The Allowance Evaporation Season 10, Episode 16 -  Aired February 16, 2017

The Allowance Evaporation

When Amy finds out that Sheldon has been sharing personal details of their relationship at work, they have their first fight as a cohabiting couple.

Meanwhile, Raj is hurt when his father stops trying to fix him up with somebody, claiming that Raj is too spoiled to be an attractive partner. When his friends help him see how his father has bankrolled his lavish lifestyle, Raj must confront a new financial reality.

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Guest Stars: Brian Posehn as Bert, Brian George as Dr. Koothrappali

Writers: Eric Kaplan (Story), Maria Ferrari (Story), Jeremy Howe (Story), Steven Molaro (Teleplay), Steve Holland (Teleplay), Jim Reynolds (Teleplay)

Director: Mark Cendrowski

Viewers: 13.51 million Households Rating: 9/15 Adults 18-49 Rating: 2.8/11

Available on iTunes

Episode Notes

  • The title refers to Raj choosing to cut himself off from his father's money.

> Sheldon's Knock

Sheldon uses his knock on Apartment 4B's bedroom door when he goes to talk to Amy during their argument about his sharing intimate details of their relationship with other people.

Episode Quotes

Amy: What is this?
Sheldon: I'm mapping basic topics of conversation and with whom they can be discussed.
I call these circles "Zones of Privacy". Don't Google that unless you want to see pictures of people's genitals.

Bert: I met her on G-Harmony. That's a Web site for geologists to find love.
Amy: That's a real thing?
Bert: Yeah. Their slogan is "We're all about dating and not the carbon-14 kind".

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 Wi-Fi from the neighbors. Just know you might have to marry one of 'em.

Sheldon: Two years ago I got my driver's license.
Amy: What? Why didn't you say anything?!
Sheldon: I like being chauffeured around. It makes me feel important.
Amy: So when I got up at 4:00 AM to drive you across the desert to an antique train museum, I didn't have to?
Sheldon: No, you didn't. But keep in mind, I felt extremely important.

Bert: Good question. Let's see. Infoseek, WebCrawler, oh, HotBot.

News Stories

Title Date Posted
1016 'The Allowance Evaporation' Press Release February 13, 2017

CBS has released the synopsis for the next episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Allowance Evaporation", which airs this Thursday, February 16. Brian Posehn reprises his role as Bert, the geologist, while Brian George returns as Raj's father.  Full story

Recap

The guys are in the apartment spinning an Euler’s disk while Raj holds his breath when Penny comes in from the bedroom. The guys are trying to see if Raj can hold his breath longer than it can keep spinning. Amy arrives to tell Sheldon she’s found a great restaurant for date night. Raj manages to hold his breath until the disk stops spinning.

In his apartment, Raj starts a video chat with his father to warn him about an impending credit card bill. Dr. Koothrappali not impressed and admits he’s given up trying to arrange a marriage for Raj, claiming it’s too much work as women don’t want somebody who’s dependent on an allowance from his parents. Raj is insulted that he’s giving up on him, but Dr. Koothrappali points out that five of his six children are married, so he is not the problem.

As Sheldon and Amy look at the menu at the restaurant, Amy warns Sheldon about filling up on chips. When Amy spots Bert the geologist at the bar, she thinks they should go over and say hello. Sheldon doesn’t see why that’s the social convention, but he and Amy go over anyway. After Bert explains that he’s there for dinner with a woman he met on an online dating site, they wish each other a good evening and Sheldon and Amy return to their table.

When Howard and Bernadette sit down with Leonard and Penny in the apartment, they say they would have gone to Howard and Bernadette’s so they wouldn’t have had to bring the baby here. Howard and Bernadette says it’s good to get out of the house. After Raj arrives with a Gucci bag with a gift for Halley, he explains that he’s mad at his dad for basically giving up on him.

Back at the restaurant, Sheldon is talking to Amy about defunct search engines, but unlike Sheldon she doesn’t have a list of ones she misses. When Bert comes over to say he’s going to head home because he’s been stood up, Sheldon insists Bert join them. Amy is proud of Sheldon for being compassionate.

When Raj tells the gang that his father thinks the reason he can’t find a woman is that he’s spoiled, nobody disagrees. Raj doesn’t think he’s spoiled just for his dad helping him out, but after he explains that his dad covers his rent, car and credit cards, the guys tell Raj his dad might be right.

After Bert tells Sheldon his list of missed defunct search engines, Amy tries to change the subject, so Bert asks how they met. Bert admits he envies their relationship, except for the part where they only have sex once a year. Amy is shocked that he knows that and wonders how he found out. Bert says everybody at the university knows, but Sheldon can’t imagine why when he only told a few of his friends, colleagues and cafeteria workers.

As they climb the stairs of the building, Sheldon wants to know why Amy isn’t talking to him. She is mad at him, humiliated by her colleagues gossiping about their sex lives. Amy goes upstairs and slams the door. Meanwhile in Apartment 4A, the guys tell Raj he can get by without his dad’s money; after all they all survive on their salaries. Penny wants to help Raj go over his expenses, but he doesn’t have a clue what his lifestyle actually costs.

Over in Apartment 4B, Sheldon enters to finds Amy about to go to bed. Sheldon stops her to say it’s their first fight as a couple who live together and he doesn’t know the protocol. TV says the man is supposed to sleep on the couch, but Amy is clearly more sofa-sized. When Amy tells him she’s not sleeping on the couch because he doesn’t know what’s private and what’s not, Sheldon says it’s unfair because she’s discussed intimate details about their relationship with Penny. Amy points out that there’s a difference between a close friend and a cafeteria worker.

Back in the apartment, the gang tells Raj it sounds like he’ll need to find a cheaper place to live. After Leonard points out that Howard and Bernadette already let Stuart live with them, he wonders why not Raj too? They explain that they don’t have the space, but Howard mentions that Sheldon’s old room is empty. Penny tells Raj he’s welcome to stay if he needs a place to stay, but Raj says that if he is going to have to take advantage of his friends, he might as well just keep relying on his father.

When Sheldon goes to see Amy in the bedroom, he takes a whiteboard displaying “zones of privacy” that maps out what he can discuss with whom. After Amy tells Sheldon that she appreciates that he worked on this, he apologizes and says he understands there’s some things that are just between them. When Amy asks about a small circle in the middle zone, Sheldon explains that it is reserved for thoughts he doesn’t share with anyone. Amy asks for an example of one of these secrets, so Sheldon admits that he got his driver’s license two years ago without telling her.

In his apartment, Raj video calls his father who is still angry with him. Raj tells Dr. Koothrappali that he’s come to an important decision; he won’t be taking his money any more and will take care of himself. Dr. Koothrappali is delighted, which undercuts Raj’s attempts to tell his father off.

When Raj sits down with Leonard and Howard in the university cafeteria, he has brought his own lunch; one of the many financial changes he’s making to cut costs. After Sheldon arrives, he chides the whole cafeteria for the fact that his relationship with Amy has become water cooler gossip. After Bert joins Sheldon to apologize for the part he played in this, Sheldon unhelpfully announces to the whole room that Bert was stood up.

When Sheldon sits down with the guys, Leonard asks what brought that on. Sheldon explains that Amy was mad at him for sharing intimate details of their relationship. After Howard says that’s understandable, Sheldon says he knows that now. At first he thought Amy was just cranky on a count of PMS, but “No, she was genuinely mortified.”