"A Very Special" Episode of The Big Bang Theory
Published: 1/13/2013 6:00 AM
Last Modified: 1/13/2013 6:49 AM
From the left; Howard, Raj, Leonard and Sheldon find themselves in unfriendly territory in 'The Bakersfield Expedition'. MONTY BRINTON / CBS
With The Bakersfield Expedition, it was the geekiness that took center-stage for both storylines of the episode. It started out like a standard episode for the series, with the guys; Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard getting ready to go out to Comic Con in Bakersfield while the women; Penny, Bernadette and Amy Farrah Fowler opting out of it, not really being people into that kind of thing.
For the women, it was a real surprise for what happened next for them. They decided to explore their men’s fascination with comic books and ventured to the comic book store to see what was so appealing. What quickly followed was a thing that pretty much all comic book geeks have experienced: Debate. After being fixated on Thor and his hammer, they were asking themselves questions such as: “Who decides who can wield the hammer?” “Could anyone pick up the hammer if it is in space?” The storyline of these three displayed geeks just beginning to embrace their geekiness. When dealing with discussions of comic book characters, many talks boil down to “What if” scenarios and research by going through backlogs of comics, clearly portrayed when the women decided to go through Sheldon’s collection. It was quite incredible to see the ladies dive right into the comic book world and showed that once into it you can easily get swept away in the lore.
Now for the men, this was a much more poignant tale for them this time around. The group decided to stop off at a landmark from the original Star Trek and have a little photo op in full costume. However, things went from fun to tragic when Leonard’s car got stolen. After the group trekked through the desert a little bit, they came across a diner. It was there that the group came to a harsh realization: they could see that they were “freaks” in the eyes of the patrons. The people in the diner stared at them and lobbed jokes their way. It was there that they finally felt defeated. The worst being when Sheldon stated: “We got real life garbage thrown at us.” referring to when a slushie was thrown at him by a passing motorist who shouted “NERD!” while in the desert. It was in the diner that the gang came face to face with ridicule for their interests. There are geeks out there who have felt this way before. Down in the dumps, defeated and made fun of for their fandom. At that point, there are times where you just want to call it a day and give up. And sometimes, that does happen.
The Bakersfield Expedition was a great episode of The Big Bang Theory; if not one of the best of the series altogether. Usually you only see the upside to the gang’s geek side or comical misadventures of them. But it was here that you saw victory and defeat. You got to see the ladies embrace their geek side and quickly get caught up in a culture they really did not understand. While with the men, we witnessed the dark side of a geek’s life; the despair we sometimes feel when others mock us and see us as freaks. It was this episode that finally showed that a geek’s life isn’t always filled with laughter. There are times where we are looked down upon.
As a geek, it really felt like “a very special episode” and it really hit close to home. This episode should definitely be watched and remembered.
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Written by
Chris Moore
Web Production Tech
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