It was the first Thanksgiving episode of the series and what a disappointment it was after having such very high expectations for this episode. However, there were some parts that did work for me.
The truth about Penny and Zack was that they got married one night in Las Vegas a few years ago. She thought she was marrying him in a fake way but it turned out that it was a legal marriage. The Penny/Leonard plot did work for me this week when they argued about her marriage to Zack. She wants him to come over just the annul the marriage but this frustrates Leonard even more. I'm glad that Penny and Leonard work things out. Even though I love their chemistry, it's actually quite funny when they argue. Despite that now Zack and Penny are no longer legally married, he still stayed in the same room as his unintentional ex-wife and her boyfriend by having Thanksgiving dinner with them and their friends. Zack is not your typical ex-husband, he’s more clueless.
The comments about Sheldon referring to going to Howard’s house for Thanksgiving as African slaves being forced to do unlawful things did not impress me. It did not make sense for Bernadette’s mom to go out of town and not spend time with her husband on Thanksgiving. Sheldon and Bernadette’s dad making fun of people did not click well with me. However, I commend the writers for trying their best to let those two have a scene together. The only good part about the scene between those two was their bond over football championships from the 1990s. Drunk Sheldon butt slapping Amy was actually amusing after he asked her to get her a beer. I think that Sheldon and Amy's relationship is starting to get better even though he constantly ignores her. I still think that Howard's mom was funny in this episode when she butt into Howard's conversations. It was cool that Berndaette let Raj cook since she said that she worked so hard. Bernadette is a hard-worker and she definitely deserved a break. I wish the writers would've used Raj more this week as he consistently makes me laugh especially with his social skills when he talks with women.
Grades for different plots: I gave an A for Penny/Leonard/Zack plot, a B+ for Drunk Sheldon/Amy but a D for the scene between Bernadette's dad and Sheldon.
Overall Grade: C+
