‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 10, episode 17 review: Leonard ‘wants’ Penny at Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con is sheer insanity. It’s crowded, it’s loud, and it is also pretty long so far as conventions go. It is also the focus of ‘The Big Bang Theory‘ season 10, episode 17 review below.
The comedy around Comic-Con began tonight when Leonard learned something valuable: Penny wanted to attend the convention with him! Even though there was nothing about it she would probably like, very little scared her away. Over time, it got to the point where Leonard was almost intentionally making it appear like it was the last thing she would ever want to do. Still, she opted to go along with it, which made us wonder if she was the victim of some supernatural body-swap.
The real humor came as the episode went along, since you could see both characters were losing their minds. Leonard tried to bait her into saying she didn’t want to go, and it blew up in his face. Penny, meanwhile, wanted him to admit that he didn’t want him there. No dice.
For the record, there was one other woman in the main cast who had no interest in going. Specifically, we’re talking about Amy, who had NO interest in even entertaining the idea of Comic-Con.
Raj’s work crisis
Last week, Raj realized that without his father’s support, he was completely screwed financially. Therefore, he couldn’t attend Comic-Con at all. The best moment of this whole plotline was seeing him dress up in his famed Aquaman costume in order to twirl around a sign. He also tried to go over to Howard and Bernadette’s looking for more work, but they didn’t have any. Instead, Bernadette was making Howard do all of the chores in order to earn his way towards making the trip this year.
In the end, there was a super-sweet moment in here as Howard and Bernadette offered to pay Raj’s way to Comic-Con as a way to say thank you for all of the babysitting and all of the work he does around the house. He wouldn’t take it, though, and instead decided that he didn’t really want to go if he couldn’t earn his way there himself. Many of the other guys agreed. They’re changing up the routine! (To be fair, Comic-Con is hardly what it was when they first started attending more than a decade ago; it’s far more corporate, and maybe there’s not as much there that they would like.)
Meta-question — would the “Big Bang Theory” characters attend the “Big Bang Theory” writers panel that is done there every year?
Overall take
This was a very entertaining story that was all about Comic-Con, and it reminded us of how much fun we’ve had over the years. Yet, at the same time there wasn’t much of a satisfying conclusion beyond the guys deciding for the most part not to go. The jokes manage the lift the story ever so slightly. Grade: B.
To find out when “The Big Bang Theory” will return to the air, visit this link. (Photo: CBS.)
If you were in Penny’s shoes, would you go to Comic-Con with Leonard? Be sure to share in the comments below!