In the 2010s, the dominance of sitcoms on network televisionbegan to fade. A few, however, continued to keep the genre alive, and none were bigger than CBS‘ The Big Bang Theory. Chuck Lorre‘s series ran for an impressive 12 seasons, lasting from 2007-2019. During that time, it stayed as popular as ever thanks to its fun premise of four nerds navigating life and love in California. As with all sitcoms, the series finale brought closure to the wild cast of characters. Some find career success, others move, and in the usual trope, two find out that they’re going to become parents. But then there’s poor Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar). After growing so much over a dozen years, his trajectory felt like he was going to finally find love in the end. Instead, The Big Bang Theory gave Raj the most unsatisfying final chapter.
Raj Had Grown the Most as a Character on ‘The Big Bang Theory’
The Big Bang Theory is built around a well-worn but successful sitcom idea of a group of friends, with some living just across the hall, getting into all sorts of shenanigans because of their personalities. It was a familiar premise that had worked so often before in shows like Seinfeld, Friends, and countless others. The Big Bang Theory shook things up with something new because of who its lead characters were. The comedy series focused on four nerds who were geniuses in their jobs, yet absolutely awkward when it came to social situations. Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) is an aerospace engineer who fancies himself a ladies’ man, but is in reality a momma’s boy who doesn’t have a clue. Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and his roommate Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) are talented physicists, yet Leonard is a mess around his next-door neighbor Penny (Kaley Cuoco), and Sheldon acts as if the world revolves around him.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Rounding out the foursome is astrophysicist Raj Koothrapali. He’s absolutely brilliant, and he’s also the most emotionally stunted of the friends. Raj is a hopeless romantic. All he wants to do is fall in love. He’s held back, though, by a crippling fear of women so life-altering that he can’t even speak around attractive members of the opposite sex. The fun and charming Raj completely disappears whenever Penny or another female enters the room. He can only be himself if he gets drunk first, and that’s never a good idea.
Part of what holds Raj back is his upbringing. His parents are rich, and he has depended on them all of his life. In many ways, he’s still a child who has never believed enough in himself to be completely independent. As the seasons of The Big Bang Theory progress, Raj evolves, becoming able to speak around the opposite sex. It doesn’t lead to a long-lasting love though. While he does date and has girlfriends, he often pushes them away. For someone who wants love so badly, he doesn’t know how to do it.
Raj Doesn’t Find Love When ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Ends
The Big Bang Theory is about the evolution of Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj. The first three men grow through finding the loves of their lives. Leonard finally lands Penny. Sheldon meets the equally awkward Amy (Mayim Bialik). And Howard marries and has a family with Bernadette (Melissa Rauch). In the series finale, the two-part “The Change Constant” and “The Stockholm Syndrome,” we see further progression of their characters. Sheldon and Bernadette are a solid couple, and together they win a Nobel Prize in Physics. Sheldon gives a touching speech about his friends, showing that he knows life is no longer all about him. As for Penny and Leonard, they learn that they’re going to be parents. Howard doesn’t have a huge final plot. As a married man with two kids who has gone to space, he already has the world. This leaves Raj.
One of the easiest ways for a sitcom to manipulate an audience is through romance. Several times during The Big Bang Theory, a new female character entered the scene, allowing the audience to think this might finally be the woman Raj will end up with for his happily ever after. Instead, again and again, these women disappear. So Raj will certainly meet her in the series finale, right? The audience will get some scene of him having a great conversation with a new woman; they’ll give each other a certain look, and we’ll know that, even though we won’t be there to see the journey, Raj just found the person he’ll end up with.
Instead, The Big Bang Theory does the exact opposite with Raj. He finds no one. The last season has him engaged to Anu (Rati Gupta) in an arranged marriage. He’s all set to move away with her, only for Howard to stop him because Raj shouldn’t settle. Raj realizes that his friend is right and decides to stay in California. It’s great that he won’t settle just so he won’t be alone, but as the series ends, he is more single than ever, with his friends being enough. His confidence in himself should be celebrated. Still, this wasn’t the way to get there. Raj should have come to this realization earlier in the last season, with the final batch of episodes showing him meeting the one he will marry. His growth and desire for love had felt like Chekhov’s gun for 12 years. In the end, he was ready for love, but while everyone else is allowed to find it, he’s denied. His arc and the audience of The Big Bang Theory deserved a satisfying payoff.
