While the worst Christmas episode of The Big Bang Theory was disliked by critics and viewers alike, the sitcom’s divisive series finale inadvertently made this outing even worse. The Big Bang Theory focused its early seasons on the impact that Kaley Cuoco’s Penny had on the lives of bookish roommates Sheldon and Leonard. However, as the series continued, The Big Bang Theory focused more on Raj and Howard, as well as centering Bernadette and Sheldon’s love interest, Amy Farrah Fowler. By its final seasons, The Big Bang Theory had transformed from a rom-com into an ensemble sitcom with a larger cast. This arguably improved the series.

Since The Big Bang Theory’s entire cast of characters was well-liked by the show’s fan base, the decision to grant figures like Howard and Bernadette more screen time was well-received. However, this inadvertently led to a problem for the series. By the time the show ended, The Big Bang Theory needed all of its major players for any given episode to succeed. Where an early outing could have gotten away with focusing mostly on Penny and Leonard or Sheldon’s antics, later seasons needed the entire ensemble together. The Big Bang Theory’s worst-received Christmas episode proved this point.

The Big Bang Theory’s Final Christmas Splitting Up The Gang Made The Ending Worse

The Finale Proved “The Holiday Summation” Was Secretly Sad

The Big Bang Theory season 10, episode 12, titled “The Holiday Summation,” ambitiously opted to tell three separate stories, meaning Sheldon and Amy, Howard and Bernadette, and Leonard and Penny shared minimal screen time. The Big Bang Theory dropping its original premise saved the series, so returning to a more atomized style of storytelling didn’t do the show any favors. To make matters worse, this was the last Christmas shared by the show’s characters.

The finale sent them all on their separate ways, meaning “The Holiday Summation” was their last Christmas together as friends. However, the main characters didn’t actually spend Christmas together. Sheldon and Amy went to Texas, resulting in a funny subplot and appearance from Laurie Metcalf’s Mary Cooper, but little interaction with their friends. Meanwhile, Bernadette and Howard struggled with their daughter, while Leonard and Penny’s storyline concerned their Christmas tree woes. While later seasons of The Big Bang Theory prioritized Raj’s love life in many of their outings, he barely figured in “The Holiday Summation,” and the framing device that brought the heroes together was all too brief.

The Big Bang Theory Season 10’s Christmas Episode Proved The Show’s True Strength

“The Holiday Summation” Shows That TBBT’s Large Cast Made It Great

Like Friends, New Girl, or How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory was less successful when the show treated its cast as a trio of couples and more successful when they were all together. This is somewhat ironic since Howard and Raj were originally supporting characters and Bernadette and Amy didn’t even appear until a few seasons into the show’s run. However, the reception of “The Holiday Summation” proves that The Big Bang Theory’s real strength lay in the group’s dynamic, something highlighted in earlier holiday specials. Season 8’s “The Clean Room Infiltration” combined a visit from Raj’s father and Amy and Sheldon’s weirdest gift exchanges for a classic outing.

Similarly, season 6, episode 11, “The Santa Simulation,” sent Howard, Leonard, and Sheldon on a fun Dungeons and Dragons adventure while Raj went dancing with Bernadette, Amy, and Penny. These episodes proved that any members of the cast could be paired up in unexpected ways, but the show needed all of them to succeed. By breaking up The Big Bang Theory’s cast, “The Holiday Summation” failed to live up to the standard set by earlier Christmas episodes. Ironically, the show’s attempt to do something new and unusual instead proved that its existing formula was necessary for success.

The Big Bang Theory’s Finale Betrayed Its Best Quality

TBBT’s Heroes Went Their Separate Ways After Their Last Christmas

The Big Bang Theory was originally about Leonard winning over Penny but, a few seasons in, the show became more of an ensemble comedy about three couples and their single friend. However, the finale betrayed this when the couples all went their separate ways and Raj was left single. Raj spent much of the show’s run obsessing over romantic love, so it felt somewhat mean-spirited when he was the only character who ended up single by the ending. This was especially problematic because, like “The Holiday Summation,” the finale didn’t devote much screen time to him and his arc.

Meanwhile, The Big Bang Theory’s finale also doubled down on the main problem with the show’s most hated Christmas episode in a big way. “The Holiday Summation” failed because the outing broke up the central friend group, but the show’s finale made it clear that Sheldon and Amy, Leonard and Penny, and Howard and Bernadette were all going their separate ways as they married and had children. Like earlier hang-out shows, The Big Bang Theory had a hard time portraying the transition from young adulthood into family life, and the finale made it seem like the show’s heroes would be spending every future Christmas apart too.