lauren stern geeks out…
PLOT: Howard’s (Simon Helberg) dilemma of leaving his mother’s house after marriage follows him to space and he inevitably gets stuck in an argument between his mother and Bernadette (Melissa Rauch). Back on Earth, Sheldon (Jim Parsons) realizes there is a loophole in he and Amy’s (Mayim Bialik) relationship agreement and invites Raj (Kunal Nayyar) on their anniversary date. Amy gets upset about Sheldon’s invite and lack of affection which causes Sheldon to open up to her. The same night, Leonard plans a date with Penny (Kaley Cuoco) at his apartment in hopes of resolving their issues. After being kicked out of Sheldon and Amy’s date, Raj crashes Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny’s in hopes of helping them communicate. His mediation is unsuccessful and causes him to get kicked out of Leonard’s apartment. With no one to see and nothing to do, Raj heads over to the comic book store and connects with Stewart. The two make plans to hang out again in the future.
After an hilarious and adorable wedding ceremony and a proper space send off in the season five finale, Big Bang Theory fans all over the country were wondering how the producers were going to begin season six. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we knew Howard was going to adjust to life in space, but it’s safe to say that all of the other character’s dilemmas were pretty much up in the air at that point. Instead of leaving viewers hanging in the season six premiere, producers shelled out some answers in addition with some new and exciting story lines.
Let’s start with Howard’s space journey, since it was a major plot line of last season. Yes, he made it safe and sound and he’s doing great work, so what is inevitably next? Howard’s mother nagging him from Earth, of course! There was no other way to continue Howard’s journey other than to show what it’s like when he and his mother lead separate lives. With this new twist, the producers not only generated some laughs but did some great foreshadowing for when Howard returns home. Is he going to live with his mother or is Bernadette going to move into the Wolowitz household? We shall see but right now Howard’s not doing himself any favors by lying to both Bernadette and his mother.
The date dilemmas between the other couples from last season (Sheldon/Amy;Leonard/Penny) moved along quite nicely in this episode. With Sheldon and Amy’s problem, I found myself sympathizing with Amy at first and then I kind of felt bad for Sheldon. Sheldon is clearly the most misunderstood character of this show and Amy just needs to be patient with him. I must say Sheldon sharing his feelings and opening up was jaw dropping, even though he was quoting the first Spider-man movie. Regardless of the context, it was the first time viewers got to see a vulnerable Sheldon, something that was both unusual and exciting.
Leonard and Penny’s situation was a little more frustrating. I’ve been routing for them to be together for the last five seasons and I’m tired of watching them have constant issues in their relationship. Penny really didn’t help in this episode by refusing to talk about her feelings for Leonard and Leonard didn’t really help with his consistent nagging. Will these guys ever have a happy ever after? I think so. But like Ross and Rachel on Friends, I don’t think anything will be truly resolved until the end.
Lastly, the most discussed, biggest and newest addition to the show is Raj’s character development. Will he ever find true love? I think all BBT viewers can agree with me when I say that he needs to win someone over already! I hope that the producers continue to focus primarily on him this season. I think he deserves it, he’s been overshadowed by all of the other characters for way too long!
The season premiere of Big Bang Theory was a great start to what hopefully will be a great season. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen to the gang and what other nerdy references are going to be used in the upcoming episodes.
