We were huge fans of Christine Baranski as Leonard's mom during her introduction during "The Maternal Capacitance."  Now that Baranski reprised his role this episode, she had some high expectations (at least from us) to meet.

The show certainly set things up for some great opportunities with her.  Beverly and Sheldon have kept in contact and she's been sharing all of her news, including her divorce with him, and none with her son.  Meanwhile, Leonard has still not told his mother about Penny.

The best scene with Beverly was during the initial ride home from the airport, with Sheldon coming off even more smug than usual with Beverly to egg him on.  The next best interactions, were definitely between Penny and Beverly, who ended up alone after a depressed Leonard went to bed.

Overall, the episode, "The Maternal Congruence," had plenty of laughs, but it certainly could not compete with her original appearance.  It did not help that CBS over-hyped the kiss between Sheldon and Beverly, to the point of spoiling what could have been a great surprise.  Instead, it was nothing. 

We also are starting to have issues with Raj's refusing to talk in front of women.  The joke has been over-used, and at this point, we've had to suffer through two episodes of not hearing a single line of dialogue from the guy.  We need a solution for him.

Raj rant over.  Now it's time for The Big Bang Theory quotes from the episode:

Penny: I always tear up when the Grinch's heart grows three sizes.
Sheldon: Tears seem appropriate. Enlargement of the heart muscle, or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is a serious disease which can lead to congestive heart failure. | permalink

Sheldon: It's a bust of Sir Isaac Newton.
Penny: Oh sure, sure. Very Christmasy.
Sheldon: Well, excuse me, it's much more Christmasy than anything you put on the tree.
Leonard: Here we go...
Sheldon: December 25th, 1642. Julian calendar. Sir Issac Newton is born. Jesus, however, was actually born in the summer. His birthday was moved to coincide with the traditional pagan holiday that celebrates the winter solstice with lit fires and slaughtered guts, which frankly sounds like more fun than twelve hours of Church with my mother, followed by fruit cake. | permalink

Leonard: When we watch Frosty the Snowman, he roots for the sun.
Sheldon: Excuse me, but the sun is essential for all life on earth. Frosty is merely a bit of frozen, supernatural ephemera in a stolen hat. A crime, by the way, for which he is never brought to account. | permalink

Beverly: So, Howard, have you and Rajesh finally summoned the courage to express your latent homosexual feelings towards one another? | permalink

Eric Hochberger is the programmer of TV Fanatic, so please forgive his mediocre writing. His programming is far better. Follow him on Twitter and/or email him. Just don't request threaded comments. They're coming.