TBBT 6x19: The Closet Reconfiguration

Howard and Bernadette are having a dinner party, so they need to clean their apartment. Well, not really. They just need to make it look clean, so rather than organizing things properly, Howard just throws everything in the closet. He even comes up with a rather brilliant idea: Since Sheldon is the king of organization, all they have to do is show him the closet and the problem will fix itself. Bernadette is hesitant at first, but she jumps on board as soon as Sheldon denigrates her cooking.

He's no good in social situations, but he knows how to organize a lady's shoes.

By the time the party's over, he's nearly finished his work, but he still has to ask Howard about a few things. He's found a letter from Howard's father, and based on its contents, he doesn't know whether to file it under 'personal correspondence' or 'memorabilia'. Howard doesn't care; he's had the letter for years and doesn't know what it's about, nor does he want to.

Later that night, Bernadette finds him sitting in the kitchen, making tea. His father abandoned him and his mother when he was a little boy, and then years later a letter showed up on his 18th birthday. He's curious about what it says, but he doesn't think his dad deserves a chance to explain anything, so he does something he should've done a long time ago.

He's lucky they have a gas stove because it would've been really hard to light with an electric.

As his wife, Bernadette respects Howard's decision. Penny's not his wife, though, so she has no such obligations. The ladies head down to the laundry room and use the power of California's community property laws to get Sheldon to tell them what was in the letter. Then a few minutes later, Leonard and Raj use the power of Penny's big fat mouth to get him to tell them what was in the letter.

A few days later (or possibly immediately afterwards, since there's no indication of how much time has passed), Penny and Leonard throw a cocktail party at Sheldon and Leonard's apartment.

Amy's dress appears to be made from 1970s sofa upholstery.

Just before they go through the door, Bernadette tells Howard that she knows what was in the letter. He's understandably upset and bursts into the apartment looking to pummel Sheldon about the head with a wine bottle. But when he finds out that everyone else knows, too, he runs out of the apartment and heads home.

When Bernadette finds him, he's sitting in their newly-organized closet looking at old photos from before his dad ran off. She gets him to come out into the living room where his friends are waiting. Sheldon's come up with a solution for Howard's dilemma: Since he both does and does not want to know the contents of the letter, his friends tell him six different versions of what it was, only one of which is true. It could have been a card, a letter, a photo, or a map to the lost treasure of famous pirate One-Eyed Willie.

I know which one I'd want it to be.

Howard thanks his friends and they all decide to go back to the cocktail party. As they head out the door, Sheldon reveals that he also read Bernadette's diary and some of it is pretty saucy.

What I Liked
-To demonstrate how Howard's grown as a person, Leonard tells Penny about how he used to pull his balls out of his shorts and say "Aw, I sat in gum!" One day, I, too, hope to grow out of that.
-When they say he has something they want, Sheldon assumes the ladies are hot for his bod. That's a safe assumption to make.
-Sheldon gets off a good zinger when he comes upstairs holding a laundry basket and Leonard asks him where he's been. That was a pretty silly question.
-When Howard bursts into the apartment threatening to kill Sheldon, he immediately grabs Amy and uses her as a human shield. It's always funny when someone gets used as a human shield.

Shields up!

-Penny's goldfish died because she forgot to feed him... and she forgot she had him. Those are perfectly reasonable excuses.

What I Hated
-Sheldon's actually a little mean to Amy throughout the episode. If they were a real couple, she'd probably break up with him. Using your girlfriend as a human shield is a bit of a no-no.
-While he's cleaning out Penny's closet, Sheldon finds something that he thinks is an electric dog toy. He's a grown man who lives in California and has spent countless hours on the internet: He would know what a vibrator is.

Final Thoughts
I'm probably going to be alone in this, but I think they could do a fairly reasonable remake of The Goonies using the cast of The Big Bang Theory, and now I want them to do it. They could even bring in some of the recurring guest stars to play the Fratellis. Maybe have the guy who plays Zack play Sloth or something.

They don't bring it up all that often, but aside from Raj, the guys had pretty terrible childhoods. They were all bullied, Leonard's parents were distant, Sheldon's parents couldn't possibly understand him, and Howard's dad ran out on him. This show is occasionally dismissed as simplistic comedy featuring a lot of 'Hey, look at the nerds!' jokes, and while that is true sometimes, it can show a surprising amount of depth. The guys are nerds, yes, but they've come to it honestly. Howard is a huge mama's boy because his father ran out on them and he was the only one who could cheer his mother up, and all the other guys have similar backstories. The only one who's really a nerd for the sake of being a nerd is Amy, and that may be because she just hasn't been around long enough for us to see what made her the way she is.

Normally I'm not a fan of dramatic elements in my sitcoms, and I'm not making an exception for this episode. While it's nice to get a little character development, I feel like they can probably get it done without going all 'After School Special' on us. Perhaps I'm overstepping my authority by saying this, but that's just not what this show is. This show makes dick jokes on a regular basis, so getting heavy for an extended portion of an episode feels disingenuous somehow. Every once in a while for a big event (say, Howard and Bernadette's wedding) might be fine, but a long-forgotten letter from Howard's father isn't really something big, important, or show-changing. It came out of nowhere and we're not likely to hear anything about it ever again.

That being said, they managed to squeeze a decent number of jokes into an episode about a subject that really doesn't lend itself to comedy. I appreciate that.