Well alright, it only took 16 episodes of the final season to get to this place, but this finally felt like a ‘Big Bang Theory’ episode of old. A nerdy storyline that involved every character on the show, lots and lots of laughs, characters working together and against each other for a hilarious goal,  and it even had a moment where I forgot for a second that Sheldon and Leonard did not live together anymore as Sheldon was playing video games in the old apartment by himself, with Leonard walking through and commenting on the game, with no word about why Sheldon would not be playing in his own apartment. All in all, this was a very exciting week for the series.

So the main (and only story) started when Sheldon and Amy visited the Professor Proton set with Will Wheton, where after Sheldon and Amy attempt to explain their work in terms kids will understand, Will surprises Sheldon with meeting William Shatner. Ecstatic, Sheldon ends up throwing up all over himself and Shatner, for which the gang makes fun of him mercilessly later, so Sheldon visits Will to try to get another chance to speak to Shatner.

While at Will’s front door, Sheldon learns that Will hosts a secret celebrity game of Dungeons and Dragons, and the men of the gang immediately try to find a way in, especially when they find out that Will had invited Stuart to join, and Stuart had kept it secret. Stuart resigns after being pressured for information from the gang, and Will asks Leonard to join, but swears him to secrecy as well, which Leonard of course keeps from his friends but not Penny, who tells the girls because she learns both Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who Leonard did not recognize, as he is not into sports) and Joe Manganiello (who Penny was very excited about because of ‘Magic Mike’) are there and she wants to meet them. So Will removes Leonard from the game, and secretly invites the girls after they visit the Professor Proton set to share their interest in playing with Will and his friends.

Meanwhile, Leonard tells the rest of the guys that he got an invite, played, and was disinvited. They all head to Will’s house to ask to play once more, and Will explains that he is sick of people trying to use his friendship to meet celebrities, and makes the gang feel bad for the way they treated him.

So the guys have their own D&D night and invite Will, but he cannot attend as he is in the middle of his own D&D game with the celebrities and the ladies. To commemorate the good time they are having, Will and the gang even take a photo of the group and post it to Instagram, which the guys see, and realize what happened, commenting they deserve it.

QUOTES OF THE NIGHT:

SHELDON: (Upon meeting William Shatner) Can I call you Captain?
SHATNER: No.
SHELDON: ….Please?
SHATNER: …Sure.

SHELDON: Guys! Guys! Whil Wheaton hosts a secret celebrity D&D Game!
LEONARD: How do you know?
RAJ: Who was there?
AMY: Why are you damp?

KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR: (while discussing the D&D Scenario with the group) What do you think Leonard?
LEONARD: I think this is the greatest day of my entire life.
SHATNER: That’s alright buddy. One day you’ll meet a girl.

PENNY: Leonard played D&D with the hot guy from ‘Magic Mike.’
BERNADETTE: I never got to see that movie.
AMY: Seriously?
PENNY: Yeah, Howie made us leave as soon as he realized it wasn’t about magic.

My only worry with this episode is that they stepped up their writing game because they had Shatner coming on, which was a really big deal for the show. If next week we are back to the ho-hum mediocrity then we’ll know for certain, but hopefully this Shatner D&D episode is just the beginning of the great episodes they plan on ending with the series with, and not just a fluke.(which sadly is what I suspect has happened)

So many big and small laughs this week (including the random, but amazing joke where Sheldon is just walking through ‘Red Dead Redemption’ because his horse died after being hit by a train and he doesn’t want another one yet because he is still grieving.), it just really felt like the show was firing on all cylinders for once this season, and it made me really nostalgic for when every episode of a ‘Big Bang Theory’ season worked like this. Here’s hoping for the same from the next episode.