Half of last night's 'Big Bang Theory' worked rather well, while the other didn't really click until the end. But overall, I thought it was a solid episode in what's been a pleasing turnaround to the slightly disappointing start to this fourth season.
I really liked the Indiana Jones story, with Sheldon's frustration with his friends actually being a valid point for once. I feel I can laugh at Sheldon's awkwardness, so long as the show does point out every now and again that he's a smart guy who happens to be socially awkward, and not just a moron. I liked all the Indiana Jones gags, particularly Raj pondering on whether he should be called 'Short Round' rather than Leonard.
And we got a great return from Wil Wheaton, who shined once again in this comical evil guy that he does so well on this show (and on the online series 'The Guild'. Check it out if you haven't). I like how petty their rivalry is - it's harmless fun and there's still so much potential before the joke becomes a little dry.
To top it off, that storyline closed with a wonderful homage to the scene at the start of 'Raiders', with Sheldon and Co running away from an angry nerd mob. I wonder if that joke may have worked a bit better on 'Community', but at this point the writers have so much respect for the geekdom world, that any references to the movies we love or the pop culture icons we admire don't feel cheap (as in, the time machine episode from season 1) but rather a loving recreation.
Had Amy been a little bit more toned down, I think the slumber party subplot could have been quite clever. It doesn't seem Mayim Bialik has quite got the hang of playing a Sheldon-type character, but she's only been in 5 episodes, and it certainly took Jim Parsons the better part of the first season to nail it. I don't want another Sheldon though - I had a small hope that Amy would take the opposite approach to Sheldon and be thoroughly successful at trying something new. Instead, she was just a female version of the same character here, and it came across as the writers trying to cram as many 'I don't understand social protocols!' jokes as possible.
Still, it was nice to see Penny address her relationship with Leonard, which felt so forcefully abandoned by the show that I was glad they at least picked up on how abrupt and, sort of pointless, the break up was. Interesting to see where it goes from there.
Finally, and I'm sure I'm not the first person to notice this: I spotted Jesse Heiman (I really hope that's pronounced the way I say it in my head), background actor extraordinaire, as part of Wil Wheaton's entourage. On his gravestone, it'll say: Here lies Jesse Heiman (giggle), great son, loving husband... background geek on TV.
What did everybody else think?
