At the house of the Big Bang Theory, the heaviness of a huge secret looms over the roommates. The four roommates Sheldon Cooper, Leonard Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz (mechanical engineer), and Raj Koothrappali (astrophysicist, the main reason why the room is a set for the Big Bang theory) are about to get a shock of their lives that would turn everything topsy turvy in the small room at Pasadena, California. At the center of this shock, there is the usual catalyst for all events in the house, Penny. Living across the hall, the aspiring actress and waitress is always the aspired cynosure of the four men. Here, she is at it again, with a twist of fate threatening to reveal a certain secret from her past.
Keen to create a special impression in its first-ever Thanksgiving tryst, the BBT names the episode ‘The Thanksgiving Decoupling’. ‘Decoupling’ is always a crafty word to use and has some great innuendos pointing to stress and tension in relationships. The episode sees the four men and Penny head over to the house of Mrs. Wolowitz. There, events take a turn that is not all about enjoying the turkey and the cranberry sauce. Just when a light romance is developing between Penny and Leonard, Amy (Mayim Bialik) drops the bomb of past ghosts.
She puts in a seemingly innocent question to Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar), asking them whether they know about Penny’s marriage with Zack three years before. Obviously, this invites a lot of churning and subconscious commotion, with all characters trying to evaluate their position relative to this revelation. Are the relationship dynamics in the Big Bang house about to change majorly again? Well, one has to keep a close watch on the show for that. The biggest question that develops following this stint in Mrs. Wolowitz’s house is whether Penny and Zack are still couples. This also leads in to a lot of confusion, because you need to figure out why was this a secret till now? Also, after the revelation, where does the mutual relationships stand? What would be the relation between Penny and Leonard now? What would be the vibes between Zack and Leonard now? How are the other members of the house feeling about it?
Snippets from the house show something like Penny handing over a pen to Zack. Apparently, she wants him to sign some papers. It is easy to assume that these are divorce papers, but what are Zack’s views on this? It appears that Zack is quite indecisive about signing the papers. Where does it take the story then? Does Zack still harbor feelings for Penny? Does he secretly hate Leonard? Raj puts the situation in words. He describes the plot thickening like the gravy on his plate. Coming from the cultural background that puts in high words of praise to thick and spicy gravy, Raj’s comment clearly shows that things are turning out to be exciting for the fans. At the end leg of the episode, Bernadette’s dad insists on diluting the tension by the usual beer accompanying a Thanksgiving dinner.
