Though the “webseries” technically began in the late 1990s (thanks to a couple local cable shows and Showtime’s animated Whirlgirl series), it wasn’t until MSN launched MSN Video in 2003 and started filling it with NBC-related videos that the concept of a “web series” became a thing – and remained one, largely until the mid-2010s, when shrinking marketing budgets, smaller release schedules, and the shift towards most new series existing solely on the internet was just a concept in its infancy. And for those who missed LOST: Missing Pieces, Heroes: Going Postal (or Heroes: Destiny, The Recruit, or Slow Burn, or any of the Heroes webisodes), or The Office: The Accountants, web series were a weird little creature unto themselves, oddly creative little side projects with no discernable budgets, and a requirement to both expand the franchise but not actually participate in it, leading to dozens of surprisingly creative, ultimately forgettable little experiments that faded into nothingness once the Streaming Wars began, and prestige TV shifted to recap podcasts and featurettes (HBO’s “Inside the Episode”, for example… remember when they did those for Girls, of all shows?).
All of that to say that while Stuart Fails to Save the Universe feels very much like a modern project – an unnecessary, isolated franchise spinoff on a streaming network – an episode like “Spoiler: Bert Is Magic” makes it quite clear that Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is really just a glorified web series, just one that has the rare benefit of being crafted by the franchise’s creator and executive producer, rather than an unpaid intern trying to put together ten-minute scripts on a week’s notice (half of which was usually dedicated to advertising something like a Ford Escort or some other convenient corporate partnership). And there’s nothing wrong with that; through three episodes, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe has been playful, light, and rather unconcerned with its own legacy or sense of importance, completely untethered from the spirit and soul of the original series in pursuit of something that feels much more marginal and safe (which, considering the source material, is saying something). And though “Spoiler: Bert Is Magic” fully shows the limits of this approach, its retro aesthetics (can we call webisodes “retro” now?) and nascent sense of purpose are important guidelines for when viewing the series, or when considering it as something with potentially profound meaning.
“Spoiler: Bert Is Magic” is an incredibly brief adventure (barely 16 minutes, not including credits) into another world that appears more interesting than Stuart Fails to Save the Universe‘s take on its actually is, following in suit with “Spoiler: Zack’s in This One” and its take on a world of manufactured manipulation. Bert accidentally discovers he is one with the powers of magic, while Kripke and Stuart run around trying to find someone with magic powers to re-power the time travel device; as is the established template, SFTSTU gets in and out quickly, barely dipping its toes into the philosophic, sociopolitical, and interpersonal dynamics of a world defined and ruled over by magic use; ultimately, “Spoiler: Bert Is Magic” is more concerned with its The Big Bang Theory Cameo of the Week (this time, it’s Bernadette AND Wil Wheaton!) and Stuart’s lifeless pursuit of Denise, than it is with the plot or histroinics of the world it exists in.
Which means that it does nothing with its characters, or its setting: like the two previous episodes, “Spoiler: Bert Is Magic” just kind of happens, with an oddly detached performance from Melissa Rauch (who does not seem to have the Bernadette voice in her – which is neither here nor there, but makes this interpretation of it feel even more detached from itself) and a pretty perfunctory “evil sorceress” plot driving the story. Even when Wil Wheaton appears as the head of the magic guild, it feels like “Spoiler: Bert Is Magic” is just the equivalent of a weekend game jam: just rough sketches of a character and an idea, that are only made three-dimensional in the sense that something visually coherent was filmed and presented, not in the actions, presentation, or even the assumed pathos behind its characters surfacing to drive it forward.
For a series with such high-wire action moments, iconic cameos, and goofy navel-gazing material, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe unfortunately feels much like the original Stuart: inert, confusing, and ultimately, a bit underwhelming. There are some really enticing threads this series could pull upon – Stuart becoming a unlikely sci-fi rom-com hero, Bert and Kripke exploring themselves and finding a true sense of identity – but each character’s actions are so plot-specific and undefined, they all become mere machinations guiding a pointless plot, which ultimately makes Stuart Fails to Save the Universe feel even more slight and unremarkable than intended.
But for all that, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe makes a strong case for itself as a throwback to web series of old in “Spoiler: Bert Is Magic” precisely because of those shortcomings. There doesn’t need to be an investment, a flashy hook, or a highly-teased cameo to tell slight, but entertaining stories of nerds getting lost in time-space. There’s definitely a better version of this series that recognizes and leans into this even further – something I’m hoping the show continues to explore and develop in the second half of the first (only? time will tell) season. “Spoiler: Bert Is Magic” doesn’t quite have the right formula to really make it pop as a memorable homage to traditional “web series” – but the DNA is certainly there, and seems it would be to the show’s benefit to lean on the tenants of the once-great, always-slight genre to build itself upon.
Other thoughts/observations:
- “I don’t need magic in the bedroom; I’m a good listener.”
- In this world, they have comics like Dr. Strange: Colorectal Surgeon.
- SO MUCH STORYTELLING POTENTIAL in a world of magic that thinks science is evil and has outlawed it. Not in this episode, though!
- Ok, I like this version of Siri.
- Another strange in-universe note: in the world of magic, Sheldon Cooper is in Man of La Mancha on Broadway.
- The newspaper headline we pan over at one point says “HEY STUART BLOOM”, because…
- the episode ends with Stuart as a medicated mental hospital patient. How wacky!