TBBT 6x09: The Parking Spot Escalation

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Howard has a brand new car, and as such, he needs a parking space. The university assigns him spot 204, which used to belong to one Sheldon Cooper. However, since he doesn't have a car and can't even drive, the university gave it to Howard. Regardless of his inability to use it, Sheldon wants his spot back.

The car has other ideas.

A quick call to the President of the University doesn't get him any justice, either. Apparently, going into space makes one a big deal and gets one a good parking space. But this aggression will not stand, man, so Sheldon retaliates -if you can call it retaliating when you attack someone who wasn't really at fault- by stealing Howard's limited edition Iron Man helmet.

His arc reactor is down to 73%

Meanwhile, the ladies are back from getting Amy her first bikini wax and she and Bernadette get drawn into the fight as well. At first it's just about the parking space, but women are mean and soon it's about Howard's mother and Amy's lack of a sex life.

This is not a face Amy gets to make very often.

Then everyone starts to go a little bit too far. Howard sits naked in Sheldon's spot on the couch, Sheldon and Amy paint over Howard's name on the parking spot then leave her car there, Bernadette gets Amy's car towed, and Amy takes a swing at her with her purse. Unfortunately, Bernadette ducks, and Amy hits Penny square in the nose. After that, the ladies agree to detente, but the gentlemen continue total war. To prove that he uses his spot, Sheldon sets up his whiteboard and starts working outside. He's no match for Howard's new RAV4, which Howard uses to push him out of the way, but he can still grind his butt into the driver's seat.

A sight Amy longs to see.

After that, Raj makes Howard apologize to end the madness. This makes Howard the bigger man, and that cannot stand either, man. So, Sheldon agrees to let Howard keep using the space, and everybody's happy.

Except Penny.

What I Liked
-Sheldon gets pissed off at the squirrel that lives in the tree overlooking the parking space. Yeah, screw that squirrel.
-The down home, folksy wisdom of Sheldon's father just makes Leonard feel bad for his mother. Drinking and driving isn't cool, kids. Letting your 10-year-old drive you home should be fine, though.
-The only PhD Wolowitz will ever get is the one he steals off Sheldon's wall. Nerd burn!
-The only horns Howard and Sheldon will ever lock are the kind they bought at Comic Con. Double nerd burn!
-Bernadette says she might let Howard do it to her in the parking space. It's been scientifically proven that butt sex is the most hilarious kind of sex.
-Howard puts his nude butt in Sheldon's space and rests Sheldon's laptop on his junk, inflicting double the damage in the same amount of time. That's using your noodle.

Literally.

What I Hated
-Raj never gets an answer to his question about what happens if a zombie bites a vampire and then the vampire bites a human. Dang it, I want to know the answer to this, too.

Final Thoughts
It's hard to notice, but when Sheldon started really putting his back into it, the car actually did start to move.

Lots of nudity this week. Two naked dudes and Amy showed off her freshly-waxed crotch to Sheldon. I'd actually call that a little bit of character development since it advances their relationship... sort of. Sheldon's still relatively asexual, but the writers are working on turning him into a normal human being, and I can see him finally getting down and dirty towards the end of the season. Just as long as it doesn't lead to a season finale cliffhanger where somebody's pregnant and we don't know who it is.

There was a lot to like about this episode. It hit a solid 34 on the "I'm working on it, I swear" Laugh-O-Meter, and it managed to work seven characters into a single plot. Sure, it was a little bit light on Raj, but even he got to kick in a few jokes. Yes, a lot of the humour was low-brow, but that's fine; it doesn't have to be all 'Ha ha, look at how nerdy those guys are' all the time. I applaud the writers' ability to mix it up a bit and to fit (almost) everyone into one coherent plot. Good show.