The Bow Tie Asymmetry Season 11, Episode 24 -  Aired May 10, 2018

The Bow Tie Asymmetry

When Amy's parents and Sheldon's family arrive for the wedding, everybody is focused on making sure all goes according to plan - everyone except the bride and groom.

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Guest Stars: Teller as Mr. Fowler, Kathy Bates as Mrs. Fowler, Mark Hamill as Himself, Kevin Sussman as Stuart, Laurie Metcalf as Mary Cooper, John Ross Bowie as Barry Kripke, Wil Wheaton as Himself, Brian Posehn as Bert, Jerry O'Connell as Georgie, Courtney Henggeler as Missy, Lauren Lapkus as Denise

Writers: Chuck Lorre (Story), Steven Molaro (Story), Maria Ferrari (Story), Steve Holland (Teleplay), Eric Kaplan (Teleplay), Tara Hernandez (Teleplay)

Director: Mark Cendrowski

Available on iTunes

Episode Lists

  • Sheldon & Amy: Key Episodes Sheldon & Amy: Key Episodes

    The key moments in Sheldon & Amy's relationship including Howard & Raj setting them up, the signing of the relationship agreement, the first time they said "I love you", them breaking up and subsequently getting back together, the proposal, the wedding and winning the Nobel Prize together.

Episode Notes

  • The title refers to Sheldon's desire for his bow tie to be perfectly symmetrical and his realization that there's beauty in asymmetry.

> Sheldon's Knock

When Sheldon stumbles on a scientific breakthrough just before the wedding ceremony, he rushes to see Amy and tell her about his new theory.

> Amy's Tiara

Amy wears her tiara under her wedding veil when she and Sheldon get married.

Episode Quotes

Amy: So are you feeling okay? No wedding jitters?
Sheldon: No. There is nothing in the world that would stop me from marrying you tomorrow, even me from the future coming back to prevent the wedding and the subsequent birth of a child who will destroy humanity.
Amy: Because if you came from the future, that would mean you already went through with the wedding because you believe that time travel is on a closed loop.
Sheldon: I love you so damn much.

Amy: Sheldon, when I was a little girl, I used to dream about my wedding. But, eventually, I stopped, because I thought that day would never come. And then I met you. From the first moment in that coffee shop, I knew that there was something special between us, even though I did work on a study that disproved love at first sight.
Sheldon: I loved that study the moment I read it. Ironic, huh?
Amy: Clearly, it was wrong. Because I felt something that day, and those feelings have only gotten stronger with time. I can't imagine loving you more than I do right now.
But I felt that way yesterday and the day before yesterday and the day before that.
Sheldon: Is that growth linear or accelerating?
Amy: Accelerating.
Sheldon: Oh, maybe we could graph it out.
Leonard: Save something for the honeymoon.
Sheldon: Smart.
Amy: Sheldon, I don't know what the future holds, but I know that I've never been happier than I am in this moment marrying you.

Mark Hamill: Welcome. We are gathered here today in the sight of family, friends and Almighty God.
Sheldon: That's too religious.
Mark Hamill: That lady over there made me say it.
Mary: He heard you, and he can't un-hear you.

Sheldon: Are you having an allergic reaction to my boutonniere?
Leonard: No. I'm just so happy for you. And for me. After today, you are officially - and, more important, legally - Amy's problem.
Sheldon: Don't be silly, Leonard. I will always be your problem.

Barry Kripke: At wast, my wove has come awong, my wonewy days are over, and wife is wike a song, oh, yeah.

News Stories

Title Date Posted
The Big Bang Theory Episode Tournament: Result August 31, 2018

The final round of our tournament to find fans' favorite episodes of The Big Bang Theory has now closed. The winning episode was "The Bow Tie Asymmetry", the eleventh season finale which saw Sheldon and Amy finally tie the knot.  Full story

Season 11 Episode Tournament: Result June 16, 2018

Voting has now closed in our The Big Bang Theory Season 11 episode tournament to find the fans' favorite episode from the latest season.  Full story

CBS announces eleventh season finale April 27, 2018

CBS has issued the press release for the upcoming eleventh season finale of The Big Bang Theory, "The Bow Tie Asymmetry", which airs Thursday, May 10.  Full story

Episode Tournaments

WinnerThis episode won our Season 11 episode tournament in July 2018.
This episode won our Seasons 1-12 episode tournament in September 2018.

Recap

In the apartment, maid of honor Penny is standing at the whiteboard addressing the gang ahead of Sheldon and Amy’s wedding. Penny needs their help as there’s a lot of different family members coming in tomorrow, so she suggests the guys think of it like one of their superhero movies. Amy thinks it’s more like Lord of the Rings; particularly the part about holding off the demon of shadow and flame, otherwise known as her mother.

In their apartment, Sheldon is trying on his bow tie in front of a mirror when Amy receives a text from Wil Wheaton, who’s really excited to be officiating their wedding tomorrow. When Amy asks Sheldon why he keeps tying and untying his bow-tie, Sheldon says he can’t get it even. Amy says it’s not supposed to be even because sometimes a little asymmetry looks good. After Amy asks him if he has any wedding jitters, Sheldon says there’s nothing that would stop him from marrying her tomorrow.

As Penny drives Amy’s parents into the city, she asks Mr. Fowler how he’s doing. He doesn’t have time to answer before Amy’s mother speaks for him. Mrs. Fowler is surprised Amy didn’t pick her up themselves, but Penny says she’s busy the day before the wedding. Mrs. Fowler worries that her daughter is no longer as devoted to her as she once was. Elsewhere,  Raj is driving Mary and Missy from the airport. After Mary thanks him for picking them up and notes that their driver to the airport was also Indian, Missy thinks her mother’s being racist. When Raj doesn’t mind Mary’s comments, Mary suggests Missy is just being oversensitive because of pregnancy hormones. Despite it being a sore subject for Mary, Raj is interested to hear that Missy and her husband are now separated.

Back at the apartment, Sheldon, Leonard and Amy are joined by Georgie. Amy is excited to meet Georgie and hear his Texan accent. She likes to imagine that Sheldon used to sound like that, but he resists her attempts to get him to speak with that accent. When Raj arrives with Missy, Sheldon introduces Amy to his twin sister. Later, a somewhat traumatized Penny returns with Amy’s mother and father. Amy’s mother is pleased to see her daughter and can’t believe she’s about to get married. Mr. Fowler can’t believe it either, although we have to take his wife’s word for that.

At the Wolowitz house, Howard is playing with a dog on the floor of the living room when Bernadette comes downstairs and demands an explanation. Howard says he found him in the backyard and has called the owner. When the doorbell rings, Howard takes the dog and answers the front door. He is stunned that it’s Mark Hamill - so stunned he has to close the door for a minute to celebrate. Mark Hamill wants to give Howard a reward for finding his dog, Bark. Howard says that’s not necessary as it was such an honor to meet him, but Hamill insists and says he’ll do anything. Howard tells him he’s going to regret saying that.

At the comic book store, Stuart awkwardly goes to his employee Denise to ask if she wants to attend Sheldon and Amy’s wedding with him. She’s really not feeling it and is building up to saying no when Howard comes in to say Mark Hamill will be officiating the wedding. Denise tells Stuart he’ll need to buy her a dress for the wedding.

Back in the apartment, Mrs. Fowler is talking about Amy appearing as Amelia Earhart as a child - not in a school play, just at home. When Leonard mentions that Amy still “performs” in the Fun with Flags show, Mrs. Fowler is not pleased by the idea of her daughter in “Internet videos”. After Amy notices Sheldon is being quiet, he says he was busy thinking about string theory. Mrs. Fowler is not impressed by the thought of these being the people she has to live with after her husband dies.

At the wedding, Howard is handing out programs when Bert the geologist arrives. After Raj and Bert notice Mark Hamill’s arrival, Howard fills Raj in on Hamill’s role officiating the wedding. When Raj asks how Wil took the news, Howard mentions that he hasn’t told him yet so he goes over to find him.

Leonard is getting emotional as he straightens up Sheldon’s boutonniere in his dressing room. Leonard gives Sheldon a hug just as his mother Mary arrives. After she asks Leonard to give them a moment, she’s tells Sheldon she wishes his dad could see him now. After she says how proud she is of him, Sheldon thanks her - for everything, his whole life. When Mary hugs Sheldon, she offers to straighten his bow-tie but he says it’s all right. When he says a small flaw somehow improves it, Mary says she can see that and comments that sometimes it’s the imperfect stuff that makes things perfect. When her comment triggers a thought in Sheldon, he rushes out of the room.

Back in the wedding hall, Wil confronts Mark Hamill about replacing him as officiant. After Wil mentions that he was up all night making notes for the ceremony, Mark Hamill takes the notes and says they’ll be a great help. Elsewhere, as Amy adjusts her tiara in front of a mirror, Sheldon knocks on the door. After she tells him to come in, he rushes to tell her something - but first he declares that she looks amazing. He then tells her something incredible just happened: he realized that to make his equations describe an imperfect world, he needs to introduce imperfection into the underlying theory. Amy realizes that instead of supersymmetry this would be super asymmetry. Sheldon asks for her lipstick so they can start working on equations on the mirror.

Howard asks Mark Hamill to stall as the bride & groom are running a little behind. When Hamill wonders how he can keep people from growing restless, Howard tells the audience that it’s going to be a few more minutes and asks if they have any questions about Star Wars. Many hands in the audience go up, including Mr. Fowler’s. Elsewhere, Sheldon and Amy are busy talking about his new theory while he draws on the mirror with her lipstick. When Leonard comes to hurry them up, he is floored by their science.

After Raj asks Mark Hamill about being on Wookie home planet in an obscure Star Wars TV special, Hamill is outmatched by his fans - especially Stuart whose Star Wars knowledge impresses Denise. Noticing the delay in the wedding, Mrs. Fowler starts to get worried that Sheldon has stood Amy up. When she stands up to go see what’s going on, Penny confronts her and tells her to sit back down. When Mrs. Fowler asks her husband to say something, he thanks Penny.

Back in the dressing room, Sheldon has written equations over another mirror and some of the art work. After a quick Internet search, Leonard tells them that nobody has written about super asymmetry before so this is brand new research. When an angry Penny comes to find out what’s taking so them long, she is not surprised to hear they’re busy working on science, though she is hardly impressed by the gravity of their breakthrough. Sheldon realizes Penny’s right; he and Amy have the rest of their lives to do science together. Amy tells Sheldon it’s time they got married.

When Penny walks back to the hall and says it’s time to go, Sheldon is shocked to see Mark Hamill standing at the lectern. After Amy’s father walks her down the aisle, Mark Hamill starts the ceremony. He decides to skip ahead to the rings and vows as he’s been answering questions for 45 minutes. After Amy gets her ring gives her “unexpectedly beautiful” vows to Sheldon, Leonard gives Sheldon his ring. Sheldon tells Amy that for once he doesn’t know exactly what to say. Things start to get too emotional for Mark Hamill, but he pulls himself together and asks them if they take each other. After they both say yes, he pronounces them husband and wife and tells Sheldon he can now kiss the bride. As they walk down the aisle as a married couple, Barry Kripke sings them out with “At Last”.