‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 8 finale review: Are Leonard and Penny married?

Going into the season 8 finale of “The Big Bang Theory,” one of the things that we kept hearing was to expect progress, and plenty of it, for some of our favorite characters. Well, it did happen … but not exactly in the way that we imagined that it would.

The biggest news of the night differs depending on which characters you tend to root for. When it comes to Leonard and Penny, for example, the two decided after being pressured by Sheldon that they were going to get married. The problem is that on the way there, Leonard proclaimed that he kissed another woman while he was aboard a boat in the North Sea. This moment of cheating has the potential to shake up the entire relationship and stop the wedding … but we don’t know if it will. She seemed to forgive him, but that doesn’t mean that she wants to head down the aisle either.

Elsewhere, Howard and Bernadette were finally ready to kick Stuart to the curb, only to learn that they were about to do so on his birthday. Instead, they had to throw a surprise party for him. The only thing more awkward is Raj deciding not to break up with Emily and have sex with a graveyard instead. We’re at least assuming that this happened. We’d like the Emily story more if it was more consistent throughout this season.

In the closing minutes, what we learned is probably the biggest cliffhanger that we have going into the new season: Sheldon actually did have a ring for Amy! He hadn’t proposed, but he was at least considering the idea before she told him that she needed some space. We assume that the two will still be able to find a way to make it work, but tonight’s finale finally told us that Sheldon is actually going to have to do some real work, and not just rely on Amy for everything for a change. A solid conclusion to the season as a whole, even if it was not particularly hilarious. Grade: B+.

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