“The Big Bang Theory” has seen quite a lot of changes throughout its run, which is normal for a show that has gone through seven whole seasons. The show’s producers seem to know what its fans are looking for as well, as most of the changes have been received well by the general public, and critics have been favorable of the way the formula has evolved too. However, it’s good to see them coming back to the older, more classic formula of the original episodes every once in a while, which was the case with the latest episode 11 of the current season.
Raj has been seeing some issues with hosting the Christmas dinner, related to the ongoing divorce between his parents. Amy tries to make use of the situation by hosting a more traditional Christmas with a Victorian theme, but Raj opposes to the idea, reminding her that their friends aren’t typically very keen on parties with a theme. However, the others don’t seem to agree with him too much, and are as excited about the idea as Amy is.
Meanwhile, Howard and Leonard have been having troubles of their own. A bird has gotten in the Clean Room, causing an obvious problem for the two, and they try to call Raj for help – who, upon arriving, seems to believe that Howard is responsible for the bird, remembering previous incidents. This leads to a brief argument, followed by attempts to get the bird out of the room as efficiently as possible.
Amy and Sheldon seem to be going through some difficulties in their relations as well, although Amy seems very intent on getting on Sheldon’s good side. However, it’s likely that Sheldon will be less trusting of Amy in the future in similar situations, and some fans have been speculating that there will be a major plot point revolving around this later on. Even if nothing happens during this season, the producers will likely not leave that thread untouched after developing it like that.
All in all, the episode was full of funny moments, and it was structured in a less serious way than the previous episodes from this season. All of the show’s characters have seen some serious development throughout season 8, but it seems that the producers wanted to put that on hold at least for this episode, and make a story that’s simply entertaining to watch without digging too deeply in the relationships between different characters. At the same time, they still managed to add at least a little bit of depth to certain character pairs, potentially setting up the next episodes for some interesting occurrences.