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When faced with an unsolvable problem, how do we react? The artistic type try stream-of-consciousness exercises, attempting to jump start creative juices by forcing any random idea into fruition. The analytical type deconstruct the problematic areas and attempt to manage the individual pieces. The social type rely on the help of friends and outside sources for help. And for the hopeless type, such as Sheldon Cooper, the answer lies in a humorous, sleep-deprived madness.

This week’s episode of The Big Bang Theory focuses on Sheldon attempting to solve an age-old conundrum, which is neither age-old, nor of consequence to anyone but himself: why do electrons behave as if they have no mass when traveling through a graphene sheet? After failing to solve the problem the old-fashioned way, Sheldon embarks on a thirty-hour bender of science, attempting to absorb the formulas and data subconsciously, thus allowing other parts of his brain to focus on the solution. After a night full of running past a dry erase board board and performing whiplash-caliber head snaps in an attempt to see his work peripherally, Sheldon resigns himself to other possible solutions. Sheldon chucks his dry erase board out his living room window into traffic, and starts over.

As Sheldon dutifully helms the science portion of tonight’s episode, the nerdy portion belongs to Leonard, Howard and their respective girlfriends, Penny and Bernadette. The quartet spend the evening at a roller rink, disco dancing for the pleasure of everyone else acting like its the stereotypical amalgamation of 1977 pieced together from various media sources. Unfortunately, enthusiasm for the evening does not equate ability. While Bernadette and Penny tried to have a good time, their beloveds flopped around the roller rink like octopi having seizures. The nerdy scientists can neither dance or roller skate. Shocker.

Returning home after a thorough humiliation, Penny and Bernadette debate which was more embarrassing; Leonard and Howard’s dancing or their seeming obliviousness. The debate is cut short as Penny and Leonard slip on a pile of marbles in Leonard’s living room. Apparently, creating carbon atoms from lima beans and peas in the university cafeteria is insufficient for Sheldon’s thought process. After three days of sleep deprivation, he needs a larger scale model: marbles spread Kevin McAllister style on his living room floor. Bernadette, scientifically, urges Sheldon to get some sleep in an attempt to get his neural receptors firing at full strength. After Sheldon refuses, Bernadette, matronly, tells Sheldon it’s past his bedtime and she’s going to count to three. Sheldon races to his bedroom, obligingly.

After a scant few hours of trying to sleep, Sheldon has a eureka moment. He doesn’t know the answer to his problem, but he knows how to attain it. Remembering how Albert Einstein stumbled upon the Theory of Relativity while working in the patent office, Sheldon attempts to follow suit. By spending his hours performing menial labor, his brain will be free to work on the problem in the background. He’s so proud of his innovative solution, he rushes over to sleeping Penny and Leonard eager to share his idea with them.

At an unemployment office, Sheldon meets with a vocational guidance counselor (played by Yeardley Smith, best known for her voicework as Lisa Simpson) to find the most menial job possible. Desperate to work among the trudging bottom rung of society, Sheldon is equally enticed by proposals of installing sheet rock and delivering flowers. Unfortunately, both jobs are just out of reach, as Sheldon has no clue what sheet rock is and doesn’t know how to drive.

Embarking on his own, Sheldon determines the three most mind-numbing, demeaning jobs in the world. The first being toll booth attendant, which is unacceptable as he could never handle other people’s loose change. The second being an Apple Store Genius, which he refuses as it devalues the word ‘genius.’ The third being whatever Penny does. This is borderline acceptable. Unwilling to go through a lengthy hiring and training process, Sheldon simply grabs an apron and begins busing tables alongside his friend.

Much to Penny’s chagrin, she is insulted that Sheldon thinks so poorly of her position, but is even more insulted when Sheldon effortlessly makes the shift from busboy to waiter. Most insultingly, after only a few hours, Sheldon exceeds Penny in Cheesecake Factory waiting ability.

As Sheldon is delivering a tray of plates to a waiting table, he drops the entirety on the floor. Humiliated, Sheldon begins to clean up the mess when he is greeted by another eureka moment: The problematic electron particles behave as if they have no mass because they have no mass; under these particular circumstances, they behave as waves of energy, not as particles. Sheldon darts out of the restaurant, leaving the mess behind for Penny to clean up. After all, it’s not like he actually works there.

Tonight’s episode was funny, but mostly because of Sheldon. Whenever he was onscreen, the comedy was golden. That being said, the remainder was filler, and not particularly good filler. Such examples include Leonard explaining to Penny his philosophy of buying a laughing Joker ringtone (A three dollar ringtone, which most laughably sounded absolutely nothing like The Joker.) Another example include the penultimate scene, where Howard returns to the disco roller rink, this time with Raj. The two dance uncomfortably amongst gawking patrons for no reason other than to stretch the episode to a full 22 minutes.

One final example features both Sheldon humor and filler mentality. In another attempt to visualize his experiment, Sheldon breaks into a Chuck E Cheese-style restaurant to create visual aids via the plastic ball pit. As Leonard attempts to fish the trespassing Sheldon out, Sheldon dives and swims across the ball pit, occasionally surfacing to mock Leonard with a derisive “Bazinga!” I’m on the fence whether this scene is worthwhile or extraneous. It’s repetitive and simple, but hilarious nonetheless. I had a similar reaction the first time I saw the Hampster Dance on the internet.

Regardless, this week’s episode of the Big Bang Theory was an achievement for any fans of Sheldon and his wacky antics, and a true kick in the shins to anyone working in the food service, floral delivery, Apple Store, sheet rock construction, or toll booth operation industries. But it could be worse; you could be a forty-something vocational guidance counselor who perpetually sounds like an animated eight year-old.