There were only two words I could think of after watching last night’s hour long season premiere of The Big Bang Theory: nothing special. Not that the two episodes were bad or anything, they were both very cute, however, nothing really unique happened that made these episodes stand out from anything we’ve seen in prior seasons.
The first episode, we see life for Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) during Leonard’s (Johnny Galecki) trip at sea, which in my opinion, could have been a lot better if there was a different angle. The “Penny and Sheldon get to know each other more” idea was redundant and outdated, especially for two characters who have been getting to know each other for seven seasons. Though some of the snappy one liners brought a few laughs and Sheldon standing up for himself was a huge step in their relationship, this plot line in general was overall very predictable.
Speaking for Sheldon standing up for himself, it was pretty surprising to see him not only stand up to Penny, but the rest of the cast as well. This was more present in the second episode when he discovered that Leonard came back from his trip a few days early. I’m so glad he did it though because the other’s comments about Sheldon being “crazy” was starting to get old. It actually seemed like the writers were over this by now too and I’m not sure why they thought to bring this back up now. I mean, shouldn’t Leonard and the rest of the gang be more accustomed to Sheldon’s behavior by now? One would think so!
Though the main plot lines were pretty repetitive of previous seasons, I really enjoyed these episodes and that was mostly due to the story lines that centered around the rest of the cast. I especially loved Howard’s estrogen encounter and the connection Raj (Kunal Nayyar) made between the Human Resources lady. Speaking of Raj’s love life, I’m crossing my fingers and toes he finally finds a suitable mate. I’m sick of seeing him single, desperate for some kind of intimate connection. Maybe there’s going to be a new female cast member coming soon? I think that’s one of the many things needed to shake this show up a bit!
Though there were some faults in these two episodes, they are not going to deter me away from watching the rest of the season. I love The Big Bang Theory (I think I always will) and I’m excited to see what kind of mayhem these scientists get into next.
