The Big Bang Theory’s latest episode may have laid the grounds for the eventual reveal that Amy (Mayim Bialik) is pregnant. Returning for their 17th episode out of their final 24 after another short hiatus, the gang helped Howard (Simon Helberg) look after his two kids while Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) went to a weekend conference in San Diego.
After initially refusing to help with Howard with Halley and Michael, Sheldon (Jim Parsons) eventually came around and followed the guys to the Wolowitzs’ house with Amy after he stumbled upon a book titled Experimenting with Babies, which lists down a slew of scientific practices that can be done on kids. Not one to refuse any opportunity for further investigative work in the name of science, Sheldon was hoping that some of the experiments can be done on Howard and Bernie’s babies. After much deliberation from the gang, they eventually performed some of them, and before he realized it, Sheldon was involved even with normal baby stuff.
As it turns out, Amy planted that baby book for Sheldon to see in the hopes of getting him to be interested in kids - a detail that didn’t go unnoticed by Raj (Kunal Nayyar). He confronted Amy regarding this scheme, expressing his doubt that it would actually result in his husband genuinely becoming engrossed in children enough that he would want his own. Amy, who was already seeing results of her mini ploy, just shrugged off Raj’s skepticism. Lo and behold, by the time he was done with his “experiments,” Sheldon could not stop talking about babies.
While this is a particularly clever ploy by Amy to get her husband to be open about wanting a family, we already know that Sheldon wants kids, as he’s repeatedly said so over the last few years. Amy knows this too, having had this conversation a few times, so there’s really no need for her to go through this lengths to convince Sheldon to have a family with her. Additionally, the timing to start a family couldn’t be any worse considering that they’re both busy with their professional careers with Super Asymmetry potentially making them Nobel Prize in Physics awardees. It seems strange for Amy to have babies on the brain right now… unless, of course, she’s already pregnant and testing the waters to see how Sheldon will act around real babies. Seeing him eventually warm up to Howard and Bernadette’s kids could be the reassurance that Amy needed before delivering her big news.
We already know that Sheldon and Amy will have kids, as revealed in Young Sheldon season 1 finale, though it’s uncertain if it’s going to be directly addressed in the last few episodes of The Big Bang Theory. It make sense that CBS would want to further link the two shows as they position the prequel spin-off to be their number 1 sitcom after Big Bang Theory wraps up, and it would be a clever follow-up to their first and last crossover episode late last year. It’s no secret that a big chunk of The Big Bang Theory fan community isn’t sold on Young Sheldon just yet, as they feel like it’s rewriting much of the established canon pertaining to the titular character. However, if they’re able to further establish that the two shows inhabit the same reality, perhaps they can win the doubters over.
Assuming that Amy is indeed pregnant, this makes it even more interesting to see how The Big Bang Theory will resolve Penny and Howard’s (Johnny Galecki) baby-dilemma. The show finally put the Hofstadters on the same page about having kids a couple of episodes ago, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they’ll pull a surprise reveal that Penny might also be pregnant.
More: Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Should Have Ended Up With Young Sheldon’s Paige
The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon air Thursday nights on CBS.
