The Stockholm Syndrome

"The Stockholm Syndrome" is the twenty-fourth episode of the twelfth season and the series finale of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on Thursday, May 16, 2019, the second of two episodes to air.

Summary
Bernadette and Wolowitz leave their kids for the first time; Penny and Leonard try to keep a secret; Sheldon and Amy stick together; and Koothrappali makes a new friend, as the gang travels together into an uncharted future.

Extended Plot
Two months after receiving Sheldon and Amy’s Nobel Prize news, Sheldon and Leonard are seen repairing the DNA model after 139.5 hours of work. Leonard actually found it enjoyable. Sheldon has constructed the genetic code for an advanced race of human beings. Penny and Amy come in with the dresses they were going to wear to the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. Amy’s had to be let in and Penny’s had to be let out which thrilled Amy. Penny thanked her friends for the clothes and the airline tickets. Amy added that that was so important for their friends to share the moment with them. The Coopers go back to Apartment 4B so Amy can show him the dress and he can practice his speech. Leonard asked Penny if Amy suspected anything on why she needed her dress let out. No. She expecting. Both are thrilled and it happened after she went drinking with Sheldon. It’s partly his fault.

Bernadette is talking to her son Neil about going away for a few days as she picks him up. Howard brings in Halley who is a big girl who just went on the potty. They feel good about leaving them with Stuart and Denise, though Bernadette hopes she doesn’t miss Neil’s first words. It the first time in years they will be away and alone together. In their hotel on their big bed they plan to....sleep their asses off.

Raj is leaving Cinnamon in the care of Bert. He hopes that he can attract girls with her. Bert also wants to know where he can get another one just like her, in case she dies on him. Just kidding. Bert will just tell a worried Raj that she died if she does.

Amy is in her dress and tops it off with her tiara. Sheldon begins reading his speech very fast to get it under 90 minutes. Amy suggests cutting the story of his childhood. He also lists lots of people who said that he’d never win a Nobel. He figured that they would rue the day and he wants to make sure that they are filled with rue. Amy feels that the Nobel should he accepted with humility. Sheldon thinks that humility is for all those other Nobel Prizes (peace, chemistry, literature, etc.) and not the one for physics.

Before heading to the airport Sheldon explains taht they are all ambassadors for him and Amy and that they must be on their best behavior. Amy gives them tips on how to interact with the Swedish people. Be punctual. Shake everyone’s hand when social events start and are completed. Sheldon reminds Penny to watch her alcohol intake since it’s free on the plane in business class. Penny says that she won’t be drinking. Bernadette asks if she is pregnant. No. She just doesn’t drink went she flies. They get ready to leave and try to find various ways to get people and luggage into the newly operating elevator. Finally the luggage goes down by itself and the people end up walking down the stairs for the last time.

On the plane, Bernadette is doing fine watching Jack Reacher movies, until Howard mentions how they are getting further and further away from their children. She knows that everything is fine. "So the Force is with her?" asks Howard. Bernadette uses the Jedi mind trick to make him stop annoying the woman. Raj thinks that Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is sitting next to him. Penny is feeling sick and runs back to the lavatory. Sheldon is worried that she has a stomach bug, but Amy figures that its just air sickness. Penny comes back out and then runs back in. Sheldon goes to Leonard to complain about Penny and that he doesn’t want to get sick on the greatest day of his life. Penny shows up and then tells him that she is rally pregnant as Leonard breaks into a big smile. Sheldon is happy that he can’t catch that and shocks them by just leaving. He goes back and tells Amy that Penny is just pregnant. A peeved Leonard goes back to Sheldon complaining that the woman who has loved and cared for him for twelve years says that she is pregnant and all he cares about is that he’s not getting sick. Sheldon just takes it as a recap of what just happened. Amy isn’t happy that Penny didn’t tell her best friend. Bernadette stops by, finds out and calls that news "fantastic". First Amy reminds her that she said she didn’t want kids. Penny describes how it happened. She went out drinking with Sheldon…Amy breaks in and asks if they are going to be sister wives. No, it’s Leonard’s baby. Back with Sheldon, Leonard thinks that congratulations are in order. Sheldon reminds him that Penny didn’t want any kids. Leonard explains that they didn’t want to upstage their day in Stockholm. Sheldon reacts that this is the Nobel Prize and any idiot can have a baby. Leonard calls him a selfish jerk and to hell with his Nobel. Raj pulled the ticket of his neighbor out of her purse and finds out that it is really Sarah Michelle Gellar.

At their hotel, Bernadette Skypes with Stuart who sounds like he lost Halley while playing hide and seek, that she lost a tooth when she rolled down the stairs and Neil has a fever. The Wolowitzes look worried.

In Penny’s room she is eating everything including pickled herring. Leonard is complaining that after all these years, Sheldon would for once consider other people’s feelings. Someone is at the door and Penny hopes that it’s her salted cod. Instead it’s Sheldon who apologizes and congratulates them on the baby news. Howard joins them and says that they are thinking of heading home since Bernie is having a meltdown about the kids. Leonard and Penny are also heading home because of Sheldon's behavior as long as Penny can get pickled herring on the plane.

All dressed for the ceremony, Sheldon thinks that their friends are being incredibly selfish. Amy tells him that he is the authority on that subject. They are all leaving because he broke their hearts even if Sheldon didn’t mean it. The only reason they tolerate him is because they are friends. Amy admits that it is also true for her, sometimes. Sheldon starts thinking about what his wife said.

Penny is still sick from all the food she ate. She is in no shape to head home and they both want to be there for Sheldon and Amy. Penny says that no matter how thoughtless and selfish he is, she still loves Sheldon. He was like their practice kid. Penny likens him to the first pancake that turns out wonky. Leonard says that the university prefers quirky. Howard called and said that they are staying. Her parents came over and took over for Stuart and Denise. At the Nobel Prize ceremony both Dr. Cooper and Dr. Fowler are presented their medals on stage with the whole gang is watching. The guys cheer and Raj is seen having escorted Sarah Michelle Gellar as his guest, not a date even though he was holding her hand. Amy says what an honor it is to get the Nobel Prize and tells young girls everywhere who are interested in science to go for it. It is the greatest job in the world. Sheldon doesn’t hear her and is still thinking. He steps up and mentions his very long self-centered speech, but instead says what an honor it was and that he wouldn’t be there without the important people in his life, his family and his friends. He was under the misassumption that his accomplishments were his alone. No, he has been encouraged, sustained, inspired and tolerated by his wife and the greatest group of friends any one ever had. He has them stand up and introduces them. Sheldon calls Leonard and Penny his dearest friends in the world. Recalling the pilot, he remembers when they first met and when Leonard mentioned that they would have smart and beautiful children. And he was sure now that that will because since they are expecting. Penny thanks him for letting her parents now know. Then he apologizes for not being the friend that they deserve. He tells them that in his own way, he loves them all and also his wife. Sheldon thanks everyone and gives Amy a kiss. The audience applauds as it all ends with a big bang.

Final scene has everyone eating take-out food enjoying each other’s company as the theme song is slowly played.

Credits

 * Guest starring:
 * Alfredo Tavares as Pharmacy Rep/Convention Attendee (not in final edit.)
 * Kevin Sussman as Stuart
 * Brian Posehn as Bert
 * Cinnamon as Herself
 * as Herself
 * Thomas Albany as King of Sweden
 * Sailah Nicol as Halley Wolowitz
 * Nate Ash as Neil Michael Wolowitz
 * Ulf Bjorlin as Announcer
 * Teleplay: To be entered.
 * Story: To be entered.

Note

 * Title Reference: Sheldon thinking Penny is ill on the flight to Stockholm.
 * Taping date: April 30, 201
 * This episode was watched by xx.x million people with a rating of xx.xx (adults 18-49).
 * Total viewers including DVR users TBD million.
 * This episode aired in Canada on May 16, 2019.
 * Chuck Lorre's vanity card. (last TBBT card)

Critics

 * To be entered.
 * IMDb user review

Trivia

 * Title reference: Stockholm, Sweden is the location of the Nobel Prize ceremony.
 * The final taping date was April 30, 2019. As of April 30, The Big Bang Theory is out of production.
 * This episode aired as the second half of an hour-long series finale event, preceded by "The Change Constant." Following this episode was the season finale of Young Sheldon and a half-hour retrospective of the series, hosted by Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki.
 * The final scene of the Young Sheldon season finale (which was also Nobel-themed) tied into The Big Bang Theory by showing a montage of Leonard, Penny, Raj, Howard, Bernadette, and Amy as children, with ' "" playing in the background, showing that despite 10-year-old Sheldon's fears, he was not destined to be alone and friendless the rest of his life.
 * This episode is the first and only time that the Wolowitz children, Halley and Neil, are actually seen. In previous episodes, only their crying could be heard off-screen (with Halley's cries an eerie reflection of her late grandmother, Debbie Wolowitz).
 * Sheldon showed a marked regression in his behavior as the pressure of winning the Nobel weighed on him, contrasting with the growth he had shown over the last few seasons. But, just like many scientific discoveries, he made a giant leap forward in the end, culminating in his Nobel acceptance speech where he admitted that he couldn't have done everything without the love and support of his friends.
 * After insisting on multiple occasions that she didn't want to have children, Leonard and Penny are finally expecting a child (after she got drunk with Sheldon at The Cheesecake Factory in the previous episode).
 * Sarah Michelle Gellar guest starred as herself, and was Raj's guest at the Nobel ceremony. Gellar and Johnny Galecki both starred in the 1997 film, though they did not share any scenes in this episode.
 * The tag scene has no dialogue. Instead, it shows the characters gathered around the coffee table in Apartment 4A eating take-out food (a common event throughout the series), while a wistful, acoustic version of the theme song plays.
 * Penny is wearing the same shirt in this scene that she wore in the pilot episode and in "The Recombination Hypothesis," the series' 100th episode.
 * Penny being pregnant is partly Sheldon and his idipscacies fault. He has always been in the middle of their relationship.

Quotes
To be entered.