There is a kind of excitement now with Stuart Fails to Save the Universe as it gets closer and closer to the season finale. HBO’s The Big Bang Theory spin-off has done well for itself in getting the viewers all riled up for a carefree multiverse adventure that seemed not to take the universal threat so seriously at first, being indulgent in world-building and comedic set-ups rather than the mission at hand. The show has evolved, with the chaos now right on the nose and the audience asking at the end of each episode what will happen next.

As it happens, Stuart is having a positive character arc as the pressure mounts, inciting the better out of him with each episode. But episode 8, titled Spoiler: We’re as Confused as You’re, is the best of them all, where Stuart runs the whole show. How is that for character development? Anyways, the episode seemingly also brings the characters and audience a bit closer to the fix for the problem.

But first, the gang needs to survive a universe plunged into war and bloodshed in order to get to where they need to be.

Episode 7 of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe left us off in a universe where everyone was a centaur, and right until episode 8 began, I personally believed that we were going for an excursion in yet another crazy world. I was wrong, as the show is now choosing to keep the mission going without unnecessary distractions and world-building. 

As fascinating as it was for the gang exploring their centaur bodies, especially for Kripke, who did seem to take a liking to his down under, Stuart draws their attention to the mission. He suggests that they need to get their machine back, which got swapped in all the chaos and chasing in the last episode. He wants to go back to the previous universe where they lost track of the other versions of themselves to get their device.     

However, there is one tiny problem, which Denise astutely points out: there were guns firing all around them. Stuart reckons that they might try to transport to some other time in the same reality, which is a great plan only if he knows how to do it. Well, he starts tinkering with the machine to see if what he suggested can be done, and the very next moment, the device gets activated, sending them to the same universe at another time. 

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Things worked out just as Stuart had thought, but there is still a warring world out there that might just kill them at any moment, and they need to find their alternate versions in this sea of chaos.   

When they arrive in this universe, they are in army uniform just kike the alternate versions of themselves from the last episode. So, naturally, when they step outside to search for the other device, they get made out by a lieutenant, who is none other than Gary. Gary commands them to report back to the army camp, which is two clicks away. As bad as it was that they unwillingly got recruited, it was worse that they did not even know what a click means. They will absolutely do well on the battlefield (absolutely not).

When they arrive at the army camp, Gary gathers them to give what he thought was a motivating speech. Rather, it turned out to be a super depressing and dooming debrief of the reality they were about to face, followed by a prayer that can get anyone’s last remaining hope to disappear instantly. 

For all the positive character development Stuart was enjoying lately, the show did not miss an opportunity to gently tell us “hey, it is still Stuart.” Amidst heavy firing and explosions when they would need the device the most to get the heck out of the life-threatening situation, Stuart left the device at the camp where he thought it would be safe. But he forgot to factor in his own and his friends’ safety. 

It is moments like these that Kripke does not miss to rip into Stuart’s leadership with his sarcastic one-liners. While they were having a little chat about the oversight on Stuart’s part, Gary came all charged up, calling on them to follow in head-on to the enemy, which does not really work out for him personally. Let us just say we got a good rewind of the Sunny Corleone assassination from The Godfather.

What was hilarious was when the Sergeant tried to do the same thing; Kripke shot him in the back before he even had the chance to get out of the trenches. He defended his actions by saying that it was to protect them so they would not have to follow him to the same fate. Later, at night, he did not show even a morsel of remorse over his actions, and something felt strange about the way he was taking in all these things, which might indicate that the show might set him up for a dark path towards the end of the season.

Well, the next day brings the same mission and some new challenges hindering them from reaching their goal.

Like it was not already bad enough that the unlikely bunch got themselves a death penalty, but to get to the why of things, we need to back up a little bit. The next morning, they get to know that they have a new Commanding Officer, and surprise, surprise, it is Dean Joseph Norris, who played Hank Schrader in Breaking Bad. His appearance was a surprise, but it was worth every moment. His humor and his motivational speech (definitely better than Gary’s) were very on point. 

By the time he finishes his speech and orders the men into battle, Stuart has changed his tactics from finding the other device in the universe to getting out of the universe as soon as possible. He and the gang take off in the other direction from the rest of the soldiers to get to their device but get caught in the process.

They are locked in a prison cell on account of cowardice, treason, murder, mutiny, and espionage. They are tried in front of a bench of high-ranking officers, and their representation, which is the alternate version of President Siebert from The Big Bang Theory, does not look competent enough. For starters, he does not trust that they have a case, and second, he starts shaking when he sees that their opposing counsel is Penny, whom he refers to as “Firing Squad Penny.” 

This universe’s Penny, of course, is not friends with the group, as she ruthlessly tears into their defense, which was nothing to begin with thanks to Siebert and Stuart’s failed attempt at explaining the truth, which gets them the death penalty in no time. They are sentenced to death by firing squad, which makes Penny happy, but she might have a last-minute proposition for them to save their lives. All they need to do is transmit fake battle plans to the enemy through their device, which Penny believes is something they have been using for espionage.

Stuart agrees to the proposition, slyly trying to get ready for an escape with the others, but a slight hiccup means Penny also gets dragged in with them and ends up in the centaur world. They abandon her there to go a few worlds back, and it turns out that the alternate versions of themselves in military uniforms in episode 7 were just their future selves, which is them right now reliving that exact moment. 

They try to outrun their past selves but end up in a strange world where they get trapped in a comic book, and a strange entity called “The Adversary” is instructing Trevor and Kyle about their simple mission to keep them trapped in the comic no matter what. The gang is obviously confused as to what is happening, and before we can get any context of the situation, the episode ends.

It is safe to say that this was the most eventful episode in the show so far, where many things happen, and we get dragged deeper into the sci-fi part of it. The mission that once seemed simple enough at the start has now become more and more complicated with alternate versions and future and past selves in the mix. It has really become hard to keep track of things now, and honestly, that is where the fun of all this pandemonium lies. Now, only the last two episodes are left before the first season ends, and there is still lots left to uncover.

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What do you think the entity’s main goal in all this could be? Do let us know.