THE BIG BANG THEORY Experiences “The Good Guy Fluctuation”

At the comic book store, Leonard meets Alice (Courtney Ford), an attractive artist who tests his commitment to Priya. Meanwhile, Sheldon tries–and mostly fails–to scare the guys for Halloween.

Leonard is The Big Bang Theory‘s straight man and the most well-adjusted of the guys. The group probably wouldn’t have become friends without him, but as the supporting characters have been fleshed out and the scope of the series has expanded, Leonard is seldom the one with the dilemma on which an episode turns. “The Good Guy Fluctuation” not only gave him a dilemma, but also went to the core of his character exploring it.

With Priya working in India, it was only a matter of time before she and Leonard grew apart. This episode’s main question was, “At what point would Leonard cross the line from flirting to cheating?” He and Alice made out once at his apartment and once at hers. Some wouldn’t consider that cheating. Leonard argued that he stopped short of cheating, but simpler comic book morality would say he cheated.

Before he went to Alice’s apartment, Leonard went to Penny for advice. They hadn’t talked like this in a long while, but, significantly, when Penny asked him, “What does your gut tell you?” he said, “Go ask Penny. She’ll know what to do.” Though they aren’t a couple at the moment, Penny is still a part of Leonard’s conscience.

When Leonard confessed his indiscretion to Priya, she admitted she had slept with her ex-boyfriend a few weeks earlier. In terms of real-world relative morality, one would have to say Priya cheated more severely than Leonard did. I don’t know if they’ll break up from here. The timing seems ideal, but I’ve made that prediction before.