The Big Bang Theory

If you know me personally, you definitely know I have always been rooting for Leonard and Penny. They ought to be top 1 fictional couple ever in the history of series. I started watching the show in 2019, and thanks to the pandemic, by December 2020 I have watched the whole show at least twice along with my sibling. I suck at science really bad but I am a huge fan of rom-coms. Big Bang Theory made me believe that my Leonard is out there somewhere; maybe I need to make it to Pasadena. Don’t know when, don’t know how.

During the Pilot episode when Leonard from across the hall said, “Our kids are gonna be smart and beautiful” I knew that was it. Some part of me started rooting for them from that very moment. Sheldon’s quirks, Howard’s desperation, Raj’s unlucky heart, Bernadette turning into the real Mrs. Wolowitz and Amy’s patience in dealing with Sheldon is the perfect amalgamation to any best group of friends. All the characters development was eye-opening for me as an individual. I know that the cast treated each other as real family members and I’m also aware that Kaley Cuocu and Jim Parson’s friendship off screen is just as magnificent as it is on-screen as Penny and Sheldon.

Sheldon is most certainly the protagonist, and everything in the show revolves around him. As I mentioned earlier, I’m a huge fan of Penny and Leonard, so I primarily watched the show from their perspective. This review is more like my thoughts and emotions on them than the show entirely.

I absolutely loved the awkward greetings Sheldon, Penny and Leonard shared when Penny just moved in across the hall in the Pilot episode. The way she took care of Sheldon when he was unwell, and how she explains why one must not enter another’s house to ‘clean it’ when the other is asleep, was hilarious. Sheldon having trouble differentiating between a usual sentence and sarcasm, is what made Sheldon, Sheldon.

There were many little things in the sitcom that made me always want to find my Leonard. Although he did have intimacy issues with his mother Mrs. Beverly Hofstadter, but I felt really bad for Leonard because he vied for her approval while she very rarely acknowledged him. She was portrayed as a mother who used Leonard as an experiment all his life because she was a neuroscientist, psychologist and author. In the episode where Penny was completing her Graduate studies and had to read the book Beverly authored, Leonard felt extremely vulnerable and defeated. Another episode where Leonard finally has a conversation with his mother over the fact as to why she got close to Penny, and her cold-hearted reply was that the experiment wasn’t over and she was authoring another book on marital status when two people of different professions married, she acknowledged Penny to be her favorite among the spouse of Leonard’s other siblings. But do you realise, she still didn’t acknowledge Leonard.

Then on another episode, in the last season, Beverly finally accepts Leonard’s shortcomings which were caused, created and imbibed in him because of her and she hugs him. That moment was something not only Leonard looked forward to, but I did too. Very very much so.

Penny on the other hand, really beautiful looking woman, smart in her own ways and not very clear on her relationships and Amy upfront asks her ‘Are you a hoe?’ was absolutely hilarious. Penny was a character of her own kind. She made Bernadette and Amy the characters they wanted to be, especially Amy, who always wanted to have ‘girl friends’. The first time Amy was invited to Penny and Bernadette’s girls night was hilarious. She had to actually Google what a girls night was and how to dress up for one, how to actually present herself and what kind of ‘girl talk’ should happen. The fact that she didn’t know to play a child’s game – ‘truth or dare’ spoke volumes of how much of a strict mother she had.

But over time we delved into how close Penny and her dad were and how much they loved each other. Her father’s support for Leonard often gave him an advantage in their relationship, even during their breakups and getting back together. phase Her brothers visit to the apartment and Penny’s dad saying ‘welcome to the family, Leonard. Do not lend your new brother-in-law money’ showed how much Leonard cared about Penny’s family’s well-being.

My favorite scene of the sitcom ought to be Leonard and Penny’s wedding and their vows. I absolutely hated the Vegas wedding, it wasn’t anything clos eto what I had expected out if it. Their vows, especially Leonard’s made me get emotional. His vows read, “Penny, we are made of particles that have existed since the moment the universe began. I like to think those atoms traveled 14 billion years through time and space to create us so that we could be together and make each other whole”. Like Penny, I had tears too. But like I said, Penny is smart and didn’t have anything ready at hand so she used her intelligence to reciprocate Leonard’s heart-warming vows by saying, “Leonard, you’re not only the love of my life, you’re my best friend. You’ve got a friend in me. You got troubles, I got’em too. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you. We stick together and we can see it through. ‘Cause you’ve got a friend in me.” And the pastor interrupts by highlighting the very obvious song from Toy story to which Leonard is seen silently sobbing but Penny mentioning that’s his favorite movie and Penny having one of the best moments of her life.

The wedding night does end up in shambles over some infidelity Leonard brought up while driving to Vegas, which turns their night into an uncanny disaster. But, as part of many ups and downs of their relationship I knew in that moment that thing would eventually turn around and they would put their ducks in a row. Leonard and Penny walked on eggshells very often during their relationship and always avoided to address the elephant in the room. Speaking of elephants in the room, something that was extremely cute was Sheldon believing that the three of them would always live together and that Leonard and Penny’s life revolved around him. And when Leonard says that out loud Sheldon’s expressions i saying ‘yes, how can you not plan your life around me’ was absolutely one of the cutest moments of the sitcom.

Fast forward to the last episode where Sheldon and Amy accept the Nobel prize in Physics and Sheldon’s touching speech will always have my heart. I absolutely find the need to quote it because I’ve watched that particular scene so many times, it is my comfort episode, definitely after the Vegas wedding scene, but I can count it as my top 5 favorite scenes. Sheldon speaks after Amy’s acceptance speech and he states, “Thank you, Dr. Fowler. I have a very long and somewhat self-centered speech here. But I’d like to set it aside.” Penny being Sheldon’s absolute cheerleader is ecstatic about it and exclaims enthusiasm by say “yaay”. Sheldon continues, “Because this honor doesn’t just belong to me. I wouldn’t be up here if it weren’t for some very important people in my life. Beginning with my mother, father, meemaw, brother and sister. And my other family, who I’m so happy to have here with us. Is that Buffy the Vampire Slayer? I was under a misapprehension that my accomplishments were mine alone. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have been encouraged, sustained, inspired and tolerated not only by my wife, but by the greatest group of friends anyone ever had. I’d like to ask them to stand. Dr. Rajesh Koothrappali. Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz. Astronaut Howard Wolowitz. And my two dearest friends in the world, Penny Hofstadter and Dr. Leonard Hofstadter. I was there the moment Leonard and Penny met. He said to me that their babies would be smart and beautiful. And now that they’re expecting, I have no doubt that that will be the case.” Penny is all emotional, holds her tears and says, “Thanks, Sheldon. I-I haven’t told my parents yet, but thanks.” To which the not so understanding and extremely naive Sheldon replies, “Oh. I’m sorry. Don’t tell anyone that last thing. That’s a secret. Howard, Bernadette, Raj, Penny, Leonard, I apologize if I haven’t been the friend you deserve. But I want you to know in my way, I love you all. And I love you. Thank you.”

And then the scene cuts to Leonard and Sheldon’s 2311 North Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, California where the 7 of them are sitting and sharing a meal. A rendition of The Big Bang Theory’s theme song plays softly as the scene zooms out. Everyone that remembers that particular scene would have goosebumps and tears at that. While I type this I have goosebumps and a feeling of emptiness because that’s how dear this show is to me.