So you knew this one was coming. Now that the series has been put to bed, it’s time to go through my favorite episodes. I’ve talked about this show many times including stuff I didn’t like, reviewing the pilot which is solid, a recent face-off, and a (now dated) article where I admitted I was ready for the show to end. But I had never gone through the episodes I love to watch over and over.
So these are my favorites, and there are two things to remember here. I am discussing episodes I think are solid from start to finish. A lot of episodes have great and/or funny moments in them but the episode is only OK. A great example is “The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis”. Everyone remembers the end where Sheldon gives Penny a hug, but the episode on the whole is meh. Another is the one where Leonard has an itchy shirt and Sheldon proves a point with it, but the rest of the episode is so forgettable I forgot it while reviewing the episodes. The other things is that these are in braodcast order, I will discuss my #1 favorite episode when we reach it.
“The Bat Jar Conjecture”
Yeah the tag where Leonad and Sheldon don’t understand trivia outside of Star Trek was lame, but the rest of the episode is great. We get Sheldon at his most obnoxious as he refuses to accept that others are smart too. When you look back to this one, you really see how much the character has grown.
“The Peanut Reaction”
When Penny decides to throw Leonard a surprise party it doesn’t quite go as planned. Especially when Sheldon can’t seem to get out of the electronics store. Penny and Sheldon scenes are always gold, we’ll see more of that here. We also get some great laughs from Howard and his attempt to keep Leonard busy.
“The Euclid Alternative”
After driving each of his friends crazy. the four rally to try to teach Sheldon how to drive. It goes as well as you’d think. This is one of the first episodes where the gang feels like a real group of friends.
“The Panty Pinata Polarization”
There are episodes where Sheldon fights with every friends, separately and as a group, and this is Penny’s. It’s great to see Penny refuse to knuckle under to Sheldon’s craziness like the tge guys always do. And you gotta love how the fight is resolved!
“The Adhesive Duck Deficiency”
This is an easy episode to hate since really nothing happens in it. Sheldon has to drive Amy to the hospital after she injures her shoulder and the guys camp out to see meteor showers. So why it here? Because while the episodes is basically the characters interacting, it’s so much fun to watch them interact. Of course the guys end up stoned accidentally which leads to some interesting reveals.
“The Bozeman Reaction”
This episode is yet another Sheldon one, as he freaks out after the apartment is robbed. Is it weird to say The Golden Girls did it better? Yeah the gags are kinda predictable but they still work.
“The Pants Alternative”
This one is simply a classic my friends. This is the episode that first won Jim Parsons an Emmy, and it’s not easy to see why. All the jokes land, and seeing Sheldon lose it on stage is a great caper. There is also one line Howard gives in the episode which is so well delivered it always, always gets a laugh out of me.
“The Staircase Implemenation”
This is my favorite episode, for a few reasons. It’s a flashback to when Leonard and Sheldon met, and it’s really funny. But the real reason this is my favorite is that this is teh first real episode I ever saw, and fell in love with the series. I wanted to see more after seeing it, and laughing, and that does not always happen trust me.
“The Zarnecki Incursion”
I almost went with “The Agreement Dissection” but that was really just one great scene at the end, when Sheldon gets the better of Priya. This is a solid episode and it features the four together, which was rare in season 4. We are also firmly into the Amy and Bernadette era at this point by the way. I didn’t like them at first but giving Amy someone to talk to really helped things. Sheldon freaks when someone hacks is World of Warcraft account so they guys go after the guy.
“The Warewolf Transformation”
This episode is mostly another “Sheldon freaks out about something” show, but two things elevate it. One is the fact that for once, Sheldon freaks out and acts crazy all on his own. No alcohol or other medication as in other episodes. The other is the B story, where Howard has to experience NASA survival training. The scene where he tells Bernadette about his experience is both well acted and incredibly funny.
“The 43 Peculiarity”
This is the episode that made me realize the show could still be laugh out loud funny. Howard and Raj try to find out what Sheldon does for a half hour alone every day. Meanwhile, Penny finally tells Leonard she loves him. In a sweet moment so simple I kinda missed it the first time around.
“The Parking Lot Escalation”
As I said there is an episode where Sheldon fights with everyone, and this is Howard’s turn. Over a parking spot Sheldon has been assigned but doesn’t use. the funny part is how Bernadette and Amy get into it also on the guys behalf.
“The Scavenger Vortex”
It was obvious this episode exists for one reason, and that is to get the characters to mix a little more. We still had never seen Howard and Amy get any time together, not to mention Leonard and Bernadette, and to be honest it is nice to finally see.
“The Opening Night Excitation”
You’ll notice there aren’t many of the more romantic episodes on here. The truth is those episodes were rarely memorable. This is a huge exception. Getting Amy and Sheldon together at last was a big deal, and the episodes makes that clear. There first time is framed against the release of “The Force Awakens”, and it is handled very well. It is given weight, but still done sensitively. Add a Bob Newhart appearance, and you get a winner.
“The Bitcoin Entanglement”
This was at the point where he series was losing me. But this episode stands out because it’s a flashback episode. Where we see just how far the characters have come in the last several years. Yeah not all the jokes land but it’s still a nice look back. And seeing that Penny apologized for breaking up with Leonard back in season 3, he just never knew it, was a really nice touch.
You may have noticed I didn’t mention Raj, even once. Yeah I never liked him.
And finally, let’s discuss that series finale for a bit. How did I like it? In a word, it was perfect.
I don’t mean it was the greatest finale ever, it falls somewhere on the list with the finale’s which were not events. It was better than Everybody Loves Raymond’s for instance. I say that because it was really just another episode, episodes. But the writers added enough little surprises to make it feel bigger than that. The elevator works!!!! We also finally saw Bernadette and Howard’s kids, and a few other things. I did feel they had to regress Sheldon’s character a bit to to make the story work. Didn’t we already have Sheldon afraid of change? But that’s ok the episode was sweet and worked on pretty much every level. And I like that it didn’t end with the gang splitting up. That’s ok for some shows, but here it’s refreshing to know the gang will always be together we’re just not going to see their stories anymore. Like how Cheers ended.
And if you didn’t see the final episode of Young Sheldon that aired, the ending was a beautiful nod to TBBT. One of the best things I’ve seen in a while.
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