The Big Bang Theory Did Raj Very Dirty, And We Are Ready For This Conversation

As soon as the first season of The Big Bang Theory hit the screens in 2007, the show became extremely popular. It managed to survive the 2008 writers' strike and come out unscathed, with even more viewers waiting for it to continue. A large part of its success is due to the diversity of the cast and characters.

A lot of people who were clearly underrepresented on TV before, or who were always portrayed as the loser type of sidekick, finally got to star in the series. But no matter how great the premise seemed at the time, the show couldn't maintain the same level of quality for 12 seasons.

In the end, one character was left behind, and that character is Rajesh Koothrappali.

Like all of his friends, Raj was extremely smart and started out as a very successful scientist, an astrophysicist to be exact. His biggest flaw was his selective mutism, which prevented him from talking to women and made it extremely difficult for him to meet new people, let alone build relationships.

Although he had pretty much the same starting point as his other friends — Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard — if you look at his development more closely, he didn't progress at the same rate. Sure, he made progress with women and dated a lot (more than necessary, some might say), but he hadn't made a single meaningful connection throughout the whole show.

While all the other characters were climbing the corporate ladder, going into space, and winning Nobel Prizes, Raj seemed stuck in 2008, and the TBBT writers had no intention of getting him out of it. As a result, the character ended up as the only single friend in the group with no prominent prospects for his future.

Whether or not you agree that Raj could use a little more consistent writing and deserved a different finale, it's always fun to go back and analyze the character's stories. If you are feeling nostalgic and want to revisit The Big Bang Theory, you can stream it anytime on Netflix or MAX.