The Big Bang Theory season 11 episode 13 spoilers: Laurie Metfcalf returns!

Laurie Metcalf is coming back to The Big Bang Theory for season 11 episode 13 — not that you should be surprised by that for a number of different reasons.

For one, Metcalf is really great on this show and of course CBS is going to want to use her however much that they possibly can. Beyond that, CBS has Young Sheldon now and they are going to want to cross-promote that show even more. (Zoe Perry, Metcalf’s real-life daughter, plays Mary Cooper on that series.)

Below, CarterMatt has for you the new The Big Bang Theory season 11 episode 13 synopsis, one that gives you some unusual character pairings (much like they’ve been doing all season) and also a callback to a hilarious musical pairing from the past:

“The Solo Oscillation” – When Sheldon kicks Amy out to work solo, she and Leonard bond during a series of science experiments. Also, Bert the geologist replaces Wolowitz in the band Footprints on the Moon, and Sheldon finds Penny a surprising source of scientific inspiration, on THE BIG BANG THEORY, Thursday, Jan. 11 (8:00-8:31 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Laurie Metcalf returns as Sheldon’s mother, Mary.

Does Howard bringing in Bert mean that he and Raj are still fighting? It’s possible, just as it’s also possible that Raj is simply busy doing a lot of other things. It’s a little too early to give a blanket statement that the conflict with Howard and Raj is going to continue well into the future – but it might.

What we’re probably the most excited about seeing are some of the Sheldon – Penny scenes because Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco often tend to be incredibly funny together. A big part of the original premise of this show was that it was about people from very different walks of life coming together and finding a way to understand each other; there’s no better example of the extremes than the one between Sheldon and Penny. We do still wish that Penny had a couple of friends outside of this circle just so we could play with these dynamics more, but nonetheless this should be a storyline that harkens back to the early days of the show.

Unfortunately, there is no Big Bang Theory episode tonight — nonetheless, we’ve got some more news on the show’s return on January 4 over at the link here. Be sure to check that out and also like CarterMatt on Facebook to score even more scoop on The Big Bang Theory. It’s a great way to stay up to date with all of our coverage. (Photo: CBS.)