The Big Bang Theory: The Junior Professor Solution (8x02)

Okay, here's the second episode. Let's whip right through this.

Sheldon is promoted to Junior Professor so that he can study something other than string theory. However, because of his reputation, nobody signs up to take his class. Howard, who has decided to go for his Doctorate, decides to take the class. Sheldon spends his time trying to humiliate Howard intellectually. Howard responds by being a horrible student. Howard eventually tries to humiliate Sheldon with Engineering problems. In the end, they make up, and the four guys quiz each other on scientific topics, all celebrating their intelligence.

Meanwhile, Bernadette and Penny are getting sick of each other. Bernadette wants Penny to prepare for her new job, but Penny hasn't been studying. Penny just wants Bernadette to get off her back, but Bernadette thinks that if Penny doesn't do well at the pharmaceutical company, it will reflect badly on Bernadette herself, who recommended Penny for the position. Amy is stuck in the middle, but she loves it - she talks bad about each of the girls behind their backs, cementing her friendship with Penny by complaining about Bernadette, and vice versa. However, this doesn't last long. Bernadette and Penny soon make up, and Bernadette helps Penny study for her new job.

Problems?

Not really. Actually, this episode was surprisingly great. It wasn't one of those stand-outs that I'm going to remember forever and ever, but it had a lot of good elements in it. Let's talk about that.

The Sheldon and Howard plot was excellent. I've always felt that the two of them have the most interesting relationship on the whole show, when they bother to give it time and take it a bit more seriously. In this episode, we get to see that. Sheldon's feeling of superiority over his friends, and Howard in particular, has been a theme on the show before. Here we see his position as intellectual master cast in a new light: he gets to teach. But when Howard is his only student, he gets competitive, wanting to reinforce Howard as "lesser" than he and his fellow friends with PhD's. I like that the conflict between Howard and Sheldon got explored a little bit, but everything was left off on a happy note. We don't get to see a lot of uncomplicated, good-natured joy on this show, oddly enough, so it was nice to see the four guys goof off and celebrate their intelligence with no hint of competition. They were all cheering for each other to win.

The other story line also offered some complexities. Bernadette is very overbearing sometimes, and she can be a bully. We don't often see that aspect of her character have negative ramifications, however. I think it's interesting to see it here. Both women have a point, and in the end they find a compromise. Amy being in the middle was funny, but I sort of wish that we had focused a bit more on the other two girls. Even so, Amy's insecurity about her friendships can often yield some good humor, and it did in this episode.

I'll leave it there! This was a pretty good one.

8.5/10