‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 8, episode 21 review: Penny questions her future; Sheldon’s power struggle

Tonight’s new episode of “The Big Bang Theory” was certainly an interesting one, mostly because it was one that decided to focus more on the stories that suited the characters more so than making sure every actor was involved. Where was Amy Farrah Fowler through most of this? It was clearly one of the lightest Amy episodes we’ve had in a while until the very end.

Luckily, at least this show did still address some key issues for the rest of its characters. For example, we saw more of Raj and Leonard’s insecurity that anytime they have a good idea, Howard and Sheldon completely shut them down. They talked through the issue, and there was actually a little bit of nostalgia in here as well thanks some callbacks to Skywalker Ranch, Sheldon and Howard going to Texas, and also the James Earl Jones episode from a little while back.

Then, there was the story of Penny going to an audition in the attempt to revive what was a big part of her life was. We’ve been hard on the pharmacy sales story, mostly because it felt more like acting was her dream and the message here was to give up when you find a way to make easy money elsewhere. However, the audition process depicted here (not that far from what it really is) showed the darker side of this business, and now we, like Penny, are more conflicted.

Ultimately, this was a solid episode of the show. It wasn’t the funniest, but there was good stuff crammed in here. We do hope that there is some more clarity on Penny’s future before the season ends. Grade: B.

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