TV Recap: ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ “The Cornhusker Vortex”

On the latest new episode of The Big Bang Theory, Leonard gets insecure about his status with Penny and her friends. At the beginning of the episode, the boys are headed out to “kite fight” when they run into Penny. She tells them that she would come with them except that she invited her friends over to watch the Nebraska football game. All the boys are more than happy to miss the occasion, both because of Penny’s friends and how much they hate the sport of football, except for Leonard.

Sheldon tells Leonard that he wasn’t invited because Penny is embarrassed to have him around her friends. Hurt by what Sheldon said, Leonard obsesses about Penny’s view of him all throughout the kite-fighting match, much to Sheldon’s frustration. Despite Leonard’s lack of focus, Sheldon and Leonard are able to defeat Howard and Raj when Howard runs after a cute female jogger passing by in the park. Raj is furious with Howard because losing the fight means that Raj lost his most treasured fighting kite.

Throughout the rest of the episode, Raj continues to be made at Howard, and finally tells Howard that he is sick and tired of being ditched every time Howard sees a cute girl. He also mentions that Howard doesn’t even have a shot with any of the women he chases after, and Howard concedes that he is right. The two make up and spend a Saturday together, which is “the perfect Saturday” for Raj–until Howard is tempted by another cute passer-by. He resists, however, saying the day was all about spending time with his friend, but Raj tells him to go for it.

When Leonard confronts Penny later in the episode about why she doesn’t want him to meet any of her friends, she denies that she is embarrassed and agrees to have Leonard join she and her friends next weekend when they watch the game. Leonard is less than thrilled, especially due to his lack of interest in football. He frantically tries to learn the game by watching it, taking notes, and reading “Football for Dummies.” While he is frantically trying to understand the game, we learn that Sheldon is a master of the sport. Claiming that because he grew up in Texas, where there is pro football, college football, high school football, and pee wee football, he knows everything about the sport, Leonard asks Sheldon to explain to him the rules of the game.

So, Leonard shows up to the football party the following Saturday and knows all the rules…but sticks out like a sore thumb, using textbook definitions of nomenclature like “the line of scrimmage” and “coach’s challenge”. The guys all think Leonard is a drag, and Penny desperately just tries to get him to shut up. After the two discuss the issue quietly at the party, Leonard says he’ll stay until the game is over, since there’s only three minutes to go. Penny explains that there is three minutes until halftime, and Leonard leaves, taking Sheldon up on an offer to go kite fighting instead.

In the end, the episode didn’t accomplish very much in terms of developing Leonard and Penny’s relationship, or finding a love interest for Howard, as the last episode did. In fact, we don’t see or hear anything about Howard’s last successful date in this episode. The antics of the boys and their kite-fighting feud where the focus of the comedic plot line, and Leonard and Penny’s relationship may have hit a small snag. If Leonard can’t fit in with Penny’s friends, and he gets too big of a complex about it…I fear it could lead to trouble in paradise.

The next new episode of The Big Bang Theory, “The Guitarist Amplification”  is scheduled to air Monday, November, 9 at 9:30 p.m. on CBS. To chat with other fans and check out clips from past episodes visit www.cbs.com/primetime/big_bang_theory.