The Big Bang Theory – “The Precious Fragmentation” – review

On their way to pick up some takeout food, the guys are waylaid by a garage sale. In a $60 box of memorabilia, they find what they believe to be an actual prop ring stolen from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies. They spend the episode fighting over possession of the ring.

This episode was similar to Season 1′s “The Nerdvana Annihilation,” in which Leonard spends $800 on eBay for what he believes is a miniature time machine prop from the 1960 movie The Time Machine. In that episode, the guys agreed to pool their money and share ownership of the actually-full-size time machine. They couldn’t do the same here with only one ring.

My favorite part of this episode was the physical comedy. The guys decided the last person holding the ring would be its owner but then all refused to let go of the ring. They apparently drove from the university to Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment in a tangle. Penny managed to lure Leonard away with some sexy lingerie, and Sheldon tried to make Raj and Howard want to pee in order to claim the ring for himself. He only succeeded in making them all want to pee, and they ambled into the bathroom together. I’ve often seen this kind of physical comedy with two characters accidentally handcuffed together, but never with three or four characters.

Finally, Leonard told Sheldon, Howard, and Raj that he mailed the ring to Peter Jackson’s office in New Zealand. This fit his character as the most grounded one of the group, but I liked that he lied and tried to keep the ring for himself.

I regret that Penny had a relatively small role in the episode. I didn’t expect her to infuse the ring with power and value like the guys did, but if she were attracted to the ring at all, she could have been a part of the physical comedy. Five people trying to move in tandem, anyone? I also would have liked to see Penny say something recalling the time machine episode: “C’mon, Leonard. This is like when you bought that stupid time machine on eBay.” It would have been a nice nod to the series’ continuity.

In fact, I wish Big Bang were more committed to continuity. Without continuity, each episode is less significant. In this episode, as Leonard and Sheldon fought over the ring, Penny said, “I gotta go back to dating dumb guys from the gym.” That could be a telling line for the future, or it could be a throwaway line. Without knowing which, I can only say this was a funny episode. I don’t know if it will take on more meaning in the future.