The Big Bang Theory Finale’s Most Controversial Twist Was Secretly Foreshadowed Four Years Earlier
Long before The Big Bang Theory earned the ire of critics by betraying Penny’s life plans, the show did hint at this huge series finale twist with a throwaway joke from one season 8 episode. The Big Bang Theory’s finale mostly focused on Sheldon, even though Jim Parsons’ character was never originally intended to be the show’s primary protagonist. Sheldon’s Nobel Prize ceremony was central to the finale’s action, but everyone else got a subplot of their own. For most of The Big Bang Theory’s cast of characters, this meant a light-hearted storyline about dealing with Sheldon’s ego.
However, Penny’s finale fate was a little more divisive among the show’s viewers. The Big Bang Theory finale revealed Penny was pregnant despite the character spending years saying that she didn’t want to have children. This was no incidental character detail, with Penny’s disinterest in parenting anchoring numerous plots throughout the show’s final seasons. She and Leonard fought after he divulged this to her father, Leonard was crestfallen when she first addressed the issue, and both Amy and Bernadette insulted her personally after she shared her life plans. Thus, the finale’s twist came as a major surprise.
Every Character Death In The Big Bang Theory & Young Sheldon
While Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory were both primarily comedies, the two hit sitcoms still managed to include a few major character deaths.
Penny and Sheldon’s Intimacy Test Predicted Penny’s Big Bang Theory Finale Fate
Penny’s Pregnancy Was Hinted At In Sheldon’s Cryptic Comments
Although this plot twist might have seemed to come out of nowhere, The Big Bang Theory foreshadowed Penny’s pregnancy when Sheldon told her he thought of her as a mother sometimes. In season 8, episode 16, “The Intimacy Acceleration,” Penny and Sheldon tried an intimacy test to see if the pair would become closer friends afterward. They did, and the experiment proved that, although Penny’s Big Bang Theory character arc was disappointing compared to Sheldon’s, the pair’s friendship was the show’s strongest and most complex relationship. In the process, Sheldon shared that he occasionally thought of Penny as a mother.
It makes sense that Sheldon would have seen Penny as a maternal figure even if he wasn’t able to predict the future.
Penny dismissed the comment as creepy but failed to realize that it was also prescient. Sheldon treated Penny like a surrogate mother throughout the series as far back as season 1, episode 11, “The Pancake Batter Anomaly.” In that famous outing, Penny tended to a sick Sheldon and treated him with surprising warmth and compassion. In season 11, episode 5, “The Collaboration Contamination,” Penny used a parenting book to reshape Sheldon’s behavior. Thus, it makes sense that Sheldon would have seen Penny as a maternal figure even if he wasn’t able to predict the future.
Why Penny’s Big Bang Theory Finale Pregnancy Was So Divisive
Penny Spent Years Saying She Never Wanted Children
Critics such as Vulture’s Kathryn Van Arendonk took issue with Penny’s pregnancy in the series finale, noting that this fits a trend in TV characters who ostensibly want to remain child-free. The Big Bang Theory’s Leonard was never shy about wanting children, so The Big Bang Theory arguably prioritized Leonard’s dreams over Penny’s ambitions in the show’s finale. This is further borne out in a close look at how the show treated the rest of its main characters. Not only did Sheldon win a Nobel Prize, but Howard went to space and Leonard enjoyed many career successes.
In contrast, Penny gave up on her dream of working as an actor after years of fruitlessly pursuing this plan. The Big Bang Theory’s finale gave everyone a taste of success, with Raj even bringing Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar to Sheldon’s Nobel Prize acceptance ceremony. For Penny, this success was implied to be her pregnancy, rather than the acting ambitions she harbored since the show’s pilot. Especially when Leonard and Sheldon’s mothers appeared 15 times apiece and Penny’s mother was in one Big Bang Theory episode, it was hard to deny the imbalance.
Penny’s Pregnancy Hint Reveals A Strange Big Bang Theory Trend
The Sitcom Slowly Became Sheldon’s Show In Later Seasons
Kaley Cuoco’s heroine earned less story focus as The Big Bang Theory continued.
The Big Bang Theory always focused on Leonard and Sheldon’s life plans more than Penny’s dreams, with her abandoned acting ambitions barely meriting a mention in the show’s later seasons. However, this imbalance was exacerbated between seasons 7 and 12, as Sheldon became the show’s de facto lead character. Sheldon is undeniably The Big Bang Theory’s main character by season 10. However, even “The Intimacy Acceleration” proves that, once Howard and Bernadette and Penny and Leonard were firmly together for good, he gradually started to take on more prominence. This was a bad thing for Penny.
Penny already received less story focus than Leonard, and this disparity only grew more noticeable as Sheldon started to gain more screen time than either of them. Sheldon’s The Big Bang Theory character arc was compelling and, with the possible exception of Howard, he underwent the biggest change between the beginning and the end of the show. That said, this came at the expense of Penny. Kaley Cuoco’s heroine earned less story focus as The Big Bang Theory continued, resulting in a series finale that gave her an ostensibly happy ending that the character never even wanted.
