photo: cbs
The Jiminy Conjecture
Original Air Date: Sept 28, 2009
Theresa – Staff Writer
Theresa@thetwocentscorp.com
Well, it would appear I’m not the only one who found Penny and Leonard’s encounter to be anticlimactic. So to speak. Turns out Leonard and Penny both thought their first night together was just “fine”. Leonard tells the boys about it at the comic book store, who reveal they were taking bets on how long it’d be before he screwed it up. It’s also revealed that Howard’s sex dreams involve him being a centaur. Awk-ward.
Anyway, after Sheldon turns out to be right about Wolverine having one obscure mention of retractable bone claws, Howard gets fed up and insists that Sheldon can’t always win. They hear a cricket around the apartment, and Howard bets that he will be correct about its species. So it’s Howard’s Fantastic Four that it’s a field cricket against Sheldon’s Flash that it’s a snowy tree cricket. After pursuing the sound for a while, and leading Sheldon down the elevator shaft, they catch the cricket in the hallway, but still can’t agree on which cricket it is. They decide to see the university’s leading entomologist… an entomologist played by Lewis freaking Black!
Black plays Dr. Crawley (really? REALLY?), an unhinged professor who just found out he’s losing his lab. He goes off on the physicists, who have clearly come down to measure his lab for one of their “godless laser machines”. Amid ravings about his ex-wife and having to move in with his daughter, he does manage to confirm that the cricket is indeed… a field cricket. Wolowitz FTW!
Meanwhile, Penny and Leonard try to recover from Sheldon bringing up the mediocrity of their sex life by getting drunk and trying again. Except they get too drunk and too caught up in saying the word “schnapps” to do so. Penny talks to Sheldon about how she and Leonard can’t seem to get this right, and Sheldon suggests they can always go back to being friends. However, when she and Leonard agree on that, they celebrate by making out. So there’s that.
This episode, quite frankly, didn’t have much going for it. Aside from Lewis Black’s guest spot and watching Sheldon try to figure out which societal norm he violated, there was no draw. It just seemed like a way to fill some space in the Penny/Leonard relationship; even Sheldon being wrong felt dull! But maybe I was just expecting more after the premiere. What did you all think? Am I being too harsh? And are we all in agreement about the best line being “Interesting, you’re afraid of insects and women. Ladybugs must render you catatonic”? Leave your Two Cents in the comments!
TheTwoCents 
I laughed a lot during this episode but kind of agreed it was missing something. Maybe they’re preparing us for a split between the foursome of the guys and more of Penny/Leonard and the three guys? Sheldon has the best lines. How do those guys keep a straight face? And seriously, when does Sara Gilbert come back?? I wonder if Leonard ends up seriously dating Penny and kind of goes off on his own with her, if they’ll bring her in to be sort of one of the fourth guys? That would be hilarious. No matter how dull, the show is still one of the best on TV.
Aw, I hope they don’t end up making Penny the group’s Yoko. I think if anything, that would be all Leonard’s doing anyway though.
I think, if Sara Gilbert comes back, it should be Raj’s turn, lol.