The Big Bang Theory: The Troll Manifestation (8x14)

Okay... I have to admit, this episode actually amused me! This show never blows me away, but this episode actually had me chuckling a little bit.

Leonard has an epiphany about his research. He shares it with Sheldon, who loves the idea and immediately helps Leonard with it. The two of them write a paper and post it online to see what others think. Overwhelmingly, everybody thinks the paper is really innovative and original. Then, one anonymous person writes a mean message. Sheldon responds, feeding the troll, and the anonymous person keeps tearing Leonard and Sheldon down. Eventually, the troll actually video calls Sheldon, who is scared to answer. The two of them then decide to stand up for themselves, and they call the troll back. Turns out, it's Stephen Hawking! He thought their paper was very good, but he just wanted to mess with them.

First of all, I liked the fact that Leonard and Sheldon were a team here. There are lots of episodes that show one or both of them being annoyed with the other, or just in general they tend to tear each other down a lot. In this episode, they presented a united front, and I appreciated that. I was especially fond of the way that Leonard was nervous to share his idea with Sheldon, because he obviously respects Sheldon's intellect. Sheldon's support meant a lot to him. There was a funny recurring joke where Sheldon and Leonard called each other "Mr. Innovative" and "Mr. Original" or whatever else the online comments were saying about them. Howard would join in, and look to Raj to finish the improv, but Raj had nothing. So, that made me smile. Also, I do like it when Stephen Hawking comes on this show. I mean, I know it's probably beneath his dignity or whatever, but I'm a sucker for stupid celebrity cameos when they're done right.

Meanwhile, the girls have a movie night and spend most of it embarrassing each other. First, they watch Penny's killer gorilla movie, and then Penny finds a video of Bernadette in a beauty pageant and they watch that. Bernadette reveals that Amy writes fanfiction about The Little House on the Prairie and writes herself and Sheldon into it. They take turns reading the story out loud. Penny even reads some of it to Leonard, who enjoys himself but tells Penny to stop before they reach a sex scene.

The only thing I didn't like about this plot thread is that clearly these creators don't understand what fanfiction is. I was picturing Amy running around with Laura and Mary, and I got really excited, but instead I got a story about Amy and Sheldon set in the past, nothing more. Even so, the story was pretty hilarious. I love how Amy points out that Sheldon starts out as a jerk in her story so that "Amelia" can change him. Because, you know, that's good writing. That was such a tongue-in-cheek comment and I loved it. The same sort of thing happened when Bernadette told Penny about Amy's fanfic, and Amy got mad. Bernadette said that tearing other women down was part of her pageant training, which is actually a pretty insightful joke about the harmful practices of pageantry. In all, this made me smile, and it didn't piss me off, so I have to chalk it up as a win.

There you have it! A pretty solid episode, surprisingly!

8.5/10