Aww... I actually felt really bad for Amy in this episode! Unfortunately, this installment was kind of a dud, with the exception of one plot thread. Let's take a look.
Cons:
This week, we get a look at our cast of characters as they celebrate Thanksgiving. Penny and Leonard prepare to host a meal for everybody, but they get into a fight about Leonard knowing Penny better than she knows him. It all starts with Penny not knowing Leonard's birthday. However, Leonard accidentally lets slip a piece of information that he learned from reading Penny's private journal, and the argument escalates. Leonard ends up wearing lingerie that he got for Penny in order to embarrass himself and get her to forgive him. Nothing about this plot thread was particularly funny, and it also didn't offer anything high-stakes. Their argument was mostly played for laughs, although in my opinion not knowing your husband's birthday is pretty awful, and invading your wife's privacy by reading her private journal is pretty despicable. I think we were supposed to find this little spat amusing, but it didn't really work for me at all. In addition, this was another example of this show wasting opportunities. I wanted to see Penny and Leonard host a big fun Thanksgiving dinner, but instead we only saw the prep work and no real final result.
Meanwhile, Howard, Bernadette, Raj, and Emily all go to volunteer at a soup kitchen. Howard doesn't want to, and complains the whole time. He ends up in the back doing dishes while the others get to go up front and serve the guests. But Howard's day gets a whole lot better when Elon Musk turns up to do dishes with Howard. The two have a conversation, and Musk says that he'll get Howard's information so they can chat about job opportunities. Nothing about this made me laugh. It actually made Howard come across as a very distasteful character. He made jokes about the homeless people they were supposed to be helping, and didn't seem to care at all about doing charitable work. Then there's Elon Musk. Why bring a guy like that into the show if you're not going to properly utilize him? I guess he set up a potential future job opportunity for Howard, but he wasn't really funny and they didn't utilize the opportunity nearly enough.
Pros:
The only winning plot thread tonight was Amy and Sheldon's. I feel like I've been saying this a lot this season, but their breakup and the subsequent fallout is really the strongest thing this season has going for it. I'm very pleasantly surprised with how well they're handling it all.
Sheldon and Amy go to the aquarium together, since Sheldon already had tickets from before they broke up. They spend a pleasant time discussing the different types of fish, and joking around. They even have an honest conversation about how they're both doing. Sheldon says he's doing okay, and Amy tells Sheldon about her experiences in dating. At the end of the episode, Amy calls Sheldon from her car and tells him she's ready to be his girlfriend again. Sheldon says that getting over her wasn't easy, and he thinks they should just be friends. Amy is clearly very upset. She holds back tears as Sheldon changes the subject.
This is surprisingly powerful stuff! This show doesn't often choose to end its episodes on a heavy note, and I think it worked to great effect. Seeing Sheldon and Amy goofing around and acting close again reminded me why they worked as a couple, and really re-enforced the sadness of their separation. Sheldon admitting that getting over Amy was hard for him was also a nice touch.
That's all I've got. Pretty disappointing overall, but I did enjoy the Amy and Sheldon stuff. I hope they keep them apart for a long time. This is the most interesting thing to come out of this show in a while.
6.5/10
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