[Spoilers] Season 12 Discussion Thread

[chucky]

1 hour ago, SRAM said:

Very true, but the Hofstadter baby is now canon and in fan fiction we can make it a girl or a boy.

 

Yessss!

[vonmar]

 

[serena_1995]

18 hours ago, Capt. Hilts said:

 

Penny's character was like plankton - it just got caught up in the flow of other people's dreams and plans.  I would have liked for her to date a professional athlete or big time author during her break-up with Leonard.  We only saw her with complete duds.  She's smart and funny - she could have done better.  And it would have been good to see her in a job she actually likes.  Everyone else loves their work, except for her.  Working for a local TV station, advertising firm, whatever.  Something she would like to do.  

 

 Penny was fantasizing about Idris ELba while having sex with Leonard. 

[April]

1 hour ago, serena_1995 said:

 Penny was fantasizing about Idris ELba while having sex with Leonard. 

[Nogravitasatall]

2 hours ago, serena_1995 said:

 Penny was fantasizing about Idris ELba while having sex with Leonard. 

Seems reasonable.

[KripkeRules]

20 hours ago, Capt. Hilts said:

Penny's character was like plankton - it just got caught up in the flow of other people's dreams and plans. 

I agree with this. 

This is part of the reason that I never bought the idea of "the big three" being Sheldon, Leonard, Penny. I know TPTB said so, but IMO, it should be Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard. Especially in later seasons, they wrote a LOT of filler plots for Howardette and Howard/Raj, I mean, I love Howardette, but even I thought some of their filler plots were a waste of time, you know, especially at the same time, we didn't get enough Lenny or Raj plots for their proper developments, let alone Penny's. 

I remembered that I specifically hated that Bill Gates episode, because I thought that was a Penny's plot, about her job, but in the end, Sheldon and Leonard got more than her, she was just a vehicle to get Gates here so we could see the four guys being nerdy with Gates. Such a waste. 

[Itwasdestined]

 Penny was fantasizing about Idris ELba while having sex with Leonard. 

She was “fantasising about .....Leonard ....... AND a little Idris Elba. “


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[luminous]

 

[joyceraye]

6 hours ago, KripkeRules said:

I agree with this. 

This is part of the reason that I never bought the idea of "the big three" being Sheldon, Leonard, Penny. I know TPTB said so, but IMO, it should be Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard. Especially in later seasons, they wrote a LOT of filler plots for Howardette and Howard/Raj, I mean, I love Howardette, but even I thought some of their filler plots were a waste of time, you know, especially at the same time, we didn't get enough Lenny or Raj plots for their proper developments, let alone Penny's. 

I remembered that I specifically hated that Bill Gates episode, because I thought that was a Penny's plot, about her job, but in the end, Sheldon and Leonard got more than her, she was just a vehicle to get Gates here so we could see the four guys being nerdy with Gates. Such a waste. 

Also a waste was  the Zack plot. They could have made better use of him and also spent time exploring Penny's issues in the time taken up with the sperm donor rubbish.

 

 

 

[chucky]

2 hours ago, luminous said:

 

That is the perfect description of wasted paperwork! 

[gsxdoug]

5 minutes ago, joyceraye said:

Also a waste was  the Zack plot. They could have made better use of him and also spent time exploring Penny's issues in the time taken up with the sperm donor rubbish.

 

 

 

I think they could have used that story line as the catalyst for Penny changing her mind about having kids and be the real motive behind her attempted seduction of Leonard.

[Mario D.]

32 minutes ago, gsxdoug said:

I think they could have used that story line as the catalyst for Penny changing her mind about having kids and be the real motive behind her attempted seduction of Leonard.

I thought in that scene where it is revealed that Penny is pregnant they could have added some explanation of why she did not want to have kids.  After Leonard said he wants to tell everyone he could have asked her if she is OK with the pregnancy and  they could have taken maybe two minutes for Penny to explain her committment issues, insecurities,  or just her doubt about being a mother. But now that she has a child growing inside her she wants to be a mother very badly. I don't think this would have taken up too much time or dialogue.

[KripkeRules]

An easy fix to this problem could be:

In 12X24, when Leonard suggested:"Why don't we just tell people?"  Instead of answering:"No, it's too early, I haven't even wrapped my head around it." (ugh, this answer made it worse!!!)

Penny could say:" No, not yet, we'll tell them the GOOD NEWS after the ceremony,  and then we can celebrate it together."

See?  Two words, everything changed. 

 

But, of course TPTB went for the first one, what was I thinking??? UGH. 

[April]

40 minutes ago, Mario D. said:

I thought in that scene where it is revealed that Penny is pregnant they could have added some explanation of why she did not want to have kids.  After Leonard said he wants to tell everyone he could have asked her if she is OK with the pregnancy and  they could have taken maybe two minutes for Penny to explain her committment issues, insecurities,  or just her doubt about being a mother. But now that she has a child growing inside her she wants to be a mother very badly. I don't think this would have taken up too much time or dialogue.

I think it would feel odd with the Lenny scene since they already know she's pregnant and I would expect Lenny to talk about it when they found out.

But they had Amy directly ask her about it and we didn't really get an answer. "It was an accident" and all that only answers how it happened but not why she's okay with it. Heck, they could have blamed it on the hormones at least!

[Swedish Chef]

It's a little bit sad that we didn't get to see the banquet after the prize ceremony. There could have been several funny scenes when Sheldon or Penny have to interact with the other award winners.

[chucky]

1 hour ago, Swedish Chef said:

It's a little bit sad that we didn't get to see the banquet after the prize ceremony. There could have been several funny scenes when Sheldon or Penny have to interact with the other award winners.

Could definitely have happened!

[Kev0821]

Kunal is a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this Thursday, May 23rd.

[vonmar]

From Entertainment Tonight

'Big Bang Theory' Says Goodbye: 16 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets From the Emotional Finale Taping

You may have already watched The Big Bang Theory’s tear-jerking finale, but you definitely didn’t see these emotional behind-the-scenes moments!

ET was on set in Burbank, California, for the live taping of the CBS comedy's very last episode and when we weren't freaking out over all the hidden Easter eggs or cheering for the surprise appearance of Sarah Michelle Gellar, we were holding back tears while watching the cast say goodbye to the characters they've played for the past 12 seasons.

Here are 16 on-set moments that every Big Bang fan should know about...

<full article & video in the link>

 

[joyceraye]

9 hours ago, chucky said:

10 hours ago, Swedish Chef said:

It's a little bit sad that we didn't get to see the banquet after the prize ceremony. There could have been several funny scenes when Sheldon or Penny have to interact with the other award winners.

Could definitely have happened!

Agreed. The extra scenes that CBS put up on their site after Season 11 should have started a tradition. That was fun, watching the supplementary scenes plus the wedding photos. We could have had photos of the banquet at least. Some other scientist could be speaking at it and Sheldon's face would be showing reluctant restraint.

I'd like to have seen Penny excusing herself to a royal personnage and rushing off to throw up. In the next clip she gets a present with a well-wishing note from HRH who's realised what the problem was. 

[3ku11]

Personally I Don't think Penny should of dated a professional athlete of some kind. I mean when you look at Bath Item. The whole point of her character growth. Was the fact she was always looking for a Strong Man to look after her. But she started to outgrow that idealistic notion. They always protected Leonard and Penny's relationship. And I Do not think that would of been a good decision imo. 

[SRAM]

13 minutes ago, 3ku11 said:

Personally I Don't think Penny should of dated a professional athlete of some kind. I mean when you look at Bath Item. The whole point of her character growth. Was the fact she was always looking for a Strong Man to look after her. But she started to outgrow that idealistic notion. They always protected Leonard and Penny's relationship. And I Do not think that would of been a good decision imo. 

They did a much better job with Penny and Leonard than Friends did with Rachel and Ross, they had Rachael falling over all these guys throughout the series that I actually felt she settled for Ross at the end.  I never got that vibe from Penny, her lack of dating during their breakup actually made it seem even more that they were destined to be together and she really did want him.

[margarete]

the more I think about it the less I like the ending. it is definitely not one you remember with goosebumps!

so, come on......really??  sheldon becoming reasonable ...... penny suddenly expecting and everything is normal, no big emotions ....... raj,  I do not even know how his story ends ..... and howard and bernadette just go on with their life, so that's fine I guess...... and the others ...... who cares about the others!

and then that pathetic young sheldon episode ... that was really awful!

I still think they should have dropped a piano on someone! It would have been thousand times better!! all IMHO !!!

 

 

[joyceraye]

15 hours ago, April said:

I think it would feel odd with the Lenny scene since they already know she's pregnant and I would expect Lenny to talk about it when they found out.

But they had Amy directly ask her about it and we didn't really get an answer. "It was an accident" and all that only answers how it happened but not why she's okay with it. Heck, they could have blamed it on the hormones at least!

Penny wouldn't be the first to insist it was 'an accident'  when in reality it happened 'accidentally-on purpose', which is a saying where I grew up. It saves face when you don't want to tell people your first declaration was sincere but only up to a point. The fields I've worked in, both professionally and voluntarily, have taught me that Lenny's situation is  as common as chips (fries )  on a Friday.  Maternal instinct v self-preservation can be a two-way street. Bernadette would not need any explanation, given  her own history and mixed feelings about it and Amy would accept without quibble that Penny had been sloppy or careless. The men would be pleased for Leonard regardless, if they gave it any thought at all.

Note that Penny had never been sterilised although she could have well afforded it and had not sent Leonard for the snip either. She obviously wasn't on the pill, although she's much more organised in her life than she was when she was younger and would have remembered to take it every day. She hadn't had an implant either, nor was she on annual jabs. When she realised she had run the risk of pregnancy  - assuming it was true she didn't know what she was doing - she didn't raid her sample store or dash to the pharmacist for a morning-after pill. And good lord, how many times have we seen her drunk and wanting sex ?  This time she wasn't even drunk that we knew of, since Sheldon reminded her she was driving, which the writers hadn't had him do before. But drunken accident is her story and she's sticking to it, and blaming her husband to his face. 

Objectively, Penny's declaration out of the blue  in 1203 that she didn't want children was bizarre to start with. She'd never been shown as hard-nosed  or anti-motherhood. There didn't appear to be any reason. For instance, pregnancy needn't have interfered with her career just as she was beginning to like it :  she could take as short a maternity leave as she wanted and there's a brilliant nursery at Caltech.  She's always been a maternal sort, even in the early seasons when she was an irresponsible flibbertigibbet.  She can deal with Sheldon and is the stablest among female friends who include the cleverest women on the planet. She's lovely to Raj, the wobbly doctor of astrophysics.  And they all love her. She knows her husband may be superbly intelligent  but has his weaknesses and with few lapses  treats her as if he thinks he's a lucky sod to have wooed and won  her. She can hold her own with geniuses and what's more has met all their living parents. She should know she could knock any of their mothers into a cocked hat. 

However, she was put on the spot by Leonard and like an uncertain racehorse or an insecure show-jumper, she refused a fence she wasn't confident enough to take. Motherhood, especially of a  genius's children, was a big thing for Penny to face, and any misgivings she had kept down naturally surfaced then. She was suddenly having to think  seriously about it.  The future was upon her. Would she be up to raising an academically-inclined family if she needed to ? Whoever they took after, becoming someone's mother would be the final settling-down, the end of desirable - 'doable' as she called-it - hot, cool, fanciable Penny whom she was already beginning to miss. What she once saw as her chief, perhaps only, assets would be gone.  So, rebelling against what others expected of her was the order of the day. 

It was the easy way out. She could be child-free, keep her time to herself for putting on her make-up and doing her nails, go on trips alone or with her husband, meet her friends as much as she liked, drink as much as she wanted, be free to do her exercises and her yoga and go for runs, and spend her own money on herself. Carrying on with the status quo. Losing nothing.

But perhaps that certainty didn't last. Most women who've ever been independent think about what they'll be giving up in order to become mothers.  But they go ahead anyway, which is why so many of us are here. Sometimes when they're changing nappies at dawn they remember what their pre-children lives were like and look forward to the day when they're all at school or even to when they've left home. Those who start to regain themselves after raising children to school age sometimes feel broody again in spite of everything. They don't want another one really, but end up pleased when the annoyance at the failed birth control wears off. Penny will have heard all this from colleagues at work, just like we all did - and I daresay those young enough are still hearing it.

I think, Penny being Penny as we know her, finally put her mind to weighing things up. There were losses and gains however she looked at it. Best thing was to carry on with the decision she'd made, but just in case, leave things to the hands of fate : do nothing medical or surgical to reinforce  her child-free position. If conception was 'meant' and in her stars, then she'd be reconciled to it. Complain, protest, blame your husband, curse your stars at first, and then announce that you were more pleased than you thought you'd be, despite what  you'd previously chosen. Jump that fence this time. 

BTW not telling people as early as two months is quite normal, at least here in UK.  When I started work the fourth month or even later was usual. Official confirmation by a doctor didn't happen until after three missed periods and even then it wasn't always right. Now that there's a scan at about nine weeks to check it's really a baby growing there, it's earlier, true.  I can see why Lenny would want to wait for the questions until they got home from Sweden, however. As it happens, it doesn't matter that their friends and much of the world's public already know : anecdotally it appears that discomfort and lots of sickness at this stage bodes for a successful outcome.

Edited May 20, 2019 by joyceraye

[chucky]

4 hours ago, joyceraye said:

I'd like to have seen Penny excusing herself to a royal personnage and rushing off to throw up. In the next clip she gets a present with a well-wishing note from HRH who's realised what the problem was.

I would loved to have seen that!

Edited May 20, 2019 by chucky

[hokie3457]

3 hours ago, SRAM said:

They did a much better job with Penny and Leonard than Friends did with Rachel and Ross, they had Rachael falling over all these guys throughout the series that I actually felt she settled for Ross at the end.  I never got that vibe from Penny, her lack of dating during their breakup actually made it seem even more that they were destined to be together and she really did want him.

It was always, always, always Leonard for Penny. No matter how hard she fought against it. No matter how she tried to deny and hide her longing for him. It was always Leonard. Not so with Rachel for Ross (IMHO).

48 minutes ago, joyceraye said:

Penny wouldn't be the first to insist it was 'an accident'  when in reality it happened 'accidentally-on purpose', which is a saying where I grew up. It saves face when you don't want to tell people your first declaration was sincere but only up to a point. The fields I've worked in, both professionally and voluntarily, have taught me that Lenny's situation is  as common as chips (fries )  on a Friday.  Maternal instinct v self-preservation can be a two-way street. Bernadette would not need any explanation, given  her own history and mixed feelings about it and Amy would accept without quibble that Penny had been sloppy or careless. The men would be pleased for Leonard regardless, if they gave it any thought at all.

Note that Penny had never been sterilised although she could have well afforded it and had not sent Leonard for the snip either. She obviously wasn't on the pill, although she's much more organised in her life than she was when she was younger and would have remembered to take it every day. She hadn't had an implant either, nor was she on annual jabs. When she realised she had run the risk of pregnancy  - assuming it was true she didn't know what she was doing - she didn't raid her sample store or dash to the pharmacist for a morning-after pill. And good lord, how many times have we seen her drunk and wanting sex ?  This time she wasn't even drunk that we knew of, since Sheldon reminded her she was driving, which the writers hadn't had him do before. But drunken accident is her story and she's sticking to it, and blaming her husband to his face. 

Objectively, Penny's declaration out of the blue  in 1203 that she didn't want children was bizarre to start with. She'd never been shown as hard-nosed  or anti-motherhood. There didn't appear to be any reason. For instance, pregnancy needn't have interfered with her career just as she was beginning to like it :  she could take as short a maternity leave as she wanted and there's a brilliant nursery at Caltech.  She's always been a maternal sort, even in the early seasons when she was an irresponsible flibbertigibbet.  She can deal with Sheldon and is the stablest among female friends who include the cleverest women on the planet. She's lovely to Raj, the wobbly doctor of astrophysics.  And they all love her. She knows her husband may be superbly intelligent  but has his weaknesses and with few lapses  treats her as if he thinks he's a lucky sod to have wooed and won  her. She can hold her own with geniuses and what's more has met all their living parents. She should know she could knock any of their mothers into a cocked hat. 

However, she was put on the spot by Leonard and like an uncertain racehorse or an insecure show-jumper, she refused a fence she wasn't confident enough to take. Motherhood, especially of a  genius's children, was a big thing for Penny to face, and any misgivings she had kept down naturally surfaced then. She was suddenly having to think  seriously about it.  The future was upon her. Would she be up to raising an academically-inclined family if she needed to ? Whoever they took after, becoming someone's mother would be the final settling-down, the end of desirable - 'doable' as she called-it - hot, cool, fanciable Penny whom she was already beginning to miss. What she once saw as her chief, perhaps only, assets would be gone.  So, rebelling against what others expected of her was the order of the day. 

It was the easy way out. She could be child-free, keep her time to herself for putting on her make-up and doing her nails, go on trips alone or with her husband, meet her friends as much as she liked, drink as much as she wanted, be free to do her exercises and her yoga and go for runs, and spend her own money on herself. Carrying on with the status quo. Losing nothing.

But perhaps that certainty didn't last. Most women who've ever been independent think about what they'll be giving up in order to become mothers.  But they go ahead anyway, which is why so many of us are here. Sometimes when they're changing nappies at dawn they remember what their pre-children lives were like and look forward to the day when they're all at school or even to when they've left home. Those who start to regain themselves after raising children to school age sometimes feel broody again in spite of everything. They don't want another one really, but end up pleased when the annoyance at the failed birth control wears off. Penny will have heard all this from colleagues at work, just like we all did - and I daresay those young enough are still hearing it.

I think, Penny being Penny as we know her, finally put her mind to weighing things up. There were losses and gains however she looked at it. Best thing was to carry on with the decision she'd made, but just in case, leave things to the hands of fate : do nothing medical or surgical to reinforce  her child-free position. If conception was 'meant' and in her stars, then she'd be reconciled to it. Complain, protest, blame your husband, curse your stars at first, and then announce that you were more pleased than you thought you'd be, despite what  you'd previously chosen. Jump that fence this time. 

BTW not telling people as early as two months is quite normal, at least here in UK.  When I started work the fourth month or even later was usual. Official confirmation by a doctor didn't happen until after three missed periods and even then it wasn't always right. Now that there's a scan at about nine weeks to check it's really a baby growing there, it's earlier, true.  I can see why Lenny would want to wait for the questions until they got home from Sweden, however. As it happens, it doesn't matter that their friends and much of the world's public already know : anecdotally it appears that discomfort and lots of sickness at this stage bodes for a successful outcome.

^^^ This. Is. Amazing. Such a well thought out post. Thank you so much @joyceraye !!! ❤️❤️❤️