BIG BANG THEORY: 3.05 “The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary”
Sorry it’s taken me so long to review Monday’s The Big Bang Theory. Honestly, I just don’t know what to say.
Here was the problem with the episode: I knew Wil Wheaton would be in it. Considering that we fill the show with nerds, you knew this would be epic. And it was very good. I quite enjoyed it. Epic, it was not.
I mean, let’s look back to the episode with Summer Glau. Again, we had a nerd-beloved celebrity appearing in the show and playing themselves. But for some reason I just liked it better. You got to see each of the characters interact with her (well, not Sheldon), and the individual comparisons, her reactions, and how they sabotaged each other was great.
Here, we really only got Sheldon. And as much as I love Sheldon and as much I truly appreciated where his anger came from (only a nerdy guy on Big Bang would be so angry for this long over that), it just didn’t have as much appeal. Perhaps it was because I saw the twist of Will Wheaton’s lie coming. I’m not sure.
But really, I think we were missing having everyone’s reactions. I mean, Raj didn’t seem to care. Leonard and Howard didn’t even know. You’d think that Raj would have told the rest of them and they would have canceled their double date to meet Wil Wheaton.
Now it seems like I’m sounding harsh and that I didn’t enjoy the episode. I did. I laughed through the majority of it. I mean, they were able to find a date for Howard–and make him come across as awkward without his being super-creepy. I mean, for a while, I was thinking that the girl wasn’t even being cooperative to talking to him and a failed date would be on her part. I actually enjoyed hearing about their mothers and discovering that they would actually make a good match because of that (and the extremes that their mothers go…eek!).
And the game was fun, too. Watching Sheldon get more and more agitated the closer he got to Wil Wheaton–even saying stuff in Klingon to torment him. The best, though, was having Raj identify which Star Trek franchises Sheldon was referencing and claiming that it didn’t even make sense in regards to Wil Wheaton.
Nerdiness makes me happy.
So I think ultimately, this episode was a failure of promotion and creativity. I still enjoyed it, but I just wanted more. Maybe I’m greedy.
What’d you think?
I think I agree with you — it was fun and I enjoyed it, but for the amount of time spent talking about Wil, I was hoping Wil would get more screen time than he did. Maybe they’ll have him back?
The Wrath of Khan business was awesome. I mean, (A) best Trek film ever, (B) it fit thematically with Sheldon’s desire for revenge, and (C) as Raj pointed out, Wesley Crusher was not even a twinkle in Roddenberry’s eye when it was made. Hee.
The grandmother ploy was so obvious — but I guess that’s Sheldon for you. Ridiculously good memory, ridiculously bad at personal relationships.
Howard and his date were hilarious. That scene also made me chuckle because Leonard and Penny were kind of playing the scene like exasperated parents.
The funny part is that I actually barely remember Penny and Leonard in this episode at all. But now that I think about it, you’re right! They were like exasperated parents!
I’m a little late, but I just realized this. If you would like more Wil in your diet, he’s become a recurring character on Felicia Day’s The Guild, as guild leader of the Axis of Anarchy.
“Hey, I live by my own rules. I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t pay attention when the gas tank tells me to fill it. I fill when I f***ing well please. …Life is PVP. In game AND out.(PVP means player vs player.)”
Man, I really need to watch The Guild.
You really do. And you’ll whip right through it, the episodes are so short. Felicia Day is adorable as ever, and Wil and his gang have been cracking me up.
Speaking of Felicia (and getting ever more off topic) have you seen the spot she did for NASA? Hilarious.
[...] something about his mother after all the yelling back and forth with her, what with the fact that they bonded so well with annoying, overbearing moms. But that would be off-topic [...]