Review: Stuart Fails To Save the Universe, "Spoiler: We're As Confused As You Are" | Season 1, Episode 8

According to the title of this episode, I can take my advice from the end of last week’s review and repeat to myself, “It’s just a show, I should really just relax.” The season’s biggest handwave is that by turning the machine’s knob sloooooowly (or as the gang puts it, "scootching it a little"), they can travel through time as well as multiversal space, enabling them to go deliberately back to the war zone universe they passed so briefly through on their way to Centaurville. And from there, they’ll be able to become the camo-clad versions of themselves that snatched the Lab Coat Gang’s second machine. (I’m not clear on why they need the second machine; I’m sure somebody gave a 15-second explanation at some point when I was typing another note.) 

The important thing is that for the first time in the season we’ve achieved a real sense of momentum, and that comes directly from embracing a looping structure, rather than a linear series of hops. We’re going back to the future, you see! At the same time, much like the best time travel stories, we’re not always on the move. This is a real, well-developed episode in the universe-of-the-week premise.  In this reality, the gang poses as foot soldiers in a Great War against an unspecified enemy. Shortly after infiltrating the base (thanks to their camo costumes and a helpful drive-by from Gary), our protags discover they are in Charlie Company, and it’s their turn as cannon fodder after Alpha and Beta Companies didn’t make it back.