15 Reasons 'The Big Bang Theory' Is So Much Darker Than Anyone Ever Noticed

Redditor /u/thetheoryguys claims Sheldon is in a mental institution, perhaps even for offing his father and his father's mistress. They go on to say that both Sheldon and Leonard are in this Los Angeles facility - Leonard was admitted there after being lobotomized by the government for giving up secrets to North Korea. The show's other characters are also residents or doctors there.

According to the theory, Penny is a failed actress who turned to substance use and sex work before ultimately landing in the facility; Amy is a neurologist who works at the institution, and she feeds into her obsession with Sheldon by studying his brain; Raj is a doctor there instead of an astrophysicist, at the behest of his parents; and Howard is the facility's "caretaker" who occasionally engages in intimate activities with Raj because he can't seduce women.

Redditor /u/Pick234 claims that Howard's mother doesn't actually exist: "Howard [is] just crazy and lonely and uses ventriloquism to speak for her. Also, all of his friends like him so much and either A, believe him or B, don't want to break it to him that she isn't there, either out of love, or fear that he would snap."

Redditor /u/Sarahmint's theory makes the troubling claim that Sheldon is a sociopath based on his behavior: "Sheldon is highly intelligent, very selfish, and understands human interaction to the point of being highly manipulative while remaining uninterested in people who cannot be useful to him in some way."

They continue: "He used his gf as a human shield and talks about Queen Bees to his female friend while lying that it has nothing to do with her social life, when it clearly does."

Redditor /u/numbertheory argues that Penny is a spy, citing a number of facts about her life that don't quite add up. Firstly, Penny merely maintaining a cover of "struggling actress," which is why she never makes a concerted effort to further her acting career. Secondly, she isn't really struggling financially, evidenced by the fact that she can afford to live alone in a nice Pasadena apartment while only working as a restaurant server for income.

The theorist also argues that Penny is technologically adept - as evidenced when she steals Leonard and Sheldon's WiFi - and uses gaming dependency as cover to spy on Sheldon remotely. She also doesn't seem to have a social life outside of her neighbors. The theory argues she only engaged in her previous romantic entanglements to lure Leonard, and this lack of real connections is further proof of her secret identity. 

The Redditor believes she is spying on her neighbors because the infamous elevator incident alerted authorities to two potentially dangerous scientists living in Pasadena. These scientists let missile secrets slip to a North Korean spy, so Penny - an American agent - was sent to monitor the situation.

Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon, responded to a few of these fan theories in 2017, one of which claims that Bernadette is a cyborg created by Howard. The theory is based on three assertions: Howard is a world-class engineer, Bernadette shares many traits with Howard's mother, and "normal" women don't like Howard.

The third note is perhaps the theory's strongest piece of evidence. In response, Parsons asked a thought-provoking question: "Don't we all build our own romantic cyborg?"

Redditor /u/ConspirOC believes that Bernadette has grown angrier and more disrespectful throughout the course of the show. Rather than attributing this change to her stressful marriage, the theorist claims the Bernadette seen on the show is actually a series of Bernadette clones, created after her immoral research organization experimented on her. The Redditor stated: 

Every time she is regenerated, she remembers that she is a clone and is spliced with the memories of the old Bernadette, but part of her remembers and resents Howard for entrapping her in a marriage she didn't want and knowing she won't live long enough to grow to love him before she is [eliminated], despite him being kind of an *ss. She always remembers that she loves him but can't... feel it.