Compared to other TV shows, The Big Bang Theory didn’t give its characters as many overarching storylines. The characters would generally have plots that recurred throughout the show in small segments or were specific to certain episodes. Howard Wolowitz is perhaps the character who got the most of these during the show’s run.
Having started out as a weird, girl-obsessed man, he eventually became a responsible adult with a family. Still, Howard had more than several plot arcs that either didn’t lead to anything or didn’t align with how his character worked. For this reason, it’s worth checking out the storylines of this aerospace engineer that left viewers scratching their heads.
Howard's Issues With Bernadette Making More Money Than Him
This was a storyline that took effect at the end of Season 4 after Bernadette completed her Ph.D. Following this, Howard started having problems with his girlfriend making more money than him, leading to a fight in the season finale.
Having been raised by a single mother and surrounded by female physicists at work, it didn’t make sense as to why Howard would have had a problem with his girlfriend’s earnings. This was probably why this story was dropped by Season 5, although Howard later mooching off Bernadette’s money made for an even bigger contrast to this angle since his initial problems don’t match with how he behaved later.
The Mystery Behind His Father
Some fans consider Howard to be the main character since he has the most genuine storylines. This one, though, never got a proper conclusion and was confusing to begin with. For some reason, Howard kept going off never knowing his father even though one episode centered around him receiving a letter from him.
It was clear his father did want to reconnect but Howard had been the one to opt-out of it. And yet, this arc continued in later seasons where Howard again bemoaned that his father’s disappearance was a mystery - he even mentioned this to his half-brother. It made no sense for him to not get over this abandonment when he had the chance to do so.
His Sudden Need To Make Money
Howard started freaking out after Bernadette got pregnant and realized he needed to make money to provide for his family. This paved the way for the gyroscope storyline, but it had stemmed from Howard’s story of wanting to earn another income.
This didn’t align with his character, however, as Howard had earlier been very happy with the fact that Bernadette made more money than him. What’s more, the gyroscope storyline then somehow negated Howard’s need for money as he stopped worrying about it altogether, making all of it pointless.
His Reluctance To Be With Bernadette
Howard’s resistance to the idea of Bernadette being his girlfriend isn’t a story fans particularly like as he came across shallow for wanting a supermodel quality woman when he wasn’t a great catch himself. Moreover, it didn’t fit his character either since Howard had never really shown any standards.
The story had seen Howard get over his inner conflict of wanting a girl like Katee Sackhoff and realizing he truly loved Bernadette, but this was the same Howard who had made a fool out of himself to impress any girl that even looked at him. For this reason, it made no sense why he would be reluctant to romance a woman who was interested in him.
His Insecurity With Bernadette's Ex-Boyfriend
In Season 4, Howard came across Bernadette’s handsome and extremely tall ex-boyfriend, which began the episode’s plot of his becoming jealous of her ex. In addition to being petty throughout the episode, it didn’t have much logic attached either.
After all, Howard had been shown to prefer women who were experienced with dating, having hooked up with the likes of Leslie Winkle earlier. Considering he had once happily pursued Penny after seeing the sizes of her huge ex-boyfriends, feeling threatened by the size of Bernadette’s ex shouldn’t have been a thing.
The Pursuit Of A Doctorate That Led To Nothing
After bearing the brunt of Sheldon’s remarks against him for too long, Howard decided to get a doctorate. The episode made it clear that Howard genuinely did want to pursue the doctorate and his squabbles with Sheldon were only temporary.
This storyline ended up just for that particular episode as Howard wasn’t shown studying for the Ph.D. again. In addition, since Howard had been content with the fact that he was an astronaut and had used it as a counter to Sheldon’s insults, his pursuit of the doctorate didn’t match his earlier way of thinking.
His Anger At The Leonard-Stephanie Romance
This was a short storyline in the middle of the second season where Howard was infuriated after Stephanie -- the girl he had tried to impress -- had hooked up with Leonard instead. This plotline saw Leonard then attempt to win Howard’s friendship back.
What doesn’t make sense is why Howard was angered to begin with, seeing as he had made a move at Penny earlier knowing full well that Leonard had been interested in her. In Season 5, Howard had claimed to have Leonard’s back when Raj appeared to have hooked up with Penny, despite the fact that he had attempted the same and given grief to Leonard over the Stephanie situation.
His Reluctance To Be A Stay-At-Home Dad
After the birth of his second child, Howard realized he liked being a dad and considered quitting his job. Later on, he felt affectionate toward his workplace and became reluctant to stay at home. The failing in logic for this story has to do with common sense.
After all, seeing as Howard did earn less than Bernadette it made sense for him to leave his job. Along with that, Howard had been the one to suggest the idea in the first place, making this U-turn something that came out of nowhere.
The Reveal Of His Sabotage Of The Mars Rover
In Season 4, Howard was being profiled by the FBI and Sheldon accidentally revealed his mishap with Mars Rover in the second season. This opened up a storyline where Howard’s career was backtracked as he was denied access to the project.
However, it shouldn’t have been an issue at all since the second season had shown that Howard’s accident had inadvertently pointed to potential life on Mars. Since he was revealed to be the one behind the incident, Howard should have been promoted rather than admonished.
His Entire Arc With Sheldon
This was Howard and Sheldon’s longest-running storyline, concerning Sheldon’s lack of respect toward Howard. It was finally resolved in the series finale when Sheldon gave Howard his due credit of being an astronaut.
Still, it was hard to believe that Sheldon and Howard could be friends the whole time, as their arc was essentially filled with hostility from both sides. There’s also the fact that the two were shown to put their annoyances with each other behind them several times, only to return to it by the next episode as if they hadn’t reconciled.