Leonard has been a major fan favorite in The Big Bang Theory, and fans have often found him to be the most socially adaptable, unlike, of course, his roommate Sheldon who is very difficult to warm up to. Though Leonard is kind, generous and a good friend, he does have some problematic behavioral patterns.
But he has also suffered quite a bit throughout the show, sometimes owing to his unrequited love for Penny, and sometimes in the hands of Sheldon. Nevertheless, fans have broadly related to most of his underdog struggles, be it romantic or eccentric roommate-related. Here’s just a list of all the times fans felt sorry for him, and called him toxic.
10 Hated Him: When He Took Over Penny’s History Paper
Leonard is very aware of the differences between Penny and himself, be it professional or intellectual. Although it doesn’t take a toll on his feelings for her, unlike a certain TV paleontologist who had issues with a waitress girlfriend.
Penny also seems to be aware of how Leonard is always trying to make her smarter, grooming her in a way, to bring her up to his level, although not consciously. So, when Leonard learns that Penny is taking a history class in a city college, he redoes her paper so she could score better, even though Penny was very particular that she wanted to do it by herself.
9 Felt Sorry: When Penny Didn’t Say ‘I Love You’ Back
Penny and Leonard weren’t always on equal footing in their relationship, and Leonard’s feelings for her were quite intense. On the other hand, Penny wasn’t too keen about committing to Leonard, even though she clearly enjoyed being with him. Once things were solid between them Leonard told Penny he loved him when they were in bed together.
It threw her off because she was not expecting it, and she just responded with, “thank you.” This would eventually lead to their first split as Leonard couldn’t deal with the fact that Penny did not return his feelings and Penny did not want to string him along.
8 Hated Him: When He Was Ready To Cut Penny Out Of His Life
Leonard can be a pretty gullible boyfriend, especially since he’s always insecure in most of his relationships and worried about getting dumped. When Priya asked him to stop hanging out with Penny, he was clearly sad about it, but didn’t bring it up. He even went ahead and told Penny to move away that would make Priya comfortable.
Fans have called Leonard out as a really bad friend, especially since his and Penny’s relationship was founded on friendship and she trusted him implicitly, and it was shocking when Leonard actually gave in to Priya’s unrealistic demands.
7 Felt Sorry: When He Got Penny Her Money Back, But She Didn’t Realize It
Leonard has always been a good friend to Penny and when he realized that Penny was struggling financially and was owed money by her ex-boyfriend Kurt, Leonard decided to confront him. Leonard was of course, quite scared of Kurt and was intimidated by his size. Nevertheless, he went to see him with the gang and demanded that Kurt return Penny her money.
Kurt refuses to do so, and even draws some obscenities on his head. Shortly afterwards Penny tells Leonard that Kurt has paid her back and they are back together. However, Penny had no idea what had transpired between Kurt and Leonard and never found out about Leonard’s gesture.
6 Hated Him: Every Time Leonard Enabled Howard’s Creepy Behavior
The toxic behavior of the group, especially Howard has often been called out by fans. It’s no secret that Howard is misogynistic, sexist and quite openly predatory towards women.
And though Leonard himself does not endorse this behavior, he does very little to stop Howard’s creepy antics, even though Penny has relentlessly talked about how she feels uncomfortable in Howard’s presence. Leonard is most definitely an enabler because neither he nor Raj nor Sheldon ever made a big deal about how problematic Howard is, and have often trivialized his misogyny by making light of his comments.
5 Felt Sorry: When He Couldn't Fit In With Penny’s Friends
Leonard has always been aware that he’s not the kind of guy Penny is used to dating, and her social circle is very different from his. When Penny asks him to hang out with her friends during a soccer game at her apartment, he agrees but gets very anxious about trying to fit in.
It was sad in a way, because for Leonard it brought back his past struggles of not being able to gel with the so-called ‘cool kids’ at school. It didn’t help that he had no interest in football and had never sat through a single game before.
4 Hated Him: When Leonard Was Needlessly Jealous Of Penny’s Classmate
Leonard has some obvious insecurities about being with Penny, but at times he would let them get the better of him. When Penny goes back to college and makes a new guy friend, Leonard gets jealous of their relationship even before he had the chance to meet him. And that too just because he’s British.
As if that wasn’t enough, he even made a fool of himself when he tried to intimidate the guy and try him to stop hanging out with Penny.
3 Felt Sorry: Basically Any Time He Had To Put Up With Sheldon
It’s safe to say that Leonard was like a surrogate parent to Sheldon because the latter is basically just a tall, fussy child. Fans have wondered why Leonard chose to stay with Sheldon despite having to put up with several unreasonable whims and oddities, especially since they make his life so much harder.
But Leonard was obviously fond of Leonard and also worried about him, and had also come to realize that his life would be significantly easier if he just gave in to Sheldon’s whimsies.
2 Hated Him: When He Read Penny’s Journal
Though Penny did not make a big deal out of this, Leonard reading Penny's journal is a really problematic move. In the past, Leonard has compromised Penny’s privacy for his own selfish reasons, but reading a spouse’s journal is a red flag especially in the context of their relationship.
Leonard is acutely aware of how he and Penny are very different and share very different interests. Reading her journal to make her like him better or to manipulate her thoughts can be the sign of a really toxic marriage.
1 Felt Sorry: When Sheldon Made Him Wear The itchy Sweater For Days
Sheldon has often tried to explain his compulsive disorders to Leonard, and one day when he discovered that Leonard had forgotten to return a CD seven years ago, Sheldon decided to make it a teachable moment. Sheldon challenged him to track the owner of the video store, since it was already out of business, and return the CD just so Sheldon could feel better about his itch.
To explain to Leonard how he feels, Sheldon made him wear an old, scratchy sweater and explained that this is how uncomfortable he would feel inside until the CD was returned. Leonard obviously gave in and wore the sweater for days and suffered from a nasty itchy rash.
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