Stuart Bloom

 The Big Bang Theory history

Stuart Bloom owns the Comic Center of Pasadena, the comic book store regularly visited by Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Stuart once hoped to work as an artist before opening the shop.

Stuart was often unlucky in business, romance and life in general. His store struggled financially and later burned down, leaving him without workplace or a place to live. Howard offered Stuart a job caring for his mother, Mrs. Wolowitz, and Stuart moved into her house. After her death, Stuart continued living even after Howard and Bernadette moved in.

Over time, Stuart became closer to the group, first bonding with Raj while Howard was in space and later becoming part of Howard and Bernadette’s household. By the end of The Big Bang Theory, Stuart's rebuilt store was doing better and he had started a relationship with Denise, his assistant manager.

 Stuart Fails to Save the Universe history

101 “Spoiler: Gary Dies”

When we meet Stuart in 101 “Spoiler: Gary Dies”, he is still running the Comic Center of Pasadena, now in the middle of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. With the economy reduced to bartering, Stuart trades old comic books for food and treats the strange rifts, violence and destruction around him as part of normal life.

Stuart’s acceptance of this reality is shaken when an alternate version of himself appears through a wormhole and tells him this is not how things are supposed to be. The traveler explains that Sheldon, Leonard and Howard built a vari-state quantum interference device that malfunctioned and changed reality. Although the alternate Stuart disappears before giving full instructions, he sends Stuart on a mission to reach the device at Caltech and set things right.

On the way to Caltech, Stuart and Bert are surprised to find Denise alive and well, mugging people at a marketplace outside the ruined Rose Bowl. Denise had also believed Stuart was dead and is now with Gary, a former Army Special Forces soldier. Denise and Gary eventually join the mission, but Gary is killed almost immediately as they try to enter Caltech. Stuart is hopeful that he and Denise might get back together.

Inside Caltech, Stuart meets a long-imprisoned Raj, who has spent years trying to understand what went wrong with reality and believes he could reset it if he reached the device. The university, however, is now controlled by Barry Kripke, the self-styled Grand Caliph of South Pasadena. After Kripke takes Denise away, Stuart is determined to rescue her and reach the machine. With Bert and Raj, he fights through Caltech using improvised explosives made from materials in Bert’s old geology lab.

Raj is shot by Kripke before he can finish reconfiguring the device, leaving Stuart to follow Raj’s notes with Denise’s help. The machine opens a wormhole, pulling Stuart, Bert and Kripke into another reality while Denise is left behind. Stuart arrives back in the comic book store in an apparently peaceful Pasadena. As they look out the window at ordinary life outside, the camera reveals they all have electronic devices implanted in their necks.

102 “Spoiler: Zack's in This One”

When Stuart lands in the seemingly serene reality of 102 “Spoiler: Zack's in This One”, he is less relieved to have escaped the post-apocalyptic nightmare than devastated that Denise did not travel with him, Bert and Kripke. Describing Denise as the love of his life, Stuart insists on finding her in this universe rather than joining Kripke’s mission to track down Sheldon and Leonard at Caltech.

Stuart finds Denise living with Gary, who he quickly realizes is becoming a running joke in the multiverse catastrophe. Stuart tells Denise that they are destined to be together and explains that he has come from a parallel universe to “claim” her. He tries to convince her that she does not have to live under the control of the AI overlord, but struggles to explain the vari-state quantum interference device he left at the comic book store, so he simply asks her to trust him.

Stuart is taken aback that neither Denise nor Gary seems troubled by his attempt to break them up, with Gary even seeming eager to help. He learns that Denise only stays with Gary, who she can’t stand, because leaving him would upset him and trigger the implants in their necks. His outburst against this “crazy upside-down world” leads to him being shocked by his own implant and, eventually, sent with Bert and Kripke to a re-education camp.

Thirty months later, Stuart, Bert and Kripke are “rescued” by a resistance group, despite the fact they had already been freed. Denise is there holding the machine and explains she ordered the Resistance to free them when they were first imprisoned. Stuart is overjoyed to think she came back for him, but Denise admits she came because she found the machine and hoped it could be used against the AI. As Stuart, Denise, Bert and Kripke try to escape the fighting 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 chooses to take Stuart’s hand and follows him into the next reality, although it becomes clear she did not really expect the machine to work. The two arrive together in another version of the Comic Center of Pasadena, where 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 universes with him. Stuart explains that another version of himself sent him to restore his original reality. When he assumes that he and Denise are now back together, Denise reminds him that she never had a relationship with her world’s Stuart. Overwhelmed, Denise leaves to get a drink, prompting Stuart to remember that this Denise has a problem with alcohol.

When Kripke arrives at the comic book store without Bert, Stuart refuses to leave the magic universe until they find both Bert and Denise. Kripke argues that Bert can look after himself and that Stuart can always find another Denise in another universe, but Stuart insists, “No, I want this one. She's got a little problem with the sauce, but so did my mom. Maybe that's why I'm finding her so attractive.”

Stuart and Kripke seek magical help to restart the vari-state quantum interference device, leading them to Bernadette Rostenkowski, a now-powerless sorceress who tricks Stuart into giving her the blood she needs to restore her magic. Back at the comic book store, Stuart is reunited with Bert, who is a powerful wizard in this world. Bert turns Kripke into a penguin for leaving him to die at the hands of the mob. When Wil Wheaton, an enforcer for the Wizards Guild of America, tries to punish Stuart for helping Bernadette, Bert defends him.

Denise returns during the battle and takes shelter with Stuart behind the counter. 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 they kiss.

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

Stuart next appears in the day room of a psychiatric hospital, sitting blankly at a table as a nurse gives him medication. After taking his pills, Stuart looks down at a drawing of himself, Denise, Bert and Penguin Kripke gathered around the vari-state quantum interference device in the comic book store. “Oh, this is not good,” he says.

104 “Spoiler: Stuart Makes a Wallet”

In 104 “Spoiler: Stuart Makes a Wallet”, Stuart is being treated by psychiatrist Amy Farrah Fowler at a mental hospital, where his memories of other realities are dismissed as delusions. His room is covered with drawings of what he has experienced, including Raj, demon Alexa, Penguin Kripke, AI drones, the comic book store and the vari-state quantum device. Stuart is desperate to escape and reach a better universe. Amy tells him that if he makes progress, he may be able to leave “someday”, which Stuart hears as “never”.

When Denise visits the hospital, Stuart begs her to get him out, but she insists he needs help. He is stunned when Denise mentions that she and their children miss him, revealing that he is a husband and father in this reality. This discovery gives Stuart a reason to get better. He commits himself to treatment, taking his medication, attending therapy and occupational sessions, and gradually removing the drawings from his walls. Eventually, Stuart tells Amy he now believes the other universes were delusions, and she agrees he is ready to go home.

Stuart is surprised by Denise’s renewed intimacy and the fact that she calls him “Big Daddy.” She makes a surprise stop on the way home at an art gallery, where an elegantly dressed Bert welcomes Stuart to an exhibition of his own work. As one of the hottest artists around, Stuart confidently strides through the gallery, but grows uneasy at artworks he does not remember painting. The images stir memories of the realities he supposedly imagined, including demon Alexa, Denise and Stuart kissing inside the heart-shaped frame of roses Bert conjured, the group gathered around the quantum device, and a gigantic, demonic Bernadette rampaging through Pasadena.

In the backyard of his home, Stuart appears to be enjoying life as a father, grilling hot dogs while Denise serves fresh lemonade to their two children. Stuart can’t believe he ever imagined a better universe than this, but the illusion begins to fray when he learns that Barry Kripke is his next-door neighbor and is married to Gary. Starting to question this seemingly perfect slice of suburbia, Stuart says he needs to go lie down.

Drawn back to the Comic Center of Pasadena without knowing why, Stuart finds a Stuart Fails to Save the Universe comic book showing him with the vari-state quantum device. Unseen by Stuart, Stuart Prime watches from the back of the store before disappearing through a wormhole. The comic retells the origin of the multiverse catastrophe, reminding Stuart that Leonard, Sheldon and Howard built the device and that he knocked it off a table, becoming entangled with the fate of the universe. The back of the comic includes an advertisement for a mail-order version of the device.

After the device is delivered to his house, Stuart asks Denise whether she has ever wondered if their perfect life is real. Denise insists this is the life they always dreamed of, but that only makes Stuart more suspicious: when have his dreams ever come true? As Denise grows frightened, Stuart warns her to brace herself, then activates the machine as an interdimensional bubble engulfs them.

Stuart wakes up bald in a slime-filled pod, with Denise, Bert and Kripke in nearby pods. The group realizes they are literally trapped in a scene from The Matrix. Understanding that someone is trying to trick them into believing they escaped, Stuart tears through the illusion. Restored to their normal clothes and appearances, the four find the device waiting in a vast white space. Stuart warns there is no way to know where they will land next, but activates it anyway, sending the group to a dense forest in another reality.

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 enjoy the hospitality and idyllic surroundings. After Stuart jokes about finding a hut in a neighborhood with good schools, Denise admits that she misses their children from the previous reality. Stuart reminds her that the children were projections created by a malevolent force to keep them enslaved in a false reality. When a component in the vari-state quantum interference device burns out, Stuart hopes that whoever is sending him messages will tell him how to fix the machine.

After Stuart and Denise see a local woman searching through bear droppings, he realizes that a message in this reality could be delivered through excrement. Stuart enthusiastically digs in, struggling to control his gag reflex as Denise watches in disgust. Eventually, he uncovers the instruction “Use red quartz”.

Stuart and Denise do not know where to find red quartz, but luckily they know a geologist. Bert identifies a piece in Gavel’s necklace, although Stuart is unable to persuade Gavel to hand it over. Meanwhile, Bert announces that he and Chana are getting married. Later, when Bert asks Stuart to be his best man, Stuart is initially reluctant, while Denise eagerly accepts an invitation to officiate the ceremony. Denise reminds Stuart that Bert is his best friend and deserves a little happiness.

On the day of the wedding, the villagers gather as Stuart, Denise and Bert stand beneath a wooden arch. Stuart sings “We’ve Only Just Begun” as Chana is walked down the aisle. As Denise officiates, the ceremony descends into chaos when the villagers, influenced by Bert and Kripke’s promotion of monogamy and private property, start fighting among themselves. After Stuart notices that Gavel’s necklace has been torn off, he crawls through the mayhem and retrieves the red quartz. As the fighting continues, Stuart repairs the device and activates it, transporting the group out of paradise.

The four arrive back inside the comic book store with the device. Mourning the loss of Chana and their happy life, Bert says that they were in paradise. Stuart replies that Pasadena is paradise too, at least during the week when Old Town is not crowded. He wonders whether they have finally reached a normal universe. Denise leans towards a green plant and munches on one of its leaves before agreeing that it seems normal.

106 “Spoiler: Corn is Delicious”

Inside the apparently normal comic book store of 106 “Spoiler: Corn is Delicious”, Stuart is surprised when Denise takes a bite from his ficus and encourages him to try it. He samples a leaf and offers his approval to Kripke. Bert then discovers from a comic book that humans in this reality evolved from cows and have four stomachs. Stuart and his companions become familiar with “chewing the cud” as, one by one, they regurgitate their food.

While the group dines on grass at a restaurant, Bert tells them that this universe has only minor cultural differences from their world before the apocalypse, aside from humans being ruminants. Stuart suggests staying here: although it’s not a perfect world, there are no evil computers and nobody is being burned at the stake. They have never figured out how to control the quantum device, and every place they have visited has turned out to be dangerous.

When Denise asks what they would do if they stayed, Stuart outlines a familiar life: he would run the comic book store, Denise would work alongside him, Bert would be a geologist and Kripke would remain an asshole. Stuart even suggests that he and Denise could get married. When she asks whether he is proposing and Stuart responds by asking whether she is accepting, they both begin chewing their cud. Denise admits that she imagined this moment with less vomit in her mouth.

After Stuart and Denise sleep together in his bedroom at the back of the store, Stuart is proud that he made her “moo” and credits his vegetarian diet with making him more peppy. Denise has been considering what he said at dinner and believes they could be happy in this reality. When Bert and Kripke interrupt to announce that they do not want to remain in “Cowtown”, Denise agrees to stay with Stuart. He gives Bert and Kripke the quantum device and says goodbye.

As Stuart and Denise walk through the peaceful streets of Pasadena, they 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 universe will not disappear for another three or four hundred years. Raj’s appeal to consider their distant descendants prompts Stuart and Denise to realize that they have not yet discussed starting a family.

When Stuart and Denise return to the comic book store, they find Stuart Prime waiting for them. Stuart introduces him as the “other me” he previously told Denise about. After learning that Stuart gave the quantum device to Bert and Kripke, Stuart Prime mocks him for abandoning the effort to save the universe so that he can remain there and chew his “frickin’ cud”. Denise tells Stuart that his other self is kind of a dick.

Stuart Prime explains that Stuart’s quantum entanglement with the original incident leaves him inextricably connected to the resolution of the fragmented multiverse. When Stuart and Denise fail to understand this explanation, he puts it more simply: Stuart is the only person who can save the universe. Stuart admits that he does not want to, but Stuart Prime insists that he has no choice.

Stuart argues that he could not continue the mission even if he wanted to because he no longer has the device. Stuart Prime hands him another copy of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, allowing him to order a replacement through its mail-order advertisement. Stuart grows angry that Stuart Prime is not listening to him. He declares that he is finished with the “Leonard/Sheldon thingy”, universe hopping and, most of all, Stuart Prime. When he storms away, Denise stops Stuart Prime from following him and says, “Let me talk to you.”

While Stuart and Denise share a “ShrubHub” meal in his bedroom, Stuart ruminates on his decision to quit the mission to save the universe. He asks whether Denise thinks he is wrong for wanting to live his own life and make his own choices. Denise says that her opinion does not matter and asks what he thinks. Stuart argues that he never volunteered for the mission and should be allowed to live his own life and make his own choices. Although nothing will happen for hundreds of years, he acknowledges that an infinite number of lives will be lost or never even born across an infinite number of universes. He nevertheless questions why that should be his responsibility. Denise agrees that it is not, unless he wants it to be.

Stuart insists that he is not a hero, describing himself as a “broke-ass failed artist who owns a comic book store”. He points out that he is such a failure that he owns a comic book store in every universe they visit. Denise insists 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 “other people” would include everyone who exists or ever will exist in every possible universe.

Stuart warns that rolling the dice on another universe could land them in a far worse situation than the comfortable life they have here. Denise assures him that there are no bad situations as long as she is with him.

After their conversation, a replacement vari-state quantum interference device is delivered to the comic book store by Gary, who works for UPS in this reality. Stuart and Denise unsettle him by recognizing him from another universe. Stuart then announces to customers Kyle and Trevor that he and Denise are leaving because he is on a mission to prevent the destruction of reality itself. Trevor is more interested in haggling over the price of a water-damaged comic, but Stuart refuses to budge. He activates the device and transports himself and Denise out of the universe.

Stuart and Denise join Bert and Kripke, who have been falling through an endless void since attempting to use the original machine. Reunited with the original device, Stuart explains that it did not work for them because they were not chosen to save the universe as he was. Denise confirms that Stuart is “the one”, but objects when he compares himself to Neo and maybe Jesus.

Stuart activates the device and rescues the four from their endless fall. They arrive inside another seemingly ordinary version of the Comic Center of Pasadena, where Stuart and Denise 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. His attempt to discuss the pressing matter of reaching a normal universe is quickly derailed by Bert’s wandering mind.

Stuart has been studying the manual that came with the replacement quantum device, believing that its instructions are another message from whoever’s been guiding him. He has learnt that they cannot restore the prime universe to its original state because they are moving laterally rather than along a fourth-dimensional axis: time. Stuart theorizes that the unfinished machine needs a “steering wheel” capable of targeting their destination, which Kripke believes they could construct using components from Caltech’s engineering department.

They head to Caltech’s engineering department hoping to find Howard Wolowitz, but receptionist Ramona Nowitzki tells them that no one by that name works there. They then turn to this reality’s Bernadette Rostenkowski, who runs a dance studio and does not know Howard in this universe. After the fruitless 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, figuring that his thoughts would reveal it anyway. He and Denise agree that telepathy allowed each of them to know exactly what the other wanted. Stuart enthusiastically tells their companions, “You wouldn’t believe what I finally found.” Denise replies, “Yeah, you did,” before the pair high-five.

When Kripke asks what the plan is, Stuart confidently proposes breaking into Caltech’s engineering department and stealing the necessary components. His thoughts immediately betray his fears: “Simple, my ass.” Stuart worries about how each step could fail, from not knowing how to enter the building or identify the parts to being unable to assemble or operate the finished device. After hearing the full extent of their leader’s anxiety, Kripke has no further questions.

After an unhelpful brainstorming session trying to figure out how to deceive people in a world where thoughts are public, the group returns to Caltech with the quantum device. While Stuart speaks to Ramona, his companions sing “Come On Eileen” in their minds to conceal the truth. Stuart explains that they heard the song in the car and that it is a real earworm, then tells her that David Saltzberg at UCLA asked them to take the machine to the engineering lab. Ramona accepts the story and directs them upstairs.

Inside the lab, Stuart and his friends discover four lab-coated versions of themselves with another quantum device. After all eight exclaim “What the fuck?”, Lab Coat Stuart orders his group to leave and Lab Coat Kripke activates their machine. Kripke grabs his group’s device and activates it, hoping to catch the lab-coated group’s slipstream. This begins a chase through the post-apocalyptic world, the AI-controlled reality and the tropical paradise before the two groups collide in the reality where humans evolved from cows.

On a pastoral hillside, Stuart and Lab Coat Stuart each demand to know who the other group is. Each wonders whether the other is the alternate Stuart who appeared at his comic book store and declared him the only person capable of saving the universe. Judging by the two quantum devices, Stuart concludes that Stuart Prime lied.

Bert theorizes that Stuart Prime recruited a second group as a failsafe because he did not trust the first to succeed. A third team, dressed in army uniforms, then arrives through another interdimensional bubble. Army Stuart orders Army Kripke to seize the lab-coated group’s device. Before leaving, Army Stuart looks back at Stuart, who decides that they must follow the soldiers, leaving the lab-coated group behind in the cow universe.

The pursuit takes Stuart and his companions into a war-torn reality filled with ruined buildings, armed soldiers, explosions and gunfire. They quickly decide to get out of there and arrive in another apparently normal comic book store. Although they all look familiar from the waist up, they discover that they have horses’ bodies below the waist.

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

In the centaur reality of 108 “We're as Confused as You Are&rdquo, 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, but Stuart suggests fine-tuning their destination slightly: “scooch it a little.” He adjusts a knob on the machine and activates it.

Back in the war zone, Stuart explains that they need to find their doubles to locate the other device. Bert points out that this is not a plan, it’s just a restatement of the premise. Before they can begin searching, this reality’s Gary, Lieutenant Jeffries, orders them back to their unit. After they join Charlie Company, they learn that they are next into battle after Alpha and Bravo Companies failed to return.

Once they reach the trenches, Denise urges Stuart to activate the device and get them out of danger. Stuart admits that he left it in the barracks for safekeeping. When Kripke and Bert each arrive demanding an escape, Stuart is forced to explain his decision again, insisting that his intentions were good.

The group survives the day’s fighting, although Lieutenant Jeffries does not. That night, Stuart joins Denise in her army cot and admits that narrowly escaping 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 leave with the one they have. Stuart insists that he cannot abandon his responsibility to repair “the infinite totality of everything”. Denise replies, “Damn me for falling in love with a hero,” and they kiss.

The following morning, another grim briefing prompts Stuart to announce a new plan: “Let’s get the hell out of here.” As the group tries to slip away, a military police officer stops them and asks why they are not with their company. Stuart can only repeat the question back to him.

Imprisoned and facing execution, Stuart has a revelation: they have been thinking about this all wrong. They don’t have to find the machine in this universe. Instead, they can backtrack through the centaur and telepathic realities to the cow universe, where their lab-coated doubles still have the device. Kripke reminds him that they are currently locked in a prison cell.

At their court-martial, the group is represented by Captain Siebert, whose confidence that the proceedings will be brief offers little reassurance. Their prosecutor is this reality’s Penny, nicknamed “Firing Squad Penny”. She charges them with cowardice, desertion, espionage, murder and mutiny, presenting their confiscated quantum device as equipment used to communicate with the enemy. Siebert recommends pleading guilty, to “just rip the Band-Aid off”, but Stuart insists that they are innocent.

When Siebert’s attempts to defend them go poorly, Stuart asks to address the judges himself. He explains that he, Bert and Kripke come from a reality plagued by mutants and giant moths, while Denise comes from a world controlled by artificial intelligence. What the court considers cowardice and desertion, he argues, is their attempt to bravely restore order across all universes. With his speech met by a stony silence from the judges, Stuart finally concedes, “Yeah, just shoot us.”

While the court considers its verdict, Stuart and Kripke argue over who should distract the guards and who should retrieve the device. Stuart demonstrates a fake asthma attack, but Kripke is unconvinced, despite Stuart pointing out he’s been practising it for 25 years. Stuart and Bert’s attempts to create a diversion are ignored, and all four are sentenced to death by firing squad.

With the group blindfolded and bound, Penny arrives with the quantum device and offers them a reprieve. Addressing him as the ringleader, she tells Stuart they will commute their sentences to a life of hard labor if he uses the machine to transmit false battle plans to the enemy. Stuart eagerly agrees. Once his hands are freed and his blindfold removed, he pretends to prepare the transmission, loudly counting down as Denise, Bert and Kripke inch closer to him. He activates the device, transporting them and Penny out of the war zone.

They arrive in the centaur reality, where Penny struggles to understand her new surroundings and body. At Denise’s urging, Stuart activates the machine again. This time, Penny is left behind as the group returns to the cow universe. Still wearing their army uniforms, they encounter the two earlier groups and become the soldiers they previously followed. On Stuart’s orders, Kripke takes the lab-coated group’s device, and they return to the war zone with both machines.

Back in the battle zone, Stuart and his companions wait for their earlier selves to arrive, ensuring that the pursuit which brought them there takes place. Bert attempts to explain this sequence, but when Kripke admits that he does not understand, Stuart exclaims that nobody does. Once their earlier selves appear, the group activates the device again.

In another version of the Comic Center of Pasadena, a mysterious floating entity instructs Kyle and Trevor to keep the group there and not to sell a particular comic book. On the shelf, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe: Trapped! depicts Stuart and his companions on its cover. Kripke’s illustrated mouth moves as he asks where they are. Stuart’s mouth then moves as he guesses that, wherever they are, they are trapped.

This page has been updated up to episode 108 Spoiler: We're as Confused as You Are