The Big Bang Theory: “The Spock Resonance” Review

Sheldon stars in a Spockumentary.

The recent passing of Leonard Nimoy was a huge blow for Star Trek fans the world over. Given how much the leads in The Big Bang Theory idolize the Trek franchise, it was only right that the show take some time to honor Nimoy’s legacy. The result was one part warm celebration of Spock and one part somber look at Sheldon’s ongoing struggle to keep his emotions buried deep.

Given how often he guest stars on the show, it wasn’t surprising to see Star Trek alum Wil Wheaton put in an appearance this week. That said, it was a pleasant surprise to see Wheaton joined by Nimoy’s son, Adam. Just as he is in real life, the younger Nimoy was busy crafting a documentary about his father’s career and influence. And he elected to include Sheldon in that “Spockumentary” because, really, who wouldn’t want Dr. Sheldon Cooper livening up their film? The filming process started off innocently enough, with Sheldon looking back fondly on his experience with Star Trek and the ways he drew inspiration from Spock’s logic-obsessed lifestyle. It was a nice testament to the character’s legacy. However, things grew more complicated when Sheldon brought out his prized autographed napkin and nonchalantly let slip that he had almost proposed to Amy.

Here’s where the episode took a slightly unexpected swerve. Between this storyline and the subplot involving Bernadette redecorating her house, it seemed like the theme of the week was going to be the struggle to move past the death of a loved one. As much as Howard leans on his mother’s death as an excuse to get out of chores, it’s obvious he hasn’t entirely moved past his profound loss. Similarly, with Sheldon it’s easy to imagine some part of him having trouble accepting the idea that Mr. Spock is no longer with us.

But as it turned out, this episode wasn’t really concerned with the grief element. I think that ultimately worked in the favor of the Sheldon storyline, if not necessarily the Howard/Bernadette subplot (more on that in a bit). For one thing, focusing the conflict more on Sheldon’s Spock grief might have pushed this episode into overly dark territory. There was actually a lot of humor to be had as Nimoy picked his brain about Spock and became exposed to Sheldon’s many eccentricities. The revelation that Sheldon has stashed multiple safes and a security camera throughout the apartment was pretty great.

If only Sheldon had known what Amy was up to…

Then there was the whole will/Will exchange:

“In it, I will my Will back to Will.”

“Will Will want it?”

“Will won’t.”

That made me chuckle quite a bit. But alongside the humor, there was a really interesting glimpse into Sheldon’s psychology post-my. There have been obvious signs before that he’s not taking the breakup as well as he’d like everyone to believe. But here we saw the depth of his heartbreak. Not that he doesn’t deserve a little emotional hardship after the way he took Amy for granted all those years, but you definitely had to feel bad for the guy. And surprisingly, this shift in focus wound up being a perfect way to honor Mr. Spock. Penny said it best when she reminded Sheldon that for all Spock’s emphasis on cold logic, he was half-human and susceptible to the ups and downs of emotion just like everyone else. Apparently hanging around Leonard and Sheldon all this time really has rubbed off on her. I’m just glad that, for once, the writers just let Penny own her nerdiness and didn’t tack on some exasperated “I can’t believe how dorky I sound!” follow-up quip.

Newly emboldened by Penny’s pep talk, Sheldon set forth to win Amy’s heart and propose to her at long last. That quest ended the only way it could, with Sheldon seeing Amy coming home with her date and faced with the crushing realization that she’s the one who managed to move forward. It would have been hugely disappointing if this episode had culminated in a rekindling of the Sheldon/Amy romance. I’m glad that this storyline remains a long-term focus for the season.

As for the Wolowitz subplot, it was generally amusing, if a little muddled. Raj was probably the highlight, as nearly every line out of his mouth resulted in Howard getting in deeper trouble with Bernie. And it’s always fun to see Casey Sander stop by to reprise his role as Bernie’s father, Mike. But this storyline left me feeling a little cold with the way it shifted from being about Howard’s reluctance to remodel his childhood home to Bernie’s reluctance to have children. It was an abrupt twist, and as such didn’t really connect on an emotional level. But it’s probably safe to assume that we can expect a pregnancy storyline to crop up at some point before the end of the season. With so much emphasis being placed on the core trinity of Sheldon, Leonard and Penny so far this year, maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.