The Big Bang Theory Review: The Solo Oscillation (Season 11 Episode 13)

On The Big Bang Theory Season 11 Episode 13, “The Solo Oscillation,” Sheldon is anxious to work on something new, Howard and Raj add a new member to Footprints on the Moon, and Amy and Leonard bond over science experiments from the past.

Keeping busy with wedding planning and other tasks have made it so that Sheldon has not really worked on any research for a while. After Leonard and Amy share news of the advances they have made in their work Sheldon gets anxious.

And when Sheldon gets anxious he kicks Amy out and gets to work.

This kind of arrangement, the other one going away for a while while the other works, seems completely natural for Amy and Sheldon. They are used to being on their own and while they do love and care for each other they also know that they might work better if they are given a chance to do it on their own.

I like to spend time alone and find it often easier to work in isolation, which is why this arrangement between the two definitely makes them #relationshipgoals in my books.

I found Sheldon’s struggle to come up with a new research topic so damn relatable and the process he goes through gave me major flashbacks to the days a couple of years ago when I struggled with deciding on my Master’s thesis topic.

It feels like there are so many possibilities for research out there and deciding on something you actually want to do and something that has scientific value is much more difficult than you would expect it to be.

And when the ideas do not start to flow, it is so easy to get distracted by something else. 

Instead of focusing on his work, Sheldon starts gossiping with his mother, does experiments that have no value, and calculates the probabilities of things that don’t really matter.

It isn’t until he gets to talk with someone, in this case, Penny, that ideas that to appear. While Penny might not be able to contribute to the discussion with the kind of jargon Sheldon uses by making things seem simple and common sense Penny makes Sheldon realize a number of things.

First, he should switch back to the field of physics he is really passionate about (string theory) and second, he should change his approach and assumptions and try out something new.

Witnessing Sheldon finding the joy from research again made me miss my university days and actually inspired me to reconsider the idea of doing a ph.D.

I love it when television inspires me!

Next to Sheldon’s brilliant storyline the other events from the episode kind of blend together into an entertaining yet not so meaningful banter.

Amy and Leonard working together is fun to watch and they do end up sharing a short meaningful conversation about life after marriage. Raj and Howard’s struggles with the band seem kind of like an unnecessary addition to the narrative of the episode, but I sure am grateful for having got a chance to see more of Bert.

In case you want to know how much and why I love Bert you can read all about it from the review for The Big Bang Theory Season 11 Episode 7.

Bert really is a babe and I am still confident they should make him a series regular. 

 

What did you think of this episode of The Big Bang Theory? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Big Bang Theory airs Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS.

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