The Allowance Evaporation

"The Allowance Evaporation" is the sixteenth episode of the tenth season of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on February 16, 2017.

Summary
Sheldon and Amy have their first fight since moving in together and Raj is shocked at the realities of financial independence when he stops receiving support from his father.

Extended Plot
The guys are watching an Euler's Disk spin which demonstrates angular momentum, potential energy and kinetic energy. Raj is trying to hold his breath for as long as the disk spins. As they start to bet on the outcome, the disk stops spinning and Raj wins.

Raj is skyping with his father to tell him that his credit card bill is higher this month. HE bought himself a new iPad after he brought up with a woman he met at the university. (Maria?) That fine to Dr. K since he has given up trying arrange a marriage for his son. Raj is his only unmarried child that isn’t self-sufficient. He also tells his son that women don’t like men who are self-sufficient and too sensitive.

Sheldon and Amy are out on date night where Sheldon is filling up on chips. Amy spots Bert and say hello which she tells Sheldon that that is what you do to people you know that you meet in public places. Sheldon replies that he has multiple restraining orders that say otherwise. Bert is waiting for someone he met on G-Harmony, the dating sight for geologist. “We're all about dating and not the carbon-14 kind"

The Wolowitzes enter apartment 4A with their baby who fell asleep in the ride over. Raj shows up with a crushed velvet baby cape for his godchild. He says that it may have been expensive, but it was his father’s money which is fine since his father seems to have given up on him. At the restaurant, Sheldon is reciting his favorite defunct search engines. Bert shows up to say goodbye since his date was a no-show. HE gets invited to join them.

Back in apartment 4A, Raj tells them that his father doesn’t think he can make a relationship work because he is spoiled. Dr. K pays for his car, rent and credit cards. Penny thinks that she is being judgmental, but she thinks his father is right.

Sheldon starts to describe how he met Amy online with their first date in a coffee shop. Bert envies their relationship other than the fact that they only have sex once a year. Amy is shocked and finds out that the whole university knows. Sheldon is mystified because he only told Leonard, Howard, Raj, Kripke, Professor Klein and the cafeteria lady. Back at home Amy is very mad at Sheldon. Amy finds it humiliating to have her colleagues gossiping about their sex life. Amy leaves slamming the bedroom door.

The Hofstadters feel that Raj can get by on his salary since Leonard and Howard do though Raj has a much more expensive beauty regiment. Raj can’t even tell them home much his rent, food and car expenses are or how much he spends for his house keeper.

Amy comes out can laments that they are having their first fight since moving in together. Sheldon says that by convention, he should sleep on the sofa; however, Amy would fit better. Amy says that she is not sleeping on the sofa and that he doesn’t know what is private and what‘s not. Sheldon points out that she discussed her physical relationship with Penny. Penny is still her close friend and the lady in the cafeteria is not. Bernadette suggested that Stuart could move in with him. No. Raj doesn’t want to move into Howard’s garage. Penny agrees to let him move into Sheldon’s old room for awhile.

Raj groans that he will have to get a cheaper place to live. Penny suggests that he can get free food and free Wi-Fi from his neighbors. Bernadette suggested that Stuart could move in with him. No. Raj doesn’t want to move into Howard’s garage. Penny agrees to let him move into Sheldon’s old room for a while.

Amy fines Sheldon mapping out basic topics of conversation including one labeled Zones of Privacy. Don't Google that unless you want to see pictures of people's genitals. Sheldon agrees to not share details of physical intimacy and bathroom happens. He also has topics that he shares with no one. Amy asks for an example. He got his driver’s license two years ago, but still likes to be chauffeured around. Amy reminds him that she had to get up at $ AM to drive him across the desert to an antique train museum.

Raj calls up his father and tells him that he no longer going to rely on his father’s money. Dr. K thinks that that is wonderful and he is very proud of him.

In the cafeteria, Sheldon announces to everyone that he will no longer be discussing his personal habits with others also mentioning about Amy’s horrible menstrual cramps.

Credits

 * Guest starring:
 * Brian Posehn as Bert Kibbler
 * Brian George as Dr. V. M. Koothrappali
 * Teleplay: Eric Kaplan, Maria Ferrari & Jeremy Howe
 * Story: Steven Molaro, Steve Holland & Jim Reynolds

Critics

 * Caroline Preece at Den of Geek! - Ater a few weeks of underwhelming episodes, The Allowance Evaporation served up a substantial Raj storyline that promises some change for the character moving forward, and Sheldon learns once again that some things are best kept to himself... After learning that his father has more or less given up on his chances of finding a wife, he wonders whether he should become more self-sufficient. This, again, is another part of Raj as a character the show has had a lot of mileage out of, but it’s infinitely more interesting than why women don’t find him attractive...Meanwhile, because apparently we can’t go a week without the focus being on Sheldon and Amy, a chance encounter with a stood-up Bert on date night reveals to Amy that details of their sex life are common knowledge at the university.

Trivia

 * Bert reappears in this episode, his last appearance this season was in "The Geology Elevation".
 * Sheldon and Amy have their annual date night.
 * Sheldon says that this is their first fight since moving in together, even though they have already done so in "The Cohabitation Experimentation" and "The Hot Tub Contamination".
 * Raj using his family's fortune to pay for everything has finally come to light.
 * Raj is the only one in his family who isn't currently married as his father revealed that all of his siblings, including Priya, are married.
 * Amy is shocked when everyone at the university, especially Bert, knows that Sheldon and Amy only have sex once a year. This was a direct result of Sheldon telling a few people, including the cafeteria lunch lady.
 * Sheldon got his driver's license two years ago, but never drove because he likes to be chauffeured around.
 * Penny's freeloading habits resurface in this episode when she takes advantage of Raj's anger, which commonly results in him using his family's money to buy expensive things.
 * Sheldon has several restraining orders aside from the ones he got from Carl Sagan, Leonard Nimoy, Stan Lee, and Bill Nye. This includes one he got from Zachary Quinto. The only celebrities he hasn't got restraining orders from are Levar Burton, James Earl Jones and Stephen Hawking.
 * Sheldon and Bert mentioned their favorite defunct search engines. MSN Search, AltaVista, Ask Jeeves, Infoseek, WebCrawler and HotBot are mentioned. However, out of these six, only two – Infoseek and AltaVista – are actually defunct. MSN Search and Ask Jeeves are actually renamed, respectively to Bing and Ask.com and were working at the time of the show.
 * Barry Kripke is mentioned during the conversation with Bert and Amy.
 * This episode is the shortest running time so far in the series.

Quotes

 * Bert: (to Sheldon and Amy) Other than you two only having sex once a year...(Amy almost spits her drink out)...you're the perfect couple.
 * Amy: (to Bert) You know about that?
 * Bert: Everyone at the university knows.


 * Amy: [after Sheldon invites Bert to join them for dinner] Sheldon, that was so sweet of you.
 * Sheldon: I could deduce by his facial expression and body language that he was sad.
 * Amy: So the part where he got stood up didn't clue you in?
 * Sheldon: You want me to look at him and listen to him?

[first lines]
 * Leonard: Go! [Raj takes a deep breath and holds it]
 * Howard: Come on, Raj.
 * Leonard: You can do this.
 * Sheldon: There's no way.
 * Penny: What is happening?
 * Leonard: This is an Euler's disc. It's a physics toy that demonstrates angular momentum, potential energy and kinetic energy.
 * Penny: Aw, look at you watching sports.
 * Howard: disc can spin.
 * Sheldon: Its weight and smoothness along with the slight concavity of the mirror mean it can spin for a long time.
 * Leonard: But Raj is from India which means he's no slouch at holding his breath.
 * Penny: OK, I want in. Ten bucks says I'll lose interest before that thing stops spinning.
 * Amy: [Amy enters] Hey, Sheldon, I found a great restaurant for date night.
 * Sheldon: Oh, eh, kinda busy right now.
 * Amy: Oh, an Euler's disc; fun.
 * Howard: Yeah, we're seeing if Raj can hold his breath longer than it.
 * Amy: Oh, immature.


 * Raj: And before you start, I am not interested in you arranging a marriage for me.
 * Dr. Koothrappali: Oh, I gave up on that a *long* time ago.
 * Raj: You did?
 * Dr. Koothrappali: It's too much work. You're an adult who can't get by without an allowance from his parents. Women don't want that.
 * Raj: Wha- what are you saying? That you- you're giving up on me? What kind of father gives up on his son?
 * Dr. Koothrappali: I have six children, five of whom are married and self-sufficient. I don't think I'm the problem.
 * Raj: I can't believe what I'm hearing; this is deeply hurtful.
 * Dr. Koothrappali: You're also too sensitive; women don't want that either.


 * Bernadette: When you moved here you didn't have a lot of money; how'd you get by?
 * Penny: Well, sometimes you can get free food and wifi from the neighbors... Just know you might have to marry one of them

[last lines]

[Sheldon has been haranguing the cafeteria]
 * Leonard: What brought that on?
 * Sheldon: Well, last night Amy was angry with me because I've been foolishly telling people about certain personal matters.
 * Howard: That's understandable.
 * Sheldon: Mmh, I know that now. At first, I thought she was cranky because of her horrific menstrual cramps, but... it turns out no, she was genuinely mortified.


 * Raj: [walks in with a Gucci bag] Hello!
 * Penny: Looks like someone went shopping at Gucci.
 * Raj: Yeah, I saw something for Halley, and I just couldn't resist.
 * Bernadette: Aw, that's so sweet of you.
 * Raj: Yeah, it's a crushed velvet baby cape.
 * Howard: Oh, no. Now we have two.
 * Penny: That must have been expensive.
 * Raj: Yeah, it was, but it's my father's money and I'm mad at him.
 * Leonard: What happened beteween you and your dad?
 * Penny: And if you really want to hurt him, I look great in Channel.


 * Amy: The food here's supposed to be great. Don't fill up on chips.
 * Sheldon: Oh I won't. I have a trick. I only eat equilateral triangles. Isosceles, isosceles, scalene... [tears a corner off one chip and eats it]
 * Sheldon: You didn't see that.


 * Sheldon: Why aren't you talking to me?
 * Amy: Because I'm mad at you.
 * Sheldon: Oh. Now I'm sorry I asked.


 * Amy: Oh, look. It's Bert at the bar. We should say hi.
 * Sheldon: Why?
 * Amy: Because that's what you do when you see someone you know in a public place.
 * Sheldon: I have multiple restraining orders that say otherwise.
 * Amy: Sheldon, there's a difference between greeting a friend and following a celebrity to the bathroom.
 * Sheldon: The judge couldn't explain it to me, I don't see how you will.