Tom Beasley reviews the latest episode of The Big Bang Theory’s middling ninth season, in which the boys contemplate criminal activity…
This season of The Big Bang Theory has been variable to say the least. The narrative lifting of the show’s ongoing relationship dramas has meshed awkwardly with the “issue of the week” comedy that has been the bread and butter of the programme since it began. The show once again tried to bring these two aspects of its storytelling together with ‘The Helium Insufficiency’.
Sheldon and Leonard have been working together on a paper for the last season or so. This week, Sheldon learned that a Swedish team of scientists was planning to scoop the boys by running a similar experiment before they did. Determined not to lose their chance at recognition, they attempted to secure the helium they needed from the university. Barry Kripke, however, was unwilling to part with what the department had left, leaving the boys up a creek without their gas. Howard later revealed that he “knew a guy” and put his friends in touch with shady black market dealer Kenny (guest star Michael Rapaport). Meanwhile, Stuart introduced the rest of the cast to a Tinder-like dating app and they encouraged Amy to give it a go.
There was plenty to enjoy in the Sheldon and Leonard segment of this week’s episode. Their interactions with Kenny were excellent, including a memorable semantic debate about the differences between “stalemate” and “impasses”, as well as the true meaning of a Mexican standoff. Rapaport was at his least annoying here as the nicest crook in television history and had solid chemistry with Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki. The story resolved itself a little too neatly in the end, but Sheldon and Leonard’s moral struggled were great fun.
Unfortunately, the other half of ‘The Helium Insufficiency’ was considerably less successful. The Big Bang Theory is at least several years behind the curve in its discussion of dating apps and the simple scenes of the group insulting the faces that appeared were largely unremarkable. This story thread also continued the dehumanisation of Stuart, who is repeatedly being cast as an unoriginal, seedy loner rather than a fully rounded character. The same underuse issue is true of Howard and Raj, who have felt like discarded side characters in this season thus far.
The character of Amy continues to be the major bright spot of this season of The Big Bang Theory. Mayim Bialik’s performance, free of the broad caricature of previous seasons, has been remarkably nuanced and stepped up another gear in ‘The Helium Insufficiency’. The moment in which Amy revealed that she has been dating was at once surprising and entirely logical. Amy has actually always been more in tune with social conventions than Sheldon and so, without his influence, it’s only natural that she would explore the world of dating. It’s refreshing to see Amy get to develop further as a person and, despite the rather varied quality of this season so far, she is the big success story of The Big Bang Theory‘s ninth run.
‘The Helium Insufficiency’ was a decent episode of The Big Bang Theory, helped by a solid guest turn from Michael Rapaport. However, the second half of the episode’s plot was severely undercooked and simply felt like a way to get the rest of the cast on the show, whether there were solid ideas for them or not.
Tom Beasley – Follow me on Twitter for movies, wrestling and jokes about David Cameron.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=Yo85WjqklYY
Originally published October 30, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
