesting a guest role. His scene was filmed at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California, on February 18, 2009. Summer Glau, who appeared as herself, was part of the cast of *Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles*, also produced by Warner Bros. Television. Co-creator Bill Prady gave the script to Josh Friedman, creator of *Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles*, with the plan to cast Glau; Friedman, impressed, suggested it to her.

The episode was watched by 9.46 million households, according to Nielsen ratings, and received a 3.6 rating/10 share among viewers aged 18–49, and a 2.4 rating/8 share among those 18–34. Reviews were modestly positive. Noel Murray of *The A.V. Club* praised the writers for including all main characters evenly. IGN’s James Chamberlain found Glau’s acting lacking emotion, saying "it felt as though Cameron were