The Big Bang Theory – The Explosion Implosion

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

As the dust has settled from Sheldon’s (Jim Parsons) step back on wedding planning, this week we are about to see a new “friendship” emerge between Beverly (Christine Baranski) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco). How will Leonard (Johnny Galecki) handle this new development?

We start the episode with Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) and Howard (Simon Helberg) patiently awaiting the news of Wolowitz #2’s sex. Upon finding out it’s a boy on the way, Howard begins to panic a little bit. Later, with the group, he shares that panic as he wonders how he can raise a boy when he himself is not a manly man. The group attempts to encourage Howard by reminding him that he can teach his son more about science than anything else.

When Howard goes to clean out his garage with Raj (Kunal Nayyar) and Sheldon he shares how he got into making model rockets. Without his father being a prominent figure in his life, Howard found his passion in engineering. Sheldon shares that it was his father who pushed him in the pursuit of science and the two decide to build a model rocket together and test it out in the desert.

At the Hofstadter residence Leonard goes to get his Starfleet costume dry-cleaned while leaving Penny alone with Beverly Hofstadter on FaceTime. Penny decides to ask how Beverly is doing in her personal life, which leads to a conversation about Cuban food and intercourse. From this conversation Beverly begins to pursue a girlfriend-like relationship with Penny as she does not have friends that she can speak with in this manner.

Feeling left out, because he had a great experience with his father growing up, Raj decides to spend time with Bernadette as she prepares to get rid of Halley’s old baby clothes. As Raj suggests using some of her old clothes for the new baby, Bernadette is intrigued by the innovative ideas and tasks Raj to converting some of the old clothes into more appropriate attire for baby boy Wolowitz. While Raj sews away Bernadette shares how she is okay with the idea of having a boy as she grew up with brothers, but was hoping for another girl so that Halley would have a sister.

Leonard begins to notice the flourishing relationship between his mother and Penny, even going so far as to warn Penny that Beverly can be very conniving when she wants something. What shocks Leonard though is that through her conversations with Beverly, Penny has found that Beverly is proud of her for everything that she has accomplished. Upset that his wife has found the acceptance and pride that he could never quite achieve, Leonard goes to speak with Amy (Mayim Bialik) about the current development between Penny and his mother. Instead of being consoling Amy begins to panic that she has not spent enough time with her bestie and wonders when she will find the time to devote to her friendship.

In an effort to get to the bottom of everything Leonard decides to FaceTime with his mother and find out why his mother never felt proud of him. Beverly shares that she is proud of Leonard’s choice in spouse because Penny embodies qualities of thoughtfulness and confidence, something that her other children’s spouses don’t quite seem to have. It is for that reason Beverly is proud of Leonard, because he has chosen a great spouse. Leonard quickly ends the conversation with his mother as her pride has caused him to become very emotional.

After their agreement of building a model rocket, Howard and Sheldon head out to the desert to test out their project. While it takes a while to get the countdown going due to Sheldon’s persistence of using “T-Minus” while Howard uses “L-Minus,” they get through the countdown only to have the model rocket explode without even taking off. Seemingly a small issue this throws Howard into a tailspin as he now questions his ability to parent a boy. If he can’t even be good enough to build a model rocket, how can he raise a son?

Sheldon attempts to make Howard feel better, but initially it backfires as Howard continues to panic. On the way home Sheldon asks to drive the car and admits that he has had his license to drive for the past three years. Howard begrudgingly lets him drive and Sheldon getting behind the wheel quickly turns into a driving lesson. While on the road Sheldon tells Howard that he’s a good teacher and that his son would be lucky to have him as a father. Howard is touched by the sentiment and continues to teach Sheldon how to drive. Unfortunately, this leads to a bad case of “lead foot” by Sheldon for which he is pulled over after being clocked at 112 mph.

With a son on the way it will be exciting to see how Howard adapts to this development. Join me next time as Amy and Howard work together on a project in the lab. How will the group handle this new development? Find out next time on The Big Bang Theory!