leonard and penny

(S02E20) Don't you hate it when a show is so great for the first 29 minutes, but then in minute 30 it all seems to fall apart? That's what happens on this episode of The Big Bang Theory. Penny falls for a comic book guy and all of the characters show actual growth and development -- until minute 30. That's when they go for the fat joke.

The joke, which was basically just a sight gag that had Raj making out with a rotund woman in a tight pink dress, was obvious and lazy. In and of it self, it makes me roll my eyes, but doesn't really bother me. What bothers me about it is BBT is better than that. Why would a show that spends so much time humanizing and making us love a group of people who generally gets made fun of, make a thoughtless fat joke?

The Big Bang Theory continues to impress me. With only a few exceptions, it's been consistently strong and is quickly becoming one of my favorite sitcoms. One of the things I enjoy about it so much is that it answers a lot of questions the viewers have in the back of their mind: "What would Sheldon be like if he got a girlfriend?" and "Is Wolowitz just a perv, or is there something more?" And in tonight's episode, "Does Penny realize she's a user?"

Penny having to come face-to-face with a more successful version of herself was a brilliant way to address her relationship with the guys. Even though it's evolved over the past few years, there is still a very definite social hierarchy upon which she finds herself on the top. But now that Alicia is on the scene, she's forced to take a look in a mirror: a very hot mirror.