The Big Bang Theory: The Maternal Conclusion (12x22)

Man, they really wanted me to feel emotional about these characters, didn't they?

Cons:

The thing about The Big Bang Theory is that sometimes it tries to be incredibly emotionally sincere, and it virtually never works for them. I can get behind some Howard/Raj friendship moments on occasion, but Stuart and his girlfriend whose name I can't be bothered to remember? Leonard and his emotionally abusive mother? Why and how am I supposed to form a connection to these characters and these moments? There's no real buildup. There's no hook to make me feel feelings.

Howard calls Raj an "Indian giver" at one point which is just... racism, ladies and gentlemen. I mean, this one isn't even subtle.

There's something very performative about the nerdiness on this show sometimes (most of the time). Stuart and his girlfriend making comic-book references to talk about how much they want to move in together is supposed to be cute and nerdy. But I'm a nerd and all of my friends are nerds, and none of us talk entirely in references. It doesn't work like that.

Pros:

Like I said, I can be down for some cute Raj/Howard friendship stuff. We find out that Anu is going to be moving for work, and Raj decides to propose to her and move to London. Howard is at first just going to let him go, but then he rushes to the airport to convince him to stay. Basically, we're going back to the same problem with Anu and Raj's relationship - they like each other just fine, but they're not really in love. I like the cliche of Howard stopping Raj at the airport. It's silly and overdone, but whatever. Everyone claps when they embrace, and even though Howard corrects them that this isn't a romantic reunion, there's not really a "haha no homo" sense to the joke, so that's okay. I also actually laughed out loud when Bernadette tells Howard to go get his best friend back, and Howard starts to tell Bernie "no, you're my best friend - " and she just interrupts him and tells him there's no time and he has to hurry. Howard runs off, no further questions asked.

I don't feel emotionally invested in Stuart's relationship, but I did like the comedy of Howard and Bernadette's house being everybody's hangout spot. Multiple people are adding things to the grocery list on the fridge, so much so that Bernie and Howard can't even keep track of people's handwriting. That was amusing.

I can't really be fussed to feel emotional about Leonard and his mother having this big moment of forgiveness, because I don't think that she deserves forgiveness, and I don't understand enough about this situation to know why Leonard giving her forgiveness is helpful for him. But that said, I did appreciate the acting in these scenes, and I liked that Leonard's pain wasn't played strictly for laughs. I also like that Penny continues to advocate for her husband while also respecting his boundaries.

So... yeah. This episode wanted to be a big deal, but it's really just kind of par for the course, unfortunately. I didn't hate it, but it's not like I'm going to be thinking about it in the weeks to come, either. The end is in sight!

8/10