TV-Reviewed

So this is the argument episode. Penny and Leonard’s relationship was going too smoothly for TV land so they threw in a fight. The fun all starts when Penny, Leonard, and Sheldon are sitting around playing Sheldon’s homemade board game, Research Lab. Its slogan is “the physics is theoretical but the fun is real.” Naturally Penny and Leonard are bored out of their minds and looking for a way out of having to play it again. Leonard looks to Penny for an excuse and she reveals that she has to pick up her musician friend Justin from the airport because he is going to be couch surfing at her place for a while. All is well until Leonard realizes it’s the truth and his insecurity mixed with her inconsiderateness causes lots of screaming and yelling. Thus the argument has begun, and despite the two screaming people, it’s Sheldon’s inability to handle fighting where the real humor lies.

Turns out, Sheldon has some childhood issues with fighting which stems from his parent’s dysfunctional marriage. It’s the funniest thing going on in the episode yet Sheldon is usually so hilariously arrogant that to see him acting all damaged is kind of sad. During the initial fight, Sheldon scurried off to make snow cones to drown out the yelling and successfully ended their argument. However, neither Leonard nor Penny is willing to apologize and their fighting worsens. It also begins to have a trickle down effect. While at the comic book store, Wolowitz agrees with Leonard while Raj sides with Penny. Soon the two are having their own platonic lover’s spat about the time Wolowitz ditched Raj at a cooking class because he was on a juice fast with his mother, ha. Then Sheldon has a meltdown and flees.

Jim Parsons as Sheldon, Kaley Cuoco as Penny

Unable to handle the disruptions their fight is causing him he decides to interfere, first visiting Penny at the Cheesecake Factory to try to convince Penny to apologize. In usually Sheldon fashion he makes things worse, so he then asks Leonard to apologize. I love how he doesn’t really care who apologizes to who or what they are even fighting about; he just wants them to stop. So after making the fight worse, he flees the apartment in search of a less screechy atmosphere. He heads over to Raj’s place but Raj is having an online-cam fight with his parents about attending a wedding in India so he can put in some face time with some girl who just got her stomach stapled before she gets thin. Then Sheldon goes to casa de Wolowitz but leaves after hearing Wolowitz and his Mother scream at each other while she’s on the toilet.

Eventually Penny and Leonard, who’ve gone searching for him, find him at the comic book store. He’s nesting in the corner, reading graphic novels, and ignoring their attempts to get him to come home. Penny promises not fight anymore to which Sheldon responds, “I’ve heard that before. Then the next thing you know I’m hiding in my bedroom, while my mom is shouting that Jesus would forgive her if she put ground glass in my dad’s meatloaf.” Leonard tells him to deal with childhood crap but its Penny who get through to him by giving him the “sometimes we fight, but that doesn’t mean we love you any less” speech that you’d give to an eight year old. Then she makes Leonard buy him a comic and a toy and all is well. Penny and Leonard work out their differences too and Penny finds a different couch for her friend Justin to crash on, Sheldon’s.

Rating: 7.9