This week’s episode of The Big Bang Theory, “The Geology Elevation,” was not the best that season 10 has to offer so far. It didn’t have strong character development, though it did show some rarer sides of our favorite group of nerds. It also provided some valuable lessons for life.
Dealing With Jelly Shelly
The main premise of the episode is that Bert the geologist has won the MacArthur Genius Grant, and Sheldon is jealous of him. Sheldon tries to deal with it in different ways, like taking a relaxing walk or talking to Bert about it. But he only ends up hurting himself, like by throwing a rock at his foot or hitting his head against a water fountain. Leonard eventually calls Stephen Hawking, who hasn’t won the Nobel Prize yet and can relate, to reassure Sheldon.
The main problem with this episode is that, if anything, Sheldon’s character seems to regress a little. He’s made great progress in just this season alone to be a better person. But in this episode his jealousy makes him seem childish and like the Sheldon of early seasons because he’s persistent about it. However, one shining moment to come out of it is when he defends Amy’s honor against Bert. When Bert says that he could do better than her now, Sheldon chivalrously karate chops him (leading to an injured hand).
The other good part about Sheldon’s jealousy is it leads to some wisdom from Stephen Hawking on dealing with jealousy. He reassures Sheldon by telling him that “every scientific advancement is a victory,” which can be applied in many fields. The second thing he tells him is, “Don’t waste your time on jealousy.” Again, it’s very good life advice, and the way they had Stephen deliver the message was excellent.
In Poor Taste…Until It’s Not
The B-plot of the episode involves Howard finding a motorized toy of Stephen Hawking he made. He spends his scenes polling his friends on whether the toy is offensive or hilarious. Everyone finds it to be the former, until Kripke finds it funny and suggests a prank with it, at which point Howard does find it offensive.
This storyline felt like filler for the most part. Some of the reactions to the toy were funny, but the plot seemed to be in poor taste until the very end when Stephen Hawking was talking to Sheldon. He says that it would have been cool to have a motorized toy of himself, after which Leonard tells Amy to not mention this news to Howard. However, it was cool of Stephen to show of his sense of humor and to be a good sport about it all as a guest star.
Overall, “The Geology Elevation” wasn’t the best episode, but it had its moments worth seeing. We got to see some “Jelly Shelly,” and it was awesome to see Stephen Hawking as a guest star. Perhaps next episode will feature a more significant plot. Especially considering that it’s almost been a year since a certain couple had coitus for the first time.
