The Big Bang Theory Fans Still Confused About the Fate of One Character

The Big Bang Theory’s historic run on CBS ended after 12 seasons in 2019. While it has been finished for six calendar years now it has remained relevant like other sitcom greats such as Friends, The Office, Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother, All in the Family, Seinfeld, and many more thanks to streaming services, syndication, and social media. Years later, fans continue to discuss and debate the show, especially on The Big Bang Theory Reddit page. To this end, one of the top posts this week is a post confused about the fate of one specific character. And judging by the comments, there are many confused about the fate of this Leonard love interest.

In sitcoms — especially ones that run 12 seasons — it is common to see a wide range of side characters come and go. The Big Bang Theory was no exception. However, sometimes the character’s departure is cleanly communicated in the show, and other times characters just stop showing up with no explanation or at least no good explanation. The Big Bang Theory had plenty examples of this.

One example of the latter is Dr. Stephanie Barnett, who pops up in Season 2 for three episodes as a love interest of Leonard. During these three episodes, some fans think she was built up to be a reoccurring character. And then she’s gone. More than this she leaves in a rather mysterious fashion.

“Was Dr. Stephanie Barnett supposed to have a recurring role in Season 2 after she appeared in 3 episodes dating Leonard,” reads one of the top posts on The Big Bang Theory Reddit page this week. “I feel like that was the case similar to Priya. I always found it odd she mysteriously disappeared after three episodes. It seemed like she was going to have a recurring character but it seemed it got scrapped.

Was Dr. Stephanie Barnett supposed to have a recurring role in Season 2 after she appeared in 3 episodes dating Leonard?
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Both the popularity of the post, and a number of comments, echo the sentiment of the post. While some float theories as to why the character leaving was not communicated very clearly, citing the fact that because Leonard tries to break up with her via text to only end up meeting with her for some intimate time. This was clearly meant to be the sign off for a character, but it clearly didn’t communicate as much to many fans, which is why characters with a few episodes typically got an on-screen break up in the show.

“I always found her disappearance weird,” reads one of the comments on the post above. “Her and Leonard were still together in the last episode she was seen/mentioned, and although he had some problems they didn’t break up. She then just never appeared again. I think they should have at least had a ‘I broke up with Stephanie’ line in the next episode.”

For what it is worth, this is not a new sentiment. At the time, some fans of the show were definitely surprised to never see Barnett again, with some even suggesting over the years it was a missed opportunity by the show.

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