'Big Bang Theory' Season 11, Episode 14 recap: guest stars shake up Raj's world

"The Separation Triangulation" -- Pictured: Nell (Beth Behrs) and Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar). Koothrappali finds himself in the middle of domestic drama when he learns the woman he's dating, Nell (Beth Behrs), has a very upset husband, Oliver (Walton Goggins). Also, when Sheldon rents his old room back for a quiet place to work, he drives Leonard crazy by being a model tenant, on THE BIG BANG THEORY, Thursday, Jan. 18 (8:00-8:31 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved)

Raj is aware that he’s in no position to be picky when it comes to women wanting to date him, but what happens when a new lover comes with some extra baggage? That’s just what the gang tackled on Season 11, Episode 14 of “The Big Bang Theory."

Feeling confident in himself thanks to his new job at the planetarium, Raj is approached by a young woman named Nell, played by guest actress Beth Behrs. One thing leads to another and he finds himself happily dating the young lady.

In the morning after one of their dates, he makes her breakfast and she offhandedly mentions that her husband never used to cook for her. Raj discovers that she’s been separated, not divorced, for the last two weeks.

“That’s not a lot of weeks,” he jokes, noting it’s the minimum number to use the plural of “week.”

Still, Nell seems undeterred. However, Raj is afraid of what will happen if he’s forced to confront her angry firefighter husband over their relationship. His fears are brought to life when her husband Oliver, played by other guest actor Walton Goggins, confronts him at the planetarium.

He cowers and agrees not to see Nell anymore, but he soon catches Oliver crying over the loss. That’s when Raj’s good nature gets the better of him and he asks if he can help. He ends up listening to Oliver’s sob story in its entirety.

Meanwhile, Sheldon is still throwing himself headlong into his research into string theory. He’s making some headway, but it’s forcing him to sprawl his work all over the apartment. After Amy finds herself with nowhere to sit in her own home, he starts pressuring Leonard and Penny to let him use his old bedroom as an evening workspace. He even goes as far as to draft a very reasonable agreement in which he agrees to be quiet and out of the way.

Leonard is quickly thrown into disarray when he realizes that Sheldon is capable of being a good roommate. He says that it makes all the years of him being difficult a choice. The issue gets so over-the-top that he approaches Sheldon to exercise his three day trial period to back out of the agreement. However, that’s when Sheldon really plays his hand. It turns out that the trial period, which he ensured would be in Eastern Standard Time rather than Pacific, would then trigger an extension in which he could renegotiate the agreement. Just like that, he was done being a simple guest and became the demanding figure that Leonard knew and loved.

After spending the day with Oliver, Raj is thoroughly on his side in the breakup story. He’s trying to have a date with Nell, but all he can think about is his new friend’s tears. That’s when he asks her to give Oliver another shot, noting that he’d date her if it didn’t work out.

“Either way you’ve got yourself a fella, how nice is that?”

The episode ends with Raj learning that Oliver and Nell are going to give things another shot as they walk off to have dinner together. So, while he lost a girlfriend, he’s gained a new friend.