HBO’s The Big Bang Theory spinoff, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, is now halfway through its first season, and we have already been to some pretty crazy realities. By far, the universe in episode 5 of the show, titled Spoiler: Bert Gets Married, is the least problematic one. It is the gang - Stuart, Bert, Denise, and Kripke, especially the latter- who ruins their beautiful way of life and instigates infighting that might be the reason for their downfall. 

As said, they totally demolish a way of life in the most recent edition, and the narrative contains a crucial lesson for everyone in the real world. It is important to note, though, that Bert's brief moment of euphoria was a plus, with the show returning to its humorous and world-saving focus. And spoiler alert: there is no guest appearance from a series veteran this time.  

The episode starts with the gang getting the hang of the utopian culture they stumbled upon.

The group encountered a tribe in the middle of the woods at the conclusion of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, episode 4. As everyone gathered around them, this tribe appeared menacing, yet their lack of weaponry told it all. It was quickly discovered that they were peaceful individuals who were more than happy to have Stuart, Denise, Bert, and Kripke join them.

However, from our previous encounters with the other terrifying realities, we as an audience are a little skeptical of their true motives and keep looking for possible entrapments or something broken in their society. But unfortunately, there is nothing to find except love and innocence. However, Kripke makes sure to strip them of both.

There is this primitive tribe in this universe which, although it speaks modern English, is devoid of any modern concepts of capitalism or materialism, and even basic technology. They live in harmony, supporting each other and sharing everything with each other, without exception. There is no flaw in their way of living except that they are too naive for their own good.

This naivety gives way to Kripke’s manipulations creeping into this utopian world. He teaches them the concept of possession and the free market, while taking advantage of their custom that prioritizes giving pleasure to one another, and all kinds of pleasure (if you know what I mean). He rises in his standing in their society while fornicating his way through the navies.

However, it is not just Kripke who gets lucked out with their way of life; Bert also gets a piece of the cake.

Not every day does Bert get the chance to be with a beautiful woman. So, when this happens to Bert in this universe, he is beyond ecstatic and goes on to force the girl into a relationship, when naturally what she did was offer pleasure for his happiness and not because of love or attraction or anything. 

He teaches her the concept of monogamy and how it will make him happy to have her all to himself. This, of course, does not sit well with her other sleeping partner, who feels that their way of life is being threatened by this change. He panics even more when he sees what Kripke has been teaching to his people.  

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Anyhow, Bert has now crashed into the deep end here and is all ready to take the plunge, even though his tribal girlfriend does not understand the concept of marriage. He asks Stuart to be his best man, to which he reluctantly agrees after seeing how happy his best friend is. 

As his fate, written by the writers of the show in the last few episodes, would have it, his happiness would not last longer, as Stuart has been looking for a way to get out of the place.

Stuart gets more and more determined to discover who has been sending them the enigmatic signals directing their path when their device starts smoking. Being apart from their children, who were abandoned in the previous universe, is another issue he and Denise are dealing with. 

Leaving their children behind exacerbates the already terrible situation for Stuart and Denise, since they know they had a family they loved, even though that existence is no longer with them. Therefore, this seemingly perfect world does not hold much significance to him, as he has already left his perfect world behind.  

However, his time in this world did give his relationship with Denise some room to grow, and for the first time in the show, we could feel a bit of chemistry between this odd couple. But still, Stuart remains focus with endeaver to find a way out of this reality. He is looking for signs, as he believes someone is trying to guide him in his mission to save the world ever since the last episode. 

After searching through bear excrement for hints, Stuart finds another enigmatic message: "Use Red Quartz." Stuart deserves praise for digging right in because it was surprising that the proprietor of the comic bookstore would even consider sticking his hand in bear dung to search for clues. He did not doubt himself, which indicates that he is becoming a slightly more capable leader.

Coming back to Stuart’s quest home, Stuart finds the red quartz on the neck of a native, adorned as a necklace. He simply asked him for the necklace, believing that it would not be a problem considering their strong belief in sharing. But to his surprise, Kripke’s words had already taken root, and he refused Stuart’s request. He tried his best to acquire that necklace, but to no avail. He then had to lay off his efforts to fulfil Bert’s request to be his best man. 

The wedding sets up a chaotic and heartbreaking (particularly for Bert) finale, at the expense of the innocent tribe.

Bert cannot contain his happiness as he is finally about to get married, and the whole tribe is gathered for the wedding. He even forces Stuart, his best man, to sing to commemorate this joyous occasion. Stuart does so finally in his signature awkward manner. The song is more like torture than something mesmerizing, and Denise had to tell him to stop to put an end to this miserable act. 

After the song, the bride walks down the aisle and joins Bert, and Denise begins officiating the ceremony. However, the moment she asks if anyone has any objection to their union, her former sleeping partner comes forward, expressing his resentment at this blatant trampling of their way of life. When he confronts everyone about their increased leaning towards the concept of possession and capitalism, he is met with violence, which ultimately leads to an all-out brawl.

Amidst all the fighting, Stuart finally gets his hands on the red quartz, and he uses it to get out of the world with the gang, but without Bert’s girlfriend. They return to the comic bookstore, and everything once again seems normal. However, just when everyone was wondering what could be wrong with this universe, Denise reassures them that nothing seems to be wrong with this reality, while chewing on a leaf. 

The gang is now set for another crazy adventure in the next episode, but it is still hard to get over the fact that Bert had to walk away from his perfect world, where he was going to get what he wanted for a long time - companionship. Bert has been getting some of the most satisfying character arcs in some of the episodes, especially in the third episode, where he was the center of focus for once. Let us see what future episodes have in store for this beloved character.

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What do you think Bert will ever find his happy ending? Do let us know.