The Proposal Proposal

"The Proposal Proposal" is the first episode and season premiere of the eleventh season of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. The episode aired on September 25, 2017.

Summary
Howard and Bernadette are expecting a second child, while Amy gives her answer to Sheldon's marriage proposal.

Extended Plot
Following a surprising kiss from Dr. Ramona Norwitzi, Sheldon hops a plane, travels a cross the country to Princeton University to propose to Amy. Amy finds Sheldon on his knee and he asks her to marry him. Immediately Sheldon's phone rings and he answer it to not be rude to the callers, Leonard and Penny. Amy wonders why he is answering his phone at that moment while the Hofstadters want to know where Sheldon has been. Sheldon explains about the kiss which shocks everyone and how Sheldon realized that Amy was the only woman he wanted to kiss for the rest of his life. Also before he left he consulted Stephen Hawking and asked Amy's father for her hand. Penny is excited about them being engaged; however, Sheldon replies that she hasn't yet answered the question. An irritated Amy tells Sheldon "Because you're on the phone!" Sheldon realizes what he is doing and tells Leonard and Penny that he'll call them back. He immediately continues the call explaining that she said yes.

First Sheldon calls his mother who is very happy for them. Sheldon how Ramona's kiss made him realize that Amy was the only woman for him. Mary wonders that since two women wanted Sheldon, that maybe she had been praying too hard. Afterwards she tells God that what just happened to Sheldon was a mighty impressive miracle.

Both Raj and Howard are excited about the news. Bernadette explains that she doesn't believe it, but she is actually responding to a positive pregnancy test. Halley is going to be a sister!

Penny and Bernadette are having tea in 4A, while Bernie doesn't seem to be paying attention to Penny's musings about Sheldon wanting a Star Trek themes wedding. Bernadette drops the pregnancy new to Penny who tries not to freak out like Bernie had asked her to. Penny tries to make her friend feel good about her new blessing. Then they both change their tune and wonder what she was thinking about doing it again.

Back in Amy's hotel room, Sheldon is booking a plane back to Pasadena. Amy wants him to sty a few days which he agrees to after she suggests he can gets some clothes at a nearby comic book store. Amy is having dinner that night with some of her colleagues and she wants him to meet them. They playfully kid each other that they aren't even married and she is already nagging him.

reveals that she's upset by Sheldon discrediting her research, and him having to be the center of attention. She storms into her room, leaving Sheldon to wonder where to go. He ends up in her bathroom, skyping with Hawking.

Amy asks Sheldon to stay extra days to be with her, but he says he didn't pack enough clothes. Amy suggests that they go to a nearby comic book store for clothes, and Sheldon's mood instantly changes. Later, Sheldon wears a pretty wild blue shirt with an unidentified pattern.

Raj was humorously bitter over his friends' happiness and the fact that Stuart had a date.

Sheldon and Amy go out to dinner with two of Amy's colleagues. While there, Sheldon wants to talk about himself, despite the colleagues praising Amy's work.

In the cafeteria, Raj approaches Ramona and wants to rub it in her face that Sheldon and Amy are engaged. She says that she heard. He says this is the last time that he's going to ask her out, and she says she hopes so, turning him down. Raj tells the guys that one of them will be crying themselves to sleep. The guys immediately guess that it'll be Raj.

Each member of the gang was called and informed of the proposal, before or after the Mary scene. Although, Stuart didn't receive a call.

Sheldon's mother Mary Cooper (Laurie Metcalf) appears in a pre-recorded scene on the phone with Sheldon. Basically, Mary thanks God for allowing this to happen. Sheldon says that they won't be having a church wedding, but Mary says that Jesus is in her heart and that if she's there, he's there. Sheldon says then he can be her plus one.

At the Wolowitz house, Bernadette and Howard tell Stuart that they need to talk. He fears that it is because of him allowing a woman with a limp and glass eye to spend the night, but they tell him that they're expecting. After finding out that they're not kicking him out, he is over the moon about the new baby and is clearly the happiest of the three of them. This was shot 3-4 times, with Stuart kissing, embracing them, and saying how their "little family is growing."

Back in 4A, Penny comes home to Leonard holding a chocolate cake with sprinkles. Penny wants to know if it's their anniversary, and Leonard says that he want to celebrate them, since there is so much going on in their friends' lives. He didn't want her to feel sad. Penny remarks that her one friend is having a baby, while the other is engaged to one. She's content with current life. This was filmed twice... In the second take, Leonard turns his back for a brief moment and finds Penny's face in the cake, eating. In Penny and Leonard's apartment, Howard and Bernadette are having dinner with Leonard and Penny. Leonard says that he heard about Bernie's pregnancy. Both Bernadette and Howard think it would be good for Penny and Leonard to have a baby, so their kids could play together. Both say no, and Leonard says that they'll get pregnant when they are ready or if Penny ever threatens to leave. Penny says that when she finds clothes she likes, she gets them in multiple colors. They all look at her, and she says that she hopes that isn't the case with the new Wolowitz baby.

There were pre-taped scenes of Raj wanting to buy an engagement gift for Sheldon and Amy from Stuart's comic-book store.

At Princeton, Sheldon apologizes to Amy. He compares their situation to that of The Avengers. That is, Iron Man makes cameos in other movies, but doesn't need to be the center of attention. Amy, who could have done without this reference, says that they have a lifetime together to figure this stuff out. Sheldon says good, because he is a slow learner. They kiss.

The last scene is in the cafeteria 3 months later. Leonard, Howard, and Raj are admiring Amy's ring, and Sheldon says that her eyes are up here, and gestures. Amy discovers Ramona. Raj fears that something bad is going to happen, much like when his Aunt Noopur showed up at the family reunion wearing the same sari as his cousin Sruti. Amy walks up to Ramona, who is clearly scared. Amy thanks and hugs her, and Ramona is clearly caught off guard. The guys are equally shocked.

Sheldon did tell Amy about Ramona kissing him while on the phone with Leonard and Penny. He says that they were right about Ramona, and that she kissed him. All are shocked, but mostly Amy. Then, he says that made him realize that he wants to be with Amy for the rest of his life, and she swoons. No mention of it again, other than Amy hugging Ramona in the tag scene.

Thanks to report from Kev0821.

Credits

 * Guest starring:
 * Laurie Metcalf as Mary Cooper
 * Stephen Hawking as Himself
 * Riki Lindhome as Ramona Nowitzki
 * George Wyner as Dr. Zhang
 * Susan Chuang as Dr. Harris
 * Teleplay: Steve Holland, Maria Ferrari & Tara Hernandez
 * Story: Chuck Lorre, Eric Kaplan & Jeremy Howe

Critics

 * Caroline Preece at Den of Geek! - Amy’s answer to Sheldon’s proposal was obvious to anyone with even a passing familiarity with The Big Bang Theory’s most recent seasons. The couple’s trajectory has been stretched out so far already that there really isn’t anything else the writers could do with them aside from break them up yet again...Tired as it is watching Sheldon not understand his own arrogance and narcissism and then apologising for it later, it’s a decent establishing plot for the premiere on this new season and their relationship’s next stage. I’ve long assumed that the show would end with Sheldon and Amy’s wedding, so that would mean that this engagement will last as long as the series does...Leonard and Penny’s story thread is as brief and background as it ever is, but it also spawns one of the best scenes of the episode...The Big Bang Theory universe is not going anywhere anytime soon and...it’s happy to simply tread water until it’s shown the door.
 * IMDb user reviews

Trivia

 * Amy says yes to Sheldon's marriage proposal, and thus, they become engaged.
 * Amy's father is mentioned again for the second time in the show after having been mentioned for the first time ever in "The Emotion Detection Automation" (S10E14).
 * Mary Cooper and Ramona Nowitzki return in this episode.
 * This is the fourth season premiere episode that Mary appears in after "The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation" (S3E1), "The Matrimonial Momentum (S9E1), and "The Conjugal Conjecture" (S10E1). This is also the third time in a row.
 * Stephen Hawking makes an appearance.
 * Howard and Bernadette are expecting another baby and Halley will have a sibling.
 * Raj complained about being lonely when he asked out Ramona twice.
 * 2 new characters Dr. Zhang and Dr. Harris will appear in this episode. They will be portrayed by George Wyner and Susan Chuang respectively.
 * This is the second episode in which the title has the same word repeated twice after the Season 9 finale (The Convergence-Convergence).
 * This is the first time since "The Deception Verification" (S7E2) that Bernadette speaks nicely to Leonard without any bad talk after, a span of 95 episodes.
 * First time that Sheldon is seen flying in an airplane and not in a car or on a train.
 * Ramona shows up to push Sheldon into acting on his relationship with Amy. Many times the writers have brought on characters to provoke actions in the main characters like when Alex and Priya were brought on to make Penny appreciate Leonard.

Quotes

 * Sheldon [talking to Stephen Hawking via Skype]: "They've had one of the greatest minds in the world sitting next to them, and all they wanted to talk about was their stupid nonsense!!"


 * Hawking: "Do you see the irony in that sentence? How about now?"
 * Amy [noticing Ramona sitting at a table nearby]: "Is that the woman who kissed Sheldon?"
 * Leonard: "Maybe. Tell us Princeton."
 * Amy: "Excuse me."
 * Amy: "Dr. Nowitzki?"
 * Ramona [looking up at Amy]: "Oh. Dr. Fowler. Hello."
 * Amy [hugging Ramona]: "Thank you, thank you so much." [Ramona nervously pats Amy's arm with a smile]