The Big Bang Theory gets about as political as it’s likely to in “The Tenant Disassociation” when it comes out that Sheldon (Jim Parsons) is the entire tenants’ association for the building.
On Chinese Food Night, Penny (Kaley Cuoco) has the audacity to show up with a hot pastrami sandwich purchased from a food truck parked outside the building. Sheldon, who lives by a strict routine, is undone by her rebellion. Although Amy (Mayim Bialik) makes a solid case for sandwiches having been invented by the Chinese, therefore qualifying Penny’s dinner as a type of Chinese food, ultimately the sandwich throws the whole evening off.
In the days that follow, Sheldon becomes so distracted by the food truck parking outside the building that he complains to the tenants’ association, forcing the truck to park elsewhere. Disappointed, Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny confront him about his complaint, leading unexpectedly to the revelation that he is the tenants’ association.
Finding this out brings up years’ worth of infractions Penny and Leonard have been cited for by the tenants’ association, underscoring the affront of Sheldon having surreptitiously penalized his friends. Leonard decides the only solution is to become the tenants’ association president himself.
Leonard and Penny knock on every door in the building, reinforcing for themselves why they aren’t close to their neighbors. When their efforts to bring in enough votes to oust Sheldon fail, Amy slips them a clue about Sheldon not technically being a tenant because it’s her name on the lease. Unfortunately, Sheldon knows that California state law supersedes this rule and allows him tenancy because he’s lived in the building for more than 30 days.
Sheldon’s deft dodge of their legal maneuvering forces Amy’s hand, and she votes for Leonard to become president. She pleads with Sheldon to see that he’s let the power of the position go to his head, but it’s Leonard’s analogy of Michael Douglas‘s Ant-Man passing his mantle to Paul Rudd that convinces him to come around… to becoming the vocal opposition of the tenants’ association president instead.
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Meanwhile, Howard (Simon Helberg) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) are kicking it in the Wolowitz hot tub when they notice a broken drone in the bushes. Howard fixes it, and the two are busy enjoying their newfound toy when Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) suggests they check its video card to see if they can determine who owns it. The crestfallen opportunists do as she says, and they’re rewarded (or at least Raj is) when they see that an attractive young woman is the owner.
Eagle-eyed Bernie identifies that the woman is wearing a pin from the comic book store in the video, so Howard and Raj ask Stuart (Kevin Sussman) if he can identify her. She’s a former customer who stopped coming in because Stuart is creepy, but he does have her address on his mailing list.
Raj goes to return the drone, and he scores cute Cynthia’s (Megan McGown) phone number as his reward. All would be well, except he and Howard inadvertently recorded themselves playing with the drone, and she’s able to watch a video of Raj daydreaming aloud about making babies with her.
Poor Cynthia. All she wanted was to read comics and play with a drone, and the incessantly creepy antics of Raj and Stuart have ruined both for her– along with adding to both of their ongoing streaks of loneliness. (Note to the writers: it’s time to help these characters grow out of this behavior– it’s just not funny.)
RELATED: Keep up with my Big Bang Theory Season 11 recaps HERE
Best line of the episode-
Leonard (to Penny after Amy leaves them alone): Sometimes you don’t see it because she’s next to Sheldon, but she’s pretty weird.
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