Fulfilling a five-year-old pact with Wolowitz, Leonard asks Penny to set Howard up with one of her friends. Meanwhile, Sheldon and Raj face off against Stuart and Wil Wheaton in a trading card competition at the comic book store.
I was amazed Penny found anyone for Wolowitz at all. I was also amazed that Howard seemed sincere in trying to get to know his date instead of his usual putting on airs. Finally, after Bernadette the microbiologist (Melissa Rauch) had shown nothing in common with Howard all night, I didn’t expect them to bond over hate for their mothers.
I got the impression they would go out a few times, if only to annoy their mothers, and I hope they do start a relationship. You never know how two people (or characters) will hit it off until you put them together. After all, as Leonard’s friends often remind him, no one expected his relationship with Penny to work, and yet it does.
Meanwhile, Raj goaded Sheldon into the trading card tournament by tapping into his disappointment at Wil Wheaton pulling out of a Star Trek convention in 1995. Since then Sheldon had built up a feud with Wheaton in his head to ridiculous proportions. Wheaton finally won the card game by appealing to his love for his grandmother. This reminded me of Sheldon losing the Physics Bowl in Season 1, but while he lost on pride then—not allowing his teammate to supply the winning answer—he lost on a naive sense of honor here. Both are part of Sheldon’s overall character and both are well played by Jim Parsons.
As bad as I felt for Sheldon, I’m glad his feud will have a chance to escalate and be played for more laughs in the future. I’d also enjoy seeing more of Howard and Bernadette.
