Younger Sheldon was actually narrated by older Sheldon, one of many many extra dramatic departures that the spin off made out of The Big Bang Theory. Nonetheless, there has lengthy been a fan principle floating on-line that whereas there isn’t a literal narrator in TBBT, the sitcom makes extra sense if seen by way of the lens of 1 particular character: Leonard.
The Large Bang Idea is constructed round Leonard and Penny’s relationship, from their assembly within the pilot to their controversial being pregnant arc in season 12. Leonard never changes in TBBT, seeing himself because the everyman surrounded by greater personalities – so that’s how the viewers sees him, too. He’s the quintessential viewers surrogate.
On nearer rewatch, many storylines make way more sense if the sequence is Leonard’s biased retelling. The season 2 arc with Dr. Stephanie Barnett is the clearest instance—Leonard is framed because the lovable underdog, however his actions edge nearer to manipulative and even villainous. That mismatch is precisely why he seems like TBBT’s hidden narrator.
Dr. Stephanie’s Arc In Season 2 Has To Be Instructed From Leonard’s Level Of View – In any other case, He’d Be The Villain
Leonard Steals Stephanie From Howard, Then Makes Up A Cause To Dump Her
In The Large Bang Idea season 2, episode 8, Howard Wolowitz invitations Dr. Stephanie Barnett to drive the Mars rover, however when she crashes it, Wolowitz desperately asks Leonard to take Stephanie residence. We don’t see how Leonard wins her over, however they’re already making out after one quick automotive trip.
The episode frames Stephanie and Leonard as equally culpable for betraying Howard – nonetheless, Stephanie had simply met him that night time, whereas Leonard is allegedly certainly one of Howard’s finest buddies. The present implies it’s okay that Leonard is mendacity by omission to his buddy as a result of Howard was a real creep in the early TBBT seasons.
Leonard is doing a foul factor, however he isn’t the dangerous man. This solely is smart if this story is being framed from Leonard’s perspective.
Stephanie seems to be an ideal girlfriend – not solely Sheldon-approved, however in a position to finest Sheldon. In TBBT season 2, episode 10, Sheldon abuses Stephanie’s medical data till she actually shuts him up with a pretend larynx irritation – or a “Sheldonectomy.”
Nonetheless, even when Leonard can’t admit it to himself, Stephanie can’t be the right girlfriend as a result of he’s nonetheless holding out hope of being with Penny. That’s why Leonard manufactures a cause to panic concerning the relationship, realizing it’s shifting too shortly when Penny and Sheldon level out that Stephanie has successfully moved in.
Leonard was keen to threat his friendship with Howard over Stephanie, solely to unceremoniously break up together with her off-screen after season 2, episode 10. Even the truth that the breakup goes unexplained—because it doesn’t play into Leonard’s bigger narrative about his love story with Penny—reinforces the sense that this story is being instructed from Leonard’s POV.
Actually, Every thing From The Large Bang Idea Makes Extra Sense If It’s From Leonard’s Level Of View
Sheldon & Howard’s Exaggerated Quirks & Sequence Inconsistencies Are Extra Forgivable
Should you view The Large Bang Idea by way of Leonard’s perspective, the sequence’ exaggerated quirks all of a sudden make extra sense. Sheldon’s not possible habits feels much less like realism and extra like how an exhausted roommate perceives him—amplified and relentless. Howard’s crudeness additionally makes extra sense when seen as Leonard’s sexual rival, who conveniently mellows as soon as each males settle into long-term relationships.
Even Penny and Bernadette’s sudden switches about pregnancy really feel softer when filtered by way of Leonard’s perspective. He doesn’t perceive ladies, which is why they at all times felt underwritten or archetypal on the present. Leonard, a considerably anxious and self-centered narrator, would naturally body occasions round how they affected him quite than sustaining strict continuity.
The inconsistencies throughout twelve seasons—relations launched after which forgotten, shifting arcs that don’t at all times add up—are additionally simpler to forgive if TBBT is much less about excellent continuity and extra about Leonard’s selective reminiscence. It’s a extra satisfying rewatch if The Large Bang Idea is seen by way of the filter of Leonard’s biased, usually unreliable model of occasions.
- Launch Date
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2007 – 2019-00-00
- Showrunner
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Mark Cendrowski
