"The Holiday Summation" is an episode of The Big Bang Theory that first aired on January 5, 2017. Directed by Nikki Lorre. Teleplay by Steve Holland, Maria Ferrari and Jeremy Howe, based on a story by Steven Molaro, Eric Kaplan and Tara Hernandez.
Sheldon and Amy tell their friends about the terrible trip to Texas they had over the holidays.
Guest starring Laurie Metcalf as Mary Cooper and Kevin Sussman as Stuart.
Tropes
- Christmas Episode: Played with in that the episode itself takes place after Christmas, with the flashbacks taking place during the holidays.
- Crappy Holidays: Much of the episode has the characters recount the bad incidents happening to them during the holidays.
- Foreshadowing: During an argument in the car between Sheldon and Amy, they discuss the problem with Sheldon's Lackof Empathy. Two episodes later...
- Minor Flaw, Major Breakup: While not a break-up, Penny and Leonard admit to the rest that they had a major fight over the holidays, one of the worst they ever had. It turned out they were watching Luke Cage (2016) together and Leonard found out she watched two episodes ahead of him. After thinking about it, they admitted that they were also strung out from a stressful evening getting a Christmas tree for their apartment (Leonard struggled chopping it down, the tree slid off their car roof, Leonard passed out bringing it up three stories, and once they got it in they found a rodent still living in the tree).
- Nap-Inducing Speak: Stuart is able to put Howard's baby to sleep, claiming that his talking puts people to sleep. In The Stinger, he starts telling what he did during Christmas and everyone pretends to fall asleep.
- Rule of Three / Screams Like a Little Girl: Sheldon gives a total of three screams (all in a very high pitch) of earring-related pain.
- Shout-Out: Penny and Leonard argued about Penny sneak-watching two episodes of Luke Cage (2016).
- Whole Episode Flashback: Played with. There are multiple flashbacks as member of the group recounts how they spent the holidays.
