Trama

After being forced to deal with a sick Sheldon, the rest of the gang try to treat themselves to a Sheldon-free weekend.

Leonard, Penny, Howard, Bernadette, Raj and Emily are all mad at Sheldon because while they all tried to help and comfort him when he had the flu, he treated them all insensitively. Not knowing what he did wrong, Sheldon doesn't understand why they aren't all happy that he is now well. Still angered because of Sheldon's attitude, the six believe they need some away time from him and decide to rent a party bus for a trip to Las Vegas without him. When Sheldon finds out, he wants to go on the trip despite not liking Vegas, yet he still doesn't understand why they haven't invited him. In Skyping to Amy who is still in Detroit on her conference, Sheldon may begin truly to understand from her that he needs to show some true empathy in apologizing to their friends. Although he believes he has worked out scientifically how to be truly empathetic and mean it, he has to convince all six of them that he is being genuine in his apology for them to forgive him and perhaps let him join the party, those six "I forgive you"s which may be a tall order. The situation gets even more complicated with a seventh person thrown into the mix.—Huggo

After Sheldon recovers from being sick he is hoping that the guys will be jubilant that he is well. But they just give him the cold shoulder, it seems like when he was sick they all tried to help but all he did was act as he usually does, and he's oblivious to it. And when they decide to go Las Vegas, they don't invite him. And he feels insulted but he talks to Amy who makes him see how wrong he was and he tries to apologize to Leonard hoping that it will be enough for him to join them but Leonard says he needs to . apologize to everyone and when he tries to apologize to Raj and Emily it causes a rift between them.—rcs0411@yahoo.com

As Penny, Bernadette and Emily are setting up dinner, they are discussing superheroes, Superman, Batman and Iron Man. The guys are in shock until their conversation veers to Ben Affleck and Leonardo DiCaprio and other movies. Sheldon enters in his pajamas announcing that all his flu symptoms are gone and he can return to work.

Flashbacks: . Sheldon wanted Penny to rub on his Vicks after she did everything else for him that morning. He remarks sarcastically that she'll grope every other male on the planet except him. . Bernadette brings over some flu medication from work. Sheldon snarks that he hopes that laughter is the best medicine because her present was a joke . Raj shows up with Emily so she can take a look at him. She may only be a dermatologist, but she did go to medical school. Sheldon then tells her to remove that irritating patch of dark skin next to her. . Leonard brings him a meal which angers Sheldon because it was chicken and star soup instead of chicken noodle.

Skyping with Amy who is still at the NeuroBiology conference, Sheldon complains that everyone is mad at him for no reason. Sheldon explains that when one is sick, they can be cranky and say things where other people's feelings don't matter. Knowing that her gentle and loving explanation will be tricky, she tells Sheldon that he can be unbearable when he is sick and that is why his friends skip out to the movies...or spend an extra few days at a NeuroBiology conference.

The guys visit the comic book store to take a break from Sheldon. He had been there to buy a comic book and told Stuart that death was now at his door. Wanting to do more things without him, they noted that Amy's break from Sheldon improved their relationship. Raj is in as long as it doesn't end up with having sex with Sheldon. Leonard and Penny were thinking of a weekend in Las Vegas, so maybe they could all go. Raj suggests the party bus which excites Leonard and Howard. Chanting "party bus" does not excite them.

Penny gets interested in the party bus idea as long as it's booze and music and not juice boxes and video games. Sheldon comes in and asks where they were going. Vegas did not appeal to him since it was Atlantic City without the taffy. Leonard tells him that he's not invited and that everyone else is going. He has to hang out with Stuart.

Again Sheldon is doing a Skype call with Amy who asks "What's new?" He says that all his friends are jerks and he is mad at them. He tells her about their trip. She asks if he refused to apologize and acts like they were stupid for being mean to him. Amy realizes that he is upset, but he should just apologize to everyone and that he should do it because he feels bad. That is empathy. Sheldon says that he has empathy. Very sarcastically he says that Leonard made him soup and he was mean to him. Amy wants him to try again. Sheldon actually does feel terrible having said it. Neat. Then Sheldon wants her to apologize for staying in Detroit. She says flatly that she feels so, so bad.

Sheldon marched into the living area to tell Leonard to get ready for an apology. Leonard took care of him when he was sick and he was mean to him. He is truly sorry. Leonard accepts his statement. Sheldon then wants to be invited on the trip even though he claims that that was not the reason for the apology. Leonard explains that he upset a lot of people and that they all must agree to let him on the trip. Sheldon accepts his challenge and decides to embark on the Sheldon Cooper Apology Tour.

Sheldon goes to Howard's house and apologizes. They accept it and are impressed. Then Sheldon wants to play Brenda Lee's song "I'm sorry" on the pan flute. And to memorialize the event he has T-shirts for them which say "Sheldon Cooper apologized to me." on the front and "and he made it better." on the back.

Later Sheldon apologizes to Penny while she's in the shower. She accepts it. Sheldon still wants to take a picture of her with the T-shirt. Naked? She ends up screaming for Leonard to get him to leave.

At the comic book store, he apologizes to Stuart who accepts it. He wasn't doing it just to get to go on the trip to Vegas. Stuart asks about what trip he was talking about.

Visiting Raj he says that Raj is a good friend and he treated him badly. Raj accepts his apology. To Emily, he apologizes that he called a dermatologist not a real doctor. She must hear that all the time. Now she is insulted again and doesn't accept it. Also she gets mad at Raj for not standing up for her and walks out on him.

Now having dinner, Penny asks Sheldon if they had a bad fight. Sheldon counters that it was excellent for a fight. Sheldon did go over to Emily's place to straighten things out and finally reduced her to tears. Sheldon thinks that he should apologize and everyone screams, "No!". Emily is not going on the trip if Sheldon is going, Sheldon tells them that the only way to show true remorse is for him to not go at all. Now on the party bus, Howard finds the stripper pole that he figures Raj will be on before they reach the freeway. Sheldon pops out from the bathroom surprising everyone. Penny asks why can't he give them one weekend alone. Stuart then pops out telling them all that he thought it was a bad idea. Sheldon also wanted to apologize again to Emily who looked thrilled. He tells her that he is a bit odd, but that he means well and that she is a smart and wonderful woman. And can do better than Raj. So he apologizes for his past and future gaffs. She is satisfied and says that Sheldon can go. Sheldon declines since they will have a better time without him. He leaves dragging Stuart along. Leonard and Penny really feel bad now and invite them back.

Finally, Sheldon tells Emily that he was glad she and Raj could patch things up. She doesn't think so at the moment, because Raj is dancing on the stripper pole and the other girls are throwing dollars at him.

Title reference: Sheldon trying to feel and understand empathy.