The Big Bang Theory - Episode 8.03 - The First Pitch Insufficiency - Recap & Review

Teaser/Beginning Scene

The episode begins with Howard playing a game of baseball on Wii but he gets distracted with heckling by Sheldon and Raj. He's playing baseball because he was chosen to throw out the first pitch at the Angels game. This is going to be interesting how the outcome will be knowing is poor motor skills.

Sheldon & Amy (Shamy) and Penny & Leonard (Lenny) plot: Penny and Leonard observe that Sheldon and Amy have been going on dates very often. Sheldon tells them the reason is that because of his train trip, he is contractually obligated to make them up under the relationship agreement. It's really awesome that he brings that agreement up again. He invites the couple to join them for a double date but is disappointed to find out by Amy that double dates do not count as 2 dates. She has a point because double dating does not allow her and Sheldon to have alone time together.

Later on, Penny tells Sheldon she is surprised they choose to go to a pub as a double date but Amy would've chosen the same thing in this situation. Shamy made some good references about Yorkshire pudding to the country itself. This was one of the reasons why Shamy chose to go to the pub for their double date so he can lecture the waiter on Yorkshire. Leonard makes fun of Shamy's reasoning of going to the pub. Sheldon thinks Penny & Leonard are jealous because their relationship because he thinks they'll never be as good as theirs. He ranks the relationships and thinks Penny and Chardonnay is a better relationship than her's with Leonard. His opinion causes Penny and Leonard to argue a bit, which he antagonized.

On the way to the pub, Leonard doesn't understand why Shamy's relationship is better than his with Penny. He tells him he enjoys spending time together but he doesn't like it that Shamy ignores each other for hours doing different things, but it's called parallel play, which Shamy both enjoyed. He doesn't like it that he thinks he's the best at everything. He disses him that he can't even go on a date without basing on an agreement. I enjoyed this part when Sheldon referring to 13 colonies to have an agreement with the US constitution to the relationship agreement.

At the pub, Amy wonders when Penny will get married. She tells her when she wants to wait long enough to prove that she's not pregnant to her mother. Leonard and Penny make fun of Sheldon not sharing his food with Amy but that's because his burger had avocado in it and she's allergic to it. This causes the couple to fight with them (minus poor innocent Amy enjoying her food) especially when he ranks random things. Leonard wants take a relationship test but this causes even more drama as Penny walks out to take a drink. Finally, Amy tells Sheldon that this counts as two dates. Penny and Leonard realize that they have nothing in common but they agree he thinks he's not funny.

Penny and Leonard end up reconciling and Amy apologizes to them for comparing relationships to each other. Leonard tells Sheldon that just because they are different people, it doesn't mean they are a bad couple. Therefore, he refuses to take the test but Penny insists on taking it. He would love to take the test with her while holding hands together and it seems that she is happy with him. Amy wishes Sheldon would say that kind of stuff to her.

Howard plot:
Meanwhile, Bernadette gives Howard a massage to help him relax before throwing the pitch. She comments that she is surprised that he was asked to do it but she agrees to help him improve his baseball skills. She goes behind his back and mimics that way he runs, which is like a girl. This week, Howard reminds me of Jerry from Parks and Recreation because the similarities between those two is that they are always the butt of the jokes.

At the basketball court, Raj wonders why Howard never played Little League, but he was busy playing with Playboy magazines. Bernadette makes Howard measure up to 60 feet to get ready for baseball and he's shocked how long it is. Howard tries hard to practice baseball with Bernadette. She teaches him how to do it but he is struggling so hard that she screams at him to throw the ball. Every time he tries throw the ball, he fails miserably.

Right before the game, Howard gets some advice from Mike Massimino but it does not help very much. Howard has to suck it up and throw the first pitch. At the end, things don't turn out well as the audience boos him for not throwing the ball. Instead of that, he build a ridiculous machine to throw a ball that fails, which causes the audience (including Raj & Sheldon) to boo him even more.

Observations:
- It was good to see that the two couples double dated together despite that there were conflicts at times.
- I agree with Amy that Sheldon should be more loving but I think Sheldon loves her so much but does not know to express it at times.
- Howard works so hard for something that he ends up failing. I agree with Mike that he is lucky to have a cute wife like Bernadette.
- Raj needs more screentime. He cracks me up so much.
- While last week's episode was better, I still enjoyed this one because I learned that I should not compare myself to other people. Still, being in its 8th season, every time I finish each episode, it goes by so quickly. It's not easy for comedies to last this long now of these days.