The Big Bang Theory: The Celebration Reverberation (11x11)

This was the first time in... a very long time that I felt a bit interested in an episode of The Big Bang Theory before it even started. I was so pleased with the Raj and Howard conflict from last week that I was actually looking forward to seeing where it went. How did they do?

Cons:

Well, I'm of two minds. Raj and Howard's fight is resolved in quite a juvenile way, which is sort of perfect for their characters, but I did find myself wanting more. Maybe it's not fair to ask this show to be something that it's not. We were never going to have a drawn-out conflict with lots of serious character growth and meditation on their relationship. So given the constraints of the format, I don't mind so much. Still, I wish maybe we could have had one more conversation at the end of the episode to button up this difficult chapter in Raj and Howard's friendship.

Pros:

The fact that they continued on with the conflict at all was impressive to me. Things get increasingly hurtful, as Raj doesn't invite Howard to go to Star Wars: The Last Jedi with him, and then Howard doesn't invite Raj to Halley's first birthday party. That changes when Howard needs help setting up the party. He goes to Raj, who is hurt that Howard is only apologizing because he needs something from Raj. However, Raj decides to help with the party for his goddaughter's sake. An altercation in the bouncy house leads to both of them admitting - "you're my best friend and you hurt my feelings!" They then discover that shoving each other in the bouncy house is quite fun, and begin playing together. Like I said, the resolution is a bit juvenile, but I liked the way this whole plot thread wasn't just played for laughs. They were both genuinely hurt by what was going on, and that was very evident in the acting and the script.

Sheldon surprises Amy with an authentic Little House on the Prairie dinner for her birthday, but ends up giving them both terrible food poisoning. There wasn't a ton of stuff in this plot thread, but it was another example of Sheldon actually thinking about Amy and doing something nice for her, which I always like to see. We got a few jokes about their annual birthday coitus, which was fun - I think I've talked about this before, but I continue to be impressed that the one thing this show consistently does right is examine the complexities of a romantic relationship where the two people involved have different physical needs. Sure, there are jokes about it, but Sheldon is never treated by the narrative as broken or wrong for not wanting sex all that often.

Even Leonard and Penny had a plot thread that I enjoyed. Leonard wants to write a Christmas letter listing everything he's been up to in the last year, which forces him and Penny to confront the fact that they haven't really been up to anything. They've stagnated. Now, I don't typically trust this show with any level of nuance or follow-through, but there has been a fairly subtle through-line recently with Penny and Leonard, where the fact that they're basically frozen in time has started to put a strain on their happiness. I want to see them have real conversations about their future - do they actually want kids? Are they going to keep living in this apartment forever? Again, it's not that I trust this show to follow it through, but a girl can hope!

There you have it. A surprisingly satisfying episode. I might have wished for even more seriousness with the Howard and Raj fight, but I was still pretty happy with what I got.

9/10