The Big Bang Theory: The Conjugal Conjecture (10x01)

Oh boy. It's back. Honestly this show is kind of a social experiment for me. I don't actually enjoy it, but it fascinates me. Specifically, the fact that it's so popular even after so many years of mediocre content. Let's jump in to the Season Ten premiere!

Cons:

The biggest complaint I have is that this episode was actually trying to do too much. That's not my usual complaint about a show that tends to play it safe. But here we had too many guest stars, and not enough focus on any one element. The plot threads are numerous: Howard is still nervous about being contacted by the government about his invention, Sheldon and Leonard are horrified at the prospect of their parents hooking up, Penny's family is in town and they are worried about being judged, and then finally there's the "big event" - Penny and Leonard tie the knot. Again.

I actually found some details of this quite funny. Penny's family was a delight, for example. But everything was mixed up in such a haphazard way that I felt like very few of the elements here had proper time to breathe. Particularly egregious was the treatment of the subplot with Howard and Raj. I actually want some answers as to what the government wants with Howard's invention, but we got basically nothing here. Howard has a meeting with a member of the air force, but we have to wait to find out the contents of that meeting.

The wedding ceremony itself was also very underwhelming, as everything is with Leonard and Penny's relationship nowadays. It says something, and not a good something, about this show that Howard and Bernadette's wedding several seasons back was a thousand times more meaningful than the wedding ceremony between the show's central romantic pair.

Pros:

That being said, even if the whole episode didn't coalesce for me, I enjoyed many of the individual pieces. Some quick highlights:

Penny's family, particularly her brother and father, were a riot. I really wish they had more screentime. All of the jokes about Penny's brother being in prison for being a drug dealer had me laughing out loud. I liked how Penny's mom was ashamed of the family, but her dad was busy making inappropriate jokes.

Howard's plot did have one great moment, when he tricked Raj into thinking that the Captain was talking about him on the phone, to Raj's horror. Turns out, Howard was still on hold.

Sheldon's mother is hilarious. Leonard's parents are hilarious. The idea of Sheldon's mom and Leonard's dad hooking up is hilarious. I loved all the squabbling about that. Family drama is the best.

The wedding ceremony may have felt a bit lackluster given its supposed importance. But there were two actually sweet testimonials here. Leonard declares that he can't understand how he gets to be with Penny, but that he's grateful. Aww! Sheldon joins in and says that both Leonard and Penny mean a great deal to him, and that he considers them family. I loved that he inappropriately butted his way into the ceremony, and yet it ended up being a sweet way of reinforcing the unconventional relationship that these three have. Sheldon even joins in Penny and Leonard's hug after Bernadette declares them husband and wife!

That's all I've got for this premiere. A few good moments, I guess, but as is often the case with this show, I mostly just felt underwhelmed.

7/10