(S02E09) Dr. Sheldon Cooper, FTW? Maybe, but this episode... eh. Not so much. While it had its funny moments, overall, I thought this was one of the weakest episodes so far. I talked last week about my fear of this devolving into a show about Sheldon and the ridiculous things he says, and that's pretty much all we got this week. Even his interactions with Penny at the beginning of the episode, which are usually the best part of any episode, felt kind of flat to me.

Sheldon's complete and utter inability to relate to people on a normal human level is where most of the comedy on BBT comes from, but it only works when it's surrounded by the rest of their characters and their own sets of awkward mannerisms. When it's just The Sheldon Show, the fact that you're watching a sitcom in which actors are paid to read funny lines becomes more glaring.

Now don't get me wrong; I didn't hate this episode or anything, there were a good number of funny moments, one of my favorites being Penny's shout-out to the craptastic Sandra Bullock/Keanu Reeves movie, The Lake House. Not only is that a really random reference, but the idea of her making Sheldon watch it is kind of hilarious. Although I was disappointed with the fact that we didn't get to hear any more about Leonard and Penny's doomed relationship, since I really think the show moved on from that storyline too quickly.

In fact, it looks like we're going to get a lot more of the Leonard/Stephanie relationship than we ever got of the Leonard/Penny one. I don't mind this new romantic interest of his, I was excited when Sara Rue appeared last week, but if they're going to continue it, they need to give her more to do. All she did this week was sit around looking mildly uncomfortable with Sheldon's antics. Her most interesting actions, her Facebook dealings, all happened off screen.

Raj and Wolowitz were also criminally underused this episode, which added to the awkward, empty feel. Hopefully for the next new one, the gang will all be back together to spread the geek love, instead of leaving it all to Sheldon.

Some of my favorite lines from this episode:

Sheldon: Tell me what you see here.
Leonard: The blunt instrument that will be the focus of my murder trial?

"She's sending virtual livestock to random men on the internet." --Sheldon

"I need to know exactly what Leonard did that caused you to pop an emotional cap in his buttocks." --Sheldon

"You know what? I'll tell you what happened. We were young, we were very much in love, but we could only communicate through a time-traveling mailbox at my lake house." --Penny

"Well, if you want to guarantee his appeal to Stephanie, your best bet is to kill all the other men on the planet." --Raj

"You seem like a perfectly pleasant person. I can't understand why women have such a hard time loving you." --Sheldon

"If I am permitted to speak again; Dr. Sheldon Cooper, for the win." --Sheldon