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The Big Bang Theory: “The Psychic Vortex”

I have done enough foolish things in the names of love and lust that I feel silly picking on the characters of this show. Yes, they are stereotypes and yes, the show all too often settles for cheap and easy jokes about geeks and nerds.

But every so often the show clicks and becomes more than that and more often than not, said clicks have to do with the character of Sheldon Cooper, an obsessive-compulsive scientist played by Jim Parsons. Let's face it. Everyone knows at least one person like Sheldon, a guy terminally obsessed with having everything just his way -- and no one else's. And while it is tempting to dismiss Sheldon as just an updated version of Felix Unger, I must also admit to finding him the most interesting character of the show. And that includes the pretty blonde waitress/actress named Penny whom Sheldon's roommate Leonard Hofstadter unsuccessfully pursued in earlier seasons.

Usually I find Sheldon's obsessions humorous but tonight when he chose to educate his Indian friend Rajesh Koothrappali on the Zoot Suit Riots in response to his friend's attempt to get him to go to a local club's rather lame celebration of the Zoot Suit, I actually applauded. It is not often that Sheldon's obsessions actually proved to be more useful than irritating but this was one of them.

I suppose to most viewers, the Zoot Suit Riots were just another trivial aspect of American history and I suppose to some, they are. But when -- like me -- you grow up with Mexican-American relatives who remember the bad old days of the pre-Civil Rights era, you get tired of seeing even the most serious of historical events swept under the rug in the interest of avoiding hurt feelings. I am not arguing that every TV show should attempt to lecture its audience on the darker aspects of American history -- after all, The Big Bang Theory is meant to be a comedy -- but it should not encourage people to ignore history either.

As for the rest of the episode...

Well, it was interesting to see the Howard Wolowitz character -- an obnoxious Jewish-American scientist who usually spends most of his time hitting on women -- actually proving to be more diplomatic than Leonard. Granted, Howard had a selfish motive for his behavior -- he finally found a steady girlfriend who is willing to put up with him and he did not want any philosophical arguments between Leonard and Penny rocking the boat. But it was still rather shocking to see Leonard -- who was usually the most diplomatic male character on the show -- being obnoxious. This time it was about Penny's belief in psychics. Penny was an obvious believer; Leonard was not.

Oh, well. As usual, the best moments on the show revolved around Sheldon Cooper -- which is odd because he was not exactly the most likable character on the show. Then again, perhaps the fact that he didn't even try to be all that likable was what set him apart from the rest of the characters. After all, we all like a challenge.