This episode was a total breakdown for all the cast members.

On May 16, 2019, CBS aired the hour-long finale of one of the most popular sitcoms of recent years and one that has consistently maintained high ratings.

When it debuted in 2007, The Big Bang Theory seemed truly fresh and innovative. Before it, popular culture had made fun of geeks, but this time, they became full-fledged protagonists — viewers were finally laughing with them, not at them.

After successful 12 seasons on the air, The Big Bang's finale proved to be the most powerful episode of the entire series, but its shooting was not easy for the actors.

Of course, the entire cast, along with the crew members, were very emotional about finishing the show's epic run. Johnny Galecki, who played Leonard, walked around the set on the last day of shooting, giving a kind of farewell to his character and the story that he became so attached to.

The Penny actress, apparently cried more than anyone on the last day, but in fact, literally no cast member could hold back tears during that heartbreaking last table read. In 12 years, the show's actors had become a family to each other and all of the fans, just like their characters on screen.

While viewers usually tend to criticize final episodes of their favorite series, The Big Bang's 'The Stockholm Syndrome' is still the highest rated episode of the show, with a 9.

The finale of The Big Bang Theory is not like the ending of Friends, where everyone leaves their past behind, or How I Met Your Mother, where a time jump leads to new dramas.

Instead, the writers decided to leave the characters in the most comfortable state in their lives. No one dies, no one has to go: the friends just sit together again, eating takeaway Chinese food, with an acoustic version of the opening song playing in the background.

Things couldn't be happier for the Pasadena gang in the last episode. Leonard and Penny, who tied the knot at the beginning of Season 9, reveal that they are expecting a baby, and Sheldon and Amy get married and win the Nobel Prize together.

And while Sheldon's speech at the ceremony was incredibly powerful, showing just how much he cared for his friends and was thankful to them, it is that last 'ordinary' scene in the living room that touched the casts' and fans' hearts the most.