The Big Bang Theory: The Collaboration Fluctuation (10x19)

One good plot thread, and one bad one. Let's take a quick look.

Cons:

The plot thread I didn't care for involved Raj and Penny getting really close and spending all of their time together now that Raj has moved in. Leonard feels left out. After being a third wheel with Howard and Bernadette for a while, he decides to tell Raj and Penny how he feels, but they humorously continue to leave him out of the conversation as they discuss his feelings. This feels like yet another example of some serious issues in Penny and Leonard's marriage being hinted at, but never actually developed. We've already seen this kind of scenario play out in the past, with Raj interfering in Bernadette and Howard's marriage. It feels like a retread. And there's no really good punchline either. Leonard is feeling jealous, he tells them that he's feeling jealous, and everybody just kind of shrugs their shoulders and moves on.

Pros:

The other plot thread sees Sheldon and Amy collaborating on a work project together. They lay out some ground rules about being nice to one another, but their work ends up being crap. They discover that as they start bickering, they start getting breakthroughs. They therefore revise the rules so they can insult each other a bunch, thereby coming up with better ideas. I don't have a lot to say about this. It made me laugh, and it also felt like a good representation of Amy and Sheldon's relationship. Sheldon starts off by trying to take over Amy's project, but Amy patiently intervenes and lays out rules for them to follow. Sheldon often misses social cues, but Amy has gotten really good at explaining when something is important to her, and Sheldon has actually gotten to the point where he listens.

Wow. This is one of my shortest reviews to date! But that's probably a good thing. I don't need to waste much of my time reviewing this particular show. In all, not a great episode, but not one that made my skin crawl, either. To small victories!

7/10