The Amy Scene That Went Too Far On The Big Bang Theory

Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) attracted a lot of sympathy and a number of fans when she became Sheldon Cooper's (Jim Parsons) steady sweetheart in Season 5 on the award-winning CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory." After her introduction in the Season 3 finale, and then throughout the rest of the series, the neurobiologist goes from casually dating Sheldon to becoming the love of his life, his wife, and his partner-in-science. It's a story arc that ultimately ends in the couple winning a Nobel Prize.

Amy is so eager to please, desperate for Sheldon to see her as a love interest, and she tries so hard to earn the trust of Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz (Melissa Rauch) that sometimes it's hard to remember that she does some less-than-kind things to her new friends as she settles into Sheldon's social circle. In fact, she can sometimes be quite the instigator, causing fights between Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and Sheldon. Also, there are times her friendship with Penny seems to be imbalanced, with Amy getting overly attached, however innocent her intentions are. Remember when she pressures Penny into hanging a portrait she makes of them even though Penny didn't like it? And let's not forget she demands Penny have children, even though Penny repeatedly says she doesn't want them. In this instance, Amy's outrage is selfish; she wants Leonard and Penny to procreate so that Amy's presumptive kids with Sheldon will have playmates.

However, there's one Amy scene on "The Big Bang Theory" that trumps all these moments when it comes to actions that go way too far.

As much as Amy seems to treasure her relationships with "Penny's Posse" (the name given to the Penny-Bernadette-Amy friendship group on "The Big Bang Theory"), she sometimes puts her self-interests above what her friends need or want. In addition to her sometimes-smothering friendship with Penny, she can occasionally be very self-absorbed around Bernadette. This trait usually helps to round her character out, but it can also prove to be annoying at times.

During Season 5, Bernadette and Howard begin to plan their wedding. Penny and Amy are a huge part of that process; Amy is even named maid of honor. What promises to be a joyful occasion becomes a day where Amy makes Bernadette's nuptials all about her and her desire to be seen as important and worthy. When she learns Bernadette and Howard are forgoing the big ceremony and pushing up the wedding date before he heads to Russia as part of a NASA mission that will see him spend months on the International Space Station, Amy reacts poorly and becomes a nuisance instead of helping Bernadette.

The situation comes to a head during one particular scene in Season 5, Episode 24, "The Countdown Reflection." Amy shows up at Bernadette and Howard's city hall wedding in a tiara and her maid of honor dress. She is forthright about her anger that she won't get to be part of a big wedding. She does not hide her annoyance at being forced to attend a small-scale wedding, which in turn encourages her rudeness. When the ceremony gets pushed back due to the number of people ahead of them, Amy decides to offer up her services to the other waiting couples on the off chance they need a maid of honor. 

Amy's act of selfishness doesn't end there. Later in the episode, Howard and Bernadette are finally married on the apartment complex's roof by their friends after they all get ordained online. Once again, Amy again attempts to be the center of attention. As she thanks Bernadette for giving her a role in the ceremony, she offers to be her maid of honor again "if the marriage craps out."

This is an enormously selfish gesture from Amy, and it doesn't reflect very well on her hopes for Bernadette and Howard's future as a couple. It's the sort of action that makes one wonder why Bernadette asked Amy to take part in the ceremony at all instead of relying on Penny, who actively encourages Bernadette and Howard to get back together after a massive fight that happens in the wake of his bachelor party. At least Penny has actual faith that the couple will stay married; Amy seems mostly to be in it for the glory. 

While it's easy enough to explain Amy's self-centered behavior as a facet of her own lack of self-worth and need for love and attention, it pushes the envelope as to acceptable behavior as a friend, let alone a maid of honor. While her selfishness continues to pop up as a character trait throughout the ensuing seasons of "The Big Bang Theory," it is never quite as bad as it is in this episode. Her actions leave a bad taste in the viewer's mouths and leave fans side-eyeing Bernadette for keeping Amy in her group of friends.