The final 24th episode of season 11 for "The Big Bang Theory" aired last night on May 10, 2018. The sitcom ended the season with the much-anticipated Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler wedding. Episodes have been leading up to this moment, such as the bachelorette party in episode 20 "The Reclusive Potential," and Amy's wedding dress shopping in episode 22 "The Monetary Insufficiency." The final episode was filled with numerous guest appearances, and of course, the wedding.

The episode

Last night, "The Big Bang Theory" cast was joined by some familiar faces including Laurie Metcalf as Sheldon’s mother, Courtney Henggeler as his twin sister Missy, John Ross Bowie as Kripke, Brian Posehn as Bert and Wil Wheaton as himself.

However, there were special appearances by Kathy Bates and Teller, as Amy's parents, and an extra-special appearance by Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker himself.

For those who have not seen the episode yet, this section has spoilers. The show opens up with Penny exclaiming "Alright, Saturday is the big day." The group of friends gathered together in Leonard and Pennys' apartment to figure out a plan for the big wedding day, and to prepare for the guests who are coming, especially Amy's mom. Sheldon is not very excited to hear about Wil Wheaton officiating the wedding and would have preferred William Shatner.

Poor Penny is sent to pick up Amy's parents, while Raj has to pick up Sheldon's mom and sister.

Amy then meets Sheldon's brother, and right away loves his accent. Howard finds a dog in his backyard, whose owner turns out to be Mark Hamill (aka Luke Skywalker). Hamill asks Howard if there is anything he can do for him, and Howard replies "Ooohhh you're going to regret that." Howard then exclaims in the comic book store that Mark Hamill is going to officiate the wedding, without Sheldon knowing.

Back in the apartment, the group of friends soon find out how "sweet" Amy's mom, played by Kathy Bates, really is.

The big day finally arrives! Sheldon and Leonard have an emotional moment, where Sheldon tells Leonard "I will always be your problem." After Leonard leaves, Sheldon has a tender moment with his mother. Mrs. Cooper tells her son "Sometimes it is the imperfect stuff that makes things perfect." Sheldon then abruptly leaves and goes to Amy with ideas on how to solve his asymmetry theory.

Right away he wants to write it all down with Amy's lipstick on the dressing mirror. Leonard comes knocking on the door, telling them to hurry up, but soon gets caught up in Sheldon's theory.

The guests begin to get antsy and to pass the time away, they ask Mark Hamill questions about Star Wars. Amy's mom begins to get upset and stands up exclaiming "This whole thing was a big mistake," thinking that Sheldon stood up Amy. Penny stands her ground, and yells back "Sit down!" When Amy's mom asks her husband Mr. Fowler to say something about Penny's words, Amy's dad responds with "thank you" to Penny. Those were his only words in the episode.

When Sheldon walks into the sanctuary he is speechless to see Hamill.

"I have 4,000 things for you to sign," Sheldon tells him as he takes his place at the front. Amy walks in looking beautiful in her wedding dress. Amy begins her emotional speech to Sheldon. "I knew that there was something special between us," Amy tells Sheldon in regards to when they first met. She also states at one point in her speech "I can't imagine loving you any more than I do right now." "Well that was unexpectedly beautiful," Hamill says teary-eyed. Sheldon's speech is short but just as sweet. He tells Amy "In this moment I have no words," and "I guess I am overwhelmed by you." Sheldon also tenderly tells Amy "Even if I can't tell you now, I will spend my life showing you how much I love you." Hamill is choked up by their emotional speeches, embodying the emotions of every fan watching the show.

The episode ends with the couple awkwardly walking down the aisle together, as Barry Kripke sings the song "At Last."

The future of 'The Big Bang Theory'

With all of the excitement of the final episode of season 11, it is also important to look towards the future. It was reported by Deadline on May 4, 2018, that "Heading toward its wedding-themed Season 11 ender of May 10, The Big Bang Theory (2.3/11) scaled up 21 percent from last week’s fast-affiliates low." Deadline also reported that the show was "The highest-rated show of Thursday, BBT was also the most watched as usual with 12.63 million..." The final episode of season 11 already has 213 ratings, with a total of 9.3 out of 10.

Since ratings are going up, it is great to hear about the network renewing the show for a 12th season.

According to Bustle, CBS has not announced when the premiere date for season 12 will begin, but the assumption is the season will begin sometime during the last two weeks of September. However, could season 12 be the last season? TVLine reported back in January 2018 that Johnny Galecki, the executive producer of the show, and the actor who plays Leonard, stated season 12 could be the final season. Yet, Jim Parsons, the actor who plays Sheldon Cooper, told Digital Spy back in February 2018 that he believed the future of the show was still undecided. Kaley Cuoco, the actress who plays Penny, commented to E!

News that she is proud of how long the show has lasted and would be up for another season after season 12. If season 12 is the final season, fans hope that "The Big Bang Theory" will go out with a bang.
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