The Big Bang Theory: The Intimacy Acceleration (8x16)

Huh. Another good episode. I'm not sure what's going on here, but this show has kind of been on a roll lately. Let's take a look.

The gang talk about a new study that they've heard about, where two people answer a series of questions and then stare into each other's eyes for four minutes. At the end, they're supposed to have fallen in love. Sheldon and Penny decide to try it, so that they can see if it has any validity. They answer the questions and stare into each other's eyes. While they don't fall in love, they do feel closer to one another, and admit that they feel sibling-like affection and love for one another. Penny even finds out Sheldon's birthday, which has been a secret for years. Penny arranges a surprise party for Sheldon, despite his wishes.

Meanwhile, Amy, Leonard, Raj and Emily decide to go out and do something together. They enter into this weird game where they're trapped inside of a lab with a "zombie" and they have to solve puzzles to get out. Unfortunately, due to all of them having advanced degrees, they solve the puzzles in six minutes and are released far too quickly.

Howard and Bernadette have just flown in from Mrs. Wolowitz's funeral, when they find out that the airport has lost the luggage with Mrs. Wolowitz's ashes in it. Howard is distraught, and the poor lady working at the airport gets quite the earful from Bernadette and Howard both. Howard tells Bernadette that he feels guilty for not taking his mother to the airport when she was leaving on her trip. He missed his last chance to spend time with her. Eventually, the airport finds the missing luggage, and Howard vows to always keep his mother close, to Bernadette's unease.

So... a few complaints are inevitable. I thought that the plot thread with Leonard, Amy, Raj and Emily was kind of bland. Not terrible, but not particularly funny either. I think they could have done more with the scenario, especially since Emily is so rarely featured in an episode. I liked her weird obsession with violence and gore, and here we didn't get to see any of that. She seemed particularly bland. If you're going to bring Emily in, you might as well utilize her!

My other complaint is that Penny was a bit out of line to tell everybody about Sheldon's birthday. Like, I thought that was a moment of genuine trust and respect between them, but then Penny turned around and betrayed that trust.

But I liked this episode over all, and we should discuss the good stuff.

Penny and Sheldon's relationship! It was so sweet when they talked about their love for one another. I particularly liked it when Sheldon talked to Penny about how hard it is for him to understand social cues, and how it makes things very stressful. Are we maybe showing an actually autistic Sheldon without making fun of him? Gasp! Penny said that she wished she could make things easier for him, which was all sorts of sweet.

There were also some good laughs with this plot thread, particularly the moment when Penny described her perfect day, and Sheldon pointed out that it didn't seem to include Leonard at all. Penny insists that Leonard was there, he brought a book to read!

Even though the plot with Leonard, Amy etc. wasn't the best, I did like the zombie encouraging them to slow down with the puzzle. He knew they were figuring it out too quickly! Also, there was a funny moment when Leonard and Amy started to do the same experiment as Penny and Sheldon, but they quickly stopped when Leonard said he'd pick Penny over anybody else in the world to have dinner with, and Amy made fun of him.

Howard and Bernadette's plot thread had a good mix of humor and some more touching stuff as well. I loved Bernadette's threatening words to the poor airline employee, and later Bernadette's horror at the thought of Mrs. Wolowitz's ashes being put in her bedroom. Howard's guilt over not spending enough time with his mother was also nicely explored, especially for a show that ordinarily shies away from more serious stuff.

To put it simply, I've noticed a trend lately of this show taking itself a bit more seriously. It's an infinitely improved product because of that.

8.5/10