TV-Reviewed

I think one of the best things about this show is that it usually keeps me laughing, regardless of what is going on. I also appreciate how it stays smart without riding up its own ass. “The Cornhusker Vortex” does all this while dealing with important topics such as relationships, kite fighting, football, and Cylon toast. It’s basically and Penny and Leonard episode at the center but it also deals with the odd couple like relationship that Wolowitz and Raj have built for themselves. I personally founder the latter one funnier, but it was all pretty hilarious.  

While preparing for a day of kite-fighting with the guys, Leonard runs into Penny in the hall and learns she is having friends over for some football game. It’s about time an episode like this happened because you always hear about Penny’s friends but you never see her hanging out with anybody except Leonard and the other nerds. Seeing as how he wasn’t invited, Leonard suspects that Penny is embarrassed of him but she insists it’s only because she doesn’t want him to get bored considering none of her friends are scientists. She invites him to the next get together but after realizing he doesn’t actually have any friends who aren’t scientists, he starts to get nervous. 

Meanwhile during the Kite-fight, Wolowitz ditched Raj to hopelessly chase after some girl thereby causing Raj to lose his Indian fighting kite to Sheldon. The whole incident has Raj questioning his friendship with Wolowitz considering Wolowitz keeps ditching him for girls he doesn’t have a shot in hell with. Wolowitz tries to make it up to Raj for being a sucky friend, but the Hello Kitty replacement kite isn’t cutting it. Desperate to get Raj back, Wolowitz treats him to a day out at the La Brea tar pits where he again ditches him for some random girl walking by only this time Raj both expects and accepts it. Their relationship, though probably not that healthy, is definitely hilarious. 

Leonard tries to learn as much as possible about football so he won’t embarrass Penny and is shocked to find out that Sheldon already knows all about football. When asked how, he states, “I grew up in Texas. Football is ubiquitous in Texas. There’s Pro-football, college football, high school football, Pee-wee football, in fact every form of football except the original, European football, which most Texans believe to be a commie plot.” Whenever Sheldon talks about Texas I can never stop laughing. Other gems of his Texan knowledge include, “If you’re interested, I also know about frying meat that isn’t chicken as if it were chicken,” and, “If you like, after the game I’ll take you outside and teach you how to shoot close enough to a raccoon that it craps itself.” Leonard passes on the other offers but has Sheldon school him in football so when the big game rolls around he’s more or less ready. 

Unfortunately all his football knowledge doesn’t save him from making an ass out of himself. In fact, it helps perpetuate it and all his awkward text book observations have Penny trying to gag him with a piece of pizza. When Sheldon stops by to borrow bread from Penny (he used all his making toast in his new Cylon toaster) he asks Leonard if he is fitting in with Penny’s friends only he uses big words so Penny’s jock friends can’t understand him, lol. He then offers a way out to Leonard by asking him to go kite fighting but Leonard refuses to give up seeing as how there is only 3 minutes left in the game. Then Penny informs him that’s its only three minutes away from half-time not the end of the game, to which Leonard bolts. As her friends stare at her puzzled Penny just shrugs, stating, “Yep, that’s my boyfriend…he’s really smart.” 

Rating: 8.0