'Big Bang Theory': Raj gets a girlfriend!

As happy as I was to see Raj Koothrappali finally land himself a girlfriend on this week’s The Big Bang Theory, even if for one episode, I’m a tinge surprised it’s taken his friends over four seasons to realize they needed to fix Raj up with a deaf woman. Well, really they need to get him into some comprehensive therapy for his selective mutism — some hypnotism wouldn’t hurt either. But, still, finding someone who physically can’t hear Raj’s romantic verbal diarrhea seems like a pretty obvious notion to me.

In any event, after last week’s virtually Raj-free episode, it was nice to have the adorably clueless doof back center stage. But it was really nice to see the Big Bang bunch behaving like such a bonded band of buddies. (Whoa.) This was a solid ensemble episode, with moments for each character and actor, especially Simon Helberg’s Howard and Kaley Cuoco’s Penny, as they introduced Penny’s deaf friend Emily (Katie Leclerc) to Raj and Raj proceeded to make a royal fool of himself. And yet Emily still stuck around, because, as Sheldon revealed to Howard, Penny, and Leonard, “the Koothrappalis aren’t just rich. They’re Richie Rich rich.” And how rich is that? “About halfway between Bruce Wayne and Scrooge McDuck.” (Again, I’ve got to ask, they’re only learning this about Raj now?)

So it turned out Emily was a gold digger, and although Raj didn’t care — he happily bought her diamond earrings, paid off her credit cards, and leased her a car — Raj’s parents sure did, and that was that. Ah, I guess it’s just as well. We all know Raj’s only true love is Howard, anyways.

BEST GEEKERY

I would say it was boys’ opening game of Dungeons and Dragons, but that served as merely the inspiration for what really takes the geek crown this week: Sheldon’s resolution to make all of his trivial decisions with a roll of the dice. The results: A dinner made up of a side of corn succotash and a pitcher of margaritas; a perfect pencil mustache that Sheldon needs to consider rocking more often; and a painfully full bladder the dice refused to let him void until he got home from the Cheesecake Factory.

BEST SCIENCE

There really wasn’t any science-y science in this episode, other than perhaps Raj’s understanding of the constellations. Really, though, this exchange between Bernadette and Penny about a suitable woman for Raj deserves the prize:

Bernadette: I met a really cute girl at work. She’s married to a guy in one of our drug trials.

Penny: Well, hello, she’s married.

Bernadette: Yeah, but her husband is in serious congestive heart failure, and a little birdie told me he’s the placebo group!

Which brings me to the…

BEST LINES AND EXCHANGES

Leonard: We enter the dungeon.

Sheldon: You see a dragon.

Howard: Really, so, we’re playing Dungeon’s and Dragons, and we walk into a dungeon, and see a dragon? Isn’t that a little on the nose?

Sheldon: When you play chutes and ladders do you complain about all the chutes and all the ladders?

Raj: I don’t know if I want to play anymore

Sheldon: Because you don’t have a girlfriend? Well, good lord. If that becomes a reason not to play Dungeons and Dragons, this game’s in serious trouble.

Leonard: Deaf women can’t be golddiggers?

Penny: Handicapped people are nice, Leonard. Everyone knows that.

Penny: This girl is trouble! What kind of relationship is it where you buy her gifts and she gives you sex?

Raj: THE BEST ONE I’VE EVER HAD!

Raj: Oh Penny, I hurt so bad… Sometimes I put the TV on mute just to pretend she’s still with me. But I can’t watch the close captioning without crying!

What did you make of “The Wiggly Finger Catalyst,” fellow Big Bang theorists? Will Raj ever find a suitable mate? What do you think the opening conversations about Howard and Bernadette’s progress on their wedding portends for when-or-if it will happen? And either gynecologists in India are very well compensated, or I presume the wealth comes from Ma Koothrappali, no?

Follow Adam on Twitter @adambvary

‘The Big Bang Theory’ epsiode 1 & 2: Raj and Penny resolve their hook-up, and Amy makes another pass at Sheldon

‘Big Bang Theory’: 15 Reasons We Love It