If you notice, Shinji probably is able to tell if women are going to flock to you for your money because of how his mother is. That's a nice little detail for why he's so distant and why he is so blatantly able to tell his mother off.
I'm also starting to suspect the possibility that one or both of her kids may be on the autism spectrum-which could explain their fixations into specific subjects and their intelligence but also their apparent lack of social skills like the inability to look others in the eye or to pick up on social cues-but I'd need more information for that.
Damn, just when it was getting good...Are we caught up to the raws, or...?
@cyand