TMC
11-18-2025, 12:33 AM
https://jacksonupperco.com/2025/11/18/the-ten-best-the-big-bang-theory-episodes-of-season-seven/
After six years of reliable situation comedy as the result, primarily, of one well-defined and premise-reflecting character, Season Seven observes Big Bang’s first big drop in quality. By now, the show has fully morphed into a formulaic three-couple sitcom with more generic stories common to this subgenre, personalized mostly by the fact that they’re nerdy scientists, which is now doing the heavy-lifting in plot. This is not merely because the series has run out of ideas to explicitly explore the premise. It’s also because Sheldon, its crowning achievement, is not quite as helpful as he used to be. For one, he’s starting to become pettier and more vindictive. In early years, such behavior was rare — he’d lash out at an illogicality or an injustice that struck him to the core, in evidence of the rigidity over which he did not have full control. Now, however, it’s possible for him to hurt others not unintentionally, but purposefully. This is a shift from his socially graceless character, for it’s not merely that he lacks EQ — actually, he’s grown a lot; now he is more conscious of social norms, so when he’s a jerk, it’s often intentional. It’s an unideal trend — a caricature of his role as the comic nuisance, less supported by his uniquely situation-affirming flaws.
After six years of reliable situation comedy as the result, primarily, of one well-defined and premise-reflecting character, Season Seven observes Big Bang’s first big drop in quality. By now, the show has fully morphed into a formulaic three-couple sitcom with more generic stories common to this subgenre, personalized mostly by the fact that they’re nerdy scientists, which is now doing the heavy-lifting in plot. This is not merely because the series has run out of ideas to explicitly explore the premise. It’s also because Sheldon, its crowning achievement, is not quite as helpful as he used to be. For one, he’s starting to become pettier and more vindictive. In early years, such behavior was rare — he’d lash out at an illogicality or an injustice that struck him to the core, in evidence of the rigidity over which he did not have full control. Now, however, it’s possible for him to hurt others not unintentionally, but purposefully. This is a shift from his socially graceless character, for it’s not merely that he lacks EQ — actually, he’s grown a lot; now he is more conscious of social norms, so when he’s a jerk, it’s often intentional. It’s an unideal trend — a caricature of his role as the comic nuisance, less supported by his uniquely situation-affirming flaws.