Episodes 7.18 'the Mommy Observation' (March 13)

[Convict13]

The only discordant issue I had with the episode was Leonard arguing with Penny about if she were a famous actress working in another city and he a tenured professor.   I think what I found a little troubling about it was that at one time he was willing to move to India to be with Priya.  I think that if he had some important research to do, he could do so from most major cities.   Stewart's speech put an end to that though.

 

I suppose the difference between now and then in regards to Priya and Penny is that Leonard is still up for a Tenure position, so to him it's a reality.  The silly part is that they live in LA, Penny could make a living as a famous actor in LA I think, and Leonard may still get that Tenure.  I'm thinking the Tenure resolution may be in the final episode this year, the cliffhanger so to speak, where they all receive a reply from the University and one by one they open the letter and read it, then cut - wait to next year folks.

Edited March 15, 2014 by Convict13

[Convict13]

This show would benefit from hiring writers who have watched previous episodes. If they had, they would not have neglected to mention the scene in series 6 episode 4 ( http://bigbangtheory.wikia.com/wiki/The_Re-Entry_Minimization ), in which Howard discovers Dr. Schneider, his former dentist, leaving his own mother's house via the window. An almost identical situation, which he would almost certainly related to Sheldon, had Sheldon not recalled it already from his eidetic memory.

It is surprising that the actors themselves don't notice these yawning cracks in the continuity, but then again, if the writers are plummeting as they seem to be, I expect most of them are too busy job hunting to notice.

Also a much better gag at the end of the show would have been for Stewart to say, "Well I guess I can go wash my hand now". Seriously guys, the recent quality smacks of plain lazy. get your butts in gear.

 

The writers very early into the series mentioned that continuity is not of huge importance to them, they write each episode as a separate entity,  It really is only of recent years that story lines pick up on previous ones. And although it is similar to what Sheldon saw, it's not really the same at all, all Howard saw was a guy climbing out of a window in a state of undress, where as Sheldon saw it all,  

 

I like your tag line, that would have been funny.

Edited March 15, 2014 by Convict13

[Susana Alcira]

I want Harrison Ford as Mary Cooper´s boyfriend!

[phantagrae]

I want Harrison Ford as Mary Cooper´s boyfriend!

I think I'd have a stroke! And then I'd die happy...

[Irene]

I want Harrison Ford as Mary Cooper´s boyfriend!

Lol! Han Solo! That would be hilarious!

[djsurrey]

I was actually quite surprised I did not find this episode funny. It is the first episode I have rated as bad. Good to know the is better coming up.

 

edit

I have added this episode to my short list of worst episodes at

Edited March 17, 2014 by djsurrey

[ajond]

I was actually quite surprised I did not find this episode funny. It is the first episode I have rated as bad. Good to know the is better coming up.

 

Isn't it amazing how tastes. perceptions differ. This was my first very good ep, the others were mostly OK with the occasional good.

[stardustmelody]

I too enjoyed it a lot. I found it quite funny.  There were some great deliveries from Mayim, Howard, Laurie and Jim last night.  Kaley was quite funny as well.   I will admit the murder mystery was maybe more "draggy" of a story than the Howard/Sheldon/Mary story, but there still were funny parts to the murder mystery story.   Also there was an important conversation that had to come up eventually with Lenny that came out of it.   Not to mention we learn that Sheldon and Amy clearly are thinking very long-term/forever kind of thing with as detailed of a RA as they have in place.      Overall I thought it was very entertaining.

[koops]

Ok, I had a very busy day yesterday so I got to rewatch later than usual, but the more I watch the episode the more I like it. I didn't get a *lot* of laughs from the Mary/Sheldon/Howard scenes as I did from Penny, Amy and Bernie during the murder mystery, but I thought they were wonderful scenes nonetheless and Laurie did an excellent job as always.

 

First of all, I'm very happy with the fact that it seems like the show is finally starting to take on a more coherent format, with plots and details being brought up again across different episodes. They might not be totally on the ball with continuity yet, but they're getting there and doing a much better job than in the past. Like I said previously, I like that they picked up on the themes and lines from Scavenger so well again. I have said again and again that Raj the party-planner is my favourite Raj and I'm so happy to see him again. I liked that the gang hated the idea of the party (Penny was just hysterical in her hatred), as per Scavenger, and I liked that they remembered about Bernie's extremely competitive streak. I also love how they managed to throw in so many nerd references about Sherlock Holmes and the Terminator/Outer Limits rip-off.

 

I thought all the characters in this one were at their best. Amy was so much like S4 Amy it might be one of my favorite episodes of hers in a long time (and the RA lines were just the icing on a perfect cake), Bernie with her mad-scientist streak and "Ca-chin' you blinky chumps" had me in tears (btw, anyone thinks they should have Bernie climb the ladder at her company and become the boss?), Penny, as I said, was hysterical throughout, especially when she messed up the game, Stuart wasn't as pathetic as usual, Sheldon was hilarious but mature at the same time, which proves you can have him be funny without being a plot device. 

 

On the serious side of the episode, I loved how they used the excuse of the murder mystery to dig deeper into the question of Lenny's (and to a lesser extent Shamy's) relationship and future. And I loved to see S/H bonding (I'm torn between the bar scene and the bedroom scene as my favourite, but I thought it was very clever how they even managed to dig deeper into Howard's backstory in this episode, even though he wasn't the focus) and Laurie did such a fantastic job when she sent Sheldon to his room. Wow. That was such a different side of Mary Cooper we got to see, I don't think we have ever seen anyone on the show be that SERIOUSLY pissed before. That last "Go.To.Your.Room" seemed almost out of a drama. 

 

The Sheldon/Mary stuff is so interesting that it should have its own thread. I loved the completely new dynamic between the two, with Sheldon being the grown man scolding his own mother. Contrast that with Rhinitis, or any other episodes Mary has been in, and it's such a massive leap forward in growth for him. But what I found the most interesting is how their situations sort of mirror each other. They are both struggling with their beliefs (Mary's religious beliefs and Sheldon's own beliefs that he's above emotions and intimacy) because of a relationship. And it is very telling to me that the thing Sheldon has the biggest issue with is the hypocrisy. I always thought one of his biggest fears when it comes to Amy (besides the need for control and his various phobias) is precisely to come across as an hypocrite. It's the reason he always denies and twists the facts when people point out to him that yeah, maybe Amy is his girlfriend, maybe he is jealous, maybe he has feelings, maybe he is the moth and she is the flame. Engaging in sex, to him, is probably the ultimate form of hypocrisy because of how he's always dissed it as unnecessary and stupid. I think what he saw here with Mary is that, well, there are exceptions and sometimes exceptions are worth making in order to be happy and to have a richer life. I do believe this plotline was not coincidental and it is part of this internal journey and analysis Sheldon has been doing since last season.

 

The fact that it ended on that totally hysterical "sex talk" was a great way to wrap up an otherwise deep plot with some really good humor. "You used to be protected by your pre-enlightenment mythology. But now you're going to need a stronger friend. Named Latex."/"… Are you having the sex talk with me?". LOL! I loved it because everyone was clamouring for Mary to come to Pasadena and have "The Talk" with her son about sex and Amy and here we have it happening the other way around. Pure genius, IMO. I adore Mary more with each passing episode and I cant' wait to see her again. 

 

Anyway, like I said, excellent episode, in my book. It's up there with Scavenger, Romance Resonance and Cooper Extraction as one of my favorites of the season.

[Kasey]

Thanks stardustmelody--that is indeed the sort of thing I meant. I thought the writers were having a dig at Christianity, as Sheldon could have simply said "I don't want to stand in the way of your happiness" and had Mary reply "that's kind of you" or similar. Adding in the "I'll condemn you internally while giving the appearance of acceptance" line right before Mary's "very Christian of you" reply was a dig from the writers, IMO.

 

I want to add that this is NOT my personal view of Christianity or Christians, of which I include many of my closest friends and family. I don't want to offend anyone by my comment--it was about what I thought the writers were implying, not MY views. Well, my views on TV evangelists, maybe. :-)

 

Thanks to Star and to you Irene for clearing that up.  I wasn't offended but confused.    .  I will say that I don't think it's a dig as much as it is an accurate description of what is wrong with Christianity - the lack of conviction to one's beliefs (but I don't want to go too far into an off topic tangent).  

[vasu]

it was boooorrriiiiiiiiiiigggggggggg

[SodidIwin?]

Thanks to Star and to you Irene for clearing that up.  I wasn't offended but confused.    .  I will say that I don't think it's a dig as much as it is an accurate description of what is wrong with Christianity - the lack of conviction to one's beliefs (but I don't want to go too far into an off topic tangent).

Nice generalization against only Christians. As if followers of other religions don't from time to time have doubts regarding their faith or inner feelings. I was under the impression that no one on this earth is perfect and that we all make mistakes or seem hypocritical during certain points in our lives.

[Martin Pollard]

Nice generalization against only Christians. As if followers of other religions don't from time to time have doubts regarding their faith or inner feelings. I was under the impression that no one on this earth is perfect and that we all make mistakes or seem hypocritical during certain points in our lives.

 

Sure, lots of people of all religions act this way, but we don't have an endless parade of hypocritical Jews or Muslims or Hindus pushing themselves into our faces 24/7, do we? People who claim to be Christian, yet whose actions show them to be anything but, make such generalizations easy, especially when we're bombarded with those people thanks to the fill-the-airways-with-anything-especially-if-it's-sensational media. (The political arena is filled with such examples, but that's a topic I won't get into here, mainly because I want to keep my blood pressure down.)

[BipolarBear]

it was boooorrriiiiiiiiiiigggggggggg

funny you say so, my husband told me the exact same thing. I for one liked the episode except a couple of details but he was really put off by the murder mystery story line, he is also a fan but didn't like this epi at all. 

[luke]

I find all the episodes that involve the parents to be great and this was no exceptin, even though I let my curiosity get the best of me for the first time and read the synopisis of the epidode, so I knew what was going to happen, I laughed frequently anyway - I enjoyed Howard and Sheldon having a friendly conversation - that was long overdue - I didn't enjoy the muder mystery game as much, but I did like the talk of where they would be 20 years from now, and the ending with poor Stewart standing on the corner by himself - on a sidenote - I want to see Sheldon'd Mother to get together with Penny's Father.

Edited March 15, 2014 by luke

[rachelshamyfan]

Penny's parents are together though

So that would mean breaking them up!

[luke]

Penny's parents are together though

So that would mean breaking them up!

 

 

But Penny's mother is rarely mentioned and I don't think she has ever been seen, so the writers  could easily get around that through divorce or death -

I just think Penny and Sheldon ending up step brother/step sisiter would be ironic not to mention hysterical - and Leonard's reaction would be priceless.

Edited March 15, 2014 by luke

[vasu]

funny you say so, my husband told me the exact same thing. I for one liked the episode except a couple of details but he was really put off by the murder mystery story line, he is also a fan but didn't like this epi at all. 

 

murder mystery was really a snoozefest...

 

and I never really like/understand Sheldon's mother's religious comedy..... i have no idea about that........

 

and Sheldon talking about his mother's hypocrisy was more hypocrite of him...

[koops]

But Penny's mother is rarely mentioned and I don't think she has ever been seen, so the writers  could easily get around that through divorce or death -

I just think Penny and Sheldon ending up step brother/step sisiter would be ironic not to mention hysterical - and Leonard's reaction would be priceless.

 

My favorite crackship is Mary Cooper and Mike Rostenkowski. Too bad Mike is also married. But I think those two would be a match made in heaven!

[SodidIwin?]

it was boooorrriiiiiiiiiiigggggggggg

I actually enjoyed the episode very much. I have watched it now a number of times and laughed more each time. The murder mystery really wasn't, it was only used to have them discuss their futures. Actually Bernie never did get to say what her future was going to be in Raj's opinion.

Sure, lots of people of all religions act this way, but we don't have an endless parade of hypocritical Jews or Muslims or Hindus pushing themselves into our faces 24/7, do we? People who claim to be Christian, yet whose actions show them to be anything but, make such generalizations easy, especially when we're bombarded with those people thanks to the fill-the-airways-with-anything-especially-if-it's-sensational media. (The political arena is filled with such examples, but that's a topic I won't get into here, mainly because I want to keep my blood pressure down.)

Tell that to the hundreds of Christians murdered in Egypt by Muslims for no other reason but because they are Christians and their churches that have been burned down. Which is what is also happening in Syria, Libya and other mid eastern countries currently.

[Kasey]

Nice generalization against only Christians. As if followers of other religions don't from time to time have doubts regarding their faith or inner feelings. I was under the impression that no one on this earth is perfect and that we all make mistakes or seem hypocritical during certain points in our lives.

 

Did you think I was insulting Christians?  Or other religions?  

[Martin Pollard]

Tell that to the hundreds of Christians murdered in Egypt by Muslims for no other reason but because they are Christians and their churches that have been burned down. Which is what is also happening in Syria, Libya and other mid eastern countries currently.

I already said that I'm not going to discuss politics. End of discussion.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk

[phantagrae]

I think that they've always poked fun at Mary's conservative Christianity because it is so strict, but they've mostly poked fun at Mary for being very politically incorrect, partly because of her beliefs, but also partly because of her being Texan, I think.

And what's funny is that although Sheldon rolls his eyes at his mother's comments, he, too, often makes blunt remarks that seem to be from a combination of his singular way of thinking and his Texas upbringing.

 

And actually, I think that Mary is not questioning the validity or correctness of her beliefs.  I think she's simply struggling with temptation.  It is indeed entirely possible for her to be happy in a relationship with this guy Ron without having sex outside of marriage.  So I think her struggle is with her own behavior--giving in to temptation, etc., rather than any struggle with the truth of what she has always believed.  I don't think she suddenly woke up and said, "Gee, you know what?  The Bible is wrong about this fornication thing.  There's nothing wrong with it at all!!"  I think she was simply physically tempted--as many people are--and gave in to that.

 

However this incident may color Sheldon's thinking about sex with Amy and whether or not his mother would approve, etc., I don't think Mary would suddenly say, "It's okay as long as you're in love."  Now, he might say, well, if you're going to say one thing and do another, then you can't say anything against what I choose to do, but I think that Mary's stance might be more like what she already did say--I'm not perfect, I'm struggling, etc.

 

I don't think we need to talk about religious oppression or conflict or blahblahblah, because that's clearly not a factor in this episode and this is not the place to have those discussions.

 

I think this was just about Mary's feet of clay and Sheldon having to deal with seeing his mother in a new light.

[stardustmelody]

Did you think I was insulting Christians?  Or other religions?  

No..not at all.  

[djsurrey]

 

[snip]… Are you having the sex talk with me?". LOL! I loved it because everyone was clamouring for Mary to come to Pasadena and have "The Talk" with her son about sex and Amy and here we have it happening the other way around. Pure genius, IMO. I adore Mary more with each passing episode and I cant' wait to see her again. 

 

Anyway, like I said, excellent episode, in my book. It's up there with Scavenger, Romance Resonance and Cooper Extraction as one of my favorites of the season.

 

 

Interesting. You thought it was pure genius and can't wait...

 

For me it was one of those episodes that make me question watching the series at all. There are episodes I'm looking foreward to but the one this week kind of makes me embarrassed that I watch TBBT. My avatar will have a paper bag over the head for now.

Edited March 16, 2014 by djsurrey