'Grey's' Isn't Going Anywhere
'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
The Big Bang Theory: The Maternal Capacitance
by Kona Gallagher, posted Feb 10th 2009 2:03AM
(S02E15) Well, it was a big episode that we almost missed due to the Presidential address tonight. This was a great episode for one simple reason: we finally find out that Leonard and Sheldon are friends because Leonard is trying to have sex with his mother. Wait -- that's not quite right. But seriously. How great is it that Leonard's mother and Sheldon are basically the exact same person?
I like the direction they took with it: They didn't go the predictable route of Leonard feeling as though Sheldon is replacing him; they hinted at a Mrs. Robinson relationship, but didn't quite go there. Instead, the writers made their reactions believable. Sheldon and Mrs. Hofstadter spent a great deal of time talking about brain scans and played Rock Band, which as we all know, is the great equalizer.Christine Baranski was great as Leonard's mother. Her coldness and exacting standards do a good job of explaining both why Leonard can put up with Sheldon so well and why Leonard is basically a puppy in search of love. Unfortunately, his mother's emotional stunting is keeping him from ever getting said love, as we see with Penny.
I've mentioned before how I love that they're really easing back into the Leonard/Penny relationship. Ever since the Christmas episode, they've been tentatively and naturally getting closer to each other. Tonight, they found the missing ingredient: tequila.
Poor Penny. She overlooks so much in order to have just a friendship with any of these guys. She even starts to overlook Leonard's creepy pillow talk, but when he says that she's just trying to have sex with her dad, well, I don't think anyone can blame her for kicking him out. There's only so much you can pretend not to hear, you know?
In any case, I don't think it's over for Penny and Leonard. I'm sure that this will set them back quite a bit, but Penny's not the type to completely get rid of him over the fact that he said something stupid. Something really, really, profoundly stupid. Things will probably be cool between them for the next several episodes, but I have a feeling that when it's time for sweeps, they'll heat up yet again.
Some of my favorite lines from this episode:
Penny: "What was Leonard like when he was little?"
Mrs. Hofstadter: "Oh, I think you mean 'young;' he's always been little."
"At that age, he was well enmeshed in what Freud would call the Phallic Stage of psycho-sexual development; an outmoded theory, of course, but the boy did spend most of his waking hours with a tight grasp on his penis." - Mrs. Hofstadter
"If you want to have intercourse with that girl, find out what kind of cologne her father wore." - Mrs. Hofstadter
Leonard: "She's only been here a day and a half, and I'm seriously considering alcoholism as a new career path."
Penny: "Hey, I talked to her for five minutes yesterday, and I've been half bombed ever since."
"You shush! I'm happy. I want to talk about it." - Leonard
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