‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 7, episode 22 review: Death and Star Wars Day

“The Big Bang Theory” didn’t waste a whole lot of time in their new episode Thursday night to make one thing clear: Star Wars Day was a theme. Also, Bob Newhart’s run on the show is probably over.

Leonard delivered the news to Sheldon early on that Professor Proton was dead, and then, Jim Parsons’ character struggled to try and handle grief. He didn’t want to admit that he was in mourning and struggling the loss of his idol, but he was. This is why he started to see visions of the Professor as Obi Wan, including in hologram form while dressed in Jedi robes.

Going into this episode, we were admittedly very skeptical about if this could work, given that combining both “Star Wars” and a high-profile guest star in one episode would be tough … especially when you remember that there have almost been episodes this season where next to nothing has transpired. But, what we had instead was something that was very genuine and funny, and contained numerous references that proved that LucasFilm didn’t control the writers to the point where they had no fun at their expense. After all, there were numerous jokes referencing “The Phantom Menace.”

The best part of this entire episode came in the tender moments between Proton and Sheldon and Dagobah, where Jim Parsons gave a killer performance as he explained that every man he has looked up to over the years has passed away.

After all of this, we now have to turn to the Leonard / Penny relationship, and the questions surrounding whether or not they were finally going to get engaged. This was teased throughout as Leonard and Penny went to Proton’s funeral, but we’re happy it didn’t actually happen. There was enough on the plate already, as we had as a whole one of the best “Big Bang Theory’ episodes of the show’s entire run.

What did you think about this episode, Newhart’s return, and all of the “Star Wars” references? Sound off in the comments below, and click here to get some further news via email courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: CBS