Sheldon is ready to find love again.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
It’s probably inevitable that Sheldon and Amy will get back together before The Big Bang Theory ends its run. They’re really the show’s power couple now that Leonard and Penny have settled down. But at the very least, the writers seem intent on mining the Sheldon/Amy split for all they can. This week’s installment showed Sheldon trying to take a page from Amy’s book and move forward. The result was a generally amusing episode that didn’t really stand out in any area.
The opening scene played on viewers’ expectations that Sheldon would be crushed and depressed after seeing Amy kissing another man last week. As it turned out, Sheldon was positively cheerful. He’s ready to move on and find himself a new girlfriend he can neglect and under-appreciate as he pours himself into his work. The big takeaway there is that Sheldon hasn’t really learned anything or grown from his breakup. He’s still the same old egotistical Sheldon, and that’s something he’s going to have to confront before any real sort of reconciliation is possible.
This episode might have started him down that road had it not veered in a slightly different direction. As Howard and Raj assisted Sheldon in finding a new partner, it became clear that what he really wants is Amy 2.0 – someone who’s going to be intelligent enough to respect his genius but submissive enough to put up with his complicated rules and eccentricities. That lightning bolt isn’t likely to strike twice. There was a chance for a little comeuppance, with Sheldon forced to acknowledge that most eligible bachelorettes have better things to do than put up with his nonsense.
But surprisingly enough, his quest actually ended in a victory of sorts. The scene between Sheldon and his new potential love interest (Warm Bodies’ Analeigh Tipton) was entertaining, if brief. Interestingly, this is actually the second time Tipton has appeared on the show following Season 2’s “The Panty Piñata Polarization.” It’s not clear if she was actually playing the same character or if she’s meant to play a recurring role as Sheldon’s new love interest. Probably not, based on the way Sheldon foolishly dismissed what is probably the only other woman in southern California who’s a perfect match for him.
The idea of creating an intellectual scavenger hunt to weed out the unworthy candidates was a clever one. I only wish the actual hunt was more a focus. There are several angles the episode could have taken, including following Sheldon, Raj and Howard as they left physical clues around town. I could also see a fun comedy of errors where one of the girls was drawn into the quest not realizing that Sheldon was the prize at the end of the rainbow. This storyline was amusing for what it was, but it could have been more ambitious.
Elsewhere, Penny and Bernadette became obsessed with spying on Amy and her new boyfriend, Dave (played by The Ricky Gervais Show’s Stephen Merchant). Here again, the episode was amusing enough, but no moment really stood out. Merchant was pretty funny as the nervous, slightly awkward Dave. It’s just that all his material boiled down to one of two jokes – his ex-wife cheated on him with a Frenchman, and he’s a really big fan of Sheldon Cooper. His character was very much a case of diminishing returns after a while.
Luckily, Bernie is pretty reliable about keeping things entertaining when placed in the spotlight. It was fun to watch her treat their rendezvous like a real spy mission, complete with all the tools of the trade.
This week’s Big Bang Theory had no truly bad elements, but it didn’t really stand out in any regard either. It was simple a middle-of-the-road installment that continued Sheldon and Amy’s attempts to move on and find happiness with other people. There was enough humor to keep things humming along, but there was also the sense that the writers could have done more with guest star Stephen Merchant and Sheldon’s online quest for a new soulmate.
