The Letter In The Closet

Big Bang Theory, S06E19

Howard and Bernadette threw a dinner party, and they let Sheldon organize their cluttered closet after he insulted Bernadette by bringing his own food.  Howard got upset when Sheldon found a letter from his dad and read it, and he was troubled by what it said, but couldn't bring himself to read it.  All of his friends eventually convinced Sheldon to tell them what was written without Howard's knowledge.

I think considering that Sheldon is a horrible dinner guest (or maybe just any kind of guest), leaving him occupied in their closet for some hours contributed to the best dinner party they could have thrown.  I mean, Bernadette has some kind of willpower not snapping at someone who would dare bring takeout to a party when she was cooking all day for that person's sake.  I would have grabbed his food and thrown it straight into the trash.  Or coughed on it.  Anything to spoil the dinner he thoughtlessly brought into their home.  Since he was doing an indirectly nice thing (he certainly wasn't doing it out the goodness of his heart) by making their closet tidy, I could better forget that Sheldon made an ass out of himself within less than a minute of arriving at Howard and Bernadette's.

I like that they brought up the issue about Howard's father abandoning him.  His mother is so overpowering that I never stop to think about his other absent parent.  I don't consider what kind of impact growing up without a father might have had on Howard.  There wasn't much light shed on this, but we did find out that Howard has been holding onto a letter from his father for years.  Hearing that he never got the courage to open it up after all this time really made me want to find out what his father's last words were to him.

I didn't like that Sheldon had read the letter, but I was surprised that he didn't immediately give away the information when Penny first asked him.  I guess he has some standards, even if he can easily be talked out of them.  I just feel like that was such a huge violation of privacy, and if it were Sheldon, he wouldn't have wanted anyone else to know what he didn't know.  I wish Sheldon could have put himself in Howard's shoes (a huge impossibility).

Although everyone seemed pretty terrible for learning what the letter said behind Howard's back, I loved the way that they made up for it.  It was really touching how they all said some heartfelt scenarios of what the letter could have possibly said.  I mean, except for Sheldon who was dumb enough to think that telling him it was a map from the movie Goonies was going to fool him.  Hopefully he just thinks Howard is that dumb and Sheldon isn't that dumb himself.  Regardless, it was really sweet of them all to give him those possibilities of great things his father could have said in the letter and let him have a bit of peace about it.

I also liked some lines from this story.  This was when Amy was explaining how Sheldon's behavior was normal, and it was what made him likeable:

His quirks just make you love him more.  [Silence]  Someone please agree with me.

The way everyone just exchanged glances silently really made me laugh.  It's a little sad that Amy needs to have validation from her friends about her boyfriend.  She may love him, but she's not blind to his shortcomings.

Speaking of those, he is such an asshole for throwing Amy in front of him when Howard came after him.  I doubt that Howard was going to break a bottle over his head or something, but for Sheldon's first instinct to be throwing his girlfriend in front of himself is such a cowardly move.  I wish if he were going to be the type of person that infuriates people as he does that he would back that up by having the balls to at least defend himself.  I also would have loved to see Amy grab his arm and flip him over her shoulder so Sheldon was in the front again (and possibly a little hurt).  That would have made me laugh.

One last thing, when Penny's closet was getting organized, I knew that Sheldon was going to find a vibrator.  I mean, the dead goldfish he pulled out was a greater surprise to me because I really thought the first thing he'd reveal was a sex aid.  It would have been a much bigger shock if he had found anything else peculiar (like a picture of her winning a science fair).

I liked this episode, mainly because Sheldon was kept busy with his obsession to organize.  I feel like they should always throw a box of unsorted buttons in front of him any time he starts talking or acting like a nuisance.  It would be the perfect way to handle him.  However, I would hate to leave him alone with any of my secrets because it doesn't take much for him to find a logical reason as to why he can share the information with other people.  Although Howard's friend violated his trust by finding out what the letter had said, they redeemed themselves well by giving Howard hope that his father left him a really wonderful message.  This group may be pretty nosy and terrible at keeping secrets, but I give them a lot of credit for supporting their friends when they're have a rough time.

Girls Want To Be Cinderella, Not Scientists

Big Bang Theory, S06E18

After deciding that if their committee wanted to encourage more women in the sciences, they should start at the middle school level, Leonard, Sheldon, and Howard visited Howard's old school to speak to a group of girls about their jobs and the allure of science.  Penny, Amy, and Bernadette got the idea to play hookie and go to Disneyworld while they were helping Raj decide what he should do for his first date with Lucy.  With little help from his girl friends, Raj planned a text date in the library for himself and Lucy.

From the moment that I heard what their committee was about, I didn't feel like the three of them would do a great job in acheiving their goal.  I'm sure that Leonard felt that it was a worthwhile cause, but Howard and Sheldon could have cared less.  As Leonard had suggested, it looked a whole lot like a typical forced group work: one person does all the work, while the others just slack off.  Also, I don't feel like these guys are the best people to get girls interested in science.  They should have had at least had one woman in their group to give the female perspective on the problem at hand.  It made me wonder why it took until nearly the end of the story before the scientist girlfriend and wife were consulted with their points of view.

It's hard to say which one of them bombed the biggest at the middle school.  I suppose it's a toss up between Leonard and Sheldon.  Leonard tried too hard to be cool, making himself look even lamer, and went off on a tangent about how his parents pushed him into science (and the cello) and how he wanted to be a police-friendly version of Snoop Dog.  Actually, without even bringing up Sheldon, I would say that Leonard was the one who discouraged the girls best from science with all of his whining.  Sheldon was a little graphic and certainly grim about the one female scientist he brought up as an example, but at least his incompetent presentation was short and sweet.  Plus, he redeemed himself when he put an end to Leonard's bitching and acknowledged that the girls present there were being done a disservice by them.  I loved when the girls clapped at him then.  Then Sheldon finally got Amy and Bernadette on the phone, so at least he did a little damage control.  Leonard just looked like science was the reason why he needs a lot of therapy (that and his overbearing parents).

One other part I enjoyed was when Sheldon thought he should Google how to get 12 year-old girls excited and Howard and Leonard ran over to stop him.  Wow, I don't know how that would have ended if they had simply let him do that.  Sheldon might have thrown his computer into a wall after seeing those results.

It was sort of cute that the girls all decided to play hookie together, especially since their destination was Disneyland.  I thought we might see them go on some rides or eat some crazy junk food, but instead it turned into a bit of a battle for the right to be dressed as Cinderella.  Not too surprising that Bernadette, who had suggested the Disney princess makeover in the first place, made it entirely clear that she was going to be Cinderella and the other girls would have to physically fight her if they didn't agree.  I like when Bernadette gets aggressive like that.  She has that look and sound of someone sweet and gentle, but get in her way and she'll come at you like a poisonous snake.

I thought that Amy's Snow White looked the best.  I would have never guessed.  I mean, Bernadette did make a wonderful Cinderella, but it was sort of like a no-brainer choice for her.  I don't think I could have seen her as any other princess.  Penny's Sleeping Beauty (I guess) looked a little rough.  I don't know if it was because Penny was so unhappy she couldn't be the princess she wanted or if they just did her makeover a little less special.  I don't know, but I didn't think she should have went home in that outfit.

I liked Howard's reaction to Bernadette coming home in the Cinderella getup.  It's amazing that he was already fantasizing about her being dolled up so before he even saw her.  He must have really been giving a lot of thought of her day at Disneyland because who would have guessed she'd come home looking like that?  Never underestimate Howard's dirty mind, I guess.  Leonard was about as  excited to see Penny as a princess, but Penny wasn't as into it as he was.  Sadly for Amy, who looked pretty good lying so still on the couch, Sheldon had no intention of fulfilling her fantasy of being awoken by her prince.  I would pay to see Sheldon (especially if he had to dress in a puffy prince costume) bend down and give Amy an overly romantic kiss like in that story.  Maybe if he was drunk that could be possible.

Raj did a great job on his first date with Lucy.  I didn't know how he was going to find something for them to do that wouldn't be too social nor involve too much talking.  A text date in the library was as cute as it was creative.  My favorite part of their texting was the auto-correcting.  Lucy had mistakenly written "porn" instead of "prom," but Raj was smart enough not to confess how often he visits porn sites. He dodged that well.  He was also lucky that when he was gushing about how proms were like fairytales come to life, Lucy let it slide as another auto-correct for him.  Nice save, Raj.

The kiss that almost happened between them was another good moment.  I was hopeful that Lucy would be able to go through with it, but it was more amusing to hear her yell about a panic attack and leave Raj hanging.  And while Raj didn't get a kiss on their first date, he still managed to be upbeat about it all.  I think for him and Lucy that was about as perfect of a first date as they could have.

I liked this episode.  Leonard and his "excited" committee did a poor job of encouraging young girls to pursue the same career, but it was a bit fun to see them interact with kids and do the opposite of what they intended to do.  I think it would have been much more successful if they had incorporated Amy and Bernadette from the beginning.  The girls' transformation into Disney princesses was pretty great, except Penny who looked like she had been kidnapped and forced to participate.  Although Amy's costume looked the best to me, she had the worst ending with her targeted prince.  There was a happy ending for Raj, however, who almost got a kiss after executing an excellent date for himself and Lucy.  Finally it looks like Raj is going to stop being the butt of every joke when it comes to romance.

Lucy Don't Play Raj Like That

Big Bang Theory, S06E17

 Raj's coffee date with the girl he met at the Valentine's party bailed on him while pretending to go to the bathroom.  Raj locked himself in his apartment, drowing in his own sorrow, and refused to leave until Howard brought him the girl's number that she had handed him.  Sheldon took Amy's advice to compliment Penny on her acting advice for his flag show and reluctantly tried to obey social rules by going to see her play.

I tried to keep an open mind about the girl (I guess her name is Lucy?) that ran out on Raj.  She did come to a party for lonely people at a comic book store--there was no way that she was expecting some kind of perfect guy to be there.  I started to lose hope that her reason for leaving Raj wasn't purely on her own part and not Raj's when he spent much longer holed up at home than I would have liked.  By the time Raj called her and got an explantation from Lucy, I was more than peeved that it took her so long.  I mean, if Raj had any kind of dignity, he would have already written her off.  Lucky for her that Raj is just as messed up as she is, so she still had a chance.  Still, I don't like that she made Raj feel so bad for so long.  She better be worth all the trouble.

The reason I'm not so quick to love Lucy is that we got to see how miserable Raj was due to her actions.  He was sitting around in a soiled shirt with his hair all messy, looking as sad as can be.  Then he improved upon that pathetic look by enjoying lobster in nothing more than  a bib and his underwear.  I sort of understand how Howard felt like Raj had ruined eating lobster for him.  That's not an attractive look for eating, nor is it a sight you want to be seen running down a public street (I'd pretend to not know Raj in that case).

Lucy and Raj do seem to have the potential for a perfect match because their inability to interact with people brings them such discomfort that they become dysfunctional.  Raj becomes mute in front of women he doesn't know, and Lucy apparently runs off into the night when she's just had too much human contact for the day.  Hopefully their flaws won't cancel each other out, though.  This is about as close as Raj has gotten to a real girlfriend in a long time.

I've sort of forgotten that Penny does acting at all because she seemed like she had given it up and admitted that she hasn't had much luck finding parts, but comparing her acting to Sheldon's on his show made Penny not seem like the worst actress around.  I thought the way that Sheldon executed her advice was hilarious.  He even looked like he was going to make the moves on Penny with the way he was sitting next to her, all "relaxed" and such.  I sort of wonder how his viewers thought about all of his over the top body language.  Well, the real imporatant thing was that Sheldon valued her input, instead of acting like the expert on all things in the world.  Even a praise that Amy initiated in him was still  pleasing to hear from Sheldon's mouth.

I probably would have felt the same way as Sheldon did when Penny invited him to her play, but it was still pretty rude that he shot her down like that when she was trying to engage him in friendly gesture.  It's hard for Sheldon to understand doing things for other people that's not based on obligation or personal gain.  I don't think we will see the day when he will understand all these "confusing" rules.  I did like that these concepts frustrated him.  Just for that, it was worth Amy telling him what to do and Penny ordering him to come to her play in the end.  I didn't expect Sheldon to more than show up and complain, though.

The most surprising part was that Penny was really good in her play.  For even Sheldon to admit that she was good at what she was doing really showed that.  I guess all those acting classes she has been taking have paid off.  She might have a real shot at something real in the future.  Hopefully that was the point of bringing up Penny's acting in the first place.  If this was just part of teaching Sheldon about praising his friends and accepting invitations after being helped, then they could have done it another way.  Now I'm expecting to see more about Penny's acting since she wowed everyone.

I liked this episode, even though it sort of tricked you into thinking that it was another typical "Raj is a loser" type of story.  I've seen quite enough of those, and I'm ready for Lucy to start something significant with Raj.  They seem to have some similarities, so if that's not enough for Raj to get a girlfriend, I don't know what kind of hope he has.  Maybe Sheldon has hope of one day knowing the next socially acceptable move when dealing with a friend without Amy or someone else having to tell him.  He's definitely learning, but it's obvious that he's got a low tolerance for all of the "rules" that he has to abide by.  Penny was surprising good in her role on the stage, making me wonder if we'll address her acting career again.  I haven't been thinking about it previously , but seeing her perform so well, there's no way I can't be a little curious as to where her talent might take her.

The Perfect Valentine's Night

Big Bang Theory, S06E16

Leonard and Penny went out to dinner to have a romantic night together, but their nice time was ruined when Penny caught sight of her ex with the girl he cheated on Penny with.  Bernadette and Howard did their share of making the night less special by bickering about laundry and video games.  Sheldon tasked Alex with finding a present for Amy, but the best of Alex's selections was the one that Sheldon wanted to keep for himself.  Raj and Stuart threw a party at the comic book store for people without dates for Valentine's.

Leonard's promise that he would be throwing romance at Penny like a ninja sounded more like a promise for their dinner to be a disaster.  Luckily, it wasn't too bad.  I thought it might have been more intimate if they hadn't invited Howard and Bernadette, but at least they made up in the end.  All Penny had to do was focus on her own happiness instead of what was going on with a guy that she had been with in the past.  Seeing two cheaters get engaged in front of her had to be irritating, but I think the more logical response to that would have been to gaze into Leonard's eyes and remember how damn lucky she was to have someone who wouldn't cheat on her and loved her deeply.

However, I realized later that Penny was acting crazy because she was just worried that one day she might be where her ex and that girl are.  I liked that we got to hear Penny admit how much of a commitment-phobe she is.  We've all known that, but Penny likes to act like it isn't so.  That's one of the things that I dislike most about her, no matter what the reason is she's that way.  The best thing is that Leonard took some of the pressure off her and told her that he wouldn't propose to her again (I think any woman would be bothered that he proposes so often) and put the ball completely in her court.  That moved their relationship forward in a way I wouldn't have predicted.  Penny is at least open to the idea of marrying Leonard one day, but she just has to get over her fear.  However, I'm not really waiting for the day she gets there.

What I liked about Howard and Bernadette arguing was that Bernadette had put Howard's Xbox in the washing machine.  If only he had done as she asked and done the laundry, he would have already gotten back to his game.  She's really damn smart.  It's too bad that Howard couldn't have quelled her anger a bit by showing her the thoughtful micro-Valentine he had made for her.  She might have forgiven his gaming addiction if she saw all the effort he had put into making her a gift.  Oh, well.   It wasn't meant to be.

I felt angry at Sheldon that he wouldn't even bother to try and find a gift for Amy.  Surely, he knows her well enough to know what she likes.  After all, he was quick enough to nix Alex's suggestions, as if he knew whether they would be successful gifts or not.  If he has that much of an opinion, he should have went shopping himself--he's not that damn busy.  I was even more pissed, but not at all surprised, when he took the best of the gifts for himself.  Wow.  He keeps improving on the ways he can be a bad boyfriend.  However, he redeemed himself when he made Amy his emergency contact.  Other people might have thought that was a lousy and lazy gift, but Amy loved it, so it was perfect.  And Amy's gift to him of not doing Valentine's traditions in the first place was perfect for Sheldon.  She's such a good girlfriend.  He really wouldn't be able to function if she was ever out of his life.

I don't have much to say about Raj, except that I hope that the girl he invited to coffee ends up being a reoccurring character.  It would mark the first time in a while (or ever?) that Raj was dating someone, even if casually.  I mean, I don't have to see Raj in a super-serious thing, but it would be nice to see him go on a few dates before he gets kicked to the curb.  Can't take any more of him sorta wishing that Stuart was a girl so all of his problems would be solved.  I've said it before, but he can do better than him.

This episode was okay, but it was a lot more frustrating than it was funny.  Penny was getting on my nerves with her resolve to ruin the romantic night Leonard had planned, but she smoothed things over by admitting her problems with committing to Leonard.  Sheldon, too, was being his usual bad boyfriend self by not making enough effort to get Amy a gift, but he also made himself look better when he got Amy the perfect present in the end.  Raj, hopefully, has started something with a girl that isn't too intimidating for him.  Raj doesn't have to get married this season, but he better damn well upgrade from making Stuart his romantic substitute.

Spoiler Alert: They Don't Want You To Move In

Big Bang Theory, S06E15

Leonard got fed up with the way Sheldon treats him and blindsided Penny with the proposal that they should move in together.  Sheldon also was surprised when Amy suggested she take Leonard's place.  Neither Penny nor Sheldon knew how to explain to their partners that they didn't want them to move in.  Howard asked Raj to check in on his mother, and Raj unknowingly began to fall into Mrs. Wolowitz's scheme to keep Raj there forever.

I wanted to clap when Leonard took a stand against Sheldon and threw that damn roommate agreement into the trashcan.  It is a little extreme to move out because someone ruined a book for you (as infuriating as that would be), but I think Leonard was validated because Sheldon feels it's all right to call him womanly because he drinks too much soy milk.  The bottom line is that Sheldon doesn't have much respect for Leonard, and someone who didn't care for Sheldon as much as Leonard does would have left or murdered Sheldon a long time ago.  I liked when he called Sheldon a "crazy bastard," but that victory was bittersweet because Sheldon threw another Harry Potter spoiler at him.

I knew that Penny wouldn't leap at the idea of moving in with Leonard, but I still wished that she could warm up to the idea.  It wasn't fair of Leonard to sort of force his way into her apartment like he did, but then again, there wasn't a real reason for her not to want to move in with him.  It's not as if she has any moral objections with Leonard living under her roof--it's definitely an intimacy issue.  Penny obviously doesn't want to do anything that suggests that she's moving forward with her relationship with Leonard.  And why would she?  It's taken her forever to tell him that she loves him!  Moving in would probably take another five years.

What I didn't know was that Sheldon would react just like Penny when Amy suggested that she would be his perfect roommate.  I absolutely loved how tongue-tied he was when Amy presented him a sound argument why there was no reason she shouldn't be able to satisfy his needs as a roommate.  She is such a blessing to this show.  Without her, I don't know if Sheldon would as quickly realized that he needed Leonard as his roommate.

Things got even better when Sheldon just couldn't take it anymore and told Amy that they couldn't live together.  Thanks to Sheldon not coming up with a good enough reason, Amy snapped at him.  I loved her telling him, "What the hell, Sheldon?!"  Her going off on him was overdue, for sure.  I haven't even realized that it's been two years.  Two years listening to his restrictions like no lip gloss.  Her catering to his every whim and then getting the treatment like her presence isn't appreciated is so wrong.  But it is Sheldon and you can't expect him to love the idea of living with his girlfriend.  Took him long enough to even embrace the idea of dating someone.

My favorite line came when all the lies surfaced and Sheldon (like the bastard he is) tried to blame his problems on someone else, but Penny wasn't letting it go down like that.  I loved when Amy found out that Sheldon just didn't want to live with her at all and tried to make Penny his scapegoat:

[Amy] You're a coward.

[Sheldon] Well, the evidence does support that.

Even in the end, Sheldon could not come up with an agrument to make himself not look like an asshole.  Great ending.  I would have liked to see Sheldon and Amy living together, but not so much that I'd want to see Leonard and Penny doing so.  Penny would probably break up with Leonard again if they did.

The only thing I can say about Raj's story is that I feel bad that he ended up trapped by Howard's mom.  On the other hand, I was sort of expecting that Raj might end up sleeping with Howard's mom because they're both lonely, single people.  I guess it's good that didn't happen.  It was much funnier to see him in a sort of Misery type situation, which Howard just shrugged his shoulders at.  I liked when Raj wondered how Howard doesn't slip out of his bed with silk pajamas and satin sheets.  Besides that, I only wonder if Raj will still be fighting to escape through windows and such in the next episode.  Poor Raj.  He can't get a girlfriend, but he can be forced to be someone's replacement son.

I really liked this episode.  Leonard fought back against Sheldon, even though it led him to see that Penny didn't really want to take their relationship to the next level.  The best part, of course, was that Sheldon got to live with Amy for a second.  That gave Amy the wonderful opportunity to come down on the way that Sheldon treats her as well.  There's nothing like seeing Sheldon being totally in the wrong to the point he is pretty speechless.  Raj, as desperate as he may seem for companionship, doesn't quite deserve to be held captive by someone's mother.  He better be out of that predicament come next Thursday.

Christmas Baby Woes

Happy Endings, S03E07

The gang found out that Jane was really born on Christmas and tried to celebrate her birthday without letting Christmas sneak in.  Dave tried to help Penny give Pete the perfect gift and failed to see the sentiment of Pete's gift for her.

Everyone would have been able to pull off the no-Christmas birthday party for Jane if it wasn't for Max and Alex.  I wasn't too surprised that Max was unable to stay away from something he loves to consume--that's like telling a fish not to swim.  Alex's fetish with unwrapping gifts, though, was so out there and a little creepy.  But she is very childlike, so it's not uncharacteristic of her to enjoy the process of opening presents.  Still, I wish she could have shown a little restraint.  Max was a lost cause, but if he wasn't and hadn't had that "back nog" on him, Alex would have stabbed him in the spine!  Then it would just be blood spraying all over the place.  Somehow, though, for Jane being a Christmas baby, I'm sure she would have preferred that.

I really identified with Jane's problem.  I have a birthday in what I call the "Christmas Radius" where any date that falls within it gets swept under the carpet by Christmas (and sometimes New Year's as well).  If you've never had a gift that seemed to just be an unimpressive extension of a Christmas gift, then you can't really relate.  It is a little sad when you feel like the one day you are allowed to make it a little about yourself is ignored or made light of.  Because of this, I thought Jane's idea to tell people her birthday was a completely different date was a pretty damn good idea.  People aren't going to remember the real date anyway, so what's the harm in that?

One thing that I thought was interesting in that story was Jane macing all of her friends.  She had just woken up from bed and was still in a robe, yet she had two bottles of it ready to go.  I know she doesn't like surprises and is always prepared, but damn!  I couldn't imagine carrying mace in my own house at the crack of dawn.  If she's that worried that a robber or rapist might be waiting for her on the way to the kitchen, she should invest in a security system.

I sort of wish that Dave's claim to "gift whisperer" was nothing more than hot air from him (as usual) and his gift for Pete had been a bust.  But it turned out to be just right.  Ugh.  Nothing more than I hate than seeing Dave feel superior no matter what insignificant thing he's gloating about.  It was nice, though, that he turned out to be dead wrong about Pete's gift for Penny.  It did seem like Pete hadn't put any thought into it at all, but it turned out to be a big symbol of his love for Penny.  Yay.  That shut Dave up for a second.  It's annoying that he thinks that he could possibly know the depth of Penny and Pete's relationship.  He needs to back off.  Even if he's unconsciously showing some kind of untapped affection for Penny.  I still hoping that road will never be taken again.

This was an okay episode.  Nothing too bad that made me upset.  I think what I liked most was that the story was something I could relate to.  With all the crazy things these friends get involved with, I'm fairly sure there won't be many more stories like that for me.  And I don't think that I'll find many more stories I like in general as well.

Don't Make Max A Fifth Wheel

Happy Endings, S03E06

Alex and Jane's father was celebrating his 20th anniversary of his mattress store with a party, and Jane wanted to entertain her father with the perfect joke.  Alex asked Dave not to come to the party, but he came after Penny's suggestion with no knowledge that Alex hadn't told her parents that they were back together.  Max began to feel lonely because of Penny's new relationship with Pete and tried to replace Penny with someone similar to her.

It's always funny to me to see someone who doesn't like Brad.  Jane's dad was particularly hard to reach, simply annoyed with Brad for saying "parties, right?"  It's not even a matter of them having little to talk about--it's just that Brad could probably say anything and his father-in-law would just stare at him, unamused.  I loved that.  I even loved when Brad, so desperate to end the unease between the two of them, stole Jane's painstakingly constructed joke for her father.  It sucked that he stole her work of art, but at least Brad had finally broken the wall between him and her dad.  I couldn't blame him for that.  He's probably been sweating for years.

And even though Jane had to go with plan B, she still managed to get her dad to laugh at her by knocking herself out.  It was a win-win.  Brad got to connect with his father-in-law, and Jane got her father to laugh.  For the two of them, they had a really successful evening.

I didn't care about Dave and Alex's problem until Alex's dad kept talking to Dave about how much money he put into the ceremony that didn't happen.  I mean, he was not trying to be very subtle about how the wedding had hurt him in the pocket.  That was sort of funny.  Still, if in the end Dave hadn't gotten in front of the whole party and announced that he and Alex were dating again I wouldn't have been upset.  It's very much an insignificant thing to me whether Alex tells her parents about her and Dave or not.  If the two of them are going to be doing more things like eating corn like a typewriter, I'm ready to see them split again.

I sort of expected that Penny and Pete wouldn't be split by the next episode, but I also didn't care if I was wrong about that.  I suppose I've gotten like Max and don't have much confidence that Penny will hold onto a guy, so what's the point in liking (or disliking) her flavor of the week?  It's just amazing that she had a really good thing going and she ruined it by writing down Pete's flaws, which she had previously said she wasn't going to do.  You would think that's something someone would do after you breakup, not when you're still in the honeymoon phase of your relationship.  Pete's wrong about Penny being "a little" crazy.  She's full-blown on.

I felt bad for Max, who literally kept getting pushed to the side by all of his friends in couples.  I was sort of proud of him for no winning Penny back by getting between her and Pete.  That seemed like the first thing he would try.  Instead, he got a Penny-like girl named Nicole (or "Nickel" as he tried to call her) to befriend.  It's too bad Penny was too wrapped up in being a "love guru" that she didn't even notice he was trying to make her jealous at all.  In fact, Nicole ended up getting hooked up with Pete's brother right away!  I would have thought Nicole's appearance was a waste then, but at the very end of the episode there was this great scene where Nicole surprises Max in his apartment and he had no idea she was right behind him the whole time.  Although she was acting like a psycho and Max had screamed at the sight of her, I loved his response afterward:

Oh, my God.  You're insane.  And I love it and I want to party with you forever!

I loved how he hugged that crazy girl!  But is Nicole going to stick around?  Or was that just for an extra laugh (much needed one)?  After all, Max did get Pete and Penny back together (nice of him even if I wasn't desperate for Pete and Penny to stay together), so he doesn't have his best bud around to hang with.  Nicole seems nuts, but I'm open to her joining the crew if she can multiple the craziness of Max.  He's been pretty tame lately and I want him to get back to crazy schemes like that ghetto stove he made.  That was genius.

I guess I didn't hate this episode.  I didn't think it was very funny, but the party for Alex and Jane's dad was sort of interesting.  I might start to become interested in Penny's life again now that she has a stable boyfriend.  I'm so used to her being a single mess that perhaps her bad traits might be toned down with a good man at her side.  Or maybe Pete will turn out to be a bit of a weirdo, thus making their relationship a little more meant to be.  I just wish that Max would find someone soon.  Even if it's entertaining for him to seek replacements, I'm sure it's dangerous for him to go around and find any more Nicoles around town.

Sheldon Smacked That Ass!

Big Bang Theory, S06E10

Howard had to go fishing with his father-in-law, so he went to Penny to get advice on how to fish and gut the catch.  Amy was sick and Sheldon honored their agreement by taking care of her, and Amy enjoyed the process so much, she faked being sick.

I liked seeing Howard squirm while he had to sit with his less than chatty father-in-law.  It was funny how Howard couldn't get more than a few words from him, no matter what he said.  I know that the two have very little in common, but damn--what an uncomfortable situation!  I expected that Howard might be saved for a moment when he tried to strike up a conversation with Bernadette's mother, but she was just as tight with words as her husband was.  I loved when she had a simple response to how her trip was, in a voice that reminded me of Bernadette.  I might like Howard's in-laws as much as I love Raj's parents (hope they make an appearance this season).

I don't know whether it's sadder that Raj, Leonard, and Howard had to seek help from Penny about fishing or that it was that Penny seemed so manly in this story.  I mean, Penny was in sweats, eating pizza like it was nothing to be ashamed of stuffing her face with it at the door.  Like she couldn't put it down for a second?  But seeing her like that made the point clear that Penny was going to know how to fish better than the three guys.  I didn't think she was going to show Howard how to gut a fish, though--that was pretty nasty.  I would have reacted probably like one level better than Howard's disgust.  But to be honest, it was a little impressive that Penny is so skillful about preparing a fish.  It's not something everyone knows to do, so it's nice that she could teach the geniuses for a change.

I liked that at the end of Howard's story, he and Mike sort of bonded over the fact that their wives force them to do things they don't want to do.  I also liked that while Mike defended his wife and daughter, he admitted that calling them "great" was a little too much.  I like his honesty.

Howard's story was nice, but I loved Sheldon and Amy's story the best.  I was touched that even though Sheldon complained and was impatient about taking care of her, he did it regardless.  Even if he was doing it to ensure that he would have someone to take care of him who wouldn't run away (I loved when Leonard and the rest did that) the next time he got sick, it was sweet by Sheldon's standards.  I was really happy that Amy was milking the attention from her boyfriend because I know she is one emotionally starved woman.  Anyone who is that excited to have her boyfriend rub VapoRub on her chest has not been getting a lot of action.  So I got a kick out of her enjoying the intimacy with Sheldon, while he was just seeing it as just a chore.  I was surprised that this even included helping her shower!  Wow.  He can help her do that and doesn't think more of it than probably cleaning a dish.  It was hilarious to see Amy getting to enjoy it without having to be really sick.  You can't blame her for taking advantage of the situation.

Sheldon, of course, didn't see it that way and felt that her lies were some kind of great crime.  He mentioned that ideally he would lock her in stockade!  Really, Sheldon??  You had to take care of your girlfriend a few extra days.  She didn't make you lose your job or rob a store.  He really astounds me at how highly he thinks of himself.  Amy is smart, though.  She tried to get off easy by suggesting that she be banned from the opening of the next Star Trek movie.  She would have gotten some applause if Sheldon had agreed to that.  I know good and well she would have loved to been spared seeing that movie.  Oh, well.  Instead, Amy got something a little better--a spanking.  For Sheldon to suggest that was such a brilliant conclusion.  I was like, man, is there anyway Amy can get away with pretending like she doesn't like that?  Nope.  Which made it all the more hilarious to see Amy on Sheldon's lap, getting her ass smacked by him.  And he reprimanding her not to enjoy it only made it funnier.  Amy and Sheldon are really becoming one of my favorite TV couples.

Oh, there was something so wrong that Sheldon said earlier in the episode:

Amy’s taking me to a memorial service.  It’s for one of her colleagues who is of Asian descent, so my planned conversational gambit is to casually remark that no matter how deep they dig his grave, he’ll never make his way back to China.

How I would love him to say that so someone could punch him in the face, or escort him out of the memorial service.  He's lucky that Amy was sick for more than not wanting to wear a suit.

Great episode.  I think that Howard is becoming possibly my favorite character, after maybe Amy and Raj who sort of compete for first.  I definitely want to see him struggle to get along with Mike again--it's just too funny.  But, of course, nothing can be funnier than Amy trying to cling onto the slightest bit of affection from her boyfriend Sheldon.  Sheldon spanking Amy is in my top ten favorite moments for this couple.  That was just great.  This show keeps making this couple better and better.

Stand Up For Your Man

Happy Endings, S03E05

Jane struggled to break through the "men-only" wall with her coworkers at the car dealership, and Brad offered to help her.  Max wanted revenge on Brody for breaking his fist pump, and Dave blamed himself for it happening because he believed he invented the concept of "too slow."  Penny tried to hide the fact that she needed to wear a prescription helmet while dating a new guy.

I guess that Jane's offer to work at the car dealership was a real thing.  I kept wondering if it was a gag.  I guess that's good because it helped make a good story about Jane fitting in there.  I would have expected with her aggressive attitude, she would fit in well with the kind of sharks that work at the Car Czar's dealership.  But instead she tried too hard to be one of the boys and just ended up being awkward and a little gross.

I liked that Brad tried to help her, but got stuck with all the wives at the party.  I can buy that.  Brad is the kind of guy that most people just like in general.  I don't know if he would have won over the boys at Jane's office so easily, but I think if he had been focused he would have found a way.  It was cute how he started acting like a trophy wife and sort of supporting Jane, even though she was putting him down to her coworkers.

One of my favorite lines was when Brad mentioned after the Car Czar had left their house:

His humor makes me uncomfortable.

It was also one of my favorite parts to see Brad come into the dealership in shorts, acting super feminine and sporting a little pig in a pet carrier.  He was both cute and really embarrassing to Jane.  I could watch him doing that all day--he was so ridiculous.  But he made a good point about Jane treating him so badly when they are a team and he's never done that to her.  Aww.  I liked that Jane finally stood up for him, but was too valuable of an employee for  the Car Czar to fire her.  Yay.

Okay, I couldn't care less about Dave thinking he invented the concept of faking a low-five, but I loved seeing Max so damn angry over something so stupid.  He even had a childhood memory to back up why it upset him so, making it funnier.  Max holds grudges over the silliest things.  However, I will agree that Brody is a dick.  I loved when Brody countered Max's counter by covering his hand with "mashed potatoes" and Max exploded:

I'll kill you!

Max usually isn't the one full of rage, so I enjoyed seeing what set him off.  And usually I can't stand Alex, but when she exploded too after  Brody made the squid-like motion, I had too laugh, too.  Wow, they really made fist bumping a serious issue.

Penny and her damn helmet.  I don't know why she couldn't just be happy from the beginning with the new pink helmet she had bought instead of trying to cover it up?  I mean, she could have just went out with the guy like once a week until her month was over.  In those four dates, she could have better spread out her ideas to hide the fact that she had to have protection on her head at all times.  Or she could have not been a moron at all and told him the truth right away.  She was lucky that Pete put up with her for as long as he did.  She has enough problems going on without her adding "acts crazy when you try to touch her head."

I didn't exactly love this episode, but I didn't hate it either.  I liked the story about Jane and Brad the best, and I enjoyed seeing Max being angry to the point of wanting to fight.  Didn't care too much about Dave or Penny, but that's nothing new.  It would take a really great story for me to be over the moon about something those two did.

Real World Days

Happy Endings, S03E04

While everyone was having dinner at Alex and Dave's place, Max played the unaired season of The Real World that Brad and Max were cast in.  The episode where the others visited Max revealed a lot of truths that caused tension among their group.  Dave also went looking for clams and got subjected to a lot of unpleasant events that made him feel like he was experiencing the Native American struggle.

I was once again hoping that Max would salvage this episode and he did by bringing out the DVD of their gang's appearance on reality TV.  I was a little excited to see them as their younger selves, particularly Penny as Max's girlfriend.  We haven't really seen any flashbacks or the sort when Max wasn't being completely true with himself.  Besides that, I just liked seeing Jane in her pink hair and punk-like style.  Everyone else looked a bit of a mess (except Max who never wasn't a mess), but it was still interesting to see a glimpse of how they were.

I liked that the stuff they saw caused trouble between Brad and Jane and that both of them were guilty of something bad during the filming of the show.  The best thing they showed, though, was that Max's historical coming out was a fizzle because with the food in his mouth it sounded like he had said, "I'm Greg."  That wasn't funny enough to laugh out loud, but I liked that Max's moment was diminished because he was busy stuffing his face at the time.  Classic Max.  The worst thing that was revealed was Penny's long-time crush on Dave.  Ugh.  Can't we just let that go?  I mean, I can't imagine Penny and Dave being a worse couple than he and Alex, but still.  I couldn't care less about how she feels about the V-necked fool.

Speaking of that fool, his little journey to get clams was so stupid.  The only decent moment was when he actually got the clams and tried to barter for them because some couple dressed as Pilgrims had stolen his car and money.  The guy's response to Dave's offer of a non-monetary trade made me laugh:

This is a real store.

 In the end, Dave's clams didn't even turn out to be worthy of eating, so his whole ordeal was really a waste of a side-story.  It also showed once again how much of an idiot Dave is, but not in any humorous kind of way.

There was one other thing that was a little funny.  I liked when Jane and Brad were inspecting Alex's dubiously cooked turkey.  Jane mentioned that it was poorly seasoned and most likely dry, while Brad commented:

 She's clearly been making it dance.

Either those two know their turkeys too well or they know Alex too well because that's incredible that Brad could tell that.  It was cute that they swapped out her turkey for the perfect one Jane had made and no one even noticed (really?  who would believe that Alex could cook anything?).

I wish this episode had been nothing but a complete flashback to their Real World days.  Somehow it was the focus of the episode and still seemed like we got to see little of the DVD.  I guess it was because everyone was too busy being angry at someone else.  I wanted to see more of how dumb they were back then and less of how irritating they are now.  And I hope we don't have to see another Dave-only side story any time soon.  He's bad enough paired with someone else--he's a disaster by himself.

The Science Ninjas And The Number 43

Big Bang Theory, S06E08

Raj and Howard tried to find out what Sheldon was doing every day for 20 minutes in secret.  Leonard was jealous of Penny's new partner for class.

I was pretty happy to see Howard and Raj kicking it like old times.  It's been a while since the two of them were on an "adventure" together.  I've missed the vibe they have when they're together.  For instance, when Raj put his ear to the door next to Howard and their faces were dangerously close to one another.  That's the kind of stuff I missed about them.  Also, there was this one line of Raj where he made you think he was saying something sexual, but it went in the total opposite direction:

Boy, what I wouldn't give to get her out of those pants...and into something a little more stylish.

Oh, Raj.  It's probably comments like that that make it hard for him to attract a girl.  But at least that was pretty funny.

I knew that the two "science ninjas" would never figure out what Sheldon was up to, so I was a little annoyed at them slamming their forwards against the walls trying to decode the mystery of 43.  Knowing Sheldon, I figured it had to be something silly, but hacky sack was way off what I could have imagined.  He must be as stressed as he said, having to act human all day for the sake of others (insert eye roll).  I was most disappointed in the two ninjas when they were fooled by Sheldon's wormhole performance.  These guys are so smart and yet...  They have watched way too many sci-fi movies or something.  Sheldon isn't so dumb that he wouldn't realize that someone was trying to figure out his "secret," so if it was me, I would expect that he might mess with the video feed.  But sometimes I do think that Raj and Howard become a little dumber when they are together.  You would think their brainpower would be combined, but instead they feed into each others fantasies (almost like middle school boys or something).  I mean, I love that they are so stupid together, but come on.  There's no way that video of Sheldon was real.

Not much to say about Penny and Leonard.  I was going to be pissed that there was just another story about Leonard being jealous of any guy coming within 100 feet of Penny until the story ended up being pretty significant.  Penny finally told Leonard that she loved him without even realizing it.  Well, about damn time.  I still don't really like them as a couple, but maybe hearing that will calm Leonard down.  And if things don't work out, he always has Sheldon's assistant who is nearly beating him over the head with flirting.  I'd like to see her finally get through to Leonard and have him give Penny more of a taste of what he's been going through for seasons and seasons.

This was pretty good episode.  I have really missed Raj and Howard teaming up to do something.  It's been way too long.  I also liked that there was minimum Sheldon because I tend to just get angry at him when he's not paired with Amy.  Leonard finally got to hear the words he was longing to hear, but I'm any more convinced that Penny and Leonard will make it than I ever was.  Hopefully, Leonard will go for the new woman on the scene and I can stop sighing each time I see him fretting about losing Penny every other week.

Sheldon's A Black Hole

Big Bang Theory, S06E06

Sheldon played Words With Friends with Stephen Hawking, but was worried that he hated by Hawking because Sheldon was beating him.  Leonard read Penny's essay against her wishes and tried to fix it for her.

I was actually hoping that Sheldon wasn't as smart as he thought he was and the person he had befriended on the game was just someone impersonating Hawking.  But no such twist occurred.  I was disappointed by this until Hawking later called Sheldon to gloat when Sheldon threw the game.  He was pretty funny when he said:

What do Sheldon Cooper and a black hole have in common?  They both suck.

I knew what the zinger of that question was going to be, but I never expected Hawking to mock Sheldon so hard!  Crazy good.  Especially after the way he went on and on about the game and when worried that he was going to make an enemy out of his favorite new friend, he refused to listen to Leonard's problems.  It also felt good to see that because he was being such an ass to his friends about how superior he was to have a friend like Hawking, while openly devaluing Howard, Leonard, and Raj.

In the other story, I wasn't surprised that Leonard couldn't just leave the news of Penny taking a college class alone.  Of course, he would want to help her with her paper and, of course, Penny would be pissed that he changed her essay.  Everything went as expected, so it was boring until Penny seemed to have gotten a B minus on her own.  That I found hard to believe when she was talking about her essay topic would be "slavery is bad," but we soon found out that Amy and Bernadette had helped her.  Well, I don't blame her for wanting to teach Leonard a lesson because he was being too intrusive in her academic life, but she really proved that she isn't good enough on her own to get a decent grade.  Plus, she was sort of intimidating her friends who had helped her in the first place.  Why do they need to sugarcoat that she's a little dumb?  They shouldn't get bullied by her because of that.  This is one of the reasons I find it hard to decide whether I like her or I not.

This wasn't my favorite episode, but at least Sheldon got a little punishment for being his usual self.  Also, it was nice seeing Leonard being a bit of a bad boyfriend instead of focusing on all the bad things Penny is doing (still don't like her much, though).  I would have preferred to see something with Amy and Sheldon attempting some normal couple thing and turning it into something very unique for their own tastes.  They need to have as many scenes like that as possible because they are the best.  Right now, it's really the number reason I keep watching.

Is Jane A Warlock?

Happy Endings, S03E02

Penny tried to buy a car without having Jane interfere too much.  Max showed Brad how to live Brad's old life in Max's no-money style.  Alex and Dave looked at apartments together.

This episode was okay.  I think what I liked best was that Jane got to be her normal aggressive self in this episode.  This time she was a no-prisoners negotiator for a car purchase.  More than that, I really loved how Jane kept magically moving from place to place and Penny wondering if she was a witch or warlock.  I can understand that Penny might have wanted to do something on her own (and she ultimately did),  but I would have just let Jane do her thing.  It's amazing how well she could predict all the moves of the dealership down to the meager cup of water offered to them.  She just couldn't predict that Penny's seemingly bumbling moves (like walking straight through a glass wall) were just a ploy to get a good price.

At the very end, I also like how coolly she interacted with the "Car Czar."  Who walks around with not just your salary offer, but your counteroffer to someone rejecting your salary offer?  Damn!  She still manages to surprise me with how insanely prepared she is.  She just can't be beat.  But I wonder if she really is going to go work for that guy, or was that just a gag at the end?

I thought that Max taking Brad around for the day was cute, but not entirely funny.  Them going to random meetings for free food was pretty good, but the best part of that story was when Max had a substitute for Brad's running trainer.  I loved seeing Max slap a pretzel out of a guy's hand and punch him in the face before running off.  That takes balls and insanity.  I respect that Max may be a bum, but at least he's not a coward.  Also, he did that for Brad, so he's not afraid to get the shit beat out of him for someone he loves.

Alex and Dave...   I feel like a broken record, but they just suck.  I was already bored by the idea of them moving in together, but I was just angry to see them wasting a real estate agent's time by coming up with the worst excuses ever to reject every good apartment that she had shown them.  They were being assholes.  Indecisive assholes.  Luckily, that lady tore them a new one when they tried one last time to make up a reason not to take the apartment.  I had hoped they would come clean with their feelings about being committed to each other, but they just took the place anyway.  Ugh.  Maybe if they had done the right thing and were honest, I could have hated them a little less.  Now I have to watch them pretend they are loving living together when they're already miserable.  Not excited to see all that.

I will mention a few lines that were pretty good in this episode.  The first was from Max when he was tasting the brunch food Jane made:

You go, girl! [tastes the food and spits it out] You go to hell, girl!

 The other that I thought was memorable was when Jane was for the second time trying to appeal to Penny's love of teen fantasy novels to motivate her:

[Jane] Must be strong. Like Hermione in the Harry Potter books.
[Penny] You read those?
[Jane] Dorks.

This one I'd actually like to use on someone because I'd enjoy teasing them (I'm not much of a Harry Potter fan).

Lastly, I sort of liked their group costume.  I mean, it was original, at least.  And sort of cute.  It was just sad that they couldn't get out the damn door.  But still, it's a lot better than some of the costumes I've seen for other Halloween stories lately.

Again, I wasn't too thrilled with this episode, but I do feel like there's some hope for me to get pumped about this show again.  Maybe if Dave and Alex get their act together, I'll be able to remember how I love the others again and just be enjoying the laughs.  I'm tired already of groaning at the two of them as things are now.

Penny Less Raggedy, Sheldon More Raggedy

Big Bang Theory, S06E05

Howard was annoying everyone with his incessant talk about being an astronaut.  Sheldon and Amy tried to compromise on a theme for a couple's costume.  Raj helped Stuart with his Halloween party.  Penny finally made an effort to learn about Leonard's work.

I have to be honest that I, too, was just as fed up with Howard working the topic of space into every conversation as his friends were.  But I can sympathize with him because I feel like I sort of do that nowadays with a different subject.  Even so, I recognize that it's a horrible habit and should be suppressed as much as possible.  I was most annoyed with him when he was pouting about not speaking about his greatest achievement while dressed in an awesome costume of Papa Smurf.  He and Bernadette were rocking their couple's costume and all he could think about was how it sucked no one was giving him props about his astronaut days.  Geez.  So glad that Raj gave him that video of Buzz Aldrin to put things in to hilarious perspective for him.  I would sock Howard if he got as bad as that guy was with handing out candy.

The best story in this episode was Sheldon and Amy's for sure.  As soon as Sheldon suggested that they dress as R2D2 and CP30, I knew that there was little hope for Amy to get the kind of costume she'd want.  But I loved when they were making a Venn diagram of their ideas but getting nowhere.  Sheldon had ideas like Batman and Robin and Kirk and Spock, while Amy's were nothing alike.  She had ideas like Dharma and Greg (who would get that?) and the funnier couple of Blossom and Joey!  Oh, my God!  How I wished Sheldon would have liked that one.  My favorite part of all was when Sheldon explained why he didn't want anything to do with her Raggedy Ann idea:

Those dolls represent three things I do not care for:  clowns, children and raggediness.

"Raggediness" was the part that really had me rolling.  Only Sheldon.

I thought that "Raggedy CP30" was the best compromise that anyone could expect out of Sheldon (and Amy was thrilled), so I guess it was a win for her.  She did almost get a hickey from Sheldon until he figured out what it was.  Haha.  Watching him put one on Amy would have been pretty damn hilarious, though.

Another win that happened was for Leonard.  I mean, for once Penny decided to act like a decent girlfriend and step a little into his world.  It was really nice to see her impressed by the work he did and for Leonard to get some sex that wasn't out of pity, haha.  It did make me like Penny slightly more than I have before.  But I still think Leonard could do better.

Not much to say about Raj except that he is such a dork with his little puns for the food names.  But at least his party planning was a success.  It's just too bad that it was getting Stuart the girls and not Raj.  He could have used that victory.

Pretty good episode.  I'm just happy that from now on we don't have to listen to Howard go on about being an astronaut, and Amy is one step closer to living her dream as having a real boyfriend (as real as Sheldon can be in that capacity).  Penny seems like less of a "raggedy" girlfriend, but she still has some work to do.  Crossing my fingers that she won't backslide and will keep trying to make Leonard a little happier from here on.

Where We Left Off

Happy Endings, S03E01

 To start off the third season, they had stories that addressed some things from the season finale.  Dave and Alex were trying to casually date.  Max was trying to keep Penny in a cast so he could get closer to her physical therapist.  Brad was lying to Jane about his new job.

I nearly forgot about this show entirely because its premiere was at the same time as New Girl, and there's no competition between which one I'd want to watch more.  I had also forgotten what had happened last time we saw the gang until I started watching.  Then I remembered that I hadn't been much interested in anything they left hanging, except I did wonder who Max would replace Grant with.

The worst story was, of course, Dave and Alex, who were failing miserably to act casually with their relationship back on.  I hated how they were speaking like stupid frat boys or something--it wasn't funny in the least.  Also, who cares about them together or not?  I have to agree with Max's assessment of hearing them back together, even though I didn't get the Frasier reference.  Haha.

The Brad and Jane story was better, but not by much.  I sorta liked that Brad had a dummy named Sinbrad because it made him a little creepy.  It was also kinda funny that he had a background of his house in his office to fool Jane into thinking he was still at home.  I just don't get why he didn't just tell her. There's no way Jane would be that upset about it, no matter how happy she was that he was taking some time off and getting time to spend with him.  His song with Sinbrad at the end also wasn't terrible.  I might have enjoyed it more if he had used a different song to parody.

Brad and Penny's story was the best, but it's not saying much because this whole episode was blah to me.  I liked that Max was "misery-ing" Penny all for the sake of spending time with Kent, whose ass he was admiring at one funny point.  I just like seeing Max's selfishness causing someone else a problem and in this case, it was almost psychotic the way he was doing, so that was nice.  But what I liked best was the way that Max ended his little charade with Kent when Penny told him everything that Max had done:

[Kent] Max, is this true?

[Max] Yes, but Kent I-I did it for us.  When we're together and we're looking into each other's face--you know what, forget it.  I'm a skeeze.  Get the hell out of here.

 I just love how easily he tossed Kent aside after going to the trouble of drugging Penny to get him.  Haha.  Good ol' Max.  Seriously, I think I keep watching because I just love him so much.  Plus, Jane and Brad have their moments too.  But Max picked up the slack, as usual.

This was a better premiere for this show than I probably would have anticipated, if I was even thinking about it coming back to TV.  I'm not so sure why it's not as hilarious as it was before.  However, it's too early to know if I'm going to have to give up Max for the sake of not dealing with everyone else's poor performances.  I really hope they step out of the box this year and bring back that comedy that attracted me to this show in the first place.

Losers

Big Bang Theory, S06E04

Howard returned home from space, but didn't get the big astronaut welcome he had hoped for, finding no one to celebrate his glory with him.  Sheldon and Leonard lost to Penny and Amy at pictionary, which sparked a battle of different games to prove who was superior after all.

Well, it was no surprise that Howard didn't come home a changed man (save the few inches he grew from being in zero gravity) in the sense that being an astronaut didn't make his life any better once coming home.  He couldn't get any from his wife with her shooting snot from her nose and passed out from Benadryl, his mother was too busy screwing the dentist to have time for him, Raj had moved on with his new bestie Stuart, and the rest of his friends were too busy trying to beat each other to have a second for him.  I don't know if he was more of a loser coming back home or before he left.  I suppose he was more after because he had done something really great, but the only accolade he could reap from that experience was a free piece of cheesecake (which I'd take--it's better than nothing).  I felt bad for him, but you couldn't be too surprised with the kind of luck Howard has.

The funnier losers of Thursday night were definitely Sheldon and Leonard.  I just loved seeing Penny and Amy take them to school on a variety of games.  It was just nice to see Penny be able to hold her head higher than Sheldon.  One of my favorite moments was during pictionary when Penny was just taking her sweet time drawing nail polish because Sheldon was way off (even if it had been Polish as he had mistaken it for).  But it was great that she and Amy didn't just excel at drawing cookies and presents, but they were also masters of finding Waldo with impaired vision and solving long division while dizzy.  But I think my favorite victory for the girls was when Penny easily pinned Sheldon on the ground and then began kissing him to make him even more annoyed!  And then Amy just joined in when Sheldon begged for her help!  Hilarious.  I also loved when Leonard, tired of losing, demanded that Sheldon participate in the pie-eating contest:

Now, you either stick your face in that pie or I’m gonna stick that pie in your face.

I wish every episode could be this kind of game night.  I need the reminder that Sheldon is not skilled in many things outside of science and mathematics.  I even didn't think about how much I dislike Penny because she was being really good about giving Sheldon the business.

This is my favorite episode of the season so far.  I don't know if Howard is going to let Raj be best friends with someone else forever, but he is a married man now, so he might not feel as put out by that as he seemed to be in this episode.  I would love to see a story where Stuart and Howard would have to compete for Raj's friendship in the future.  And any time they can show what a loser Sheldon is again, I'm all for that.  It's just too funny.

Take That Penny!

Big Bang Theory, S06E03

Sheldon hired a new assistant to look through his old journals and papers to see if there was anything brilliant in there, and Amy felt threatened by a woman working closely with him.  However, when Amy dragged Penny along to spy on the assistant, Penny was the one who became worried about her and Leonard.  Howard was getting antsy and unraveled during his final days of space and getting worse with the news his return home would be delayed.

After last week, I was questioning whether I really liked the little side story about Howard in space until he started to go insane this time.  I liked how it was sort of a turn on or something for him to see people drop pencils for him, and it had made Raj uncomfortable when Howard had asked him to do that for him numerous times.  But my favorite thing was when Howard was trying to make a secret code for him and Bernadette to speak in:

We should probably talk in code. From now on, "frog" is me, "sandwich" means you and "lemon" means rocket.  So, come on, sandwich, build me a lemon 'cause froggy wants to come home!

That was probably my favorite line of the episode.

Another notable quote was when Amy and Penny were putting on makeup and Amy remarked how the eyelash curler looked:

[Amy] Looks like something used by Tinker Bell's gynecologist.[Amy] Who I hope for her sake is not Captain Hook, so...

A little gross, but pretty clever.  I don't think I'll look at an eyelash curler the same again.

What I liked most about this episode was that Penny finally got a little payback for stringing along Leonard when she saw that Alex and he were having a pretty good conversation.  Maybe Leonard's not the most desirable guy, but it's nice to see them do a story where Penny is reminded that Leonard does have options if he were to stop blinding himself with his love for her (which can't possibly last if she keeps treating him like a charity case).  I really hope that sort of thing continues on in the next episode.  Oh, and I liked how Leonard sort of set up Raj so he could easily chat with Alex, but in Raj's condition of being unable to speak to women he just moved to a different table.  That was a great moment too.  Almost as good as Penny experiencing some jealousy.

For once I sort of want to see what happens next.  It would be interesting if Alex wanted to date one of the guys, no matter who it was.  Although, I would most like to see her get with Raj because he really hasn't had any luck with girls at all.  Like I've said many times, it's way past due for someone to throw him a bone!  Come on, when are we going to see Raj find love??

The New Howard, The Same Ol' Penny and Leonard

Big Bang Theory, S06E02

Raj invited Stuart to hang with him and others, and Sheldon wanted him to act as a stand-in for Howard.  Amy told Sheldon about how Penny really felt about Leonard, and Sheldon struggled to keep the secret.  Howard was upset that the other astronauts treated him badly.

Not that I'm a huge fan of Stuart filling the void of Howard, but I was a little annoyed by Sheldon not wanting to accept Stuart in any capacity unless he was going to do things exactly as Howard would have done them.  Of course, I can't blame him because it's Sheldon's way to control things and stamp out any kind of change in his life.  However, I just feel bad for a new guy to come in and have to take his abuse.  The others are pretty numb to it by now, and I don't think they even care.  Then again, I think that Stuart was more than happy to do whatever Sheldon wanted just to be part of the group.  It's funny that there is a more desperate level than Leonard and company.

I knew as soon as Amy told Sheldon something that she wasn't supposed to that Sheldon would be burdened by the task of keeping his mouth shut.  It is nice to be reminded of how stupid he can be, despite being a genius.  And I'm not sure if he's just more awkward or somehow feels some kind of guilt from lying when he knows the full truth.  I'm not quite convinced that he possesses a real conscience.

However, it's interesting that he went to Penny's room to talk about it.  He seemed to only want to keep things the same, but he said that he didn't want Penny to hurt his friend.  Maybe even Sheldon doesn't realize it himself and that was the real reason he couldn't ignore the fact that Penny doesn't care that deeply about Leonard.  But I'm not going to completely be sold upon that just because he said it.  Sheldon is far from capable about worrying about others beyond on a superficial level.

But I have to say that Penny is really such a terrible person.  I don't know how long she intends to keep stringing along Leonard just because she feels guilty!  She's not such a prize that she's doing him a favor.  I really think that Leonard could do better no matter how badly he thinks he's hung up on her now.  I feel like if she doesn't get some balls and dump him or Leonard realizes it's over himself, I'm going to throw an object through my TV.  Someone put that Ol' Yeller of a relationship out of its misery!

I think I will enjoy the new Howard replacement, as long as Stuart can at some time stop kissing Sheldon's ass so much to fit in and assert himself as a real member of their circle.  And maybe next time Sheldon will spill the beans about Penny and Leonard to get the ball rolling on the end of their relationship again.  I don't have the patience to watch Penny drag him around like a 3 month-old corpse.  Let's bury this couple already!

Raj, The Third Wheel

Big Bang Theory, S06E01

Amy and Sheldon went on their anniversary dinner, but were joined by Raj to Amy's dismay.  Leonard wanted to hang out with Penny to discuss their relationship, but were also joined by Raj to Leonard's dismay.  Howard couldn't decide whether to please his mother or his wife, so he lied to both of them about whether he was moving out of his mother's house.

The worst story, of course, was Leonard and Penny.  Leonard is so transparent about wanting to talk about things that it was sad.  I was really glad when a drunk Raj came along and killed their little date.  I especially liked how he told them how it was with their stupid back and forth relationship.  I hadn't noticed, though, that Penny had never admitted that she loved Leonard.  I actually did want her to look him in the eyes and tell him as such.  Even if I don't want them back together, I would like her to admit she's hung up on him as much as he is on her.  Seriously, will the two of them just stop?  Either they move on for real or they get back together already.

Raj's best intrusion, of course, was when he was at Sheldon's date that Sheldon had "outsourced" him for.  My God, Sheldon takes being a bad boyfriend to such new levels each time.  And as delusional as Amy is about Sheldon (who would latch her ovaries on him if he proposed to her during sex--ha), I feel bad that she cannot get any real emotions out of that robot.  I mean, we wouldn't expect Sheldon to really emote, and yet I still want him to because I am a girl and I feel like a girlfriend should at least sometimes feel special when she's around her supposed boyfriend.  But I can't blame her for accepting Sheldon's quote from Spiderman as a meaningful expression of his love.  You take what you can get from Sheldon.

Speaking of him, he was quite funny when he said that the only sea creature he would want to be eaten by is a Krakken.  I had to agree with his reason because the last thing you would hear would be "Release the Krakken!" which is pretty damn cool.  I used to have an inside joke about that with some of my co-workers, so it was a random, but welcome reference.

Howard's story was kind of funny too because you can't really go wrong with him being bugged by his mother in space.  I mean, her son is doing something that only a handful of qualified people get to do and she's on his case about silly things like moving out of the house and such.  There is no place on earth or outside of earth that Howard can go to escape his smothering mother.  But it was a dick move of him to lie to Bernadette when I can't imagine how difficult it is for her being a newlywed without her husband, but living with his crazy-ass mother.  For that, Howard should be doing every single thing he can do to make her happy.  But he'll pay for it later.  What I really liked, though, was how Dimitri was kind of putting his own two-cents about the situation.  In a place like that there can be no privacy, so you can't blame the guy for being in Howard's business.  And I welcome the intrusion because he's a funny guy.

Finally, there was that scene where Raj and Stewart where kind of having a little moment together while listening to Latin music and drinking coffee liquor.  What??  Then, despite that Raj felt like things were getting weird, he invited Stewart out to hang sometime.  I didn't expect that after Raj quickly decided he needed to leave in the first place.  Huh.  Although, I'm not sure if it's because he doesn't have Howard to fall back on (or his other friends) and just wants someone available to do things with.  And when you think about it, Raj and Howard's relationship has always been a little bordering on a romantic relationship.  However, when Stewart commented that he could do worse by "hanging" with Raj, I felt like if Raj were to be interested in Stewart as more than a friend, Raj could do better!  I definitely think that Raj would be much more successful if he ended up being a gay man.  But I wouldn't want to see him do that with Stewart.  Eww.

This was a pretty good episode, the best being the Sheldon and Amy date.  But I'd like to see Raj do more than be a third wheel for the rest of the season, even if it means that Stewart is going to be his new best friend.  I'd like less of the Penny and Leonard stories--how much longer can we watch them bounce back and forth?  And Howard really is going to have to stay in space because Bernadette is going to kill him.  He needs to come to his senses real quick and realize that he'd be a fool to ruin his marriage before it has barely even started.

Four Yawns And An Eyebrow Raise

Happy Endings, S02E21

It's already the season finale of this show!  What?  It really feels like it flew by.  I have to say that I wasn't too impressed by the second season, especially when the first one was so funny.  Anyway, this time the gang went to Derrick and Eric's wedding.  Penny tried to hook up with a guy via Skype after looking forward to having a real date at a wedding for the first time that didn't pan out.  Brad lost his job and hesitated telling Jane while she was covering Eric's ass for not having enough money to cover the reception.  Max was reluctant to join his old Madonna cover band because he was worried about how much he had changed physically since his singing heyday.  Penny wondered if she had unrealized feelings for Dave, which led to a possible return of Dave and Alex's relationship somehow.

For someone as interesting as Derrick, his wedding was sure boring.  I did like the wedding party's matching suits (even if Jane looked awkward in her yellow one), but beyond that, I was disappointed the six weren't involved in an event that would let loose all of their crazy and funny tendencies.  I would say that everyone behaved well, and there wasn't much drama (insert Derrick's voice) at all.  Even Max was just sitting around feeling sorry for himself.  What a shame.  If there wasn't a shortage of food at the reception, I would have liked to see him stuffing his face in a ridiculous way at least once (I only got to see him licking a cake wrapper or something).  What a waste.

Does anyone really care about Penny dating someone?  I don't think even her friends do since they were betting how long it would take her to mention the new guy she had met.  Speaking of the beginning of the episode, the pace of their conversation led me to believe that it would just get funnier from there.  Major let down.  Instead of finding Penny's seat at the Skype table and her later dance with a laptop to be amusing, I just felt pity for her.  She's really sad.

Jane wasn't even that aggressive when she tried to get into the wedding party.  Basically, all she had to do was "poison" the person who matched her height, and she was in.  I would have enjoyed her trying slip in there after many failed, underhanded attempts.  Disappointing.  And when she was a part of it all and had to get creative with the food, her innovations (such as the napkin as the brie) weren't that great.  I at least wanted to see someone catching onto what she was doing, and Jane running in to remedy that in some outlandish way.  Things just went smoothly for the most part.

I don't know why Penny was exploring the possibility of liking Dave.  I can't imagine a worse couple.  Even though she has suggested she might have something for him, it hasn't crossed my mind since then.  What do they have in common?  And there's no attraction between them.  There was such a connection once between Alex and Dave (it feels so long since they were almost walking down the aisle together), but even with them having slept together a few episodes ago, I have no desire to see them rekindle that flame.  But since they had a few suggestive moments and were seen holding hands, I guess next season they will be back to old tricks.  Ugh.  Good thing I won't have to see that headache for a good while.

If I had to pick my favorite thing in the story (and I have to really scrap the bottom of the bowl here), I would say that I liked when Max was performing on stage and suddenly Brad was there dancing next to him.  That was a little cute and random.  I could see Brad a part of that band too (maybe he wouldn't be as "pitchy" as Pete).  Brad and Max scenes are great.  Wish they had more this season.

I don't know if I'll want to watch this show as much next season.  The first season was so good, I couldn't wait for it to start again, but the stories certainly haven't been as consistently on point as they used to be.  I definitely will want to watch so I can see what Max's up to, but if they don't do a little better next time, I don't know if even he can continue to carry the show for me.  Let's step it up a notch in the fall (providing they are picked up again)!