REVIEW - The Big Bang Theory - S07E06 - ‘The Romance Resonance’

It’s all about romance, errors and equations on this week’s The Big Bang Theory.

Sheldon figures out “a new method for synthesising a new stable super heavy element”. This new method spreads like wildfire through the world of physics, and Sheldon is really pleased with himself.  While he is bagging and marking all of the items he used to make the discovery (the whiteboard marker he was using at the time, the textbook he referred to), Sheldon realises he has made a grave error: he was out by a factor of ten in his equation. Sheldon is mortified, but Amy consoles him saying that the equation was tested and yielded results, so it was a “lucky” mistake. Sheldon does not believe in luck, and starts to abhor all of the praise and accolades being heaped on him.

Although this is not the first time Sheldon has made a mistake in his work (see S01E05 and S05E21), this is one of the few times we have seen him making a discovery and being praised for it. Sheldon has often exhibited jealousy and/or derision towards others when they have been successes, but we have rarely seen him as one. It was nice to see Sheldon being recognised as the prodigy we have often been told he is.

Meanwhile it’s the anniversary of Bernadette and Howard’s first date, and in order to celebrate Howard enlists the gang to help him perform a song he has written to mark the occasion. Although there is a minor hiccup on the night of Howard and Bernadette’s date, the song still goes ahead. This is undoubtedly one of the most romantic things I have seen on The Big Bang Theory, and to think it came from Howard of all people (remember what he was like in season one, remember?)!

Leonard is impressed with the lengths Howard has gone to in order to show his love for Bernadette, and challenges Penny to do something romantic for him. Penny struggles with this, and it looks like she won’t be able to come up with something. Everything all comes together in the end though, and we get two incredibly romantic scenes in one episode.

Although the moment between Leonard and Penny was not quite as sweet as the one between Howard and Bernadette, it was certainly up there. I have long been on the fence about the Leonard and Penny relationship - ultimately I want them to be together, but I feel that they got back together too soon - Penny has never seemed as ‘in love’ with Leonard as he has been with her. Admittedly Leonard has had feelings for Penny longer than she has for him, but it’s often seemed like she has been taking advantage of these feelings and has just kept him around to make her feel good. Anyway this episode has dulled my concerns, as it seems Penny has been feeling more than she has been letting on, meaning there may be hope for these two crazy kids yet.

There was a perfect balance between laughter and ‘aww’ moments in this episode, making it one of the better episodes this season. Scientific discoveries were made, romantic bonds were strengthened, all in all this was a great episode… and yet… what about Raj? Even Amy had her own moment at the end of the episode (how the audience gasped!), but Raj’s presence was somewhat limited in this episode. I know they can’t give every character a storyline, but methinks a Raj-heavy episode will be up in the next few weeks… stay tuned…

Review by Heather Bale.