So Help Me Todd – Season 1 Episode 8 “Big Bang Theories” Recap & Review

Big Bang Theories

Episode 8 of So Help Me Todd starts with an explosion in a lab. It is situated on the Organ City College campus. Todd finally has the chance to get his license back but Margaret will not sign off on the forms that will help him do that. She says that he needs to pay his dues first. She goes into her office and consoles a crying Lyle. Susan explains to Todd that Lyle’s niece Angela Brooks has been arrested in connection with the recent explosion.

The police have evidence of Angela entering the campus with a suspicious-looking duffle back. Nicholas Armstrong a scientist in the lab was injured in the explosion. Angela’s explanation to Margaret is that she was merely hanging posters of the protest that an organization she is a part of, Green Circles, was holding against Manticore. Angela also reveals to Margaret that the waste from the lap bleaches into the water supply and is combustible.

Todd and Lyle go to the lab to talk to Armstrong’s partner Potts. He reveals that the duo was working on a solution to dissolve plastic. He says that Green Circles is a terrorist organization and that Angela deserves to go to jail. Rafe is the new leader of the GC. Angela speaks glowingly about him and says that he was the one who asked her to hang those posters. She also says that she saw someone like Rafe running after the explosion that night.

Angela takes her team to a rally of the GC. While making a rousing speech, Margaret Spots Rage chatting with a girl. her name is Saffron. She reveals that Rafe asked her to take up the role of a janitor to get keys and access to the lab. The police recover her bag & find hydrogen peroxide among other things in it. Additionally, Nicolas also collapsed due to his injuries. Angela is arrested by the police.

Margaret goes to Allison when she learns that Nicolas used to volunteer at the hospital. One of the sleeping nurses connects her to Brittany, the volunteer coordinator, who reveals that Nicolas was unhappy lately and did not trust Potts. Todd goes to investigate the symposium that Potts was allegedly at the night of the explosion. He flirts with Bethany, the AV girl, who tells him that Potts was there. But surprisingly, he was flirting with her all night and will not stop texting her.

This comes as a shock to Todd, whom Potts told before that he had a boyfriend. Margaret tries to dismiss it as a bisexual thing but Lyle and Todd feel there is more to it. The former goes to Rafe’s place while Todd goes after Potts. Both of them spot Potts at their locations, deducing that Potts has a twin! Our team is convinced that Potts is behind the murder and to get him to confess, they call both of them into the office.

Todd calls the twin with a compensation case against identity theft, while Margaret calls Potts under the guise that Angela is taking a plea deal. In his hubris, Potts reveals to Margaret that Nicolas was against commercializing their solution. He wanted to give it away for free as he was a noble scientist but Potts saw its potential, which could have fetched him billions in intellectual property.

It is too late when he spots the ruse and the twin ends up saying that he only went to the symposium because Potts told him that he had the flu. Potts confesses and is then arrested by the police. Angela speaks of pursuing environmental law to her uncle Lyle who is supportive. Todd says to Margaret that he will complete the hours and get his license back.

As a thank-you gift, Lyle, Susan, and Margaret get Todd a new, comfy chair for his office, something he has been complaining about for a long time.

The Episode Review

The show is back after a long hiatus and picks up momentum from the previous episode. The environmentally conscious tone was a welcome addition to the gamut of themes, albeit very sparsely, So Help Me Todd has touched in its episodes.

This episode’s storylines had excessive red herrings and the clues were not connected to each other. Angela seeing someone like Rafe running away, Saffron revealing Rafe wanted access to the lab, and Nicolas’ inadvertent injury were mere coincidences rather than part of the larger scheme that is often the case with the show until now.

Episode 8 is a decent comeback after the holidays but we expect more from our Wrights after the last few episodes.