THE BIG BANG THEORY Tests The Wiggly Finger Catalyst

Feeling sorry for Raj, whose extreme shyness prevents him from talking to women unless drunk, Penny matches him up with Emily (Katie Leclerc), her friend from spin class. Meanwhile, Sheldon decides to make all trivial decisions using a pair of ten-sided Dungeons & Dragons dice.

“The Wiggly Finger Catalyst” was a good blend of current and classic Big Bang. Though the show has come to focus on relationships–Leonard, Howard, and Sheldon currently have girlfriends–Raj remains single, allowing the show to revisit its lonely geek fun elements occassionally.

Descriptions of the episode hinted that Raj would be able to communicate with Emily, and he was. The twist was Emily was deaf, meaning Howard had to help Raj and the others communicate using sign language. This went fairly well on Raj’s first date, and he continued to see Emily every night for the next month, lavishing her with expensive gifts, leasing her a car, paying off her credit cards.

From past episodes, we know Raj had servants growing up in India. In this episode, thanks to a fortunate roll of the dice, Sheldon revealed that Raj’s parents were richer than anyone had thought. I was somewhat disappointed to see this change the friends’ opinions of Raj. Leonard left the room in hopes of cozying up to Priya. Penny remarked that Raj seemed cuter now that she knew he was rich. I’ve seen many sitcom characters react this way, and I would have liked to think Big Bang‘s characters were different. After all, they have probably broken many “nerd” stereotypes. There was no reason they should react in the typical way to hearing a friend is wealthy. This very episode broke the stereotype that handicapped people wouldn’t take advantage of others’ generosity.

In any case, Raj didn’t heed Penny’s concerns that Emily was a gold-digger. Finally, Raj’s parents threatened to cut him off unless he dated “a nice Indian girl from a good family”. Raj said he was prepared to give up money for love, but I’m not sure he was. Emily certainly wasn’t; she broke up with him.

After the break-up, Raj confided in Penny in a way he wouldn’t have before their night together in last season’s finale. That night could have been very divisive, but instead it has made Penny and Raj better friends. Well done, writers.

Meanwhile, I confess I’ve always wondered what it would be like to make real-world decisions with dice rolls. It worked surprising well for Sheldon and made a good running gag for the episode.

In a review last season, I mentioned hoping Raj would meet someone with whom he could genuinely communicate. With the other regulars in relationships, Raj seems left out in some episodes. If all the main characters had relationships or had been in relationships with each other, the show might lose the geek appeal that essentially distinguishes it from other sitcoms. On the other hand, I don’t want to see Raj lag behind the other characters.