The Big Bang Theory: The Leftover Thermalization (8x18)

A really funny episode! It did have one moment that pissed me off, and since that's the first time that's happened in a while with this show, I'll have to mention it. Let's get started.

Scientific American publishes an article about Sheldon and Leonard's paper, but in the article, only Sheldon is mentioned. Sheldon realizes (with Amy's help) that Leonard is going to be very upset by this, and Sheldon tries to make Leonard feel better. Leonard is upset, of course. Penny tries to cheer him up by promising to buy him fun gadgets.

Raj comes with Howard and Bernadette to help clean out some of Mrs. Wolowitz's stuff. When they get to the house, Stuart, who is still living there, informs them that the power has gone out. Howard doesn't want all of his mother's frozen food to go to waste, so he decides that they'll invite everybody over for dinner. It will be like Mrs. Wolowitz is feeding them all one last time.

At the dinner, Sheldon suggests salon topics for everybody to discuss. Sheldon and Leonard, still angry at each other over the magazine article, argue about whether an idea or its execution is more important. Bernadette takes the two out into the hall and yells at them for making a scene at this important dinner. Howard notices that Bernadette sounds a lot like his mom, but everybody else pretends not to notice.

Later, everybody sits around in a stupor, having overeaten. Sheldon finds out that an online publication has written about the article, and this time Leonard's name is mentioned. Everybody is happy for him, but they're even happier to hear that Bernadette has found more Tums.

There's one thing I have to complain about. When everybody is sitting around the table, Raj brings up representation of women in the media. He talks about how they've made Thor a woman in the Marvel comics. Later, Sheldon makes a little quip to Amy about how women have "ruined Thor." Now, this in and of itself wouldn't have been a problem, if Amy had chastised him, or if everybody else in the room had disagreed in some way. But it was just played for laughs, and it sort of invalidates the earlier progress that was made when they brought up issues of sexism in the first place. It was just a small moment, but it definitely stuck out.

However, I think this episode was ultimately very creative and funny. If it weren't for Sheldon's little moment of sexism, there actually would have been a nicely feminist bent to this episode as well!

First of all, I adored the way that Sheldon genuinely wanted to make sure Leonard was okay when he found out about the magazine article. Yes, it took Amy to help him realize what the problem was, but he didn't dismiss it or act like a jerk about it. He was hilariously incompetent when he was trying to cheer Leonard up, but he was honest with him, and he never tried to suggest to Leonard that it was no big deal. I was actually impressed with Sheldon's maturity.

That is, at the beginning. Later, we see both Leonard and Sheldon devolving into childish behavior. It makes sense that they'd both be upset and a bit vindictive. It all culminates into a pretty funny fight around the dinner table. I particularly liked the thing about the invention of the telephone.

The funniest recurring joke through the episode was Sheldon's condescending explanations to Penny. He tells her "Penny, a salon is..." and then later "Penny, 'Next Gen' refers to..." and she scoffs at his rudeness. Pretty humorous!

Also, the opening scene with Sheldon and Amy had me chuckling a few times. Sheldon doesn't get what Amy is talking about, and he keeps guessing what her message is. He eventually says "Well, I don't know! We're all Groot? Just tell me." That made me chuckle. Later, he talks about the trauamtic incident when another kid was chosen over him to pull Excalibur out of the stone at Disneyland. He remarks: "If you cry when you drop your churro, you do not have what it takes to rule England."

On a more serious note, I'm enormously grateful that this show is continuing to explore the aftermath of Mrs. Wolowitz's death. It's a lot more than I would have expected from this particular television show, and they're doing a lovely job with it. There's a good mix of humor and drama in here, what with Howard's recounting of all of his mother's cooking, and then the very touching moment when he breaks down and says "I'll never talk to her again." The idea of having a final dinner with her food is extremely touching, and quite original.

Despite Sheldon's remark about Thor, I thought it was really great that they brought up gender equality and media representation at all. It was a very simple conversation, one that didn't delve into even a fraction of the complexities of this topic, but on this show, a discussion of feminism is pretty rare. I appreciated the effort.

I think that's all I'll write. Another surprisingly impressive installment of this show, even if I do have to mark points off for a wayward comment.

7/10