Original Air Date: 27 October 2011
The Science: Oh, the walls are dripping blood, which looks nothing like a phenolphthalein indicator exposed to a sodium carbonate solution.
Review: I'll probably say this a lot this upcoming week, what with Halloween around the corner and all, but I'm not a fan of holiday episodes. They usually take the focus from the actual story, not to mention that they are kind of cliche. But Halloween is actually quite fitting with The Big Bang Theory's geeky theme, and this episode was so hilarious, that I'll forgive the redundancy for now.
The episode marks another appearance for Aarti Mann as Priya, but, more importantly, it features Bon Temps' resident lawyer, Courtney Ford, as a comic book artist who develops an interest in Leonard, making him question his relationship with Raj's sister. My two cents? Leonard and Priya may be intellectually similar, but how can he say no to a beautiful girl who lives at driving distance and is into all the superhero stuff he likes? Bad choice, dude! But at least his moral dilemma made me laugh through and through and for the first time in a long while Leonard got a significant storyline and raised to the occasion with perfectly delivered lines like "No, no, I messed up a little. You messed up a lot."
As for the actual Halloween part, after being pranked into fainting and wetting his pants by his friends (hilarious how he wasn't scared by the sounds and lights and blood on the wall, but by Leonard wearing an alien head), Sheldon, as a veritable Lone Star state resident, decided to get even, only to see each of his ideas backfire. Each of his stunts got more and more elaborate, though unsuccessful, because everyone knows: if you're going to get revenge on someone, don't let them know beforehand. Also, trying to scare an Indian with a snake? "Come on, Cooper. You're better than this."
But learning comes with time and you have to strike your adversary when he least expects it - maybe after a disturbing conversation with his long distance girlfriend! It would have been enough for Sheldon to pop up from below the couch pillows, but what made it all the more scary was the zombie makeup. You have to give it to him, the guy is good at painting his face!
I loved this episode from end to end. It's hard for a sitcom not to repeat things over the years and I was glad to see they didn't dress up as the Flash or other superheroes this time, but instead limited it to an old fashioned prank war. Jim Parsons was at his best, Howard's heart attack act made even me believe it was for real and, as always, I loved Penny's relationship advice.
The Big Bang Theory 5x06: The Rhinitis Revelation Back to Season 5
