The Big Bang Theory recap: How will Sheldon’s story end?

This week on The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon confronts grief as well as his younger self in a crossover with Young Sheldon. It also sets up a sentimental conclusion for the beloved character next year.

In the previous episode, Sheldon’s paper on asymmetric physics was rejected which certainly did not bode well for his self-esteem.  In this week’s show, we see the aftermath of this unfortunate event as Sheldon comes to grips with his own failures in his research. This also leads to another loose crossover with Young Sheldon as the character seeks advice from his childhood counterpart.

We also get a taste of Howard’s love for magic in this episode but the plot takes a back seat mostly to Sheldon’s journey. Here is everything that went down on the Fall finale of The Big Bang Theory and a prediction of what it could all mean when the show returns for its final run!

Episode breakdown

The episode mostly dealt with Sheldon’s dismay over having his theory being rejected. At the beginning of the episode, Leonard tries to instruct the group to avoid key phrases that may trigger his depression. This fails miserably when Sheldon enters the apartment and gets triggered by the word “nothing” because the adjective is how he feels as a person. Amy tries desperately to find a cure for his depression and eventually remembers Sheldon saying he made a pep talk video for his future self when he was a child.

She eventually finds an old VCR from Howard and attempts to play the video for Sheldon to lift him up. At first, it works in raising his spirits when he sees his “Young Sheldon” self on screen but quickly backfires when the image is ambushed by a football game that his dad recorded years ago. Sheldon’s pep talk has been dubbed over by his father and the moment just only pushes him into further anger.

In desperation, Leonard goes to his psychiatrist mother (played by the amazing Christine Jane Baranski) for advice. Understanding the situation fully she says that Sheldon is experiencing grief over the rejection because it’s something he cared for so much. This gives the gang an idea– to see if Sheldon wants to give his research a proper goodbye. Sheldon agrees to a send-off with a modified “Viking funeral,” where instead of a huge body of water and flaming arrows, they use a bathtub and matches.

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After burning the research, Sheldon returns to the VCR and finds Amy fast forwarding to see if anything was left of what he recorded as a child.

In the final moments, we see his father giving a motivational talk to the football team in the video. The team is losing but his dad says that just because the team might lose doesn’t make any of the players’ losers.

Two things then proceed to happen: 1) Sheldon begins to realize defeat does not mean he can’t keep going. As he puts it, “It’s only halftime and there’s a lot of physics left to play. 2) Sheldon notices a different viewpoint between his dad’s life and his. He used to think they were so different but from a different vantage point, they were the same.

This leads Amy and Sheldon to a breakthrough in his research. That asymmetry physics is multidimensional in perspectives. The episode ends with Sheldon having a new fondness for his late father, as he tells him to the TV screen, “Thanks dad,… we’re going to give ’em hell.”

Predictions for next year

When the show began Sheldon was a very arrogant individual and not exactly the kindest either. This halfway point of Season 12 conveys the almost complete evolution of Jim Parson’s hilarious persona of Sheldon. He is beginning to understand that it’s okay if one does not have all the answers and that maybe even people he used to believe were inferior in intelligence also have wisdom he didn’t foresee.

As the series concludes next year it’s likely that not only will Sheldon have a strong scientific breakthrough to show the world, but also a breakthrough in humility. In a weird way, his research is a metaphor for the character’s growth over the past seasons. It should make for a strong conclusion.

What do you think though? What predictions do you have for the rest of Season 12 of The Big Bang Theory? Will you be sad once the show is over? Tell us in the comments below!

The Big Bang Theory will return in January on CBS.