Big Bang Theory Season 2 Finale Reaction: Leonard and Penny's Slow Burn Finally Feels Real to Me

The moment that stuck with me most across this stretch of Big Bang Theory season 2 is Penny slipping and saying "Oh, Leonard" while she is kissing Stuart. That is the instant this slow burn finally started to feel real to me.

The comic book store trip sets the tone. Watching Stuart calmly win Penny over while Leonard freezes up taught me something about the group's dynamic: Leonard is not confident enough, Howard is way too confident, and Stuart's relaxed, funny approach in the middle is what actually works. When Leonard later gets a real shot with Penny back at her apartment and blows it by staying up arguing with Sheldon over which Robin should replace Batman, I could not get over it. "He had it," I said, and he still chose a comic book debate over the girl.

The Vegas trip gave me one of my favorite beats of the whole stretch: Howard being cheered up with a hired date and never once caring how he got her. "Howard is not the guy that will ever get upset about you hooking him up with a lady. Doesn't matter how you get her as long as you get her," and watching him walk off proud rather than embarrassed made me root for him even harder. I also loved Sheldon dragging himself into Penny's bed to sing Soft Kitty, then quietly thanking her, because underneath his chaos he clearly adores her and she handles him better than anyone.

Penny's slip of Leonard's name during her date with Stuart, followed by her gift of a Snuggie for his North Pole trip and her admission that she will miss him, is what convinces me she is falling for him even if she will not say it outright. By the time Sheldon's prank about her secretly wanting Leonard turns out to be a joke, I already believe the opposite is true. That is why I keep coming back to the idea that patience wins here: "Leonard, nice and slow, always wins the race," and by the finale's North Pole decision, with the whole group choosing to go for a once in a lifetime opportunity rather than let a relationship hold them back, I am fully convinced he is closing in on her.

Do you think Penny already knows she has feelings for Leonard, or is she still fighting it?