It was bound to happen. Barney and Robin’s relationship finally hits a real snag. When the two begin to let themselves go, which is heavily exaggerated in Ted’s retelling of the story, the rest of the group (Ted, Marshall, and Lily) decide to try to break them up. Ted and Marshall enlist Lily to do the dirty work, considering the fact that she sabotaged seven of Ted’s past relationships, and she develops a master plan to destroy the couple. But Lily’s plan doesn’t play out quite as expected, which makes the end of the episode particularly intriguing to watch.

After Barney gives his entire porn collection to Ted, the group realizes that he is not the same person, and that’s when they start to really notice the changes in his lifestyle. Observing Barney as he grows fatter and fatter and Robin as she becomes more strung out is really the highlight of the episode. Barney’s “player” mentality is completely gone and he’s turned into a lazy, fat version of himself with zero sex drive. Also, the stakeout scene with Ted, Marshall, Lily, a “Stormtrooper,” Alan Thicke, and a sausage delivery boy is flat-out hilarious. The constant banter between everyone in the stakeout Station Wagon makes for an incredible scene.

This episode is the beginning of a big change for this season. That said, I view it as a very welcome change. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I’ll leave you with one hint: “Daddy’s home.”

Grade: B+

The Big Bang Theory – “The Guitarist Amplification”

When Penny announces that an old friend of hers (an ex-boyfriend, to be exact) is coming to crash on her couch, it sparks a huge fight between her and Leonard. This fight then spreads to Raj and Howard as they begin bickering over who is right or wrong in Leonard and Penny’s argument. We soon learn that Sheldon had multiple traumatic experiences as a child with his parents yelling constantly, so he cannot take the continuous fighting. The entire episode is a nightmare for him, and he eventually takes refuge in one of the corners of the comic book store.

The constant spats between the cast members aren’t really a huge source of humor. What does manage to rake in some laughs is, like always, Sheldon’s quirkiness and goofy mannerisms. For instance, to block out the noise of fighting, Sheldon fills a blender with ice cubes and goes to town. Furthermore, he hides in the corner of the comic book store with a graphic novel and some toy robots to protect him.

Overall, I would consider this to be a great episode, but there are quite a few guaranteed laughs. They keep pushing the boundaries of Leonard and Penny’s relationship but it never seems to have any repercussions. For example, I saw the preview for next week’s episode (it looks fantastic, by the way) and it’s like the conflict from this episode was completely thrown out the window.

Grade: B-

It was revealed at the end of Season 2 that Penny was holding in her true feelings for Leonard, but those were uncovered in the first three minutes. At first sight of Leonard, Penny lunges for him and drags him into the apartment. I’ve never been a fan of the Leonard/Penny relationship idea, but good for him. Unfortunately for Leonard, his passionate session with Penny would be quickly interrupted: Howard and Raj bring news that Sheldon ran away.

Most episodes of The Big Bang Theory have a unique title that you won’t understand until you watch. “The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation” is no exception to this rule. Sheldon is about to write up his findings from the Arctic trip, until Raj and Howard reveal that his data might have been manipulated using an electric can opener, hence the title. Having already told the entire university that he had made a scientific breakthrough, he runs back home to Texas humiliated.

Laurie Metcalf makes her welcome return to the show, playing Sheldon’s mother, Mary, and I’m happy to say that she is as funny as ever. Leonard, Raj, and Howard begrudgingly track Sheldon down to bring him back to the apartment. As soon as they walk through the door, Mary’s southernisms begin. It’s clear that she’s uncomfortable with that particular group, as she teases all of them. Howard’s attempt to act southern around her is hysterical. Sadly, this segment almost detracts from the rest of the episode,  but that’s not to say it was all bad.

In the end, it was a pretty good episode, but not up to premiere episode standards. It’s able to generate quite a few laughs, but the Leonard and Penny situation is extremely awkward and forced. At least the episode ends with a hint that Leonard and Penny as a couple, might not go down. My score for “The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation” is a 3.5 out of 5.