Valentine's Day: fun for some, lonely for others. This past week's episode of The Big Bang Theory took place across 2 days covering this holiday, and the result was a mixed bag of fun, heart...and the uncalled for. With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, the guys are all in scramble mode as they try and put together a memorable holiday for their significant others. Leonard eyes a nice romantic dinner with Penny ("Romance Ninja!"), Sheldon attempts to get the right gift for Amy Farrah Fowler albeit via his assistant's choice, Howard inadvertently destroys his gift for Bernadette, and Raj encourages Stuart to throw a party for the lonely-hearted at the comic book store. The set up is great, and for the most part the episode was really well done and it felt special, and different for a change.
What works with this week's episode is the comedy. It was very funny to see the old marriedcouple having issues over the mundane (laundry, XBox), and it was even funnier to listen to Raj continue to drag us along in the old "is he or isn't he" scenario with regards to his sexuality and Stuart. What was most refreshing about the episode, however, was that nearly each story arc involving all the couples came to a really heartfelt conclusion by the end of the episode, save for one ridiculous and completely out of character moment that we will address momentarily. It was nice to see Amy have such a heart to heart with Sheldon, and even better to see Leonard and Penny finally have their big moment where they finally understand where they are headed in their relationship.
However, for being such a heart-warming outing, this week's story had one huge flaw. Following his really well done speech to those who were lonely and in attendance at the comic book store, Raj finally meets a girl. Not only does he successfully speak to her without a beer IN HAND, but he also gets her agree to have coffee with him. It was at this moment that it appeared we had a new character about to be introduced into the weekly run of the show, only to have the entire scene go up in flames...unintentionally. What the writers settled for, instead, was the comedic payoff: as Raj leaves with his new friend, he turns around to everyone at the party and calls them all losers...going completely against everything the Raj character stands for. He has always wanted to be accepted and loved, to meet someone and fall in love. He has never been one to ostracize others who are lonely, or make fun of those who are like him. The end of this scene was completely out of character, and it destroyed everything the episode had done so well this week. Very disappointing, to say the least. What say you, fellow Big Bang Theorists? On Twitter: @davyshrader