The Big Bang Theory: The Geology Elevation (10x09)

This was a dud...

Cons:

The main plot involves Bert winning a McArthur Grant, and Sheldon spending the episode feeling jealous. He injures himself by throwing a rock and attempting to punch a water fountain, and then Stephen Hawking shows up over the phone and tells Sheldon that he's too brilliant to be jealous.

How many times can I complain about this show wasting its opportunities? Sheldon is jealous of somebody else's professional success. This could be an opportunity to delve in to the fact that Sheldon has been struggling with his career recently. We could bring up the navigation system, how Sheldon was stalled on a major problem. But no. We don't bring any of that up. Instead, Sheldon injures himself in slap-stick-y ways, all of which happen off-screen so we don't even get to appreciate them. Then, in the end, Sheldon gets praised by Stephen Hawking and instantly all of his turmoil is gone. He and Bert go to sit in the studio audience on Ellen. Okay... nothing got done, here. The Ellen bit was really shoe-horned in, too.

Howard's subplot isn't much better. He has built a mini motorized Stephen Hawking figurine, and he goes around asking people if it's in poor taste. Everybody agrees it's offensive, except for Barry Kripke who thinks it's funny. Howard acknowledges that it is indeed offensive. Then, later, Stephen Hawking mentions that he always thought it would be cool to have a motorized figurine of himself. The group decides not to tell Howard that he was right all along.

Stephen Hawking making special guest appearances on The Big Bang Theory has gotten really old. I mean, how many episodes has he been in, now? And this wasn't even particularly clever. I guess a doll like that is in poor taste, unless Hawking himself approved of it. And since I knew it was a gimmick for the show, I knew that Hawking must have been okay with it. The whole thing just fell really flat.

Pros:

A few stand-out jokes of the night:

Leonard is jealous of Raj's money, and he tells him so as they are all discussing the issue of jealousy. Raj's response? "Thank you for saying that. After buying things, that's the best thing about having money."

Apparently, nobody liked Penny's short hair, and they all awkwardly admit that to her. Bernadette says she thought Penny was brave for cutting it... so does that count as liking it? Ha!

Bert's story about winning the McArthur Genius Grant: "I didn't believe them, but then I did." His deadpan delivery does add a nice flavor to the ensemble.

I guess that's it, for now. Way to waste an opportunity. This show is almost always just treading water, and it drives me nuts.

5/10