The Big Bang Theory 5x11: The Speckerman Recurrence

Original Air Date: 8 December 2011

Storyline: Leonard must confront the man who bullied him in high school, while Penny realizes she did her fair share of tormenting in the past.Trivia: Sheldon is watching the Nobel Prize acceptance ceremony live from Stockholm at 2 am. Stockholm is nine hours ahead of California, which would mean that the ceremony is taking place at 11 am. The ceremony actually starts at 4:30 pm (Dec 10).Best Quote:

Sheldon: Leonard, I platonically love you man, but face it, you're a mess.
The Sheldon: In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II was named an honorary Harlem Globetrotter.

Review: Yet another story about bullies... didn't we see something like this in one of the past seasons? Or maybe I'm mixing up sitcoms. I'm just a little bit sick of these recycled themes, even though this one in particular - though very much a cliche - fits well with the overall nerd environment. Oh yeah, now I remember! It was on Chuck that I saw this last. Not far. 

This wasn't the best episode of the season, though it kind of got better after the second viewing. For once, sometimes Raj's effeminate comments piss me off, though they are part of his charm. Also, the lack of science - just when I started to get the physics jokes my friends make - is unsettling and deviates strongly from the show's theme. As much as I hated the frequency of the Sheldon/Penny interactions in the past, I now miss them, as they were probably the best thing about this series anyways. And to conclude, it's not often that Penny annoys the crap out of me, but this time she did it and with flying colors. How can one be so obsessed over clothes that she would steal from the poor?
Despite my many complaints, the episode had its funny moments - the recurrent Wi-Fi password joke being one of them. Also, Sheldon's face when he tries to understand a joke, then his weird chuckle, never fail to make me laugh. I also loved Shelly's Dark Knight references (as much of a Marvel girl as I am). His courage and his affection for Leonard (probably the latter leading to the courage bit) are downright hilarious and touching at the same time.
But going back to the bad, I'll just mention a couple of things I'm sick of: the division between the girls and the guys, making the girls so not funny; Bernadette's recurring short jokes and Amy's borderline-gay admiration for Penny.
Let's hope 2012 brings Chuck Lorre the inspiration back, as I miss the early days unstoppable laughs.
The Big Bang Theory 5x10: The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition Back to Season 5