Coming up with smart things to say in a review of a half-hour comedy is harder than it looks -- especially considering I'm not very smart to begin with.
I figured I should begin this review by criticizing myself, because the vast majority of the comments I receive on my Big Bang Theory write-ups do that already. You BBT fans certainly don't take too well to my critcisms, do you?
Well you can rest easy, folks, because I thought "The Stag Convergence" was a solid episode. I can't complain about Raj this time -- because he didn't overwhelm too much of the screen time and when he was on, he was quite funny. I can't complain that there was no nerd humor, because there was. Other than those common complaints, I've also noted that the show hasn't been very funny lately. Which, you know, is kind of a problem in a comedy.
But this one was pretty humorous -- Sheldon's toast was classic Sheldon, Barry's speech impediment is always entertaining, Raj's diatribe was funny and also brought back some fun memories from series past. There were some good quotes throughout and despite my occasional annoyances of any Penny/Leonard storylines, this episode had some good moments between the two.
Having said all that, this doesn't mean I think the show is back on track and as good as it used to be. However, this episode does get me excited for the final two episodes of Season 5, and it's been quite some time since I've been genuinely looking forward to the next installment of The Big Bang Theory.
NOTABLE QUOTABLES:
HOWARD: "I'd be Kanga-Jew, the first of my people to dunk a basketball."
HOWARD: "She was my second cousin."
SHELDON: "And the first person you disappointed sexually -- bada-bazinga!"
BERNADETTE: "Zip it, pervert!"
PENNY: "I mean the warnings signs were there, this is definitely on you."
BERNADETTE: "I heard -- your voice, not unlike your mother's, travels through walls."
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:
--Nice to visit with characters like Wil Wheaton, Barry Kripke and Stuart. A little bit of those characters, as with Bernadette and Amy, really add to the show.
--Enjoyed the opening conversation of the episode. It's always nice when they have nerdy conversations that I don't fully understand. No, really.
--Howard's speech to Penny, directed at Bernadette, was actually quite beautiful. But that doesn't mean I don't miss the old, creepy Howard. He was a character that was fun to hang out with. This one? Not so much.
THE SCORE: 80 out of 100