Sheldon will consider a major move on Thursday's season finale of "The Big Bang Theory," which promises to end with a bang and a huge cliffhanger.

In the last episode, Penny and Leonard officially became engaged after dating for seven years, Today reported. The couple agreed to take the next step in their relationship after the aspiring actress was rejected from an acting gig and decided to make smart decisions in her life. She then causally suggested that she and Leonard should tie the knot. Leonard felt insulted, though, that she was choosing to marry him because it was a "smart decision" rather than something she felt excited about doing.

"I need to start making some smart decisions," Penny says in the episode after being fired from her big acting gig.

"With your career?" Leonard says.

"With my life," she responds, adding, "I don't know. We could get married."

"Why? Because I'm a smart decision?" he says. "I'm the boring thing you're choosing because I'm good for you."

Leonard says that she only wants to get hitched because she feels sorry for herself after being fired. Penny promises that's not the case: "It may look that way, but getting fired from that movie was the best thing that could have happened to me. I finally realized I don't need to be famous or have some big career to be happy!"

In response, Leonard gives in and pulls out an engagement ring that he's been storing in his wallet for years and formally proposes to her. After Penny says yes, they seal the deal with a passionate kiss, leaving fans to wonder if they will hold a wedding ceremony in the next episode or later in season 8.

In the upcoming episode, "The Status Quo Combustion," executive producer Steve Molaro confirmed that the episode ends with a cliffhanger, which TVLine suggested has something to do with this cryptic tease: "Somebody goes on a departure."

In an interview with TVLine, "The Big Bang Theory" star Jim Parsons also hinted that Sheldon will make a dramatic departure in the season 7 finale.

"He gets the hell out of there, and I have no idea where he's going or what he's planning," Parsons said. "I won't know until I come back and read the first episode [of Season 8]." What Parsons does know is the reason behind his alter ego's fast break. "All the [personal and professional] changes that are taking place finally start to come home to roost for him as problems," he explained. "It was very interesting to read it for the first time and then to play the final episode because it really gets at the crux of something that is perhaps his defining characteristic as a character on television -- which is his resistance to change. If you look at it through that lens, so many of the things he does, the things he says, the places he sits, etc, have everything to do with the fact that this is the way it's done, this is the right way to do it and this has served him fairly well as a human. They've got him in a situation now, the writers do, where it's not possible to carry on without some of these changes."

According to Hollywood Hills, the official synopsis states as follows: "Sheldon will be forced to confront an uncertain future, and will consider a major move. Meanwhile, Raj and Emily are going to take it to the next level. Mrs. Wolowitz's injury will be a major headache for Howard and Bernadette."

"The Big Bang Theory" S7E24, "The Status Quo Combustion," will air on Thursday, May 15, at 8 p.m. EDT on CBS.