What does Sheldon Cooper do on a vacation? His options are limited. He can’t visit family in Texas, we all know how he feels about his hometown. He can’t go to Florida – a seagull once stole his hotdog during a family trip there when he was a child, so he got the message. He can’t go to Hawaii, home of volcanoes and the disappointing finale of Lost. So he doesn’t go on vacation at all. Until he’s forced to.
The premise of last night’s episode of The Big Bang Theory was a good one. After being forced by the president of the university to take a vacation, Sheldon decided to spend his free days working in Amy’s biology lab. Only things did not go as he’d hoped.
I loved this storyline because Sheldon was in a situation where he was out of his comfort zone, yet he didn’t actually know that he was out of his comfort zone. Biology is science, science is what he does for a living. He’s a genius, a prodigy. He thought biology would be a piece of cake. But there’s blood and you need precision and there are diseases everywhere! I loved that through working with Amy, Sheldon realized that he’s not the best at everything. In fact, he knows far less about biology than he thought he did.
The storyline concluded with Sheldon having to deliver a genuine apology to Amy, something that I don’t think he’s ever done. The writers did a fantastic job of creating this breakthrough for the character without changing the fabric of who he is.
The Big Bang Theory has become a different show since the addition of Amy and Bernadette, and this episode really highlighted how those changes are most certainly improvements. Not only were Amy and Bernadette the focus of both storylines, but they were the stronger, more successful characters. Amy was superior to Sheldon in the biology lab. The B-plot revolved around Bernadette’s career being more successful than Howard, thus her father pressuring her into considering a pre-nup.
Bernadette is the absolute best thing that could have happened to Howard. Before she came around, I didn’t care for his character at all. Now his douchiness (shut up, spell check, that should be a word) is tempered by his love for her. So much so that, when he heard “through the nerd-vine” that Bernadette was considering a pre-nup, he reacted with reason maturity even though it clearly hurt his feelings and his ego.
It was clear that Bernadette wasn’t sold on the pre-nup idea either, so Howard offered to speak with her father himself, man to man. After Bernadette rattled off a list of rules and subjects to avoid, he decided to do it via phone…from space.
What I do wish is that some of the success and confidence Amy and Bernadette have would rub off on Penny. I’ve been saying for a while now that it’s about time her character experiences some real success (I’m talking small role on a TV show, not starring in a big-budget film) as an actress, because it feels as though her character has been in a rut for too long.
On a final note, I’ll be shocked if there isn’t a “Raj is gay” revelation by the end of the season. The writers seem to be inserting jokes and hints in every episode now, and that can’t be all for nothing. Personally, I’d welcome this development. I want to see how his friends would react to it, how it would change his character, and I’d even be willing to sit through an appearance from Priya to know how his family would deal with the news.
Tell me what you thought of the episode in the comments, and check out these favorite quotes and moments!
- Leonard singing the Black Eyed Peas in the car because Sheldon wasn’t there was hilarious, but the fact that Sheldon actually WAS there made it even funnier.
- Amy telling Bernadette “For example, you’re intelligent, adorable, and a good earner, I could conservatively see you going to for at least two oxen and a goose,” and then turning to Penny to say “You would fetch a unicorn.”
- Sheldon comparing himself doing dishes in a lab to someone asking the Hulk to open a pickle jar.
- Amy: “Oh … are we nervous, Dr. Cooper?”
Sheldon: “No. What you see is a man trembling with confidence.” - “If you let her go, there is no way you can find anyone else. Speaking on behalf of all women, it is not gonna happen. We had a meeting.” – Penny
- “And just to be safe, when you talk to him, don’t bring up Jimmy Carter, gardeners, foreign people, homosexuals, Sean Penn, Vatican II, gun control, organic food, the designated hitter rule, recycling or the fact that you’re Jewish.” – Bernadette
