The season 4 premiere of Big Bang Theory has a lot of elements that are enjoyable, but unfortunately, they also have an overabundance of cringe scenes. Oftentimes, this show has a peculiar mix of geek and sex, and this episode had more emphasis on the latter than I’d like to see.
Mayim Bialik (Blossom) returns as guest star Amy Farrah Fowler, Sheldon’s mathematically calculated soulmate. Mayim has another great performance as Amy, and the chemistry between her, Kaley Cuoco, and Jim Parsons is great. The power of the show to me is the chemistry between Penny and Sheldon, and having another “Sheldon” type character to bounce off of makes for a great exchange of dialog and comedy.
On the other hand, I feel the B story for this episode of Howard and the robotic hand takes the whole episode down a notch. The whole situation with the arm seems very contrived and forced while overall leaving me with an uncomfortable feeling. It’s as if the writers were afraid of not writing in a strong opening using the entire cast, and had to use the typical formula of “nerd + robotics + sex” to create a situation that doesn’t even make sense. While the ratings are strong against the similarly well written Community, I worry that the quality of the show might be waning if this is a sign of the season as a whole. This show has always been about the extreme geek-ness of it’s characters and their interactions with each other.
Other Thoughts
- Sheldon and Amy…or Sh-amy
- ‘You have broad hips and a certain corn-fed vigor. Is your womb available for rental?’ – Sheldon
- I don’t understand how they wouldn’t consider just turning the whole thing off.
- ‘Penny, to your mind..are you a slut?’ – Amy
- Numbers are very strong against Community, but with the dismal failure of My Dad Says, I feel that this show will end up being alone on Thursday very quickly.
