Big Bang Theory fans have a big problem with Penny’s ending

It’s been several years since the finale of The Big Bang Theory, but fans still can’t get over how the series decided to end Penny’s storyline compared to the series.

Throughout the sitcom, Penny was authoritative, free-spirited, and knew what she wanted. It was no surprise that she fell in love with Leonard and their relationship continued up until the final season. But the finale flipped the script with Penny’s overall stance on not having kids.

In “The Procreation Calculation,” Penny tells Leonard she has no desire to have kids, which upsets Leonard. She also doesn’t have a problem with him being a sperm donor for Zack. But as the finale approaches, her mindset changes, and she ends up pregnant.

Yet, after all of these years, fans still don’t take to this storyline very well. On Reddit, a fan commented on how the sitcom built up Penny’s strong stance on not having kids, only to chuck it away in the finale.

“Anyone else find it odd that they spent a good amount of time establishing Penny simply didn’t want to have children, and then in the finale, she becomes pregnant and all we get for her motivation is Leonard saying ‘yeh well now she does’ – kind of a missed opportunity there to even explore penny’s decision making,” they explained.

“Seems weird they did devote a lot of time to Penny not wanting children to then just have Leonard speak for her. Literally, she says nothing about why she decided on having a child.”

Another fan was angered by the fact that Penny’s pregnancy storyline wasn’t the first instance in The Big Bang Theory. Bernadette also didn’t want kids but then changed her mind. The same thing happened to Penny.

It wasn’t only fans who felt the use of the storyline wasn’t well done. Kaley Cuoco, the actress who played the character, once expressed that she was against Penny getting pregnant. A fan on Reddit explained that the sitcom creators did recognize the rushed storyline.

“The writers acknowledge this in the tell-all book. Ultimately what happened was they were trying to fulfill Leonard’s line from episode 1 about them having beautiful and smart babies. But they acknowledged they rushed it and her being pregnant was an ‘unearned’ moment in the show,” they chimed in.

In the finale, Sheldon is giving his Nobel Peace Prize speech. He recounts how Leonard said he and Penny would have beautiful and smart children the first day they met. Sheldon’s change of heart causes Penny to shed a tear.

For more Big Bang Theory, you can check out how Young Sheldon paid homage to the sitcom, why there’s a character assassination theory, and new series to stream this month.