The Big Bang Theory: The Consummation Deviation (12x08)

I chuckled a few times, so that's a good sign.

Cons:

Jokes about Penny and Leonard's sex life are just not all that funny. They're just playing in to all the basic stereotypes about sitcom marriages, where a long suffering hot girl ends up with a doof.

Pros:

I really like Raj and Anu. This has been the biggest surprise for me of the season. Raj has always been really annoying to me when it came to his relationships to women, but seeing him try to build something real out of his foundation with Anu has been really compelling. I liked the brief callback to the earlier seasons, when Raj couldn't talk around women unless he had a drink. It was a stark reminder of one of the show's early iconic elements, but it didn't go on too long. He and Anu had a real talk about things, and spent all night just sharing and getting to know one another. Then... morning shower sex, so it looks like things are working out pretty good for the two of them.

Sheldon decides to get to know his in-laws. First, he tries to bond with Amy's dad, but after Sheldon annoys the poor man for part of the day, he gets seduced away by Howard's cool magic tricks. Obviously the meta humor here is all about how Teller, one of the world's most famous magicians, is completely delighted by the most basic of tricks. That was a lot of fun. This show has a bad habit of doing cameos just for the sake of doing cameos, where the entire joke is: "look! That person is famous!" but here, Teller actually had some funny material, which was much appreciated. Sheldon then turns to Amy's mom, which doesn't go well at first, until they start to bond over Amy. And... not in a good way. Turns out, Amy has been using Sheldon as an excuse not to see her mom!

This plot thread was a lot of fun because it was rooted in Sheldon's earnest desire to be a good husband. Even when Amy does the wrong thing, Sheldon backs her up because he loves her, no questions asked. Of course, his method of getting to know his mother and father-in-law is extremely annoying to the persons involved, but that's just how Sheldon is.

I think that's all I've got. These reviews tend to be short because there's just not a great deal of substance to this show. But a short review also means nothing too serious to complain about, so that's something!

7.5/10