"The Convergence-Convergence" is the twenty-fourth and season finale of the ninth season of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on Thursday, May 12, 2016.
Summary[]
Leonard and Penny plan to get remarried in front of their friends, Leonard's family and Penny's family. Invited guests Sheldon's mother and Leonard's father find something in common: mutual disdain over Leonard's mother. Howard gets an email from the USAF|United States' Air Force about his invention inflaming his paranoia.
Extended Plot[]
The night after the movie screening (from the previous episode), Leonard comes in while Penny is sitting on the bed. He complains about Sheldon's Rosa Parks incident and asks her about her time with Beverly. Penny feels that they ended in a good place and even got a hug from Beverly when she dropped her off. Also she kind of promised Beverly that they would get married again the following weekend so they could do it in front of family and friends. All that trouble for one hug? Penny explained that his mother was really hurt for not getting an Wedding invitation|invitation. Leonard retorts that their wedding was a spur of the moment thing and that they really don't like his mom. Penny wants to keep it a small affair and that she can invite her whole family now that her brother is out of prison. Leonard would like to invite his dad. He's doing so much better since the divorce (no more twitches and he's an inch and a half taller). Penny then gets excited and tells Leonard that she never thought that her second marriage would be to him.
Convincing Leonard to have a second wedding ceremony for his mother.
In the kitchen, Penny is explaining to the girls that they are having a renewal of their vows. Amy wants to know if she'll have a maid of honor. No. Amy replies hypothetically that if she wore a purple satin dress with a sweetheart neckline, could she prevent her from standing near Penny during the ceremony. Penny concludes that she could not. Then Amy graciously accepts though she ends up supplying the music for the ceremony. Penny asks Bernadette to officiate at the wedding, which causes Amy to complain that she is now just the lousy maid of honor. Sheldon comes in announcing that he has invited his mother to come, also adding that he invited Stephen Hawking, Robert Downey Jr., and Erno Rubik (inventor of the Rubik's Cube). Penny is annoyed that he is inviting people to "our wedding" (Leonard and Penny's). Sheldon then agrees that he is inviting people to "OUR wedding" (Leonard, Penny and Sheldon's). Again, Sheldon is putting himself into their relationship. Bernadette says how nice it is that they are going to all that trouble for Leonard's mother. Penny also feels that it will help Leonard's relationship with his mother. Meanwhile, in Leonard's car, Beverly yells at Leonard for inviting his father without consulting her. Leonard feels that he can invite who he wants, and that he doesn't need her permission to have his father there at his wedding. Beverly reminds him that their marriage ended because he had an affair, which Leonard has no excuse for. Alfred called her cold, emasculating and not showing him any affection for years replied Beverly. Now Leonard thinks he has three excuses.
You do understand our marriage ended because he had an affair.
Howard is working on their invention and realizes that the system was now maintaining its own Orbital stability and orientation. They have a working guidance system! As Raj congratulates him, Howard receives an email from the United States' Air Force. They are requesting a meeting to discuss their guidance system patent. Both of them wonder if it was just a coincidence that the email was received just as the system worked or whether they were being watched.
Shamy has picked up Mary from the airport. Mary thanks them and Sheldon says that she is welcomed. Mary was talking to his young lady. Amy says that it was no problem, "Mrs. Cooper." Mary tells her to call her "Mary", but Sheldon is against that because he called her Mrs. Cooper until he got to know her better. Mary was very happy that Leonard and Penny invited her. Amy cuts Sheldon off when he tries to correct her. Leonard always had a special place in her heart since he always took care of her little baby. Sheldon insists that he took care of Leonard. "Sure you did," replies Mary in a sarcastic tone. Amy tells her that Penny's family is coming the next day and that Beverly will be there which doesn't please Mary as she pulls out her cross necklace. Sheldon points out that she is an atheist not a vampire though Mary wants to get some garlic at the retail store anyway.
Howard completes their working prototype.
In the apartment, Mary and Beverly are having some very awkward chit-chat. Amy thinks that the atmosphere is so cold|chilly she can see her breath. Beverly says that they can hear them.
Howard is in his kitchen complaining to Bernadette and Raj about being extremely naïve. He thinks that the military will completely take over their project and that if anyone objects they will just Forced disappear. Bernadette says that he is overreacting; however, Howard is convinced that they are already erasing his very existence. According to Raj, the message was from the USAF procurement|acquisition agency and that maybe they want to buy it for a lot of money. But the military took over in "Avatar", "E.T.", "Jurassic World", etc. Bernie reminds him that those were not documentaries, while Raj remembers how terrible "Jurassic World" was.
Leonard and Alfred enter the lobby, Alfred approaches the elevator, which is still broken and Leonard claims that it will be fixed any day now. Climbing the stairs, he hopes that he has a heart attack so he can avoid Beverly. He is still glad to have come and he feels that Penny is a real sweetie. Then Alfred wonders how Leonard caught her.
Hello, my hateful shrew.
Up in the apartment, the only sound is Penny and Amy crunching on some celery and chips. No conversation... until Sheldon says "Isn't this nice?". Leonard and Alfred arrive and Penny goes up to him and hugs him. After Leonard re-introduces Alfred to Sheldon and introduces him to Mary and Amy for the first time, he then presents Beverly, to whom Alfred says "Hello, my hateful shrew." She replies "Hello to you, you wrinkled old bastard". Leonard asks everyone to remain civil since the get-together was for their benefit. After a round of everyone apologizing, Penny announces that they are going to have dinner at the nicest restaurant in town.
Howard is still wondering whether they should respond to the email. Raj points out that the Air Force knows that he opened it. Bernadette wants them to head out to Leonard and Penny's dinner. Raj adds fuel to the fire saying that the U.S. government is probably watching them right now through his webcam. Howard quickly slams his laptop shut.
Driving his mother to dinner, Beverly hopes that her example of a failed marriage will not discourage them. Of course not, replies Penny. However, she adds, she and Alfred had a lot more going for them.
Mary and Alfred are getting to know each other. He says that he is an anthropologist who studies ancient cultures. "All the way back to Genesis the flood?" asks Mary. Although an agnostic, he does appreciate others' beliefs. He had often prayed to God to turn Beverly into a Lot's pillar of salt. Mary adds that he came close and turned into a block of ice. Both laugh.
Alfred and Mary getting to know each other.
As Raj and Howard discuss who could help them on their drive to the restaurant, Bernadette tries to convince them that all their movies, television shows and comic books have twisted the way they are thinking. Then Howard notices a car that is following him. The car behind them is Leonard's and they decide to follow Howard since he might know a shortcut. Getting in closer freaks out Howard who makes a sudden turn and speeds up. Leonard continues to follow him fueling Howard and now even Bernadette's paranoia.
At the restaurant, Alfred and Mary are getting to know each other. Amy sees it, but Sheldon does not. Leonard and company arrive as they mention Howard's strange behavior. Penny calls Bernadette and wonders where they were. Bernie was relieved to learn it was Penny and Leonard following them. They have gotten pulled over and Howard was being given a sobriety test after ranting that the government is after him.
Worrying that they might end up step-brothers.
Back at the restaurant, Mary and Alfred are talking. Mary complements Leonard on his father's charm. Beverly interjects that he is also broke. Alfred mentions that recently they have discovered that Neanderthal man was now known to have mated with Homo sapiens which according to Mary explains her marriage to her husband. Leonard toasts Penny thanking her for a wonderful year of marriage, and for saying yes and yes when he asked her to marry him. Penny thanks him for continuing to ask until she said yes and they kiss. Alfred also makes a toast that he is happy that Leonard has found a woman that loves and cares for him. Beverly squawks as to what the hell he means by that. And they begin arguing with Alfred telling Beverly to take a pill and she replies "Like you did before sex?" He answers "What I really needed was a blindfold". Mary tells everyone to calm down and remember what it says in the Bible: "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty.". Beverly rudely asks Mary if she could please read another book and Mary angrily says to Beverly "When God writes one, I will.". Alfred decides to call it an early night as does Mary. When they find out they are staying at the same hotel, they both decide to share a cab. He invites her up for a nightcap as they leave. Penny and Amy see what happened, while Sheldon just thinks that they filled up on bread.
Sheldon tries calling his mother and Leonard tries texting his father, but neither respond, which worries them. Penny laughs saying they turned their phones off. Sheldon and Leonard are quite disturbed at what is being suggested. Penny laughs and loves what is going on. Are Leonard and Sheldon going to become step-brothers?
Credits[]
- Guest starring:
- Judd Hirsch as Alfred Hofstadter
- Christine Baranski as Beverly Hofstadter
- Laurie Metcalf as Mary Cooper
- Marcus Folmar as Police Officer
- Teleplay: Chuck Lorre, Steve Holland & Jeremy Howe
- Story: Steven Molaro, Tara Hernandez & Adam Faberman
Notes[]
- Title Reference: Leonard's parents and Sheldon's mother get together for Leonard and Penny's wedding.
- Taping date: April 26, 2016
- This episode was watched by 14.73 million people with a rating of 3.4 (adults 18–49).
- Total viewers including DVR users 19.96 million.
- The Big Bang Theory was ranked #2 for the week ending 15 May 2016.
- This episode aired in Canada on May 12, 2016.
- Chuck Lorre's vanity card [1]
- Episode transcript [2]
Critics[]
- Jesse Schedeen of IGN - If nothing else, it was nice to have a relatively upbeat season finale storyline...Leonard's father Alfred made his belated debut here (played by Taxi's Judd Hirsch). Unsurprisingly, he's no more fond of his ex-wife than any other character in the series is. Hirsch was entertaining in what proved to be a fairly limiting role...But while fairly entertaining, this dinner outing didn't make for a very exciting or unusual conflict... Howard and Raj's ridiculous conspiracy theories about being spied upon by the government made for an amusing subplot...The Big Bang Theory has struggled a great deal in the last few months, so it's not surprising that Season 9 ends with a dull thud. There was nothing particularly bad about this episode. [3]
- IMDb user reviews [4]
Trivia[]
- First appearance of Alfred Hofstadter.
- Leonard and Penny's wedding redo doesn't take place in this episode. It takes place in the Season 10 premiere episode (the next episode).
- The picture frame Penny gave to Leonard in "The Expedition Approximation" (S8E6) can be seen in Leonard's bedroom.
- Christine Baranski and Laurie Metcalf return in this episode as Beverly Hofstadter and Mary Cooper, respectively.
- This episode is also the first time Mary appears in a season finale.
- Beverly makes her third Season 9 appearance in this episode. Her previous two appearances in Season 9 were in "The Celebration Experimentation" (S9E17) and the previous isode. Season 9 is the first season she has appeared three times.
- This episode suggests that the peace made between Mary and Beverly at the end of "The Maternal Combustion" didn't last, likely suggesting that at the end of that episode, they actually hated each other, an exact copy of Emily and Penny's parting and saying 'I hate her' in "The Hook-up Reverberation" (S8E4).
- Leonard's father, whose name is revealed to be Alfred, makes his first-ever appearance in this episode and is played by Judd Hirsch. With this episode, Raj, Bernadette and Leonard are the only ones in the gang whose both parents have been introduced. The only parents now waiting to be introduced are Penny's mother, Howard's father, Amy's father, Sheldon's father (in a flashback since he's dead), Stuart's parents, and Emily's parents. Although Penny will be added to the Both-Parents-Seen-On-Camera list in the next isode when her mother Susan makes her first appearance while her father Wyatt has already appeared in 2 episodes: "The Boyfriend Complexity" (S4E9) and "The Bachelor Party Corrosion" (S9E3).
- Judd Hirsch played Alan Eppes, father of a mathematical genius, in Numb3rs, an earlier CBS show. Now, he is the father of another genius, an experimental physicist, as Alfred Hofstadter.
- It's revealed that Alfred has already met Penny and Sheldon. He had last met Penny before his divorce from Beverly, but for Sheldon it is unknown when their last meeting was, but it's likely that it was at the same time of his previous meeting with Penny.
- Amy and Mary are finally seen together again since their first meeting in "The Zazzy Substitution" (S4E3), a span of 141 episodes, and this time are talking to each other.
- Howard, Raj and Bernadette are unable to make it to the restaurant because they get traffic stop|pulled over and Howard is being given a sobriety test and because of this they are unable to meet up with the Lenny and Shamy couples, Leonard's parents and Sheldon's mother.
- As of this episode, Bernadette still hasn't met Sheldon's mother since the previous season episode of "The Maternal Combustion" (S8E23) and her two absent appearances in Season 4's "The Zazzy Substitution" (S4E3) and Season 5's "The Rhinitis Revelation" (S5E6).
- Bernadette also doesn't get a chance to meet Alfred until next season.
- It's unknown if Howard and Raj have met Alfred before, but it's possible they have, given their much-spent time with Leonard, Penny and Sheldon.
- Howard and Raj also don't get a chance to interact with Sheldon's mother since "The Rhinitis Revelation", but Howard obviously interacted with her in "The Mommy Observation" (S7E18), when Howard went to talk with Sheldon in the latter's old bedroom.
- This episode doesn't feature Emily, Leslie, Stuart or Claire.
- Interestingly, Stuart's absence is unexplained in this episode.
- Marcus Folmar has played guards on other episodes and plays a policeman in this episode.
- This episode proves that Sheldon is once again putting himself into Leonard's romances (i.e. inviting his mother to the wedding), despite the fact that he is not supposed to.
- This episode starts the same night as the previous isode.
- Amy first picks up on the connection between Alfred and Mary, followed by Penny and then the boys. If the new couple gets married, Leonard and Sheldon will become Step Brothers|step-brothers. At Sheldon's birthday party "The Celebration Experimentation", Leonard calls Sheldon his brother. No mention of their friendship is made after the season 10 premiere.
- Howard and Raj share no scenes with the Shamy couple in this episode, but indirectly share scenes with the Lenny couple during the car ride.
- Bernadette indirectly shares a scene with Leonard during the car ride.
- This is the first episode where Beverly is seen wearing different earrings, other than the pearl ones she has worn in all her previous appearances.
- In this episode, Leonard infuriates his mother for the first time ever in the show instead of her infuriating him. He infuriates her by inviting his father to his wedding redo without consulting her, since their marriage ended because he had an extramarital affair.
- The bit of Leonard's parents' divorce because of his father's affair was first brought up in "The Maternal Congruence" (S3E11) and was not brought up again until this episode, a span of 156 episodes.
- Howard's fears of the military taking the gyroscope project came true in "The Gyroscopic Collapse" (S10E23).
- The tenth-season premiere "The Conjugal Conjecture" takes place the morning after this episode (S10E01).
- Second episode of the second Leonard and Penny wedding trilogy.
- Johnny Galecki had asked Judd Hirsch to portray Leonard's father long before this episode was made. He had patterned Leonard after Judd Hirsch's "Taxi" character who was also the saner person among a gang of crazies.
- Sheldon again jumps onto Leonard and Penny's relationship thinking that he is a part of that relationship by inviting a few guests including his mother and Stephen Hawking.
Goofs[]
- Penny is wrong about her second marriage being to Leonard. Since she was married to Zack; the redo wedding will actually be her third ceremony. It's unclear why she did not count that one, unless she didn't feel it was genuine to her.
Quotes[]
(Leonard and Beverly in the car driving to the apartment)
- Beverly: How dare you invite your father without consulting me!
- Leonard: (angrily) I'm sorry, but I don't think I need your permission to have my father at my wedding.
- Beverly: You do understand our marriage ended because he had an affair.
- Leonard: I know and there is no excuse for that.
- Beverly: He claimed I was cold, emasculating, and hadn't shown him any physical affection for years.
- Leonard: (To himself) I was wrong, there are three excuses for that.
(Leonard and Alfred coming up the stairs to the apartment)
- Leonard: Oh, we have to use the stairs.
- Alfred: When are they going to fix your elevator?
- Leonard: Oh, any day now.
- Alfred: Well the stairs are fine. Besides your mother is up there. Maybe I'll have a heart attack and not have to see her.
- Leonard: I know things are a little rough with you and Mom, but I'm really glad you're here.
- Alfred: Me too. I should have never have had that angioplasty because I feel fine.
- Leonard: Penny's really looking forward to seeing you.
- Alfred: Ah, she's a sweetie. You got a good one there, Leonard.
- Leonard: Thank you, Dad.
- Alfred: How the hell did you do that?
(Mary, Beverly, Sheldon, Amy and Penny waiting in the apartment - much uncomfortable silence. Penny crunches a celery stick, then Amy crunches a chip.)
- Sheldon: (content with the silence) Well isn't this nice.
- Leonard: (Enters the apartment with Alfred) Hey, we're here.
- Penny: Alfred! Thank you for coming!
- Alfred: Oh, I'm happy to be here. Congratulations.
- Leonard: Dad, you remember Sheldon.
- Sheldon: Dr. Hofstadter.
- Alfred: Dr. Cooper.
- Leonard: And this is Sheldon's mother, Mary.
- Alfred: How do you do.
- Mary: Nice to meet you.
- Leonard: And this is Amy, his girlfriend.
- Alfred: A pleasure.
- Amy: Hi.
- Leonard: And of course there's Mom.
- Alfred: Hello, my hateful shrew.
- Beverly: Hello to you, you wrinkled old bastard.
- Sheldon: OK, now I'm starting to sense a little tension.
(In the restaurant)
- Alfred: (To Mary) Now one of the more interesting things we have found lately is that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens frequently mated with each other.
- Mary: Well that certainly explains my marriage to Sheldon's father.
- Sheldon: (To Amy) That's funny because my father was not a clever man.
- Amy: (sarcastically) I'd be lost without you.
- Leonard: I'd like to make a toast to my wife and bride to be.
- Sheldon: (To Amy) That's funny because . . .
- Amy: Back to your phone.
- Leonard: Penny. I’ve always known I loved you, but this last year has shown me that I also love being married to you. Thank you for saying yes.
- Penny: Oh, thanks for asking until I did. [Kiss.]
- (Alfred and Mary are seen smiling while Sheldon is still on his phone, Beverly isn't quite smiling and Amy holds up her glass)
- Amy: Hear, hear.
- Leonard: Cheers.
- Alfred: I, uh, I would also like to make a toast. Leonard. I am so happy that you found a woman who loves and cares for you.
- Beverly: What the hell is that supposed to mean?
- Alfred: Why don't you take a pill?
- Beverly: Like you did before sex?
- Alfred: What I really needed was a blindfold.
(Penny, Leonard and Sheldon back in the apartment after the dinner)
- Sheldon: (Trying to call his mother) She's still not answering.
- Leonard: (Trying to contact his father) My father's not texting me back.
- Penny: (In a sing-song manner) Cause they both turned their phones off.
- Sheldon: I don't like this at all.
- Leonard: I don't like it either.
- Penny: Really? (Bursts out laughing) Cause I love it!
(In Leonard and Penny's bedroom)
- Leonard: Hey.
- Penny: Hi. How was the screening?
- Leonard: Oh, Sheldon invoked Rosa Parks to make somebody who cut the line fee bad, but only the white people felt bad.
- Penny: Ugh, I should’ve never bought him that coloring book that explained Black History month.
- Leonard: How’d it go with my mother?
- Penny: Uh, you know, it started a little rocky, but I think we got to a good place.
- Leonard: Wow. Well done.
- Penny: Yeah and when I dropped her off at the hotel she even gave me a hug.
- Leonard: Did she think you were choking or…I’m sorry. That’s great. Thank you for spending time with her.
- Penny: No problem. Um, so listen. I don’t know if you have any plans for next weekend, but I kind of promised your mom we’d have another wedding ceremony so she could attend this time.
- Leonard: What. We’re gonna get married again?
- Penny: Yeah, kind of, but now we can invite our friends and family.
- Leonard: Seems a lot of trouble for a hug.
- Penny: Come on, it’ll be fun, and, you know, your mom was genuinely hurt we didn’t invite her to the first one.
- Leonard: Look, in our defense, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing, and also, we don’t like her.
- Penny: Leonard, come on, she’s your mom. If we can do something to make her happy, why wouldn’t we
- Leonard: I just said why – we don’t like her.
- Penny: Okay look, then forget about her, let’s do this for us. We keep it small and informal. This time we can invite our families.
- Leonard: Is your brother out of prison?
- Penny: Uh, thanks to overcrowding, yeah.
- Leonard: I’d love it if my dad could come.
- Penny: Oh you have to invite him. I haven’t seen him since the divorce.
- Leonard: Oh, he’s like a different man. Oh. He stopped twitching, and I think he grew an inch and a half.
- Penny: Well then it’s settled.
- Leonard: Okay.
- Penny: Yay. So funny. I never thought my second marriage would be to you!
(The Posse in the kitchen)
- Penny: Okay, so it’s not a legal ceremony, it’s just a chance for us to redo our vows so everyone can be part of it.
- Amy: So there’s no maid of honor?
- Penny: No.
- Amy: Huh. But if I were to, say wear a purple sating dress with a sweetheart neckline and stand near you, you wouldn’t be able to stop me, right?
- Penny: I don’t see how I could.
- Amy: Then I graciously accept.
- Bernadette: Who’s going to officiate?
- Penny: I was kind of hoping you would.
- Amy: Wait, now I’m just some lousy maid of honor?
- Mary: It was nice of Leonard and Penny to invite me.
- Sheldon: Well, actually…
- Amy: It sure was.
- Mary: I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Leonard. Taking care of my baby all these years.
- Sheldon: Excuse me, I take care of him.
- Mary: Sure you do.
(Mary and Beverly are barely talking to each other.)
- Penny: Whew, chilly.
- Amy: I think I can see my breath.
(Howard lists a few movies where the government took over the situation.)
- Bernadette: You do realize those weren’t documentaries, right?
(In the car on the way to the restaurant.)
- Beverly: Penny, I hope the example of my failed marriage to Leonard’s father doesn’t discourage you from the commitment you’ve made to one another.
- Penny: Oh, of course not.
- Beverly: Although Alfred and I had a lot more going for us than you two.
(In the car on the way to the restaurant.)
- Mary: So Alfred, what is it that you do for a living?
- Alfred: Oh, I’m an anthropologist. I study ancient peoples and cultures.
- Mary: MY goodness, so all the way back to the Flood.
- Alfred: [Laughing.]
- Sheldon: Don’t laugh. She wasn’t joking.
- Amy: Play with your phone.
- Alfred: Well, on that note there are many cultures that have an apocalyptic flood as a part of their mythology.
- Mary: I don’t have a mythology. I have the unerring Word of God. But that’s very interesting.
- Alfred: Oh. I-I don’t mean to disparage your faith. Actually I admire it.
- Mary: Really?
- Alfred: Yes, I’m an agnostic myself, but I prayed, many times, to God to turn my wife into a pillar of salt.
- Mary: Well, He came close. Turned her into a giant block of ice. [Laughter]
(Leonard's toast to Penny.)
- Leonard: Penny. I’ve always known I loved you, but this last year has shown me that I also love being married to you. Thank you for saying yes.
- Penny: Oh, thanks for asking until I did. [Kiss.]
- Amy: Hear, hear.
(Alfred and Mary are seen smiling happily)
- Leonard: Cheers.
- Alfred: I, uh, I would also like to make a toast. Leonard. I am so happy that you found a woman who loves and cares for you.
- Beverly: What the hell is that supposed to mean?
(Mary trying to calm the atmosphere.)
- Mary: All right everyone. Calm down. "Let’s all remember what it says in the Bible: He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty.”
- Beverly: (rudely) Oh, dear woman, can you please read another book?
- Mary: (angrily) When God writes one, I will.
Gallery[]
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