Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
After leaving Pasadena by train, Sheldon is robbed on a sleeper car and calls Leonard, who drives to Arizona with Amy to bring him home. Sheldon admits he did not want Amy to see him fail at travelling alone. Their relationship inches forward: he says he loves her during a prom-themed evening, and later loosens their relationship agreement so she can stay over. But when he interrupts their anniversary date to talk about a television show, Amy tells him she needs time away to reconsider being his girlfriend. Sheldon has an engagement ring ready, but does not propose before their call ends.
Leonard and Penny remain engaged for much of the season while discussing marriage and living together. Sheldon bargains for Leonard to spend only one night a week at Penny’s, but Penny’s pharmaceutical sales job improves her finances and the couple start planning a wedding. Penny suggests they drive to Las Vegas and marry that night; Leonard agrees, then reveals he kissed a woman during the North Sea expedition. Penny is hurt but says they can move past it, and they continue toward Las Vegas. The season ends before the ceremony, leaving their elopement unresolved rather than showing them married.
Howard’s anger at Stuart for living with his mother and using her furniture persists even as Bernadette tries to ease the tension. At the comic-book store’s reopening, Howard learns by phone that his mother died in her sleep while visiting family in Florida. His friends gather around him, and Sheldon draws on his own loss of his father to comfort Howard. Bernadette stays beside her husband as they arrange to bring his mother’s ashes home, then she and Howard move into her house. Raj, meanwhile, keeps dating Emily despite doubts about how different they are.