Denise

 The Big Bang Theory history

Denise is the assistant manager of Stuart’s comic book store, the Comic Center of Pasadena, and his girlfriend. She was hired when the store started to become busier, bringing both comic book knowledge and a confident social presence to the business.

Denise was able to hold her own with the regular customers, including Sheldon, and even understood his comic book preferences. Her shared interests with Stuart helped their relationship develop, particularly after he impressed her with his Star Wars knowledge at Sheldon and Amy’s wedding.

By the end of The Big Bang Theory, Denise and Stuart were in a steady relationship, giving Stuart a rare positive turn in his personal life.

 Stuart Fails to Save the Universe history

101 “Spoiler: Gary Dies”

When we meet Denise in 101 “Spoiler: Gary Dies”, she is surviving the post-apocalyptic ruins of Pasadena by robbing people at a marketplace outside the Rose Bowl. She pulls a gun on Stuart and Bert after observing Stuart bartering for floss. Denise and Stuart are shocked to find the other alive, having each believed their former partner was dead.

Denise is now with Gary, her boyfriend and partner in crime, whose previous girlfriend was killed by cannibals. Denise explains she gets by robbing people, although she is still working on her screenplay. After Stuart explains that an alternate version of himself sent him on a mission to Caltech to fix reality, Denise and Gary are sure he and Bert are going to die.

Despite their misgivings, Denise and Gary catch up with Stuart and Bert outside the heavily armed perimeter of Caltech to help. Gary reveals that he is a former Army Special Forces soldier and offers to create a diversion. He is killed immediately, leaving Denise grieving even as Stuart begins hoping they will get back together. As the three of them are held captive inside Caltech, Denise learns that Stuart was telling the truth when a long-imprisoned Raj explains that Sheldon, Leonard and Howard’s vari-state quantum interference device changed reality. Denise admits she had not believed Stuart for a minute.

When Barry Kripke, now the Grand Caliph of South Pasadena, takes an interest in Denise, Stuart tries to protect her by claiming they are together, but Denise makes clear they are not. Kripke has her taken away to be washed and killed after she refuses his advances.

Denise is held separately in a guarded room and expects to be killed, but she strikes up a conversation with her guard about his job in the “before times”. After Kripke visits her and admits that ruling his post-apocalyptic fiefdom is lonely, Denise says she has reconsidered having dinner with him and persuades him to untie her. Once free, she immediately attacks Kripke and escapes.

Denise reunites with Stuart, Bert and Raj just before they reach the device. While Stuart is hopeful that resetting reality might restore their relationship, Denise reminds him that she is still mourning Gary. After Kripke shoots Raj as he tries to reconfigure the machine, Denise helps Stuart follow Raj’s notes, only noticing at the last minute that the instructions continue with “But first…”. When the machine opens a wormhole, Stuart, Bert and Kripke are pulled into another reality while Denise is left behind in the post-apocalyptic world.

102 “Spoiler: Zack's in This One”

When we meet Denise in the AI-controlled dystopia of 102 “Spoiler: Zack's in This One”, she is once again in a relationship with Gary. Unlike the street-smart robber Stuart encountered in the post-apocalyptic universe, this Denise is a product of an outwardly pleasant society where negative emotions are punished by implants controlled by an AI overlord.

Denise is pleasantly surprised when Stuart arrives at her apartment and explains that he is from a parallel universe where they are destined to be together. Stuart tries to convince her that she does not have to live under the AI’s control, but struggles to explain the vari-state quantum interference device he left at the comic book store. Neither Denise nor Gary is upset by Stuart’s attempt to break them up. Denise admits that she cannot stand Gary, but stays with him because leaving would upset him and trigger the implants in their necks. Gary is content to stay with her because Denise is only unhappy when she is sober, which is not very often.

After finding the vari-state quantum interference device at the comic book store and realizing Stuart was telling the truth, Denise contacts the Resistance and arranges for Stuart, Bert and Kripke to be freed from the re-education camp. By the time the Resistance reaches them thirty months later, the guys have already been released. Denise takes the machine to the Resistance HQ and is reunited with Stuart. Stuart is delighted to think Denise came back for him, but she admits she was more interested in using the device to defeat the AI overlord.

When the machine activates during a drone attack on the Resistance headquarters, Stuart asks Denise to take his hand because he does not want to have to find her again. Denise follows him into the next reality, though she is stunned when the pair arrive in another version of the Comic Center of Pasadena. It is clear she did not expect the machine to work. Stuart quickly realizes they have landed in a universe where magic is real.

103 “Spoiler: Bert is Magic”

After Stuart and Denise land in a reality where magic is real in 103 “Spoiler: Bert is Magic”, Denise tries to understand why she is traveling through different universes with him. Stuart explains that another version of himself sent him on a quest to restore his original reality, but Denise is unsettled when Stuart assumes they are now back together. She reminds him that she never had a relationship with her world’s Stuart and decides she needs a drink. Stuart recalls that this version of Denise has a problem with alcohol, but Denise insists she can quit anytime she wants.

At a bar, Denise tries to make sense of Stuart’s attachment to her. She complains to the bartender that Stuart expects to pick up with her where he left off with another version of Denise, all because another version of Stuart sent him on a mission. Even in a world where magic is ordinary, the bartender dismisses this as drunken rambling and conjures deviled eggs to help her sober up.

As Denise gets drunker, she begins to wonder whether Stuart’s devotion to finding her across realities might count as love, even if she is not the same Denise he originally knew. Talking to another woman at the bar, Denise admits that the Stuart she knew was “kind of a wimpy guy”, but this Stuart keeps taking her from universe to universe and always finds her again, even when he loses her.

Denise later recognizes Gary sitting next to her at the bar, although this universe’s Gary has never met her. She tells him they were once trapped in a terrible marriage where they never fought because shock implants punished them for upsetting each other. Gary assumes she is a drunken stranger rambling at him.

When Denise returns to the comic book store, Bert is battling Wil Wheaton, an enforcer for the Wizards Guild of America, while Stuart and Penguin Kripke hide behind the counter. Stuart encourages Denise to join them. After Bert defeats Wheaton, Denise hugs Stuart and admits that maybe there is something between them. Bert conjures a heart-shaped frame of red roses around them as Denise and Stuart kiss.

Their moment is interrupted when Bernadette, now transformed into a five-story-high demon, attacks the comic book store and demands the vari-state quantum interference device so she can rule every world. Stuart and Bert manage to activate the machine before Bernadette can take it, sending Stuart, Denise, Bert and Penguin Kripke to another reality.

104 “Spoiler: Stuart Makes a Wallet”

When we meet Denise in 104 “Spoiler: Stuart Makes a Wallet”, she is visiting Stuart at the mental hospital, where he is being treated after claiming to have traveled through other universes. Stuart is delighted to see her and begs her to help him get out, but Denise insists he needs to get better, not just for her but for their children. Stuart is shocked to learn he is a father in this reality, prompting him to commit to his treatment.

After Stuart accepts that his memories of other realities were just delusions, Denise picks him up from the hospital and is overjoyed to have her “Big Daddy” coming home. On the way home, she takes him to Bert's art gallery, where he is running an exhibition of Stuart's work. After Stuart learns he is a celebrated artist, he asks whether he is “down-to-earth famous” or “asshole famous”. Denise admits it’s the latter.

Back home, Stuart and Denise enjoy their idyllic suburban family life, with Stuart grilling in the backyard while she serves lemonade to their children. Stuart’s unease with this reality builds after learning Barry Kripke is his neighbor and in a relationship with Gary. After going for a walk to clear his mind, he returns with a comic book and retreats to the bathroom to read it. Denise repeatedly checks on him through the door, worried about his bowel health and, perhaps, his mental state.

Denise is nervous when she finds Stuart with a mysterious device on the kitchen counter. Stuart asks whether she has ever wondered if their perfect life is real, but Denise insists this is the life they always dreamed of. Stuart takes that as proof something is wrong, asking when his dreams have ever come true. Although Denise says he is scaring her, Stuart activates the machine and an interdimensional bubble engulfs them.

Denise wakes up bald in a slime-filled pod, with Stuart, Bert and Kripke in neighboring pods, in a scene reminiscent of The Matrix. She realizes that none of that life was real: the house, the kids, the cable TV. After Bert points out that they are literally inside a scene from the movie, Stuart tears through the illusion. The four find themselves in a vast white space with the vari-state quantum device, which Stuart activates to send the group to a dense forest in another reality.

After Bert concludes the forest appears to be real, Denise hears something moving in the trees. The group is surrounded by a tribe dressed in simple yellow coverings. When Stuart and Denise address the people in slow, simple English, one of the tribe members observes that they sound stupid.

105 “Spoiler: Bert Gets Married”

After the group lands in a tropical forest in 105 “Spoiler: Bert Gets Married”, a welcoming tribe invites them to stay in their village. Stuart and Denise appreciate the hospitality and idyllic setting. When Stuart jokingly suggests finding a hut in a neighborhood with good schools, Denise remembers their children from the suburban reality. Stuart reminds her that they were only projections created by a malevolent force trying to keep them enslaved in a false reality. Denise replies that they were still theirs.

When Stuart and Denise encounter a local woman digging through a pile, Denise asks whether it is excrement. After the woman confirms that it is bear droppings, Denise asks Stuart to take over the conversation. The woman explains that she is looking for signs and omens in the droppings, leading Stuart to realize that whoever is sending him instructions might communicate in the same way. As Stuart enthusiastically digs in, Denise stands back and watches in disgust. He eventually uncovers the instruction “Use red quartz."

After Stuart wonders where they might find red quartz, Denise jokingly suggests looking in rabbit shit. The pair instead decide to consult Bert, and Denise continues teasing Stuart by asking whether he will tell Bert that he pawed through bear shit to find the message. Bert identifies a piece of red quartz in Gavel’s necklace, although Gavel refuses to hand it over to Stuart.

When Bert reveals that Chana has agreed to marry him, Denise questions whether Chana even knows what marriage is. Bert admits that she does not and instructs Denise not to tell her, prompting her to respond with an eye roll. Nevertheless, she is pleased for Bert when he reveals that he has had sex twice in the previous 24 hours.

When Bert asks Stuart to be his best man and Denise to officiate the wedding, Denise eagerly agrees while Stuart is less enthusiastic. She explains that she is already a certified minister of the Universal Life Church. Stuart points out that the church does not exist in this reality and dismisses it as “bullshit” in the universe where it does. Denise reminds Stuart that Bert is his best friend and challenges him to tell Bert that he is not entitled to a little happiness.

At the wedding, Denise stands beneath a wooden arch with Stuart and Bert. After Stuart sings “We’ve Only Just Begun” as Chana is walked down the aisle, Denise begins the ceremony with an extended metaphor about the couple setting sail in “a boat made of love”.

When Denise asks if anyone objects, Simpa declares that monogamy and personal possessions are wrong, pushing back against the changes within his tribe since the group arrived. The ceremony descends into chaos as the villagers begin fighting among themselves. When Gavel’s necklace is torn off during the brawl, Stuart retrieves the red quartz and repairs the device. After he activates it, Denise, Stuart, Bert and Kripke are transported out of paradise.

The group arrives inside the comic book store in a seemingly normal Pasadena. Denise joins Stuart in consoling Bert, who is upset at losing Chana and his chance at love. Stuart wonders whether they have finally reached a normal universe. Denise leans towards a green plant and eats one of its leaves before agreeing that it seems normal.

106 “Spoiler: Corn is Delicious”

When Denise takes a bite from a ficus inside the comic book store in 106 “Spoiler: Corn is Delicious”, Stuart asks what she is doing. Denise sees nothing unusual about her behavior and insists that the plant tastes really good. At her recommendation, Stuart samples a leaf and offers his approval to Kripke. Denise’s delight fades when she begins gagging and swallowing. After reading a comic book that explains that humans in this reality evolved from cows and have four stomachs, Bert realizes that she is chewing her cud.

While the group dines on grass at a restaurant, Bert explains that this universe differs only slightly from their world before the apocalypse, aside from humans being ruminants. Stuart suggests staying there. Although it is not perfect, there are no evil computers and nobody is being burned at the stake. The group has never figured out how to control the quantum device, and every place they visit eventually becomes dangerous.

Denise asks what their lives would look like if they stayed. Stuart imagines running the comic book store with her while Bert works as a geologist and Kripke remains an asshole. He suggests that he and Denise could even get married. When Denise asks whether he is proposing and Stuart responds by asking whether she is accepting, they both begin chewing their cud. Denise admits that she always imagined this moment with less vomit in her mouth.

After Denise and Stuart sleep together in his bedroom at the back of the store, Stuart asks whether she mooed during sex. Denise confirms, “You made me moo.” She has also been considering what Stuart said at dinner and agrees that they could be happy in this reality: the people are nice, the food is great and the healthcare is terrific.

Bert and Kripke interrupt them to announce that they do not want to remain in “Cowtown” and intend to try their luck in another universe. Stuart asks Denise whether they should let them take the quantum device, warning that they would be stuck there forever without it. After Denise says that she is comfortable with that, Stuart gives Bert and Kripke the machine, and the group says goodbye.

As Stuart and Denise walk through the peaceful streets of Pasadena, Denise takes almost orgasmic pleasure in a salt lick sold by a roadside vendor. They then encounter Raj warning passers-by that the universe is collapsing. The astrophysicist explains that galaxies and star systems are disappearing from its outer edges, although Stuart is unconcerned when he learns that the process will take another three or four hundred years. Raj’s appeal to consider their distant descendants prompts Denise to observe that she and Stuart have not yet discussed starting a family. Stuart suggests that perhaps they should, while Denise remarks, “Clock’s ticking.”

When Denise and Stuart return to the comic book store, they find Stuart Prime waiting for them. Stuart introduces him as the “other me” he previously mentioned. After learning that they have decided to stay, Stuart Prime mocks Stuart for abandoning his mission so that he can chew his “frickin’ cud”. Denise tells Stuart that the “other you” is kind of a dick.

Stuart Prime explains that Stuart is the only person who can save the universe and insists that he has no choice but to continue. When Stuart asks whether there is someone else he can speak to, Stuart Prime incredulously asks, “Like my manager?” Stuart Prime explains that he is a projection from a collapsing adjacent reality and asks whether that sounds like someone who has a manager. Denise reasons that somebody must at least have told him what time to come in that day.

Stuart argues that even if he wanted to save the universe, he could not because he no longer has the quantum device. Stuart Prime gives him another copy of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe so he can order a replacement. Angry that Stuart Prime is not listening to him, Stuart declares that he is finished with the “Leonard/Sheldon thingy”, universe hopping and Stuart Prime. When Stuart storms away, Denise stops Stuart Prime from following him and says, “Let me talk to you.”

While Denise and Stuart share a “ShrubHub” meal in his bedroom, he asks whether she thinks he is wrong for abandoning the effort to save the universe. Denise says it doesn’t matter what she thinks and asks him what he thinks. As Stuart argues that he never volunteered for the mission and should be free to live his own life, Denise listens without challenging him. Even when Stuart acknowledges that an infinite number of lives could be lost across an infinite number of universes, Denise agrees that it is not his responsibility before adding, “Unless you want it to be.”

When Stuart asks whether she thinks he should try to save the universe, Denise reiterates that she did not say that. Stuart insists that he is not a hero, describing himself as a “broke-ass failed artist who owns a comic book store”. Denise tells him that it is his decision, but suggests that anyone trying to make life better for other people can be a hero. In Stuart’s case, those people would include everyone who exists or ever will exist in every possible universe.

Stuart warns that rolling the dice on another universe could leave them in a much worse situation than the life they have found. Denise assures him, “There are no bad situations as long as I’m with you.” They lean in to kiss, only to begin chewing their cud again.

After their conversation, a replacement vari-state quantum interference device is delivered by Gary, who works for UPS in this reality. Denise and Stuart unsettle him by recognizing him from another universe. Stuart announces that they are leaving to prevent the destruction of reality itself, then activates the device and transports himself and Denise out of the universe.

Denise and Stuart join Bert and Kripke, who have been falling through an endless void since attempting to use the original machine. Stuart explains that the machine failed because Bert and Kripke were not chosen to save the universe. When Kripke sarcastically asks whether Stuart was chosen, he calls on Denise to support him. “It’s true! He’s him!” she confirms, although she objects when Stuart compares himself to Neo and perhaps Jesus.

After Stuart activates the original device, the four escape their endless fall. They arrive inside a seemingly ordinary version of the Comic Center of Pasadena, where Denise and Stuart discover that they can talk without speaking. Bert realizes that people can hear one another’s thoughts in this universe.

107 “Spoiler: Dexys Midnight Runners Get a Royalty Payment”

In the telepathic reality of 107 “Spoiler: Dexys Midnight Runners Get a Royalty Payment”, Stuart warns his companions that they will have to control their thoughts now that everyone can hear them. Bert’s wandering mind quickly takes the conversation off on a tangent, during which Denise admits that she found Phoebe Cates’ pool scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High hot. Stuart gives her a questioning look, prompting Denise to argue that sexuality exists on a continuum.

As Stuart tries to return the group’s attention to saving the universe, he explains what he has learnt from the manual that came with the replacement quantum device. They cannot restore the prime universe because they are moving laterally between realities instead of along the fourth-dimensional axis of time. Impressed by Stuart taking charge, Denise thinks, “Look at my man taking charge.” Stuart hears her admiration and thinks, “Look at Denise looking at me taking charge.”

Denise later inadvertently reveals how seriously she now views their relationship. After considering whether she can overlook Stuart’s weak chin, she thinks, “I want his children.” When a surprised Stuart questions her telepathically, Denise responds that she would not think it if she did not mean it.

Stuart concludes that the unfinished device needs a “steering wheel” capable of directing it through time. Kripke believes they could build one using components from Caltech’s engineering department, but their attempt to find Howard Wolowitz leads nowhere. Caltech receptionist Ramona Nowitzki says that no one by that name works there, while this reality’s Bernadette Rostenkowski runs a dance studio and does not know Howard.

After the unsuccessful search, Stuart and Denise retire to the back room of the comic book store while Bert and Kripke eat lunch. When the couple emerges, Stuart immediately announces that they were having sex, reasoning that his thoughts would reveal it anyway. Stuart thinks that the experience was incredible because he knew everything Denise wanted, while Denise reflects, “It was great. No questions, no apologies.” When Stuart boasts, “You wouldn’t believe what I finally found,” Denise replies, “Yeah, you did,” and the pair high-five.

While the group considers how to deceive people in a world without private thoughts, Denise suggests meditation to “quiet the monkey mind”. She instructs the others to close their eyes and follow their breath, but immediately thinks, “This is dumb. I can’t do this.” Nobody succeeds in silencing their thoughts, least of all Denise, whose stream of consciousness wanders from Lady Macbeth to Lady and the Tramp to her efforts not to fart.

With no better plan, the group returns to Caltech carrying the quantum device. As Stuart steps forward at reception, Denise, Bert and Kripke sing “Come On Eileen” in their minds to conceal their true purpose. Stuart claims that David Saltzberg at UCLA asked them to take the machine to the engineering lab, so Ramona directs them upstairs. When they pass other scientists in the corridor, Kripke starts singing “The Girl from Ipanema”, with Denise and Bert joining him.

Inside the lab, Denise and her companions encounter four lab-coated versions of themselves with another quantum device. The lab-coated group activates its machine and escapes, prompting Kripke to activate their own device in pursuit. A chase through several previous realities ends on a pastoral hillside in the world where humans evolved from cows. After the collision, the two Denises initially find themselves standing with the wrong groups and swap back.

The two Stuarts discover that each was told he was the only person capable of saving the universe, revealing that Stuart Prime has seemingly sent multiple groups on the same mission. A third team dressed in army uniforms then arrives and seizes the lab-coated group’s device. Stuart decides his group should follow the soldiers, leaving the lab-coated group behind.

The pursuit takes Denise and her companions to a war-torn reality filled with ruined buildings, armed soldiers, explosions and gunfire. She immediately urges Stuart to activate the device again. The group escapes to an apparently normal comic book store, only to discover that everyone in this reality is human from the waist up and horse from the waist down.

108 “Spoiler: We’re as Confused as You Are”

In the centaur reality of 108 “Spoiler: We’re as Confused as You Are”, Stuart decides that the group must return to the war-torn universe to recover the quantum device fitted with a controller. Denise reminds him that they nearly died there and that the place was full of people with guns. Stuart suggests “scooching” their destination slightly so they do not return to the exact same spot.

Back in the war zone, Denise notices the bodies of comic book store regulars Kyle and Trevor inside the store. Outside, Gary pulls up in an army jeep and asks the group, “What are you maggots doing here?” When Denise greets him by name, he sternly identifies himself as Lieutenant Jeffries. Stuart wonders what she ever saw in Gary. Denise explains that he reminded her of Stuart, who looks briefly pleased before questioning the comparison.

When the group joins Charlie Company, they learn they are next into battle after Alpha and Bravo Companies have failed to return. In the trenches, Denise urges Stuart to activate the device and get them out of danger. He admits that he left it in the barracks for safekeeping, prompting Denise to argue that avoiding death would be safer. When Kripke and Bert each arrive demanding to escape, she takes satisfaction in Stuart having to explain his decision again. When Gary charges into battle and is repeatedly shot before falling back into the trench, Denise stands over his bullet-riddled body and offers an optimistic “Hang in there.”

That night, Stuart joins Denise in her army cot and admits that being close to death has left him feeling turned on. Denise does not share his enthusiasm, pointing out that she still has pieces of Gary in her hair. She argues that they will never find the other machine and should escape with the one they have. Stuart insists that he has a responsibility to repair “the infinite totality of everything”. Denise replies, “Damn me for falling in love with a hero,” and they chuckle before kissing.

The following morning, with another bloodbath looming, Stuart changes his mind and decides that they should leave. The group is caught trying to abandon its unit. At their court-martial, their advocate, Captain Siebert, is dismayed to discover that their prosecutor is this universe’s Penny, nicknamed “Firing Squad Penny”. Denise explains that they know her as “regular Penny”.

Neither Siebert’s attempts to defend them nor Stuart’s explanation that they are on a brave mission from other universes persuades the judges, and the four of them are sentenced to death by firing squad. Blindfolded and bound for execution, Denise tells Stuart that she loves him, only to discover that she is standing beside Bert. He passes the message to Kripke, who tells Stuart that Bert loves him.

Penny interrupts the execution to offer them a life of hard labor if Stuart uses the quantum device to transmit false battle plans to the enemy. Stuart agrees, then loudly counts down as he activates the machine. Denise, Bert and Kripke edge closer, allowing the resulting interdimensional bubble to carry them out of the war zone along with Penny.

They arrive in the centaur reality, where Penny struggles to understand her new surroundings and body. Denise reminds Stuart that they need to keep moving: “Go back two more worlds, honey.” He activates the device again, leaving Penny behind.

In the cow reality, the group seizes the improved device from its lab-coated doubles, becoming the soldiers they encountered earlier. They return to the war zone with both machines, where Denise asks how long they have to stay there amid the gunfire and explosions. Bert explains that they need to wait for their earlier selves to follow them. Once Denise sees them arrive, she urges her companions to get going. When Stuart develops a leg cramp from all the running, she suggests eating a banana as Kripke activates the improved device.

In another version of the Comic Center of Pasadena, a mysterious floating entity instructs Kyle and Trevor to keep the group there by never selling a particular comic book. On its cover, beneath the title Stuart Fails to Save the Universe: Trapped!, are Denise and her companions, now imprisoned in ink.

109 “Spoiler: We Couldn’t Get Green Lantern”

Trapped on the cover of a comic book in 109 “Spoiler: We Couldn’t Get Green Lantern”, Denise worries that she will spend eternity frozen with her ass sticking out. Stuart explains that mild titillation helps sell comics to twelve-year-old boys. As they wait for Stuart to formulate a plan, Denise wonders who imprisoned them. Stuart suspects the force responsible for the psychiatric hospital. When she notices that Bert has disappeared, they follow him off the cover and onto the big splash page.

On a city street, the group return to their three-dimensional forms. Denise celebrates that they got out, only for Bert to point out that they are actually deeper in the comic. As Stuart and Kripke trade barbs, she reminds them that “meanwhile” they remain trapped, pointing to the floating “Meanwhile…” caption above their heads.

Stuart identifies that they are in Gotham City and prompts Denise to name its resident hero. She answers with a gravelly “Batman,” earning an affectionate “How can I not love you?” from Stuart. After Bert suggests asking Batman for help, Stuart lets Denise explain. Still using the voice, she dismisses Batman as “a rich asshole with dead parents”. Kripke tells her that the impression is only funny once, prompting her to reply in the same voice, “Go fuck yourself.”

When Stuart has a flash of inspiration and utters the words “Cosmic Treadmill”, Denise immediately understands his plan. She explains to Kripke that it allows the Flash to travel between universes. As they discuss reaching the Flash, Stuart places Central City near Kansas City and Gotham in New Jersey, much to Bert’s surprise. Denise adds that Metropolis is in Delaware. “No way,” Bert responds, while Stuart backs her up by citing Amazing World of DC Comics #14.

At Gotham City Airport, their flight is delayed by maintenance and crew issues. Gate attendant Ramona Nowitzki offers a ten-dollar meal voucher but advises them to avoid the airport sushi, a warning which only makes Denise want it more. A sequence of comic book panels shows Stuart bringing Denise a tray of sushi, her eating it and her face becoming bloated before she hurries to the women’s toilets in pain. She eventually finds a vacant stall, then returns to her companions and drinks from a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. Back in the store, reading the Stuart Fails to Save the Universe TRAPPED! comic book, Trevor tells Kyle the group are no longer on the cover. He adds, “Don't panic. They're flying to Central City. It's kind of boring. Denise has diarrhea.”

At Central City Airport, Denise recognizes their taxi driver as this universe’s Gary, who impatiently demands to know their destination. While Stuart tries to work out where to find the Flash, she spots the hero racing past the airport. Stuart asks Gary to follow him, prompting the incredulous driver to order them out. Denise nevertheless tells him, “Nice to see you,” as she leaves. Moments later, a huge block of ice crushes the departing taxi. Denise cries out, “Oh, my God! Gary!” while Bert observes that he sure does die a lot.

Fleeing Mr. Freeze, the group head into a parking structure, where the Flash arrives to protect them. When Stuart identifies him as the Golden Age version, Denise asks whether that means they are on Earth-2. Stuart begins discussing Crisis on Infinite Earths, but Bert interrupts their conversation with a warning just in time for them to dodge an icicle. The Flash defeats Mr. Freeze but races away before they can ask for his help.

After tracking down Jay Garrick’s home, Denise wonders why they did not come here in the first place. Stuart admits that he thought someone with a secret identity would have an unlisted address. When he corrects Bert over the Golden Age Flash’s membership of the Justice Society, Kripke asks Denise whether Stuart talks about comics in the bedroom. She admits that he sometimes does, adding “Ka-pow!” as she high-fives Stuart.

This reality’s Amy answers the door, much to Stuart’s confusion as he knows Jay’s girlfriend as Joan. When Jay joins Amy to see who’s at the door, Denise tells him that they know he is the Flash. She mentions the laboratory accident and a bolt of lightning. Stuart clarifies that this version gained his powers by inhaling radioactive vapors during a smoke break. While protesting that it was a different time, Jay inadvertently reveals his true identity. Amy sighs and tells him to let the group in.

Once the group have explained their predicament, Jay tells Amy that they need his Cosmic Treadmill. She welcomes the prospect of getting it out of their garage, but Jay explains it requires his super speed to operate. Denise wants to ask a personal question about that. Amy answers before she needs to elaborate: “It’s over before I even know it started.”

Out in the garage, Jay tells the group to grab the treadmill’s handles once he reaches sufficient speed. Mr. Freeze returns before they can debate the plan, freezing and shattering the garage door. The group quickly cling to the treadmill as the Flash reaches speed and carries them through the cosmos, back to the comic book store.

The Stuart Fails to Save the Universe TRAPPED! comic remains on display, but the group are freed from its pages. Kyle panics at the arrival of the group in the flesh, warning that their captor will be angry to find them there. When Kripke tries to leave the store, he nearly steps into an endless black void beyond the entrance. Stuart’s remark “This is not Pasadena” is met by unexplained audience laughter.

110 “Spoiler: Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience”

Stranded in the comic book store in a vast dark void in 110 “Spoiler: Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience”, Denise listens as Kyle explains that the omniscient entity that is keeping them captive was around before creation and wants to undo everything. Stuart’s damage to the quantum device gave the “swirling ball of shit” its first opportunity to destroy everyone and everything, which is why it’s actively keeping him from repairing reality. When Denise asks whether they are trapped forever, Kyle explains that time does not apply there: they are trapped “always”.

Despite the revelation, Denise has something else on her mind. As Stuart sits on his bed, overwhelmed by his role in the possible destruction of everyone and everything, she asks whether anything else is bothering him. Stuart cannot imagine what else he could be stressing about, prompting Denise to respond, “Never mind.” When he continues to lament his situation, she asks whether he has finished wallowing.

Stuart then realizes that he cannot remember walking into the room. Denise remarks that there are clearly many things he does not remember, but refuses to explain what she means. Back in the front of the store, she tells Bert that Stuart forgot her birthday. Bert suggests that Stuart has a lot on his plate, what with the end of the universe and all, but Denise says she has already heard all that from Stuart. She forbids Bert from speaking to Stuart on her behalf.

Kripke interrupts to show them that everything they have been through is documented in the Stuart Fails to Save the Universe comics. As he mentions the repeated deaths of Gary, Denise sighs at the reminder of her former partner. When Stuart returns to apologize, she asks what he is apologizing for. Bert tries to help by humming “Happy Birthday”, but Denise punches him in the arm to stop him. After he complains that she hit his flu shot, she apologizes and punches his other arm to make it even, prompting audience laughter that only Kripke hears.

While the others eat Chinese food, Stuart searches the comics for some sign of a way out. When Bert starts hearing the laughter too, Stuart asks Denise if she heard anything. Denise responds mockingly and continues refusing to explain why she is upset. When Bert offers to tell him the reason, Denise shoots him a look and silences him. Suddenly, Stuart notices the lighting change and a wall disappear. By the time he asks Denise if she saw anything, the store has returned to normal.

When Bert questions whether they are aging now that they are outside space and time, Stuart wonders whether they are frozen at the same age and won’t have any more birthdays. “Oh, look who’s suddenly aware of birthdays,” Denise remarks before storming off. As a confused Stuart wonders what’s going on, Bert finally tells him that he forgot Denise’s birthday.

Stuart finds Denise upset on the bed in the back room, now part of a brightly lit sitcom set. He argues that being trapped by an evil entity in a cosmic void might be more important than her birthday. “I guess it is to you,” she replies. He assures her that he loves her and would do anything to make her happy, but Denise counters, “Except remember my birthday.” His belated birthday greeting fails to satisfy her, so he turns it into a song. Denise asks him to stop, so Stuart plainly apologizes and asks whether they’re good now. As Denise throws the question back at him, Stuart tentatively answers, “Yes?” Denise gets up and leaves, prompting him to change his answer to “No.” Audience laughter punctuates the argument without either of them appearing to hear it.

Back in the front of the store, Kripke questions how Denise can even know it is her birthday. She initially dismisses the question, but is unsure when he asks what day of the week it is. Kripke then asks Bert to tell a joke, prompting audience laughter that even Denise, Stuart and Kyle finally hear. An advertisement on the back of a comic for a CBS comedy titled Stuart Fails to Save the Universe leads Kripke to conclude that, somehow, they are in a sitcom. After he describes Denise’s birthday as the “stupid B-story”, Stuart objects to him calling his girlfriend stupid, drawing audience gasps that reinforce Kripke’s conclusion.

With a wall now missing from the store, the group turn to Stuart to investigate what lies beyond the gray mist. Denise urges him to wait, cautioning that they do not know what is out there. Stuart insists that there is only one way to find out. They say they love each other and kiss, prompting audience “awws”, before Stuart steps into the mist and disappears from view. As Denise questions what is happening, Kripke sidles up and tells her that she is now back on the market. She calls him a creep and then follows Stuart, with Bert and Kripke soon joining them.

On the other side, the group find themselves beside the comic book store set as a warm-up host introduces the cast of the fictional sitcom for a curtain call. They watch actors who look exactly like them emerge, each introduced as playing a character with one of their names. “This can’t be happening,” Denise insists. As Kevin Sussman thanks the studio audience, Stuart tells his companions they should get out of there.

Outside Soundstage 25 on the Warner Bros. lot, Denise struggles to understand what they have witnessed. “Are we dead?” she asks. Bert wonders whether they were ever real. Stuart argues that they must be real because figments of the imagination do not have irritable bowel syndrome. When he and Kripke begin comparing symptoms, Denise reminds them that they have just walked past actors who play them. “That has to be more pressing than the quality of your BMs,” she insists.

As they walk between the soundstages, Denise asks, “So, what now?” Stuart admits that he does not know, but says he has to believe the answer is out there somewhere. The group continue into the night.

This page has been updated up to episode 110 Spoiler: Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience