The Big Bang Theory: The Mommy Observation (7x18)

No time for fluffy introductions. Plot plot plot!

Sheldon and Howard, still in Houston, go to surprise Sheldon's mother. Sheldon's the one who gets the surprise, however, when he looks in the window of his house and sees his mother having sex. After freaking out for a bit, Sheldon goes back to the house to confront his mother about what he saw. He is very disappointed in her and behaves rudely. Sheldon's mother sends him to his room. Howard comes in from the car and talks to Sheldon. He tells the story of how his mother started seeing someone after his dad left, and Howard gave her a bad time about it. Howard's mother broke up with him, and has been alone ever since. Maybe Sheldon should think about that, and try not to get in the way of his mother's happiness. Sheldon goes and talks to his mother again. He begrudgingly agrees to put on an outward appearance of acceptance, while judging her internally. Sheldon's mother tells him that this is a very Christian thing to do. Sheldon then starts lecturing his mother about safe sex.

This plot line was actually very nice. I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed it. Sheldon's disdain for his mother's faith has been a recurring element on this show, and this time around we added some complexity to it. Even though Sheldon doesn't believe in his mother's religion, he was still upset by the hypocrisy of going against something you are so passionate about. Howard's story about his mom added another complex element to a previously simple joke. Also, there was a very funny moment when Sheldon's mom said "Oh, dear Lord," as Sheldon started to lecture her about safe sex. Sheldon's response? "No, don't look to him, he's mad at you right now."

The other plot involved Raj trapping the rest of the group into a murder mystery game. Stuart starts things off by coming into the apartment and mysteriously "dying." Nobody is very enthusiastic about the game. Raj's mystery involves time travel, but when Penny and Leonard read what they will be doing in the future, it causes an argument to erupt. They both realize that the other person might not be willing to uproot themselves if their careers took off, meaning they would probably grow apart. After fighting about it throughout the game, Stuart points out that they complement each other, and says he thinks they're the best couple he knows. Penny accidentally blurts out that she's the killer, and the game ends. Leonard has the idea that even if the group does drift apart throughout the years, they should all meet twenty years from that day and have dinner like old times. A flash forward twenty years shows that Stuart is the only one to remember the appointment.

I didn't like this plot as much as the one with Sheldon and Howard, but it was still decent. I had two main complaints about it. First of all, why does everyone hate Raj's murder mysteries? That sounds like a lot of fun! I mean, I'm a nerd, so I like things like that... but wait a second, isn't the whole point of this show that most of the characters are nerds? Why the hell wouldn't they want to play the game? Yeesh. Also, I didn't like seeing confirmation that the friends wouldn't meet up in twenty years. It made me a bit sad, actually. Where did they all go?

All that aside, I did enjoy some parts of this thread. Namely, Stuart's description of why Leonard and Penny made a good couple. I thought that was really sweet. Also, Leonard's continued comments about how Raj had ripped off the plot of his murder mystery from Terminator made me chuckle.

There you go! I kept it short.

8/10