"The Maternal Conclusion" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on May 9, 2019. Directed by Kristy Cecil. Teleplay by Anthony del Broccolo, Maria Ferrari and Andrew Gordon, based on a story by Steve Holland, Jeremy Howe and Eric Kaplan.
When Leonard's mother (Christine Baranski) comes to visit, he's pleasantly surprised to find her being nice to him, until he learns it's all just research for yet another one of her books.
Meanwhile, Raj decides to move to London after learning that Anu (Rati Gupta) will be moving there for her new job. It will be a grand romantic gesture that she probably won't appreciate.
Also, Howard has grown very tired of Stuart (Kevin Sussman) and Denise (Lauren Lapkus) being in his house all the time.
Doesn't Denise have her own place? She does, she rents an apartment, and her roommate is the very creepy Mitch (Todd Giebenhain). It didn't have to be this way: Stuart could have moved in with Denise months ago. Maybe Mitch could be persuaded to move out so Stuart can move in?
Tropes
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Stuart and Denise try to convince Denise's roommate Mitch to move out, arguing that they're deeply in love enough to commit to each other together in the same room. Mitch asks Stuart to tell Denise that he loves her (he does), and then asks Denise to say it back to Stuart (she does), before asking Stuart and Denise to say it to him. Cue Stuart and Denise staring back at him in awkward silence.
- Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: The reason why Leonard decides to forgive his mother for her abuse is because he knows she’s never gonna change so forgiving her is the best way to let go of his pain and move on with his life.
- Guinea Pig Family: Beverly comes to spend the day with Leonard and takes an interest in his work. At first Leonard is happy that he's finally getting validation from his mother, until the next day when she asks questions about how that made him feel, and he realizes she's just been using him as research for her latest book.
- Jerkass Has a Point: When Mitch is asked to move out, he asks if Stuart is doing this because he loves Denise. When he replies that he does, Mitch tells him “Say it to HER, not me.”
- Married to the Job: Anu moves to London for her dream job when she's offered it at the conference she attends in London. This is why Raj Did Not Get the Girl.
- Shout-Out:
- To Paddington 2: Denise balks at watching the sequel to Paddington (2014), which she has not seen yet. Stuart tries to reassure her she will be able to follow the sequel's highly cerebral plot. In any case, Mitch, creepily lurking around and glowering at the two of them is a much bigger obstacle to her enjoyment of the movie.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When Anu moves to London for her dream job, Raj is prepared to go to London to stay with her. Howard manages to catch up with him, but first he has to buy a plane ticket for himself to be able to get inside the airport terminal in order to reach Raj and convince him to stay, which he does. It ends with Howard telling Raj that Raj owes him the money he had to spend for said plane ticket.
