SPOILER ALERT: The story includes details about Episode 2 of HBO Max’s Stuart Fails To Save the Universe.
After Denise (Lauren Lapkus) got separated from Stuart (Kevin Sussman), Bert (Brian Posehn) and Kripke (John Ross Bowie) at the end of the first episode of Stuart Fails To Save the Universe as the guys were transported from the post-apocalyptic CalTech lab to an alternate universe, Stuart made it his mission to find Denise — or that alternate reality’s version of her.
He tracked her down to find her “happily” married to Gary (Tommy Walker), the same guy who was Denise’s boyfriend in post-apocalyptic Pasadena in the premiere where he was senselessly killed by CalTech guards.
Happily is in quotes because in that universe, society is ruled by an evil AI through a buzzer on everyone’s neck which sends electric shocks through their body if they express any negative emotion.
“Denise, you and I are destined to be together, and I have come from a parallel universe to claim you,” Stuart said while sitting in Denise and Gary’s living room.
Deadline asked Sussman about Stuart’s gutsy move.
”That’s interesting that you bring that up because that’s pretty un-Stuart like,” he said. “So I guess if there is some growth for Stuart, it’s that his love for her pushes him into a kind of assertiveness that he never would have had on the original show.”
Lupkus spoke about Denise’s unhappy marriage, which had driven her to drinking, and Stuart’s arrival.
“In that universe, we have buzzers on our necks that stop us from ever being rude or saying what like anything that’s not totally happy, so she’s conditioned at that point to just act like everything’s fine, and to have someone coming into her apartment saying like, you don’t have to live like this like, I’m gonna get you out of here, she can’t even react because she knows that she’ll just be writhing on the floor,” Lapkus said. “So I think, as we see later, she gets swept up in it with him, but then her real feelings for him start to return, and she can feel again.”
Added Sussman, ” Yeah, and it actually is a good metaphor for anybody who’s ever felt stuck in a relationship.”
What about Gary? Once again, he was left behind as by the end of the episode, Denise had joined Stuart, Bert and Kripke, and she and Stuart were seen holding hands while leaping into the next universe together.
“I think Denise has some sort of love for Gary, even if he’s the wrong guy for her, because she’s excited to see him every time she sees him, and she’s back with him over and over again,” Lapkus said. “There are those people in your life where you’re like, you got to break up with that guy, but she kind of likes him for some weird reason, and then she cares for him, so when he’s killed over and over, that’s also pretty upsetting.”
Added Sussman, “It’s bad enough when your loved one is murdered once.”