Line #22 Recap/TheBigBangTheoryS2E15TheMaternalCapacitance


1	'''The Maternal Capacitance''' is the 15th episode of the 2nd season of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''.
2
3	Leonard's mother, Beverly (Creator/ChristineBaranski), comes to visit him, bringing the news that Uncle Floyd died. Beverly meets Penny and psychoanalyzes her, severely depressing the young woman. Leonard also finds his mother depressing.
4
5	Commiserating with wine and shots at Apartment 4B, Leonard and Penny almost have sex. But Leonard messes it up by bringing up his mother at the worst time. Thrown back to Apartment 4B, Leonard is only slightly fazed to see Beverly and Sheldon bonding over a music video game.
6
7	!! Tropes
8	* AwfulWeddedLife: Leonard recalls building a machine in his youth that would simulate a mother's hug and patting him on the back. It turns out his father would borrow it. Beverly also tells Sheldon it was immediately a SexlessMarriage, save for the wedding night and when trying to have children. She didn't see the problem with this, but Alfred clearly did.
9	* BrutalHonesty: Beverly tells Leonard that Uncle Floyd has passed away.
10	-->'''Leonard:''' Oh my God! What happened?\
11	'''Beverly:''' His heart stopped beating.
12	* TheBully: Beverly turns out to be a huge one, destroying other people's self-esteem unless they're accomplished scientists following cold logic and are arrogant just like her (she found Sheldon to be the only one like her).
13	* CommonalityConnection: Beverly and Sheldon get along very well with each other and acknowledge it based on the fact that they're both very psychoanalytical and find themselves superior to everyone else, especially Leonard.
14	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Back in Apartment 4A, Beverly is contemplating Sheldon's "suggestion." She is not sure if it's appropriate with her son's roommate, but they both agree they'd be very good together. They play Rock Band together.
15	* DreadfulMusician: Raj. The episode opens with Sheldon, Raj, and Howard playing "Under the Bridge" by the Music/RedHotChiliPeppers on ''VideoGame/RockBand''. Penny overhears them and says that Raj's singing sounds like a cat being run over by a lawnmower.
16	* DrowningMySorrows: Penny and Leonard get drunk to drown out the bullying Beverly inflicted on them.
17	* GetOut: Penny forcefully tells Leonard to get out after he brings up their parental issues during intercourse, complete with a shot of him running out of her apartment.
18	* InelegantBlubbering: In the time it takes to get from the lobby up to Leonard and Sheldon's apartment, Beverly has reduced Penny to this.
19	* KickThemWhileTheyreDown: Howard joins in on bullying Leonard with Beverly.
20	** TheDogBitesBack: Leonard then proudly tells Beverly that Howard still lives with his mom and Raj suffers from selective mutism so that he can't talk to women.
21	* LampshadeHanging: Beverly is introduced looking at the elevator's out of order sign and makes academic guesses over just how long this has been the case. She reasons the elevator has been out of service far longer than would normally be the case, chalking it open to indifference from all concerned parties.
22	* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Beverly and Leonard have nothing in common other than the fact they both wear glasses.
23	* MoodWhiplash: Leonard's story of the hugging machine he built as a child is described as quite sad. Leonard saying his father borrowing is described as really sad, but in a different way.
24	* MsFanservice: This is the first episode of the series in which Penny is seen in only her bra.
25	* MistakenForGay: Howard and Raj by Beverly.
26	* NotHelpingYourCase: After Beverly leaves the table with Leonard, Howard and Raj take offense to being MistakenForGay, only to carry on like squabbling lovers.
27	* OhCrap: Howard and Raj when Beverly mistakes them for a guy couple, much to Leonard's delight.
28	* ParentalFavoritism: In clinical fashion, Beverly cites the accomplishments of Leonard's brother and sister (Harvard law professor and medical researcher, respectively). She doesn't object to Howard pointing out they're so much more successful than Leonard.
29	* RetargetedLust: Unintentional on Leonard's part, which Penny lampshades. "So... you're not having sex with me, you're having sex with your mother?".
30	* TooMuchInformation: Beverly keeps announcing [[CallingYourBathroomBreaks "I have to urinate"]] to those who aren't eager to hear about it.
31	* WellDoneSonGuy: Both Leonard and Penny struggle with winning over their parent's affection and approval (Leonard with his mother Beverly and Penny with her father Wyatt).
32	** After Beverly learns that she is an actress she observes that, “There are many studies that suggest that people who go into the performing arts suffer from an external locus of identity." By the time they reach Leonard's apartment, she is in tears talking about her own childhood and trying to win her father's approval.

Context Recap / TheBigBangTheoryS2E15TheMaternalCapacitance