The Big Bang Theory recap: 'The Tenant Disassociation'

It all started with a food truck. The savory aroma of a pastrami sub wafts through the open apartment window, stirring the taste buds of the entire gang. As if on cue, everyone rejects their Friday night dinner in lieu of a hot sandwich. As a result, Sheldon loses his mind. Friday nights are Chinese food nights. Everyone knows this hard and fast rule.

Other than Raj’s new afro-chic hairdo, it’s comforting to know that the Big Bang writers stick with a consistent storyline for the most part. Sheldon’s days-of-the-week eating habits are as rigid as a German train schedule. Remember the time the guys switched to Greek food because of a legal loophole in the roommate agreement? OPAH!

Naturally, Sheldon is going to take issue with the random food truck, but what I didn’t see coming is that as president of the Tenants Association, Sheldon can have the food truck removed with one strongly written letter.

Just as I begin to wonder why we haven’t seen any of these tenant meetings in the last 11 seasons I’ve been following this show, the writers once again come through with a clever detail. Penny and Leonard send an email to the president to complain about their beloved food truck. Then they hear Sheldon’s phone ping. Hello, Mr. President!

Sheldon is the only member of the Tenants Association, and therefore, nominated himself as its sole leader. He conducts all meetings in his head while he takes a shower. Who fined Penny for leaving her clothes in the dryer too long? Who filed a noise complaint against Leonard for singing “Happy Birthday” too loudly? That would be President Cooper.

Penny and Leonard quickly deduce that Sheldon can easily be voted out. An emergency meeting is called and the Hofstadters give Sheldon the boot. Unfortunately, another tenant is in the room and can vote in favor of the president to maintain his office. That would be Amy. Will she choose her fiancé or her best friend?

Sheldon offers that Amy can join him in the shower the next time he has a tenant meeting. Without skipping a beat, the votes are officially tied. No one can really blame Amy for hitching herself to that particular wagon.

Amy feels bad and sneaks across the hall to suggest to Penny and Leonard that they find another tenant who will vote against Sheldon. No such luck. Although we only spend a few seconds with other building neighbors, it was fun to see the collection of wacky individuals living next to, well, equally wacky individuals.

At dinner that night, Leonard and Penny waltz into Sheldon’s apartment with a stack of paperwork. It seems that Amy’s name is on the lease, not Dr. Cooper. Whoopsie! Someone isn’t really a tenant and is going to have to step down as Building Dictator.

Loving a legal technicality, Sheldon is ready to fight by whipping out a provision of the California law from his back pocket. Amy steps in to encourage him to pass the baton to Leonard. To paraphrase Spider-Man, “With minimal power comes minimal responsibility.”

Sheldon isn’t having it. He waves Amy away with one swift motion. Then Leonard steps in to give an example using Ant Man, and Sheldon is totally on board with this superhero example. Clearly, paraphrasing a comic book character is sacrilege. I get it. Plus, Paul Rudd will trump any variation of Spider-Man always. Tom Holland is adorable, but Rudd can do no wrong in my book. Get your head in the game, Amy.

Sheldon is a happy man. He glows in his newfound freedom to criticize everything the new president is going to do. He will be the vocal opposition of the building.

So close, Leonard. So close.

Meanwhile, while lounging together in the hot tub, Raj and Howard spot a drone that has crashed in the yard. Howard engineers it to life again and Bernadette suggests they check the video card to see if they can figure out who owns the tricked out piece of technology.

Howard manages to pull up a picture of a darling girl and Raj immediately falls in love. Let the record show that I fully support this decision and have been waiting for a solid romantic storyline for Raj. Bernadette notices that the girl is wearing a pin from the comic book store. I find this odd that Bernie would know that kind of merchandise, but I’m willing to suspend reality for the sake of love.

Stuart confirms the girl’s name is Cynthia and that she used to be a customer before he freaked her out. The good news is that he has her contact information. Raj rushes the drone to her house and receives her digits as a thank you for returning her property. He celebrates his future wife with Howard and I celebrate the future romance.

I didn’t anticipate Cynthia watching the video of Raj and Howard. Instead of footage of them chilling in the hot tub together like weirdos, there’s Raj telling Howard that he can’t wait to start making babies with his mystery girl. Like a weirdo.

So close, Raj. So close.

Theoretical Laughter

Raj: You’re like Grey’s Anatomy for robots. Also, why isn’t that a show?

Bernadette: Aren’t you worried there’s some kid out there missing his drone?
Raj: Oh, please. This is not a children’s toy. This thing’s got an HD camera on it.
Bernadette: Aren’t you worried that there’s some rich peeping tom out there missing his drone?