Everything we believed to be true about Penny is altered by a dark big bang theory (and it makes way too much sense to be wrong).
When The Big Bang Theory first premiered in 2007, it launched a new generation of nerd culture. For the first time, being interested in science, comic books, and superheroes was cool, and the show wasn’t afraid to showcase the joys of loving popular culture.
However, the sitcom also gave these occasionally irritating nerds some contrast in the form of their pal Penny.
Although she was an integral part of the show from the very beginning, fans didn’t know much about her. Even when she married Leonard in Season 9, she remained a bit of a mysterious figure.
Yet, a popular fan theory suggests that Penny hides in the shadows of her scientist friends so that she doesn’t reveal her actual identity.
Although she sticks out like a sore thumb, Penny is the reason a sitcom like The Big Bang Theory works. While the audience may relate to Sheldon’s obsessions with routine or Raj’s immense social anxiety, the average viewer usually isn’t a renowned physicist working at a notable university.
Instead, they are more like Penny, a normal person who works a normal job and lives a normal life. Thus, she may seem painfully average, but Penny acts as the audience’s eyes, almost like an outsider looking in.
The audience first meets Penny in the pilot episode, and she’s quickly established as Leonard and Sheldon’s long-suffering neighbor.
Leonard’s obsession with her pushes her deeper into the friendship group, and she remains a pivotal part of its cohesiveness. So, at first glance, Penny seems to be just as important as her counterparts.
But, as soon as fans scratch the surface, they realize that they don’t know anything about her. Across 12 seasons, audiences never catch her surname or learn anything about her outside the fact that she’s a struggling actress from Nebraska.
But things seem a bit more suspicious when audiences realize that she doesn’t sound like she’s from Nebraska, and she never mentions her family aside from a few anecdotes that may make her seem like she had a rough upbringing.
Most of the time, audiences tend to overlook these glaring plot holes and blame them on shoddy writing.
However, it’s important to remember that The Big Bang Theory was written by Chuck Lorre, the King of Sitcoms, so it’s unlikely that he would forget to develop such an important character.