Penny and Alicia face off in the laundry room.
Alicia is Leonard, Penny and Sheldon's neighbor in the apartment above them. She appears in Season 2 Episode 19 "The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition."
Overview
Alicia first encounters Leonard and Sheldon when they meet in the lobby. She is slightly put off by Sheldon's random and odd questions, but he accepts her presence when she answers everything the way Sheldon likes it. Leonard, Howard, and Raj immediately fawn over her and do her multiple favors. In turn she flirts with them. Sheldon is the only exception, and she doesn't bother trying to flirt with him. Penny becomes annoyed and jealous by how the guys are acting and sees that Alicia is clearly using them for favors (even though she is not completely innocent in this category), and how Leonard is doing favors he promised for Alicia right away and not doing favors for Penny like he promised long ago. Like Penny, Alicia is an aspiring actress, but far more successful, managing to get small television and commercial roles.
Raj with Alicia.
Their new upstairs neighbor.
Penny tries to get the guys to pay more attention to her, but Alicia proves to be a tough rival; when Penny buys Chinese food for the guys, Alicia comes by and guides them away by asking for them to drive her to an audition, offering Chinese food as a reward. Naturally, the guys quickly forget about Penny.
When Penny encounters Alicia in the laundry room, it becomes apparent Alicia really is only interested in the guys for their favors. She questions Penny on how much physicists make, and is obviously not pleased with the answer. When Alicia says the guys are going to set up her satellite dish and paint her bedroom when they get back, Penny finds out this situation has to stop, so she calls her on it, prompting Alicia to imply Penny is a hypocrite as she does the same thing. She adds insult by calling Penny "bitch," resulting in a furious Penny to get into a fight. They spill over into the lobby and are watched by the guys in horror (and excitement by Howard). Afterwards the guys stop doing favors for Alicia. Later, Penny is shown with a black eye, implying Alicia may have won. Howard reveals she is seeing an executive from the show C.S.I. she is working on. They then hear Alicia having sex with him upstairs, which Sheldon confuses with them "jumping on the bed."
Penny taking on Alicia.
Similarities/differences with Penny
Similarities
- Both asked one of the guys to pick up a television she had left at her old apartment.
- Both can be flirtatious.
- Both are actresses (though Alicia is more successful because she uses sexual favors to get roles).
Differences
- Penny is friends with the guys while Alicia looks to them only for favors.
- Alicia is suggested to be a gold digger when she asks Penny about how much the guys make, implying she would have dated them for money.
- Penny has more morals; Alicia is clearly used to using her looks (and her bed) to get what she wants.
Trivia
- Alicia is played by Valerie Azlynn.
- She only appeared in the episode "The Dead Hooker Juxtaposition" and has not been seen or mentioned since. It is unknown whether she still lives in the Building, but if she does, she apparently has no contact with the guys.
