The Big Bang Theory: The Scavenger Vortex (7x03)

Cute episode! Probably the strongest one of the season so far. It made a smart decision by sticking to a simple premise and milking it for all it was worth. There were really no parallel plot lines going on, because the entire group was all involved in the same story, making it well-focused and fun.

Raj decides to set up a scavenger hunt as a fun activity for all of the friends. (His murder mystery dinner party idea didn't go over so well). So, he sets up ten clues and says that at the end, the winning team will find a gold coin hidden somewhere in the city. As he announces the scavenger hunt and explains the rules, he uses a lot of silly magic tricks and gimmicks to make it more interesting. To be honest, this was not too funny and was probably the low point of the episode for me.

So, they all need to partner up. Leonard suggests they pull names out of a hat, which makes Penny suspect that he doesn't want her as a partner because he thinks she'll be a liability. Turns out pretty much everyone thinks that. They pick their teams randomly, and they stand as follows: Leonard is with Bernadette, Sheldon is with Penny, and Howard is with Amy.

As you can see, the set up of this episode is actually pretty neat. We now have some focus on character relationships that normally aren't given any real attention.

Amy and Howard had a really funny plot thread. They were the most relaxed about the scavenger hunt. Amy was very excited that they were the first to make it to the Comic Book store, which was cute, but most of their story revolved around them realizing that they shared a love of Neil Diamond. They sing his songs in the car and never even make it to the end of the scavenger hunt because they go to sing karaoke.

Sheldon and Penny, meanwhile have the most interesting story line. Sheldon thinks that Penny is going to slow him down, but in fact his methodical methods slow them both down in the beginning, and Penny is the one to figure out almost every clue that we see on screen. It shows that just because she doesn't have the education that the other characters do, doesn't mean she's not smart. She also has something to prove to Leonard,  since she's hurt that he didn't want her on his team.

Leonard and Bernadette were pretty funny. Bernadette is apparently extremely competitive, and she spends most of the hunt yelling at Leonard to move faster. She even lies and says that Penny called him a wimp (she alludes to another word, one that starts with a "p") in order to get Leonard to try harder.

In the end, Penny, Leonard, and Bernadette all rush up to the apartment to find the coin - the last clue led to Sheldon's spot on the couch. However, there is no gold coin. Raj is there, and tells them to look in their pockets. All of them have a coin, because they are all winners! Let's just say that the three of them are not happy about this.

I had a lot of fun watching this episode. The jokes were funny, and it focused on some really interesting character dynamics. 

9/10