Eliza Dushku causes panic among the geeks, but for very different reasons for each of them...

"The Apology Insufficiency"

There's an old perversion of an otherwise-comforting homily that reads: A friend in need is a pain in the ass. And it's just Howard's luck that he needs his motley assembly of geek friends to vouch for him to the FBI in order to get security clearance for a huge space project that will advance his career.

There are a number of obstacles to this. The first is Raj's inability to talk to beautiful women when sober, a condition severely aggravated when badge-touting Fed Eliza Dushku interrupts his reading of New Moon in order to get some background info on Howard. Luckily there's some rum cake left to get India's nuttiest export talking. Well, babbling, as Raj indulges his complete paranoia about being sent back to India on the slightest pretext. This appointment is said to have ended with Raj depositing the half-digested cake on Dushku's shoes. So all in all, not a great start.

Next up is Leonard, whose resolution to be confident and outgoing with women he's attracted to is put to the test early and, well, big-time. But he gives it a shot anyway, his pick-up lines abruptly terminated as he creeps back into mouse-mode at the mention of the beautiful agent's six-foot two Navy Seal husband. But at least he doesn't throw up on her, to the best of our knowledge.

Finally it seems that motor-mouth Sheldon is going to do no damage whatsoever to Howard's credibility, as he reels off an endless string of petty personal grievances from the previous six years. Trouble is, he throws into the mix that time that Howard crashed the Mars Rover whilst trying to impress a girl. Oops.

Howard's out of the new space project, obviously, and pissed as hell at Sheldon when he finally admits it. Amazed not to be offered instant forgiveness, despite his failed efforts to undo the damage, Sheldon's haunted by dreams which feature the Gorn from Star Trek TOS. Our Ice-Man is amazed to find that he does have a conscience, and some social responsibility that doesn't need to be Googled for him to understand it. And it's keeping him up nights.

There follows a scene at Penny's bar which stands out in this episode as a perfunctory attempt  to let us know that Kaley Cuoco is getting better, and almost entirely back on board Big Bang Theory (check out Chuck Lorre's info-burst of new rules for BBT cast at the end), but at least quite graphically demonstrates that Sheldon is never going to be any use in a drinking game.

Sheldon's final solution is drastic enough to be impressive to the geeks and viewers alike - he gives Howard his fiercely-protected spot on the couch, symbolically handing over the actual cushion itself in a Comic-Con bag.

The final scene we can guess, moved as we have been by this gesture: our hero lasts exactly 94 seconds before ousting Howard from the precious spot on the couch. But at least he tried...

This was another good episode in a season that is turning out to be possibly the best ever for Big Bang Theory. Everyone is finally getting a look-in, and since all the characters are worth exploring, that's a policy that's working out beautifully. Shame poor old Kaley missed out on so much of this, but then she did dominate the previous two seasons, and hopefully will re-integrate into the show on the same democratic note that is working so well for season four.

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