The Big Bang Theory — The Holographic Excitation (S6E05)

(My review of the last episode of The Big Bang Theory, The Re-Entry Minimization)

Everybody knows that Howard went to space, but he can’t stop reminding them of this fact. Howard bring Stuart a gift, a signed picture of him in his space suit. He can relate literally any topic to the fact that he went to space, and won’t hesitate to do so. This constant reminder started to drive all of his friends crazy, it’s hard to have a conversation with him if it’s always about space. Though it seems that he does this to make everybody else feel inferior, he does it because he thinks that he is inferior. Going to space is the only amazing thing he ever did and will probably ever do, and he doesn’t want people to forget it. Bernadette comforts him and quells his angst by telling him that she married him “on purpose”, she loves the plain old Howard Wolowitz. And this point is driven in by a video that Raj sent about Buzz Aldrin handing out space-related candy (Mars Bars, Milky Ways, Moon Pies) on Halloween and explaining their significance to the children. And since it’s Halloween, they dressed up as Smurfs, which is incredibly creepy. But I have to say, Bernadette has a much better way with words than Tobias Funkë from Arrested Development does when she says, “I just spent three hours coloring myself blue” instead of “I blue myself.”

Raj is trying to help Stuart pick up chicks by throwing on amazing Halloween party, or as he calls it, a “Koothra-party.” He shows up to the party as Indian Jones, Indiana Jones’ dark-skinned love child, which is actually quite clever! Raj is incredibly proud of the menu he is designed, it is comprised of normal foods with Halloween sounding names such as Draculoni and Cheese. And when Stuart takes credit for the amazing party, Raj gets surprisingly upset. He thinks that he deserves the credit for the party, even though he promised Stuart to let him take the credit.

Sheldon agree surprisingly quickly to Amy’s request to wear a couple’s costume, but it’s not exactly what she had hoped for. He requests going as C-3PO and R2D2, but agrees to make a concession and pick something she would agree to. After hours of trying to decide on a costume, they decide to go as something that typically isn’t considered a “couple’s costume.” Amy is dressed as Raggedy Ann and Sheldon is Raggedy C-3PO. The fans have constantly said that Sheldon looks and acts like C-3PO, and I think it was quite a nice gesture from the writers to include this.

After some whining about attending the comic book shop’s Halloween party, Penny realizes that she hasn’t been an ideal girlfriend. She stops by Leonard’s work to try and understand what he actually does for living. She is completely lost, until Leonard shows her something a bit more her speed, a holographic device. He shows her a holographic image of the world and zooms out to show her the entire galaxy, making an observation that maybe they’re just images on a painting, not even real. All of a sudden, Penny is turned on by Leonard’s intellect, something that hasn’t really happened before. And for the first time in his life, Leonard gets to fool around in his lab. When they get to the party, Penny is dressed as a cop and Leonard is Albert Einstein (sans accent upon Penny’s request). And they quickly head to a back room to spend the evening together again. It looks like the doubt Penny had about the relationship might have finally disappeared.

(My review of the next episode of The Big Bang Theory, The Extract Obliteration)