"The Mommy Observation" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on March 13, 2014. Directed by Mark Cendrowski. Teleplay by Steven Molaro, Eric Kaplan and Anthony Del Broccolo, based on a story by Jim Reynolds, Steve Holland and Maria Ferrari.
In the previous episode, Howard and Sheldon traveled to Texas to tour the NASA facilities there, and the idea was that Sheldon could also visit his mother, Mary (Laurie Metcalf). Now in this episode, Howard and Sheldon do go to Mary's house, but bail after Sheldon sees her having sex with a man through the window. Eventually they come back. Sheldon tries to talk to his mother about what he witnessed and gets sent to his old room.
Meanwhile, back in Pasadena, Raj and Stuart (Kevin Sussman) arrange a murder mystery. Someone murdered Stuart, and it was either Amy, Bernadette, Howard or Penny. Raj gives them envelopes with clues. After Penny blurts out she's the murderer, the friends all agree to meet up in twenty years.
Tropes
- Flash Forward: At the end we see a peek twenty years into the future. Stuart is the only one who shows up as agreed.
- Formerly Fat: Raj claims he was 200 pounds in school, but Leonard reveals that that's not true.
- Hypocrite: Sheldon calls his mother on sleeping with a man she's not married to despite having preached to him his entire childhood. She admits that she's not perfect — but her boyfriend's butt is.
- Go to Your Room!: Mary threatens to make Sheldon go to his room if he doesn't apologize.Sheldon: That is ridiculous! I am a grown man, I am a professional scientist and currently occupy the moral high ground.
Mary: Go to your room!
Sheldon: But I occupy the moral high ground!
Mary: Go to your room!
Sheldon: But I am a professional scientist!
Mary: Go to your room!
Sheldon: [meekly, as he enters his old room] I'm a grown man. - Money, Dear Boy: In-Universe, Bernadette admits she's in science for the money.
- Primal Scene: Sheldon peeks through his mother's window and sees her having sex with a man. Or as he puts it...Sheldon: I saw my mommy with a naked man and she's trying to be a mommy again!
- Shout-Out:
- The attendants in the murder mystery party are dressed in the same colors as the game pieces in Clue.
- Raj's future self is in a relationship with Madonna.
- Leonard points out that the plot of Raj's murder mystery party is stolen from The Terminator. Raj counters that it was in turn stolen from an episode of The Outer Limits (1963) written by Harlan Ellison. (They can't agree on whether it's "Soldier" or "Demon with a Glass Hand".)
- The Talk: Mary is shocked to realize that Sheldon is giving her the sex talk when he recommends using a condom.
