The Young Sheldon ending unexpectedly name-drops Penny, but aside from the shoutout, it also secretly highlights The Big Bang Theory‘s worst crime against the character. While the first half of Young Sheldon’s series capper is devoted to the aftermath of George’s death, its final 30 minutes shift its focus to looking at the future of Sheldon. Bringing in Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik as adult Sheldon and Amy is meant to bring the socially-inept genius’ arc full circle, which it does. Beyond that, it also provides new information about the Pasadena gang five years after the nerd-centric sitcom wrapped up.
Ideally, the rest of the Pasadena gang would have appeared in the Young Sheldon finale. Unfortunately, despite hopes that the prequel would stage a brief The Big Bang Theory, that wasn’t the case since the focus of the two-part ending was on Sheldon and the Coopers. There were some clues, however, about how the rest of the fan-favorite friend group is doing, including the suggestion that Leonard may be dead post-The Big Bang Theory. While his arc is left vague, the Young Sheldon finale made sure to have a direct reference to his wife, Penny
In time for its ending, Young Sheldon explains the final remaining major The Big Bang Theory plot hole with regard to Sheldon and his history.
Young Sheldon’s Ending Confirms Penny Is Still Passionate About Acting
Penny Passes Her Passion For Acting To Sheldon And Amy’s Daughter.
In the final moments of the Young Sheldon ending, “Memoir,” Sheldon and Amy from the future wrap up their conversation about going to their son, Leonard’s hockey game. That’s when Amy reveals that their unnamed daughter wants to start acting lessons, to which her husband answers exasperatedly that they shouldn’t let Penny babysit anymore — a reference to Leonard’s wife’s life-long dream to be an actress. It was the reason why Penny moved to California and was the crux of her arc in the earliest seasons of The Big Bang Theory until she was forced to change careers.
Despite being part of her original storyline, The Big Bang Theory never really took Penny’s dream seriously.
Penny eventually became a successful pharmaceutical sales rep, earning more than Leonard at the end of The Big Bang Theory. However, Sheldon’s revelation about her still being interested in acting after more than a decade since the end of the nerd-centric sitcom emphasizes how unsatisfying her ending was. Despite being part of her original storyline, The Big Bang Theory never really took Penny’s dream seriously. She was often mocked by Sheldon and her failures were often played for laughs, although in reality, they were demoralizing. Learning that acting remains her passion in the future is saddening.
Young Sheldon finale’s TBBT connections were minimal, but to make things worse, it also continued the flagship’s failure of Sheldon’s true soulmate.
How The Big Bang Theory Could Have Fixed Penny’s Acting Storyline
Penny’s The Big Bang Theory Finale Fate Revolved Around Her Pregnancy Plot Twist.
While The Big Bang Theory finale was generally beloved, Penny’s pregnancy arc was its biggest problematic storyline. Before that divisive reveal, however, the series could have already fixed her personal arc by allowing her to go back into acting. With her pharmaceutical job paying the bills, Penny would already have the freedom to revisit her true passion. While not being able to fully follow through with it would be disappointing, setting her down that path would have left her in a more hopeful state for self-fulfillment. Sadly. that wasn’t part of the plan in The Big Bang Theory‘s ending.
It isn’t like there was a scarcity of time to pivot Penny to return to her life-long dream. Unlike Young Sheldon ending in a shortened season, The Big Bang Theory got a full year to wrap up. Instead of utilizing its screentime, however, it was devoted way too much time tackling Sheldon and Amy’s Nobel Prize in Physics bid to win, which was already a foregone closure, considering how important it was to the socially-inept genius. As for Penny, her and Leonard’s arc revolved around their unexpected conflict concerning having kids, which ultimately ended with the reveal they were pregnant.
The Young Sheldon Ending Flashforward Could Have Fixed Penny’s TBBT Finale Arc
Even Kaley Cuoco Didn’t Like Penny’s The Big Bang Theory Ending.
Penny and Leonard’s pregnancy arc was divisive at the moment, but the reaction to it only got worse years after The Big Bang Theory ended. Even Kaley Cuoco, who played the character for 12 years, admitted that she argued for the writers to honor Penny’s wishes to not be a mother. In the end, however, her pleas fell on deaf ears. Couple that with her never having a chance to live her personal dream, and it’s difficult not to feel like she was one of the characters who got the shorter end of the stick; the other one being Raj.
Many of the people behind The Big Bang Theory also worked on Young Sheldon, so while what happened in the mothership series cannot be changed anymore, they can retroactively fix it in the prequel. That was what happened when Young Sheldon retconned George’s cheating scandal, and this storytelling principle could have also been used for Penny’s fate. Despite being pressed for time, a small addition to adult Amy and Sheldon’s conversation about their friend could have made up for The Big Bang Theory‘s crime against her by explicitly revealing that Penny is thriving as a mother despite her initial hesitation.
Having spearheaded several hit TV shows, Chuck Lorre and his team know that there’s interest in what happened to the Pasadena gang. So, although the focus was to wrap up the Coopers’ story in Texas, they should have known that there would be expectations about an update regarding the Pasadena gang.
However, there is no additional revelation about the kind of life Penny has lived for more than a decade since the events of The Big Bang Theory ended. It’s unclear if she’s happy and fulfilled in her life. There’s not even a reference to her husband or her marriage. Having spearheaded several hit TV shows, Chuck Lorre and his team know that there’s interest in what happened to the Pasadena gang. So, although the focus was to wrap up the Coopers’ story in Texas, they should have known that there would be expectations about an update regarding the Pasadena gang.
Young Sheldon ends with a send-off to Sheldon, but his final interaction with Missy stands out for being so odd that it may have a secret meaning.
Can The Big Bang Theory Universe Make Amends WIth Penny?
With Young Sheldon Done, The Franchise Still Has A Way To Fix Penny’s Mistake.
Ending Young Sheldon despite its popularity was quite a divisive decision that even cast member, Annie Potts, has publicly criticized. That said, CBS knows better than to let the successful franchise die with the prequel. Sheldon may be ending his 17-year stint on TV, but the TV universe will thrive with a couple of spinoffs on the way. Georgie And Mandy’s First Marriage is essentially a continuation of the Coopers’ story in Texas, with the focus on Sheldon’s brother and his growing family. The chances that it will reveal anything about Penny are very slim to none.
That being said, Lorre’s second untitled offshoot, which is expected to have stronger ties to The Big Bang Theory, can make some amends. As laid out, it shouldn’t be that difficult to fix Penny’s problematic final storyline. Young Sheldon could have done it, even long before its emotional finale by bringing in Cuoco for a voice cameo, like it did with Simon Helberg’s Howard. If an appearance isn’t an option, a brief update about how she’s doing since it was revealed that she was pregnant would suffice.
