Poll Big Bang Theory Finale

[USS Triumphant]

There's always a conflict in writing characters between writing what you think a character would actually do, and trying to fulfill some outside expectations for their behavior (whether those expectations are social or just your own). Penny changed her mind. If one wants to analyze the hell out of it, that might have been "a bad message to send" on the part of the writers. On the other hand, Penny isn't perfect, has been shown to be fickle on a few occasions and to have done other things she didn't seem to think she'd do on others. So the question is, whether you LIKE her changing her mind or not, is her doing so good, consistent writing for the character? Probably. As others have mentioned, Kaley Cuoco was happy with her character's ending, and she "knows" Penny better than probably anyone else except *maybe* the writer that created her.

If you don't know the difference between "mansplaining" and defending a position, let me explain it to you.......

I'm sorry to anyone who was offended by this, but this was one of the frikkin' funniest things I've read in at least a few weeks. I'm not saying I *approve* - or that I *disapprove*, exactly. But damn.

 

[Tuskin38]

Some people chance their mind about having Children when it happens to them, so I don't see the problem with Penny changing her mind.

A user in this very thread said it happened with their wife.

 

[KennyB]

Some people chance their mind about having Children when it happens to them, so I don't see the problem with Penny changing her mind.

A user in this very thread said it happened with their wife.

It was me.........Should I go to her and say she should have stayed true to herself? I mean the "kids" and we had THREE are 18-24 now........Situations change, feelings change.......I don't even know what to think of someone "offended" by this.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I didn't love the finale. Didn't hate it, but it didn't feel like anything special.

The two things that both my husband and I felt weren't resolved well were Raj's story and Penny suddenly deciding she now wants children. I felt like Raj didn't get a happy ending, or really much of an ending at all. Besides being able to talk to women now, he seemed to have little character development lately. Not surprising for a sitcom I guess, but a little disappointing.

As for Penny, my husband and I have decided not to have children and appreciated that there was finally a sitcom character who was holding firm with the same decision. And of course, they change that instantaneously in the finale. It wasn't so much the change of mind that bothered me, but that they didn't flesh it out at all. It was barely mentioned. It seemed weird to spend so much time in previous episodes on this conflict, and then have a sudden reversal with no explanation. There's often a stigma around people who don't want children that we will suddenly change our minds one day, so it was annoying to see it reinforced on TV.

Otherwise, it wasn't a terrible finale, but like I said, nothing special. Sheldon's speech was nice but didn't really have the emotional impact that I would have liked, I guess because (like another poster said) he's done this sort of thing many times - be an ass, have a realization of it and try to make amends, then be an ass again.

 

[Tuskin38]

As for the episodes, It didn't really feel like an ending, it didn't feel like a series finale, it just felt like a normal season finale, or even just a regular episode.

 

[wissaboo]

The finale was better than I expected given how lame the season was. Was hoping for more for Raj.

 

[bigdaddy]

I was hoping Raj and Howard would finally admit their love for each other and move to San Fran.

But you can't always get what you want.

Also if Penny was so dead set against children then did the pill just not work? Couldn't she have just gotten a shot to? It's 2019 there are ways to not have children. Of course I say this as a gay guy who hates children so maybe the pill is only 99% effective? I have no idea.

 

[Marc]

Also if Penny was so dead set against children then did the pill just not work? Couldn't she have just gotten a shot to? It's 2019 there are ways to not have children. Of course I say this as a gay guy who hates children so maybe the pill is only 99% effective? I have no idea.

yes the pill can fail and yes she could have been on depra provera as with any medications there can often be medical reason why she used one over the other.

 

[fireproof78]

I was hoping Raj and Howard would finally admit their love for each other and move to San Fran.

But you can't always get what you want.

Also if Penny was so dead set against children then did the pill just not work? Couldn't she have just gotten a shot to? It's 2019 there are ways to not have children. Of course I say this as a gay guy who hates children so maybe the pill is only 99% effective? I have no idea.

No birth control method is always effective and some ladies have adverse reactions to one type over another. My wife tried 3 different ones before opting to not be on any because it made her feel unwell one way or another.

 

[bigdaddy]

No birth control method is always effective and some ladies have adverse reactions to one type over another. My wife tried 3 different ones before opting to not be on any because it made her feel unwell one way or another.

Well they are working on that male birth control pill so that's awesome.

Maybe Penny went 'shit happens' and is embracing the fetus. I don't read too much into it.

 

[fireproof78]

Well they are working on that male birth control pill so that's awesome.

Maybe Penny went 'shit happens' and is embracing the fetus. I don't read too much into it.

Nah, we just didn't have sex for a while

Regardless, I didn't care much about the episode. I've flips like this in real life so it made as much sense to me as most sitcom logic.

 

[bigdaddy]

Nah, we just didn't have sex for a while

Regardless, I didn't care much about the episode. I've flips like this in real life so it made as much sense to me as most sitcom logic.

No sex for awhile? That's a thing?!

To me it seemed like a normal episode with a nice touch. Life never have closings soI don't mind it being open ended. It's the first episope I have watched in years and years though. (At least three years.)

 

[fireproof78]

No sex for awhile? That's a thing?!

To me it seemed like a normal episode with a nice touch. Life never have closings soI don't mind it being open ended. It's the first episope I have watched in years and years though. (At least three years.)

Yes, it's a thing. We made it work as she dealt with a lot of different things. I lived for 25 years before being married without sex so it wasn't that big of a deal to me.

I'm always a person who likes episodes that feel like regular episodes for endings that are open ended. Gilmore Girls felt that that to me too.

 

[bigdaddy]

I'm always a person who likes episodes that feel like regular episodes for endings that are open ended. Gilmore Girls felt that that to me too.

I love the Gilmore Girls ending. So happy that the creator left so we could have a decent end to the show. (I ignore the movies) It said goodbye and makes you wonder where they went.

 

[fireproof78]

I love the Gilmore Girls ending. So happy that the creator left so we could have a decent end to the show. (I ignore the movies) It said goodbye and makes you wonder where they went.

Precisely so.

 

[Gary7]

Some thought the show had lost its punch and the characters had become somewhat caricatures (especially Amy, but nowhere near as bad as Alan Harper from Two and a Half Men). That is a challenge with a long running show. Don't allow the characters grow and you're criticized for stale characters. Allow the characters to grow and you're catch it for changing things. If you really want to see how the characters changed, watch the unaired pilot of the show.

Count me as someone who had thought it lost its punch. I fell off about a season ago. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it no longer captivated me and the antics were not only often predictable, but too silly. It seemed like there was a Sheldon regression as well--he came so far, but then kept slipping back, sometimes badly. I'd lost touch long enough to not even know that the Big Bang Theory ended last week--it took a Stephen Colbert special to alert me to it. Because CBS has limited access to older episodes, I figured I'd just watch the last episode (presuming a few things, like the Wolowitz kids being toddlers now). I thought it was well done, although it was starting to drift into the old pattern--Sheldon being insensitive and pissing people off. And the Penny being pregnant bit was... badly written. But then, it finally made a good turn. I like how it ended. It didn't satisfy everything I would've wanted, but all things considered I feel it finished well.

Part of me thinks I shouldn't bother watching the last season... as I don't want to "worsen" expectations.

 

[USS Triumphant]

I love the Gilmore Girls ending. So happy that the creator left so we could have a decent end to the show. (I ignore the movies) It said goodbye and makes you wonder where they went.

The creator didn't do that - she lost creative control of the show at the end of 4th season, and didn't like a lot of what they did with it after. "A Year In The Life" was her attempt to put the show somewhat back on the track she wanted it to go down.

(I'm a fan, but one of my daughters is an *obsessive* fan. )

 

[bigdaddy]

The creator didn't do that - she lost creative control of the show at the end of 4th season, and didn't like a lot of what they did with it after. "A Year In The Life" was her attempt to put the show somewhat back on the track she wanted it to go down.

(I'm a fan, but one of my daughters is an *obsessive* fan. )

She stayed through the 6th (worse season) and was the one who came up with April and that stupid season finale to piss off the network. When she left the show got better and that's all I cared about.

Plus when the movies came out it was clear she was awful and the problem with the show because the movies are damn near unwatchable.

 

[A Chimpanzee & 2 Trainees]

While watching the episode, I never thought too much about Penny's pregnancy other than "whatever happened to not wanting kids?" but it didn't bother me I just just went with it. There's a lot of things that happen off-screen, or that we can assume happened off-screen, and I file it in that bucket. I will admit though that it would have been nice, if that's where they wanted to end things, to see her change of heart over some time.

Even if nothing happened off-screen, is it really that egregious? In a more realistic world, I can't see the Penny/Leonard relationship getting past stilted occasional 30-second hallway conversations with 1 failed attempt to ask her out. She wouldn't give that annoying <bleep> Sheldon the time of day, probably have to threaten Howard with a restraining order if he ever talked to her again, and Raj would never be more than some guy who visits her neighbor since he can't talk to women. Is Penny's change of heart less realistic than the fact that she was ever friends with any of them at all?

 

[Marc]

While watching the episode, I never thought too much about Penny's pregnancy other than "whatever happened to not wanting kids?" but it didn't bother me I just just went with it. There's a lot of things that happen off-screen, or that we can assume happened off-screen, and I file it in that bucket. I will admit though that it would have been nice, if that's where they wanted to end things, to see her change of heart over some time.

Even if nothing happened off-screen, is it really that egregious? In a more realistic world, I can't see the Penny/Leonard relationship getting past stilted occasional 30-second hallway conversations with 1 failed attempt to ask her out. She wouldn't give that annoying <bleep> Sheldon the time of day, probably have to threaten Howard with a restraining order if he ever talked to her again, and Raj would never be more than some guy who visits her neighbor since he can't talk to women. Is Penny's change of heart less realistic than the fact that she was ever friends with any of them at all?

Sometimes friendships can be mysterious things were people you think wouldn't mix some how click as friends.

After all who would ever expect Larry Flynt to have been friends with Jerry Falwell?