Even Kaley Cuoco Believes Big Bang Theory's Finale Failed to Deliver
For all its fame and success, The Big Bang Theory had problems too. Especially during the run-up to its conclusion.
The ending was somewhat rushed due to Jim Parsons unexpectedly deciding to leave the show (see).
But at the same time, by the final season it was already obvious that TBBT had outlived its best times, and its plot is being stretched increasingly thin. Consequently, some of the specific plot decisions were questionable.
Take, for example, the fate of Kaley Cuoco 's character, Penny. By the beginning of the final, twelfth, season, Penny and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) have been happily married for a while.
Which meant that their relationship had effectively reached the "end state", as far as the plot was concerned.
The writers seemingly did not know what to do with them, and more or less reduced Leonard and Penny to supporting characters for a time.
Then in Season 12 of The Big Bang Theory we suddenly found out, that the couple had conflicting thoughts about having kids. More specifically, Penny did not want to have them.
Adding a new element of characterization out of nowhere after 11 seasons was bad enough.
The choice of conflict to spice up the relationship was worse, because a number of fans brought their real-life political viewpoints into the discussion.
The handing of that conflict was inconsistent. And its resolution worse still – it was more or less instantaneously swept under the rug with the revelation that Penny was pregnant and did not mind that.
The controversy lingered for years after the finale, and the fan opinions about the whole affair were generally negative. And in the recent book, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series, written by Jessica Radloff, even Cuoco herself agreed with those who criticized what happened to Penny in the end.
She said that personally she did not like the idea of her character being pregnant:
"I actually wished that they did not [make Penny pregnant], because I loved that message [of Penny not wanting kids] so much.
It was cute how the writers did it at the end with Penny's surprise pregnancy, and all in all I'm glad, but I was actually voting for her not to [get pregnant]."