Did you catch the return of The Big Bang Theory Thursday night on CBS? Two new episodes in one night. Perfection. Jam-packed with the usual laughter, wit, Star Trek references, and a kraken.
The first episode had Sheldon and Penny missing Leonard, Bernadette and Amy enjoying male attention without Penny’s presence, and Howard and Raj dealing with Raj’s breakup and his new found ability to talk to women while sober. Sheldon’s inability to admit to missing Leonard fueled most of the first episode. Basically, Sheldon has tried to replace Leonard with Penny, which translates to an entire episode full of even more witty, awkward exchanges between Penny and Sheldon. Bernadette and Amy, while away at a conference, experience male attention without the aid of Penny’s presence. However, this leads to Bernadette and Amy having a small tiff because Bernadette believes Amy can do better than Sheldon. This tiff leads to some hilarious banter, all at the expense of Sheldon and Howard’s quirks. While all of this was quite hilarious, even better was Raj dealing with being newly single and, more importantly, learning how to soberly talk to women. The whole “Raj doesn’t speak to women unless he’s drunk” bit was quite funny, but his new found ability to soberly speak with women is definitely going to have its perks. After years of silence in front of women, he really has no clue how to appropriately speak to a female. It’s awkward, funny, and adorable. The first episode was definitely a success.
In the second episode, Leonard surprises Penny with a return visit without telling Sheldon. Sheldon discovers this “betrayal” after thinking he will catch Penny in the act of cheating on Leonard. Sheldon, in Sheldon style, overreacts. While Sheldon’s overreaction is funny as always, the best part of the episode was Howard’s accidental increase in estrogen after spending the past few weeks repeatedly rubbing his mother’s ointment on her. First, Howard informs Raj that he’s on a diet because he has put on a couple of pounds. Howard hilariously admits to having to buy his pants in the men’s sections. Howard spends the episode obsessed with feeling bloated, acting snippy, and being overly emotional, as he becomes a stereotyped version of an overemotional female. The rest of the cast was amazing as always, but the writing for Howard’s character and Simon Helberg’s performance definitely stole the show. It was definitely an entertaining episode.
Can’t wait for more hilarious antics next week. The previews show the gang partaking in a scavenger hunt. It’s sure to be amusing. Tune in Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS.
image: CBS