THE BIG BANG THEORY: "THE LOCOMOTION INTERRUPTION" REVIEW

The theme of The Big Bang Theory’s Season 7 finale was Sheldon’s inability to cope with change, negative or positive. He probably wouldn’t be very happy to note that the series made a change by shifting to Monday nights for the first few weeks of Season 8. But while the time slot may have changed, this premiere was pretty textbook Big Bang Theory.

It’s become tradition these past few years for every season to end with one character leaving on an extended trip and then the early episodes of the following season to focus on the rest of the cast dealing with that character’s absence. But it seems that the writers couldn’t bear to have Sheldon remain apart from his crew for any longer than necessary. And maybe you can’t blame them given how much of the show’s humor revolves around Sheldon belittling or annoying his friends. In any case, where we saw Howard remain in space for several weeks in Season 6 and Leonard take a couple weeks to return from his sea voyage in Season 7, Season 8 wasted no time in cutting Sheldon’s intercontinental train voyage short. Oddly, the method of ending his voyage was very similar to events in “The Bozeman Reaction,” where Sheldon tried to flee home after a robbery, only to again be robbed at a bus station in Bozeman. You have to imagine there was a less redundant way of going about things here.

Anyone hoping for “The Locomotion Interruption” to maintain the more dramatic tone of “The Status Quo Combustion” was probably disappointed with the premiere. Sheldon’s personal crisis seems to have resolved itself after 45 days of riding the rails, eating hot dogs, and downing bottles of Immodium. If anything, Sheldon seemed to completely forget why he left home in the first place. He’ll eventually have to deal with the unavoidable facts that Leonard and Penny are getting married, he has to find a new place to live, and his superhumanly patient girlfriend would very much like to be his new roommate. And no doubt these issues will come up again as Sheldon settles back into life in California. But it seems we’re due for the same slow, plodding story progression as usual with Big Bang Theory. I have to wonder if the three-season renewal was really the healthiest thing for this show.

Speaking of superhumanly patient girlfriends, at least this episode did address one of the lingering issues from the finale in terms of Sheldon leaving town without consulting with or even notifying Amy. Of all the callous things he’s done to Amy, that has to rank among the worst. So it was nice to see that tension addressed as Sheldon turned to Leonard for help and again left Amy in the cold. I think the resolution of that romantic snafu could have been handled a little better. As usual, Amy is too quick to forgive Sheldon his mistakes and acts of unkindness. But at least Sheldon didn’t come across as a complete ogre by the end.

Watch the hour-long Season 8 premiere of The Big Bang Theory tonight, September 22nd, at 8:00pm ET/PT on CBS.

The rest of “The Locomotion Interruption” allowed viewers to catch up with the rest of the gang. By and large, these subplots were more successful. Penny showed signs of increased maturity, and not just because of her new hairdo (which I was amused to see the characters reference more than once). Pharmaceutical sales seems like a positive step forward for the aimless wannabe actress. Penny’s disastrous interview sequence was entertaining, especially as she and the interviewer began to bond over a mutual fear of Bernadette. Bernie, as usual, had the best line of the episode with “The world is full of things that can cause a rectum to bleed.”

The Raj/Wolowitz material was also pretty entertaining as Wolowitz struggled with the idea that Stuart may have replaced him as the dutiful son. Or is Stuart the father figure here? That confusion led to a great little standoff between the two characters as they both constantly shifted between the rebellious son and the domineering father. Bernie being caught in the middle of that argument didn’t hurt one bit either. Nothing seemed to be resolved in this particular conflict, but there was a sense that we were seeing the general tone of Stuart and Wolowitz’s relationship established for the coming season. It’s certainly a nice break from Stuart’s typical brand of self-loathing, self-deprecating humor.