The writers of The Big Bang Theory have struggled with Amy in the past: her dynamic with Sheldon is good, though a little varied, since she seamlessly moves from asexual Sheldon clone to sex-obsessed in the space of a few episodes, but she effectively becomes the Sheldon of the girls' group when the boys aren't around (and even of the boys' group when Sheldon is absent.) Her slight struggle for an identity has been played on rather brilliantly in the past, but there has never been enough friction in her relationship with Sheldon, despite the obvious capacity for the two to clash over intellect and stubbornness (as they did in Amy's first season, leading to a comical break-up.) The latest episode of the show might finally have given Amy her greatest episode, but it will undoubtedly come at a cost, thanks to a potentially catastrophic, and utterly logical reading of Raiders Of The Lost Ark. In the episode, Amy finally sees Sheldon's favourite film - Raiders - and expresses her enjoyment of the film in a typically idiosyncratic exchange:
"It was good. I enjoyed it, but when you told me I was going to be losing my virginity, I didn't think you meant showing me 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' for the first time."
She then confesses her appreciation of the film, aside from the "glaring story problem" that "Indiana Jones plays no role in the outcome of the story. If he weren't in the film, it would turn out exactly the same... If he weren't in the movie, the Nazis would still have found the Arks, taken it to the island, opened it up, and all died, just like they did." Sheldon naturally rejects the analysis, but then seeks revenge by attempting to spoil anything that Amy loves, including Garfield ("Your precious Garfield has no reason to hate Mondays. He's a cat, he doesn't have a job") and Pride & Prejudice (which he proclaims a "flawless masterpiece.") This isn't the first time the Big Bang Theory crew have referenced Raiders, as Season 4 featured an unfortunately aborted attempt to see the extended cut of the film featuring 21 seconds of never-before-seen footage, only to be thwarted by a dastardly Will Wheaton play. But that episode was far more affectionate in its portrayal of the film, even if Sheldon's hysterical devotion to seeing it does now look in retrospect like the perfect foundation for the revelation that his analytical brain somewhat typically doesn't extend to his favourite movies. The most worrying thing of all, and in line with how smartly written the episode was, is that Amy may be completely right. Indiana Jones probably was completely redundant in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, as much as that might hurt fans of the film. First, let's look at the facts...