The Big Bang Theory: The Space Probe Disintegration (8x12)

Actually... sort of a good job with this one. Let's dive right in.

Sheldon and Leonard are getting ready to play a Lord of the Rings board game, when Penny decides she's had enough. She says that she and Amy are always doing what the boys want to do, and that it's their turn to decide. After a lengthy debate on the best activity to please Amy and Penny while making the boys miserable, Sheldon helpfully suggests that the girls could go shopping while the guys sit on uncomfortable chairs and hold their purses. This is agreed upon.

At the store, Penny and Amy have a talk about how Penny always controls their friendship. Amy decides she should stand up for herself more, and Penny approves. While waiting outside, Sheldon and Leonard get into an argument about who makes more sacrifices for the other. Leonard pulls out the trump card when he says that he's not living with the woman he loves because of Sheldon. Sheldon says that Leonard often hurts his feelings with his snide remarks and eye rolling. The two of them both shed some tears, and then come to an arrangement: Leonard will gradually move out of Sheldon's and into Penny's place, starting with once a week. We later see Penny and Leonard together in bed at Penny's apartment, while Sheldon sleeps on the couch.

Meanwhile, Raj is very stressed about a space probe that was launched into space several years ago, and is just supposed to be turning on that day. Raj is anxious that something will have happened to the probe on its long journey. He spends all day panicked about it, and then decides to go to a Hindu temple to calm down. He brings Howard along, and talks to him about how his religion helps him feel at peace with the universe. Howard is interested to learn a bit about this, but it seems Raj only turns to Hinduism in times of trouble, as he immediately gets over his spiritual needs when he learns that the space probe is okay.

I have a few complaints, mostly minor. I thought the resolution of Raj's plot could have been stronger. I felt a little let down by how it turned out. Also, I wish Bernadette could have played a bigger role. Similarly, this whole thing about Amy needing to stand up for what she wants is good in theory, but we didn't get to see much resolution of that plot line either. I don't really trust this show to ever actually address it again, but I hope they do.

For the most part, I actually admired this episode's attempts to treat a couple of situations with a modicum of seriousness. Raj's religion is not something that's ever been really talked about before, and here we got to learn about it and it wasn't used as the punch line for a joke. I mean, there was some humor what with Howard's reactions, and Raj yelling at the old man for dinging his car, but he was sincere in talking about Hinduism, and he wasn't just saying it for no reason. I liked the little debate about science vs. religion, and how Howard was ultimately supportive of Raj, even if he didn't understand.

Also, Sheldon's behavior was treated with more seriousness this time. I wish this show would just diagnose Sheldon as autistic, instead of using his character generally as a way to mock autistic people. In this particular episode, I saw a lot of effort in presenting Sheldon as a complicated person with a complicated mental state. I also saw Penny and Leonard willing to sincerely work on making him comfortable. It was pretty sweet when Sheldon started crying over the possibility of losing Leonard, his "best friend." Leonard starts crying at this point as well, which enhanced the joke. (I'm also glad, incidentally, that there was never a straight-out mention of them behaving like "girls" just because they got tissues out of Penny and Amy's purses).

This is where I'll leave it. In all, I'm oddly impressed with the effort I saw in this episode. That doesn't happen very often.

8/10