The Big Bang Theory: 2.01 ‘The Bad Fish Paradigm’ Recap

Original Air Date: September 22, 2008

The Good: There’s definitely rough seas ahead in Leonard and Penny’s budding romantic relationship (and everybody knows nobody likes boring couples who never experience any tension).

The Bad: It’s not really a negative to me, but once again Sheldon is the center of attention, and Jim Parsons does a fine job making his (verbose and often highly technical and/or nerdy) one-liners zing.

The Bad Fish Paradigm: After spying on Penny and Leonard as they part after their first date on the landing outside their apartments, Howard and Rajesh conclude the couple’s new relationship is doomed. Leonard counters that Penny’s claim she wants to take it slow is akin to someone wanting to eat a good meal slowly to savor it, but Howard insists taking it slow is like eating bad fish and wanting to spit it out. The fact that Leonard and Penny also decided to wing it instead of making a second date right away is further proof to Howard, Rajesh, and even Sheldon that the future is not looking bright for Leonard and Penny.

Penny later confides in Sheldon, who claims indifference, that she’s afraid Leonard will grow bored with her because she’s not smart enough, which is why she lied to him during the date that she graduated from community college. As Leonard goes around thinking the relationship is doomed the more Penny avoids a second date, the harder it becomes for Sheldon to keep Penny’s secret. He says he just doesn’t have the constitution for secret-keeping, and I believe him.

Penny refuses to release Sheldon from the obligation of keeping hers, however, so his solution is to move out of the apartment, news that comes as a complete shock to confused Leonard. Although neither Rajesh nor Howard, both visiting at the time of Sheldon’s announcement, want to take him, Howard manages to split fast enough to stick Rajesh with Sheldon. But his visit doesn’t last long because, exercising his remarkable ability to follow a compliment or apology with a biting put-down, Sheldon insults Rajesh’s taste in Indian cinema by attributing it to a lack of knowledge of Indian cinema.

Sheldon doesn’t fare any better at Howard’s after Rajesh dumps him there. When he notices Howard’s poster of Halle Berry on the ceiling above his bed, Sheldon refuses to shut up about the actress and her place in his hierarchy of favorite Catwomen and X-Men mutants.

Totally ticked off at the constant chatter, Howard feeds Sheldon some milk spiked with a handful of his mom’s Valium and then promptly dumps him right back at his real home when even that doesn’t make him stop talking. Good thing for Leonard, who finally learns what’s going on with Penny when drugged-out Sheldon unintentionally reveals her secret.

Of course, Leonard is relieved to learn the problem originates with Penny and not something he did. But, as often happens, Penny misinterprets his suggestion that she enroll at Pasadena Community College as a diss implicating he won’t date a woman who doesn’t have a college degree. Then, Leonard simply doesn’t see it coming when Penny gets even angrier at his attempt to reassure her by saying he doesn’t care if she’s not smart; apparently, she’s not as simple as the geeks seem to think (Duh!).

Stay tuned for more adventures in the troubled relationship of the brainiac and his not-as-smart girl friend on The Big Bang Theory.