The Big Bang Theory is, at its heart, about relationships. The geek culture references, cameos, and science speak are dressings, and funny ones at that. But from the very beginning, the series set itself up as an exploration of relationships: the core four’s interactions with one another; Howard’s (Simon Helberg) one-offs on account of his objectification of women; Raj’s (Kunal Nayyar) inability to start any with women due to his inability to talk around them; Leonard’s (Johnny Galecki) unrequited desire to start a romantic one with the new neighbor, Penny (Kaley Cuoco); and, in turn, Penny’s friendly one with Leonard; and Sheldon’s (Jim Parsons) with his spot.
Over time, those relationships, and the characters themselves, matured and grew, extended to new additions, Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) and Amy Farrah-Fowler (Mayim Bialik), and, eventually, to marriages (except for poor Raj). Yet the series’ best, strongest, and undeniably its strangest relationship is between two characters, and has no romantic entanglements whatsoever: the inexplicable bond between Penny and Sheldon.
Polar Opposite Personalities Clash in ‘The Big Bang Theory’
In the pilot of The Big Bang Theory, Penny is introduced as Leonard and Sheldon’s new neighbor, an aspiring actress from Nebraska. Over the course of the episode, the two are set up as polar opposites: Sheldon has quantum mechanics and string theory on his whiteboard, Penny suggests he’s “one of those Beautiful Mind genius guys”; Penny states that she’s a Sagittarius, which prompts Sheldon to, in his Sheldon way, claim she’s delusional. But the first volley in their rivalry occurs in the next episode, “The Big Bran Hypothesis,” in which Sheldon sneaks into Penny’s apartment to clean it at night, earning Penny’s ire. It’s the perfect summation of their disparate personalities: Penny is free-spirited, emotional and careless, Sheldon is obsessive-compulsive, logical and stringent.
That each are equally strong-willed sets up some of the most hilarious episodes of the early seasons. In “The Peanut Reaction,” Penny blackmails Sheldon into helping her plan a birthday party for Leonard by threatening to destroy his mint comic book collection. Sheldon banning Penny from their apartment escalates into a war between street-smarts and book-smarts, with Penny using Sheldon’s obsessive scheduling to her advantage by taking up all the laundry equipment on “laundry day,” and Sheldon using his intellect to get her laundry on the telephone wires nearby, in “The Panty Piñata Polarization.” And, in “The Terminator Decoupling,” Penny forces Sheldon to tell her about himself, like why he’s called “Moonpie,” before she’ll release the contents of the flash drive he left at home (the utter hopelessness and frustration in Sheldon is priceless).
Penny and Sheldon Form a Familial Bond in ‘The Big Bang Theory’
But a different dynamic between the two begins in Season 1’s “The Pancake Batter Anomaly.” In the episode, a common cold renders Sheldon helpless, and Penny, albeit reluctantly, cares for him. They need one another: Sheldon needs help from others when he can’t function, and Penny has a compulsion to help others. That she sings “Soft Kitty” to him for the first time in this episode is meaningful and funny, in that regard.
The episode that puts them on a path to their deep relationship is inarguably “The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis,” where Penny gives Sheldon the perfect Christmas present: a dirty napkin signed by Leonard Nimoy. It cost her nothing, she didn’t have to do it, and, more importantly, Sheldon made it clear he didn’t want a present as it sets up an obligation where he must give her something of equal value based upon her present and her perceived level of friendship. But Penny knew how much it would mean to Sheldon to have it, which ended up being significantly more meaningful than she anticipated. No one else ever gave a thought to doing something meaningful for Sheldon, deeming him unlikely to ever show appreciation for it. Penny, by ignoring conventional wisdom, unlocked real emotion – and a s**t load of bath products – in Sheldon, setting a new precedent for their relationship going forward.
One of ‘The Big Bang Theory’s Best Characters Only Appeared in 11 Episodes
“Holy Moly!”
Sheldon continued to aid Penny in practical ways – taking her to the hospital after dislocating her shoulder in the bathtub, or loaning her money for rent, for example – and acts as the sole voice of encouragement when she makes the bold move to quit her job and focus on acting. Penny, meanwhile, aided Sheldon in emotional ways, like talking him through the anxiety of overstimulation in “The Celebration Experimentation,” a “Sheldon-whisperer” who earns a trust from Sheldon that not even Amy has. And when they work together, they’re formidable, as they are in “The Scavenger Vortex,” where their respective strengths lead to victory in Raj’s scavenger hunt. The Young Sheldon series finale revealed that even years later, they remain in each other’s lives. Penny and Sheldon’s relationship goes beyond friendship and avoids romance to become something deeper: an unbreakable familial bond, the best in The Big Bang Theory history.
