The Big Bang Theory: The Explosion Implosion (11x04)

There was a lot of gendered crap in this episode and while I am not even the slightest bit surprised, I still did not like it. Let's take a look.

Cons:

Howard and Bernadette find out their new child will be a boy, and Howard spends the rest of the episode despairing about being a good father to a son, since he doesn't know how to be a man. Raj at one point does mention that maybe their son will be "sweet and sensitive" instead of rowdy, but other than that, nobody mentions the fact that Howard's parenting skills should not alter greatly based on the gender of his children. The whole thing was just eye-roll inducing. I'm fine with Howard having insecurities about being a father, but it sucks that those insecurities are based specifically on raising a boy.

Pros:

I did kind of like the opportunity for Sheldon and Howard to bond over their crappy relationships with their dads. It brought these two characters closer together, and I always think that's fun to see. The stuff with the exploding rocket, helping to teach Sheldon how to drive, etc. etc. was all pretty sweet. Sheldon didn't even make fun of Howard's intellect!

The other plot deals with Penny starting up a friendship with Leonard's mother. Leonard is upset by this, but he comes around on the idea when his mom actually says she's proud of him for marrying Penny, because Penny is her favorite of all her children-in-law. I might have wished for slightly more meat to this plot thread, but Leonard's mom is always a lot of fun, and I like the idea of Leonard getting approval from his mother in such a roundabout way!

I'll stop there. As always, I don't have very much to say about this show... onward to next week, I guess!

7/10