Penny appears to be content at the end of ‘The Big Bang Theory’, but is she? Did Penny and Leonard Hofstadter’s final ‘TBBT’ storyline get foreshadowed by the writers?
When comparing Penny at the end of the show to Penny at the start of the show, it is clear that she has changed. But not always for the better. She is bubbly, friendly, and fueled by her dream of becoming an actress and screenwriter when she moves in across the hall from Sheldon and Leonard. However, as the show progresses, Penny’s character evolves.
Highlights —
Leonard and Penny’s final arc on ‘The Big Bang Theory’ got spoiled
Apart from a few humiliating B-movie and commercial roles, Penny never makes it as an actress. She abandons that career for a more lucrative but less fulfilling one as a pharmaceutical rep. Her romantic life finally settles down, with the end of a period of dating jerks in order to marry Leonard. Penny tells her husband she’s pregnant in the final episode, despite having stated that she did not want to be a mother. Penny’s life did not turn out as she had hoped.
The two had very different ideas about what their future would be. Leonard was dead set on having children, but his wife wasn’t sure. Penny finally found a job in the pharmaceutical industry, where she was thriving after years of struggle. She was sceptical of her husband’s plan because she was afraid that becoming pregnant would derail her current life.
It was the couple’s dilemma throughout season 12 of ‘The Big Bang Theory’, and viewers got divided on the subject. On the other hand, Leonard had long expressed a desire to have children. Meanwhile, Penny’s decision seemed to come out of nowhere to some. Going back a few seasons, it got established that she was always sceptical about being pregnant.
Penny and Leonard Hofstadter’s final ‘TBBT’ storyline foreshadowed
‘The Big Bang Theory’s’ 100th episode, ‘The Recombination Hypothesis’, aired in 2012. The scene showed Leonard and Penny daydreaming about their future after they decided to reconcile their romance. Penny imagines herself heavily pregnant during her wedding ceremony with Leonard as she chooses her outfit for her then ex-boyfriend. The thought frightens her, so she decides to go to the drugstore before the date.
It demonstrates that Penny was not terrified of the prospect of marrying Leonard; otherwise, she would have cancelled their meeting. Instead, it emphasises that she has always been hesitant to become pregnant. It was not something that appeared out of nowhere on ‘The Big Bang Theory’ season 12, as many have speculated, but rather was established in more subtle ways. Unfortunately, the show simply failed to emphasise it because it was never integral to a narrative before the show’s final year.
Much of the criticism levelled at Penny and Leonard’s arc on ‘The Big Bang Theory’ stems from how unexpected it was. The couple had been married for several years at this point, and this conflict had never been an issue before. But that was not the main problem with the plotline; rather, it was how it got carried out.
CBS had to give the Hofstadters something to do on ‘The Big Bang Theory’s’ final season after shelving them for years following their wedding, and it appeared that this conflict got crafted solely to give the pair some kind of narrative. Otherwise, the series’ main romantic couple would have been relegated to supporting roles in Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Amy’s (Mayim Bialik) Nobel Prize in Physics bid.
Worse, the writers miraculously resolved the couple’s conflict at the last minute by revealing that Penny was happily pregnant. It effectively ruined the entire arc and rendered her point of view invalid. But it also meant Leonard got his dream woman and his pilot prophecy fulfilled at the same time. Leonard has yet another victory. On top of that, near the end of the series, he reconciles his tense and cold relationship with his intimidating mother, Dr Beverly Hofstadter, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist (Christine Baranski).
Tell us in the comments what should have been Leonard and Penny’s Final arc on ‘The Big Bang Theory’!
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