Chuck Versus Sarah/Chuck Versus the Goodbye

Thanks for the memories. We wish a fond goodbye.

Photo Credit: NBC/TVFanatic.com

Well folks, that’s it. Last night saw the two-hour series finale of Chuck and it was everything we’d been promised. It was full of callbacks and emotion. Even a cold-hearted b*****d like me got a bit teary at times.

Even although it was the final two episodes, they functioned as one, to the point where they, again, dropped the opening credits for the second hour.

It was a trip down memory lane for both Sarah and us fans. From the assault on the D.A.R.P.A. lab, an homage to the very first scene of the pilot where Bryce Larkin steals the Intersect, right through to Chuck and Sarah’s dream house, it encapsulated the five amazing years we’ve had, without the need for flashbacks every few minutes.

The great thing about the finale is that it wasn’t just trying to remind Sarah why she fell in love with Chuck, it also served to remind us why we fell in love with the show.

It was funny, dramatic and touching in all the right quantities. What other spy drama wears its heart on its sleeve so openly?

The first hour, Chuck Versus Sarah, was certainly the darker of the two episodes, with Sarah manipulating those closest to her on Quinn’s orders and a lot of emotional pain for Chuck. At first we’re lead to believe that Sarah has killed Quinn, escaped, and still has enough of her memory to get home to those she loves.

Of course, she didn’t kill Quinn, but came pretty close to it, now he’s calling the shots pretending to be her handler. It’s quite amusing that Bizarro Sarah mistakes Chuck’s goofy good nature for a trap – one of the lighter moments of the episode.

Maybe it was just me, but Sarah seemed to soften slightly in deciding not to blow up the D.A.R.P.A. Intersect room. Could it have been that she didn’t see a need to kill Chuck, or perhaps it was just a disinclination to blow up a government facility.

Some of Sarah’s memory starts to come back once Chuck takes her to their dream home, although it’s not the house, or Chuck’s recounting of the dreams they had for the house, but the names she and he carved into a door frame.

Of course, once Quinn gets the Intersect glasses, Sarah is of no use to him, so he verifies Chuck’s story, that he’s been deceiving her and shoots at her. I think it was another step along the road that she was concerned about Chuck after he took the bullet for her.

Casey showed his gentler side by turning up at Sarah’s old room, telling her a bit about how they’d changed over the years and leaving the DVD of her mission logs. It was nice to see Sarah falling in love with Chuck via a series of small video diary entries.

Even although this all verified Chuck’s version of events, Sarah still didn’t feel that connection as she couldn’t remember going through all the things that made her fall in love with him.

The second episode saw Sarah back on the side of the good guys and gunning for Quinn. This allowed for more nostalgia and allowed this to be lighter as Chuck, and fate apparently, tried to take Sarah on a trip down memory lane.

The episode gave some of the usually mute Buy Morons a line or two of dialogue as Jeff and Lester were employed to help track down Sarah, using their network of contacts, or as Lester put it; “Unleash the perverts!”

We had references to Fulcrum, The Ring and Ted Roarke within the first few minutes of the episode, and the hits just kept on coming as Sarah, Chuck and Morgan went on a mission to find Renny Deutch in Berlin. First port of call was a restaurant that looked exactly like “El Compadre” in LA where Chuck and Sarah had their first cover date.

Next was a Russian consulate where we got a chance to see the pair dancing in eveningwear. This was followed by a trip to a Wienerlicious where it seemed that Sarah remembered a little more of her missing 5 years.

In an act that mirrored parts of “Chuck Versus the Ring” and his first mission in the pilot, Chuck once again put his personal desires aside in order to do what was right and took on the responsibility of the Intersect.

Thanks to Sarah, Chuck used the ‘Irene Demova’ virus from the pilot to defuse the bomb and save General Beckman, and likely a large part of the audience from being blown up.

However, the day could not have been saved by Chuck were it not for the intervention of a certain duo. One word: Jeffster!

Whereas in the season 2 finale, Jeffster played an unwitting part in helping, in this episode they were very much in on the plan. Despite turning up on their own initiative, they managed to save the day with a performance of A-ha’s ‘Take On Me’, earning them a standing ovation and the interest of a record producer from Germany.

In uploading the Intersect one last time, he was denied the opportunity to use the glasses to restore Sarah’s memory. As the team disbanded, with Casey leaving to go after Gertrude Verbanski, Sarah needed to take some time to find herself.

More pieces of her memory must have been resurfacing as she went to the beach where she had first told Chuck that he could trust her.

Taking advice from Morgan and following his heart, Chuck found her there and they started to reconnect. We got a montage of the couples important moments as Sarah asked Chuck to tell her their story and we fade to black as they share another first kiss.

 

Whilst Chuck and Sarah may have had a slightly ambiguous ending, others got their own happy endings. Alex and Morgan moved in together, Casey off to find Verbanski, Ellie and Awesome moving out to Chicago, Jeff and Lester getting a record contract. Even Big Mike got a happy ending, with Subway moving in to the Buy More!

Photo Credit: ZacharyLeviFan.com

“If you ever want to save the world again…. You know where I am.” – Gen. Beckman.

It’s been a fun ride.

Josh Schwartz, Chris Fedak, Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster, Ryan McPartlin, Scott Krinsky, Vik Sahay, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Bonita Friedericy, Julia Ling, a whole host of guest stars, all the writers, directors, producers and the rest of the crew. All of you are responsible for a show that captured the hearts and minds of people the world over, and for that we thank you from the bottom of our nerdy little hearts.

 

*fade to black*

Chuck Versus the Bullet Train

The Train Job and Jeffster! to the rescue!

Photo Credit: Byron Cohen/NBC

As we race towards the final two episodes, last night showed us that the stakes have never been higher. Like Shaw, Nicholas Quinn (Angus Mcfadyen) is a man obsessed with getting rid of Chuck Bartowski, but Quinn has had a lot longer to stew and a lot more failed attempts, given his client list.

Sarah revealed to Chuck that she had uploaded the dodgy Intersect, explaining that she’d had no other options. Considering the circumstances, Chuck did very well not to freak out.

There was a great moment between them, after an awkward silence, where they bond further over having the Intersect. It reminded me of the Smallville episodes where Lana/Lois get Clarks powers; it gives you a deeper understanding of how awesome it is to have superpowers, but there is always a catch. In this case, the Intersect is wiping Sarah’s memory, although 40 flashes in two days is a little excessive. Even a clean Intersect shouldn’t be such a crutch.

Chuck almost managed to hold his own in the fight against Quinn in the train carriage, considering that Quinn boasted that the only thing he couldn’t take down was the Intersect. As it was, he managed to make a getaway and captured Sarah, dropping her with a tranq dart and disconnecting their carriage from the train, leaving Chuck watching helplessly.

At a warehouse location Quinn used Intersect images to stimulate Sarah to flash, damaging her memory so that she could be his ‘soldier’. I liked that although Casey, Chuck and Morgan tracked her emergency beacon to the location, all that was waiting for them was the beacon and a note saying "Nice Try!" Things won't be wrapped up that easily.

Craftily taking Sarah back to her old hotel room, Quinn used the memory loss to create a new scenario with him as her handler. The new mission: kill Chuck Bartowski. So it seems that the next episode, Chuck Versus Sarah, is just that. It seems quite fitting that part of the drama of the finale will come not from a new villain, but as a threat from one of the very people at the heart of the show. Chuck will have to defeat his wife in order to save both their lives.

The secondary story brought Jeff and Lester back into the fold. With Alex being kidnapped by two of Quinn’s goons, one of whom was played by Farscape/Stargate SG-1’s Ben Browder, it was up to Morgan and Awesome to rescue her. Things didn’t go too well as they were spotted, although it probably didn’t help that Morgan was walking through the parking lot with a large sniper rifle.

It occurred to me when Morgan commented that he’d never sniped “wet or dry”(obviously he's never encountered the ‘wetworks’ euphemism) that while he’ll never have done it for real, surely he’s sniped in games, such as Call of Duty. It might not be the same, but at least it’s a slight advantage over a novice.

Anyway, with Awesome and Morgan captured as well, Lester picked up Morgan’s earpiece and hilarity followed. Casey told them to go to his Crown Vic and take a pistol each, but they broke out the heavy artillery. Cue Lester Rambo with the mini-gun, chewing on one of Casey’s cigars (and I don’t think he’d be happy with that!) and Jeff being a little scary with the flamethrower. I’d have surrendered; never mess with disturbed people with powerful toys!

Now Jeff and Lester have been officially let in on the secret of Carmichael Industries, will Big Mike find out in the final episodes? He is the last one of the principal characters not to know about it, so I think it would only be fair.

A couple of other points: As well as having Sarah’s old place feature, we had a nice callback to the Strip Kick from last season and, of course, Casey’s Crown Vic! I also loved the 80’s style train-track titles that were used in this episode.

I wonder if the warehouse that Quinn took Sarah to was actually a set-dressed workspace behind the normal sets for Chuck. It had a certain look to it, with the scaffolding at one side looking like there might be a set, possibly the train, behind it.

Next time: Chuck Versus Sarah/Chuck Versus the Goodbye

SARAH MUST KEEP A SECRET FROM CHUCK IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH A MISSION — ANGUS MACFADYEN GUEST STARS AS ‘NICHOLAS QUINN’ — After a harrowing mission, Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) returns to Chuck (Zachary Levi) with a huge secret. Meanwhile, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Awesome (Ryan McPartlin) are presented with a new opportunity that could change their lives. Adam Baldwin and Joshua Gomez also star.

Then

CHUCK’S FINAL MISSION BRINGS HIM BACK TO HIS ROOTS AS HE FIGHTS TO SAVE HIS FUTURE – ANGUS MACFADYEN AND LINDA HAMILTON GUEST STAR — Chuck (Zachary Levi) enlists his family, friends and some unexpected allies as he races to stop Nicholas Quinn (guest star Angus Macfadyen, “Braveheart”) from destroying everything Chuck has built over the past five years. Yvonne Strahovski, Joshua Gomez, Adam Baldwin, Sarah Lancaster, Scott Krinsky, Vik Sahay and Mark Christopher Lawrence also star.

Here’s the trailer, take a look:

Chuck Versus the Kept Man

Assignment: Miami Beach. Sun, sea, subterfuge and spiralling!

Photo Credit: NBC

The first Chuck episode of the New Year was one that followed the pattern of the last couple of episodes by giving a certain amount of closure to one of Team Bartowski. This time it was the turn of John Casey, the stoic military man who seems averse to warm fuzzy feelings.

Gertrude Verbanski made a return; not because she was no longer wanted for murder, but to come back to Casey. She’s a strong woman and once she sets her mind to getting something she wants, she is very persistent.

The expensive gift of the cashmere sweater was certainly not Casey’s style, something I thought she’d have known. Give him harsh conditions and gunplay and he’s happy as a pig in mud.

She had to resort to hiring Carmichael Industries for what was essentially a ruse to get Casey to Miami for a booty call. There was a mission, but it was largely time for a bit of private R&R and then time for some nefarious dealings.

He did succumb to her at one point during the ‘mission’ at the hotel in Miami, allowing her to exercise her dominant nature and play rough with him. It was probably one of the most unusual uses of a Casey grunt we’ve had in the series, although thankfully (for most of us) it was off screen.

Chuck, after Sarah walks in on Casey and Verbanski: “Sarah, what’s wrong?” 
Sarah: “Everything. It’s all wrong.”

It was quite a comedic episode for Yvonne Strahovski with her quizzical and disgusted looks and her meta reference complaining about how many skimpy outfits she’s had to wear for the missions.

We had Sarah’s pregnancy scare, leading Chuck to start ‘spiralling’ towards freaking out. Then of course Sarah started spiralling in their discussion before she went to aid Casey in rescuing Verbanski.

One of the neat little tricks I liked during the episode was Chuck and then Sarah tuning in to the dangers around them. It was in tune with the audience understanding that no matter what situation the find themselves in, they always manage to survive it.

I’m actually wondering if a major character will be killed off in these last few hours of the series, just to throw us a curveball.

In the Buy More sub-plot this time around, we had Jeff piecing together the puzzle of what goes on behind the scenes. Using a noteboard in the way that Chuck used the back of his Tron poster, he deduced that Sarah and Casey were spies and that Chuck was an asset. Okay, so he was a bit late with the info, but he was brain damaged up until recently.

It was fun to see Jeff and Lester tracking Awesome on the ‘drop’. They have done some “pretty decent spy work” before in ‘Versus the Best Friend’, but of course we knew that Awesome was acting as a decoy and knew he was being followed.

It certainly was, how should I put this, ‘interesting’ to see Lester embrace the feminine side everyone has talked about. He even got the wind machine!

I loved the fact that Morgan used Awesome to fake them out, but that Jeff, thanks to Lester, found out the truth and busted through the fake wall to see Chuck, Sarah and Morgan in Castle.

I’ll be interested to see if they try to use this newfound knowledge to wangle themselves positions in Carmichael Industries.

It seems that pretty much everything is wrapped up, although we didn’t get Casey’s reaction to Chuck and Sarah deciding not to rejoin the CIA, although the option is still open to him. Would he choose to go back, or do the roots he’s been putting down in Burbank have a stronger hold on him? Will we ever find out?

Next time: Chuck Versus Bo

MORGAN FACES THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS TIME AS THE INTERSECT WHEN HE MUST PIECE TOGETHER A LOST WEEKEND IN VAIL — BO DEREK (“10″) AND ANGUS MACFADYEN (“BRAVEHEART”) GUEST STAR — As Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) try to realize a new, safer future, Morgan’s (Joshua Gomez) past as the Intersect sends them to Vail on one last mission, where they enlist the help of an unlikely source — the legendary Bo Derek (as herself). Elsewhere, Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vik Sahay) continue their own spy mission. Adam Baldwin, Sarah Lancaster and Mark Christopher Lawrence also star.

Here’s the trailer, take a look:

Chuck Versus the Baby

Anybody Seen My Baby?

Photo Credit: NBC

With last night’s Chuck being written by the wonder-twins Lauren LeFranc and Rafe Judkins, we knew that it was going to be a cracker of an episode. Although the chronology of Sarah’s past has always been a bit of a muddle, there were a couple of errors that I found a little glaring, but they weren’t striking enough to detract from my enjoyment of the episode as a whole.

The episode treaded both familiar and unfamiliar ground, showing Sarah’s journey from loner spy to someone with friends and family who are there for her. As with last season’s Phase Three, we got to see Sarah kicking some ass, some in flashback in a Matrix style, with some stylised gymnastics, but we also got to see her vulnerable side. When handling ‘the package’ she was clearly out of her comfort zone, allowing for a couple of tender scenes with her mother.

After Chuck reverted back to making bad decisions based on family in ‘Versus the Curse’, so it seemed that Sarah became very sloppy around this mission because it was to do with family.

First of all, she never even considered that Ryker would have heard the news about Shaw being recaptured and imprisoned. She also fell for the same trick that she’d pulled on her old handler back in Hungary, having a decoy prop and a recording of a baby, despite the fact that five years had passed and the child would no longer be a baby.

 

Guest star Tim DeKay made a great villain as Ryker and it was easily believable that he could be linked to Shaw, both of them having a sadistic streak.

The fight scene between Ryker and Sarah in the house was one of the most brutal that I think I’ve ever seen her involved in. It certainly was a rather, if you’ll excuse the pun, sharp end for Ryker, being run through with a kitchen knife.

Of course, had she been as single minded as she set out to be and taken the tactical advantage, we’d never have got to see that knockdown fight.

The sub-plot this time was Ellie and Awesome giving Alex and Morgan relationship advice, setting the scene for the eventual reconciliation. Morgan did seem a little surprised when Alex kissed him, considering he’d been edging for them to get back together and dropping all sorts of less than subtle hints earlier.

We had some great comedy moments in the episode including Chuck taking down the waiter and proclaiming that he doesn’t need the Intersect, then finding that it would be very useful when the waiter speaks to them in Hungarian. This was immediately followed by a Pythonesque moment (“My hovercraft is full of eels”) where Casey is trying to use the phrase book and ends up saying, “Were… we weeping… curd cheesecake.”

The scene towards the end with the reunion of Sarah and her mother and adopted sister were very heartwarming. I thinkit was very fitting that the safe-house that Sarah sent them to was Casa Bartowski, making sure that they were with people that she trusts, the friends and family that she’s gained since the last time she saw her mother. It wrapped up the two plots of the episode nicely and gave us a very happy note; they could almost have ended the series on that.

So, Chuck and Sarah are splashing out on a new home, hoping that they can make the down payment now that they’ve vandalised the place by carving their names into a doorframe.

But wait, what is this conveniently forgotten plot point from the beginning of the season? I’m sure that a lot of you are wondering, like I am, where the Volkoff fortune that Chuck and Sarah had before Decker froze their assets went to. Surely the CIA would have allowed them access to their own money?

Right, I mentioned earlier about glaring errors. For me the biggest one(s) came at the end with the flashback to Sarah in Director Graham’s office. Firstly, if this was her assignment to Burbank straight after Chuck had been sent the Intersect, why was there no mention of Bryce; he was supposed to be her partner after all.

Secondly, Graham says to her he thinks it’s time for her to become a handler. Initially, her mission involving Chuck was just to grab the intel from his computer, but she decided to stick around to see if he had a backup anywhere and find out how much he knew. She was never supposed to be his handler; it was only after it became clear that he had the Intersect in his head that she and Casey were assigned to be his handlers.

As a bit of a film reference nerd, I literally laughed out loud at the inclusion of a “Wilhelm scream” in the episode. You can catch it at the point when Ryker pushes the waiter down the stairs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj1nuOl3WVc

Next time: Chuck Versus the Kept Man

GERTRUDE VERBANSKI RETURNS WITH A MISSION FOR CHUCK AND A PROPOSITION FOR CASEY — CARRIE-ANNE MOSS GUEST STARS — While Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) contemplate the next step for Carmichael Industries, Casey’s (Adam Baldwin) forbidden love, Gertrude Verbanski (guest star Carrie-Anne Moss, “The Matrix”), walks back into his life with a questionable mission in South Beach. Meanwhile, Jeff’s (Scott Krinsky) enhanced intelligence leads he and Lester (Vik Sahay) to suspect that something unusual may be happening at the Buy More. Joshua Gomez, Ryan McPartlin and Mark Christopher Lawrence also star.

Here’s the trailer, take a look:

Chuck Versus the Santa Suit

The Grinch who (almost) stole Christmas!

Photo Credit: Mike Ansell/NBC

What a Christmas treat we got with last night’s Chuck! This is certainly my favourite episode of the season so far and one of my favourites of the series. It just goes to show how good an episode it was when the colossal spoiler in the promo that NBC aired two weeks ago had little impact on the enjoyment of it.

That being said, there is a bit of a large plot hole, so let’s get it out of the way quickly. Surely the CIA would have de-Intersected Shaw when they took him into custody, knowing how dangerous he and it can be. Since they apparently didn’t, the question arises; how did he survive for two years without a Governor?

Right, gripe out of the way, now I can get to the rest of the episode.

This episode was fantastically done, blending pretty much all of the elements that make for a really good hour of Chuck. It also featured the entire ensemble with Team B, Ellie and Awesome and the Buy Morons all getting to play their part.

For a change, Jeff and Lester proved instrumental in the payoff without it being dumb luck thanks to one of their schemes having wider repercussions. You could say that, for a while, they were an unofficial part of the Carmichael Industries team. Plus it was a great chance to have a Subway promotional plug (one of two – the second being a more subtle one at the CIA Christmas party) with Jeff doing a Big Mike and describing the ingredients of his delicious Subway sandwich.

Adam Baldwin got a little comedy, a little action and a lot of heart with this episode. His reaction to Chuck and Morgan finding out about his present for Alex was brilliant, and the scene where he begins to record his ‘final’ message for her on the bear was very moving. Of course he got to tell Alex in person and, caught up in his ‘lady feelings’, even gave her a nudge in Morgan’s direction – “You know, that.. that Grimes kid, he’s not that bad. You should maybe give him another chance.”

Shaw was unpopular during Season 3, even before he did his heel turn. Quite a bit of it was to do with him getting between Chuck and Sarah, and some of it was to do with the fact that he seemed so wooden. When he returned last night, there was a great desire form the fans to see him get his ass kicked up and down the Buy More. We weren’t disappointed, although I’m sure some of us would have liked to have seen him put down permanently.

After he regressed to the old Chuck last week, it was a relief to see Chuck back on form. He had a plan; he utilized everyone at his disposal, used his nerd skills and his physical training to win the day and save the world from Daniel Shaw.

I have to admit that from last week’s promo, I thought that maybe Chuck got the Intersect back, courtesy of Gen. Beckman. When we found out that Jeff and Lester had cracked the Omen code, I figured that Chuck would use it against Shaw. It was quite amusing and ironic that he used the bluff from Superman II, where Superman makes Zod think he has the upper hand when in fact he’s removed his powers.

I felt that the fight scene in the Buy More this time around was better than when both Shaw and Chuck had the Intersect. This fight was not between two guys with near superpowers, it was between two guys who hated each other. Plus we had Ellie get in on the action by clocking Shaw on the back of the head, bringing the fight to an end!

Now that Shaw is locked away you would have thought that his villainy could no longer affect our heroes, but then you get that final scene between Shaw and Sarah. Oh boy, that is a cliffhanger to ponder over Christmas! Whose baby do you think Shaw is referring to? Post your theories in the comments section.

Of course, now that the vendetta against Chuck has come to a close as far as the CIA are concerned, he should be getting back all of the assets that were frozen by Decker, meaning that Carmichael Industries should be rich once again. Having been offered open positions at the CIA means that there are a few options open to each of them.

Where will the story go after next episode? Few people know, but I am very interested to see how it all plays out.

 

Next time: Chuck Versus the Baby

SARAH’S PAST COMES BACK TO HAUNT HER AND THREATENS THOSE CLOSEST TO HER — CHERYL LADD AND TIM DEKAY GUEST STAR — Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) is forced to confront a secret from her past and feels she must do so alone, while Chuck (Zachary Levi) urges her to let him help. When Sarah encounters her original handler, Kieran Ryker (guest star Tim Dekay, “White Collar”), she fears that he will harm those closest to her, including her mom (guest star Cheryl Ladd, “Las Vegas”). Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster and Ryan McPartlin also star. 

Here’s the trailer, take a look:

Chuck Versus the Curse

Being a spy can be torture. Who wants a martini?

Photo Credit: Byron Cohen/NBC

The Buy Morons got the week off as Devon and Ellie got unwittingly involved in the spy game again in last night’s episode. We could all see that pretending to be spies whilst out on a date using Chuck’s OpenTable account would end up causing trouble.

Both thinking that each other set up ‘Operation Eagle’, they stumbled into what turned out to be a bluff for us fans. Being transported to a safe location on the orders of Beckman, they assumed, as we initially did, that it was the bad guys who had captured them. I have to say I quite liked the ‘tuck and roll’ exit from the car as it slowed down. Obviously the doors we saw locking when they got in weren’t childproof!

Team Awesome did pretty well for themselves. Despite not being real spies, they certainly worked well as a spy team. I mentioned on Twitter that Ellie is both a Bartowski and Mrs Awesome, and both aspects certainly showed in this episode.

In fact, there were a couple of other pairings that worked well together; Casey and Beckman for one, and the other non-spy couple Morgan and Alex.

It was nice to see General Beckman out of the office and involved with Team Bartowski again. Like she said, “It was a bit like old times, wasn’t it?”

It was also nice to have Ellie not playing second fiddle to Sarah in the glamour stakes, even giving her the sexy ‘getting ready’ montage. Since they’ve had Sarah Lancaster in either scrubs or plain looking clothes for a lot of the series, it’s good when someone decides to put her in a slinky dress, such as in ‘Versus the Coup d’Etat’ and remind us how hot she actually is.

This whole episode was very much a showcase of the strong females, Ellie, Sarah, Alex and General Beckman. Each of them was responsible for the success of the respective missions.

Meanwhile, the guys were not being quite so clever. Chuck went back to his old self; having his feelings for his family get in the way of making the right decision, Morgan was ready to attempt something overly complicated and, whilst Awesome came up with some good ideas, he ultimately got into deeper trouble.

I liked the B-plot in this, with Morgan having to complete a mission for Casey and retrieve Chuck’s P.A.N.T.S. It was a good excuse to have him working with Alex and they certainly worked well together.

Do we think that Morgan and Alex will have a reconciliation before the end of the series? I think so; all of the signs are there, just look at her face when she opens his box of personal artifacts.

I note that Morgan said that he and Chuck went through an acronym phase when they were younger. When they were younger? Come on, Morgan is still in that phase, you just have to look at T.I.T.S. (yes, I know! :D)

My one problem with the close of the episode is that the whole storyline with the government hunting Team B was wrapped up in an incredibly easy way. Sure, from the look on Robin Cunnings’ face, she would rather give up everything than get a taste of her own medicine, but it was very much a quick fix.

I understand that there are time constraints, given the fast approaching end of the series, but it just felt a little too neat.

We had Casey being broken out of prison at the end of the last episode, and it seems we've got another happening at the end of this one. Because of the spoilers that we’ve seen, we know that Shaw must be prisoner 1647. So it seems that releasing the Omen virus was just part of the plan in order to facilitate his escape. Essentially, the whole episode was about getting to that part.

Next time: Chuck Versus the Santa Suit

Chuck and Sarah learn who is trying to destroy Carmichael Industries; Ellie's Christmas plans come undone; a computer virus threatens to ruin Christmas at Buy More. Stan Lee guest stars.

Here’s the trailer, take a look:

From his comment to Shaw, it seems like Chuck might be getting the Intersect back! Exciting stuff ahead :)

Chuck Vs Agent X

There go my primroses! Eat lead ya bastards!

Photo credit: Chris Haston/NBC

I just had to use that line as a topper. I think it was my favourite of the episode!

Anyway, the episode....


The bachelor and bachelorette parties for Chuck and Sarah provided the backdrop to some of this episode, but as it is with the life of spies, work got in the way of both.
Ellie was finally let in on the secret that Chuck is not only still a spy, but also has the Intersect in his head.
The third element was that of the title - finding this mysterious Agent X. I have to say, I had an idea who it might be, but I was still a little surprised when their identity was revealed.

Each of these plots wouldn’t have been enough to fill an entire episode, so they were all mixed together, but Ellie finding out about Chuck and his special abilities felt a little rushed. As much as I like Big Mike and Jeffster, I feel that they were extraneous to the plot. Aside from the comedy montage/product placement, they lent very little to the overall episode.

Whilst Chuck had Casey, Morgan, Awesome, Big Mike and Jeffster to go along to a bachelor party, Sarah is largely friendless. Ellie’s explanation as to where all the people at her party came from was a bit odd to me though. Somehow, as well as women from the hospital, she managed to get ‘a few of the Wienerlicious girls’ along. Now considering that the Wienerlicious hasn’t been in the show since the first season ended, and that the only people we ever saw were Sarah and her boss, it was a bit of a stretch. Maybe she rounded them up from the rest of the franchise outlets?

Things ran less smoothly at the event organised by Awesome in the wonderful Las Vecas (don’t bother – it’s not real!) where Vivian Volkoff’s team tracked down the Orion laptop and tried to extract information from the stoned Jeff.

One question that I had from the start is why the CIA would have something that could track the laptop bundled away in storage in the first place. If, and this is just speculation, they had installed a tracker in it after they’d appropriated it from Ellie, wouldn’t they keep the tracker monitored?

And who can deny the wonderful irony that Casey had Osama bin Laden targets for the party and the episode was broadcast the day after that very man was killed.

With the laptop still in the hands of the good guys, although not quite in working order, it was time to let Ellie in on the secret, which involved taking her into Castle, dishonouring Morgan’s shirt and speaking Japanese. She handled it pretty well, considering.
This led them to the mission to uncover the identity of Agent X, which took them to Somerset, England. Given that we had a spoiler saying that Agent X was someone we had already met, it was a matter of putting 2 and 2 together. It ended up meaning that the connection between the Volkoff and the Bartowski clans is a lot more complicated than I would ever have thought.

I have to say that the idea of an Intersect implanting a cover identity is quite a leap, unless the implantation was done differently, but I’ll go with it, as it’s entirely fictional anyway, so it can be whatever it needs to be!

No doubt Mrs Winterbottom will be high on the list of many peoples favourite one-off characters. She certainly struck a chord with Casey! If it were up to me, being the mother of Alexei Volkoff, she’d make another appearance, even if only to reconnect with her errant son.

It’s nice to see that Alexei will be as important to the end of the season as Vivian. As I said in a recent post, I had feared we’d seen the last of him. With only two more episodes to go, it’s all to play for now.

*Overnight ratings came in as I was writing this, with Chuck rising from a dismal 1.3 to a not so dismal 1.4. We should still be getting better ratings, but a gain is not something to be sniffed at.


Next episode: Chuck Vs The Last Details - Chuck and Sarah’s wedding prep includes one final detail: ensuring that the mother-of-the-groom makes it to the ceremony alive. Meanwhile, Morgan’s responsibilities as Best Man include his most dangerous mission yet, as he faces Vivian Volkoff. Elsewhere, Ellie tends to the last details of the rehearsal dinner and seeks help from an unlikely source.

Take a look:

Chuck Vs The Muuurder

Duct and Cover? What's shakin' Bacon?

Photo Credit: NBC

This week saw the inevitable murder mystery episode with Chuck and his team trapped in Castle with Bentley and four new recruits, knowing that someone in their midst was a killer. It had a lot of potential, but to me it felt a bit flat at times, which could be due to the fact that this episode was written by writers who were new to Chuck this season.

The whole thing with Chuck being assigned to lead the Intersect project and given his first leadership role was pretty good. As I tweeted, and no doubt many others have commented, there was the little hat tip to the series ‘Charles in Charge’ which was just one of a couple of pop culture references this week.

With things going from bad to worse, it was up to Chuck to take control and figure out who the killer was. Taking advice from Sarah and Casey helped him to take charge, despite his lack of confidence and he did eventually figure it out. The murder mystery itself wasn’t much of a mystery to me by the time the second bomb went off, I probably watch too many whodunits, but the reason behind it eluded me until Beckman explained the Volkoff connection. I’m half wondering if Damian’s mission was just to blow up Castle, sending Chuck a message, because there had to be easier ways of taking Chuck out of the equation.

This episode, like last week, showed just how unique Chuck is, and why that is a good thing. In the Director Bentley’s world someone would have to die in order to secure the bomb and save the rest. Chuck’s view of the world is a little different and nobody else needs to die. He might do things differently from a ‘real’ spy, but his abilities and nature mean that he is no less impressive in the role.

The Buy More sub-plot had a number of laughs in it, largely due to several ‘Number 2’ jokes, including the Big BM being left on fire on the Buy More’s doorstep. We also had the allusion that retail is like the mafia, with a meeting of the Buy More and Large Mart ‘families’ to negotiate a hostage exchange.

Ellie is starting to get drawn into the spy life again, having received her father’s laptop from Bentley at the end of last episode. She seems to be making headway with the problem, but how long will it be before she figures out that it has something to do with Chuck? Somehow she’s managed not to guess that he’s still in the spy game, but I’ll blame the stress of becoming a parent for at least some of that.

I felt that there was some character growth here for a few players. Chuck became more of a confident leader, showing that he can ultimately deliver, which I think helped to secure his position as the only Intersect. Bentley went from being rather cold and manipulative, to having Chuck’s back and getting along with him. Casey showed that he’s becoming more, well, domesticated, by hanging out at the end of the episode with Chuck and Sarah for some milk and cookies.
But by far the most character growth was Devon. Who knew that Captain Awesome could become such a convincing liar? He was useless not that long ago, but he lied to Chuck about switching the hard drive on the Orion laptop. I’m actually a little surprised he knew how to do that, although he didn’t actually do it.

Any of you familiar with Scottish detective drama Taggart will be familiar with it’s most quoted phrase “There’s been a murder” and that’s what this episode title reminded me of when I first heard it. It’s a common enough phrase, but it was nice to hear it used by the guy with the British accent, although I doubt that was an intentional reference!

I loved the little callback in this episode, with Brody’s ringtone being Journey’s ‘Any Way You Want It’ as Chuck’s was in the pilot (and, I have to admit, mine still is!)
The Agent X Files thing was amusing, a neat reference, and since 4.22 is called Chuck vs. Agent X, I’m wondering if we’re going to see one of Orion’s old partners. I think I recall seeing one of the boxes in the Orion Cave marked Agent X, but we’ll have to wait for a few weeks to find out.

*As I was writing this, the ratings came in, and they don’t look good. Chuck slipped to a series low with a 1.5 in the 18-49 demographic.


Next episode: Chuck Vs the Family Volkoff – Timothy Dalton returns as Alexei Volkoff as it seems daughter Vivian has truly embraced her fathers business. This episode will air on the 11th of April.

Take a look:

Chuck Vs The Push Mix

I’m at my peak, mentally and physically. I’ve been doing yoga. Bring on the lasers!

Photo Credit: Jordin Althaus/NBC

When NBC originally commissioned the fourth season, this episode was meant to be the season finale, if not series finale. However, with the addition of a further 11 episodes, this just became number 13 of 24.

 It had all the feel of a finale; the plot points we’ve been building to were resolved and each of our protagonists got a happy ending. Volkoff was taken down, ending not only his evil empire, but also the separation of the Bartowski family as Mama B finally came home after two decades; Ellie and Awesome now have their own little Awesome, and Chuck finally managed to propose to Sarah.

 However, unlike other season finales, no other elements were brought in. At the end of Season 2 in ‘Chuck vs The Ring’ we had the introduction of The Ring and the cliffhanger of “guys, I know kung-fu!” In ‘Chuck vs The Ring Part II’ we had Orion’s secret base uncovered and the mission to find Mama B was introduced.

As a spy, Chuck has never been more competent or devious than in this episode. Fans will note that the Intersect was barely used the whole time, and when it was used, Chuck was flashing on intel rather than an ability; something we’ve not seen for a while.

In the execution of the plan to bring down Volkoff and rescue his mother, Chuck showed that he was an equal to Sarah. Not only did he do the mission without relying on the Intersect, but also, despite the danger, he was willing to risk everything for the people he loved.

 As Alexei Volkoff, Timothy Dalton has proved himself as the best ‘big bad’ of the series. Fulcrum were a little sporadic, The Ring were a little weak at times, Shaw was ….. well, best not to go there, but Volkoff was both menacing and fun, evil yet entertaining.

 The writers did a spectacular job in creating this character, and Dalton absolutely nailed the performance every single time. Sure, the show is genre spanning, but the scenes between Dalton and Linda Hamilton showed that, when they want it to be, ‘Chuck’ can be a brilliantly compelling a spy drama.

As mentioned at the start, Chuck managed to propose to Sarah. Taking Casey’s advice, he didn’t need a romantic setting, so he proposed to her in that hospital corridor. We didn’t need any dialogue to know how he asked, or what the answer was, as the body language in that scene said it all. Cleverly, the floor buffing machine served two purposes in the scene; firstly to show how unromantic the setting was, and secondly to understate the scene – there was no dialogue, no music, just the sound of the buffer and a slow fade to black as Sarah gives the answer we’ve all been waiting for.

Whoever decided to have the proposal in the background with the buffer drowing out the dialogue is a genius. After having the whole big romantic gesture going on in ‘Chuck vs The Balcony’, the subdued nature of the scene just made it that more powerful for me.

Finally, we got another performance from Jeffster! which recalled classic Jeff and Lester; entirely inappropriate and almost cringe worthy at times. I liked how it seemed to split the ‘audience’ in the hospital, we had those who were shocked and appalled, and those who were actually enjoying the performance and even dancing with the boys! Ellie’s face when she heard them over the intercom was priceless. As well as the choice of song and her general dislike of them, she was no doubt recalling their impromptu performance that ended up ruining her first attempt at a wedding.
Speaking of the creepy duo, I’m hoping that they were out of earshot when Chuck was discussing the CIA undercover protection team for Ellie and Awesome. He wasn’t really speaking in hushed tones and neither Jeff nor Lester seemed to be that far away from the Nerd Herd station!

Hopefully, now that we’ve zipped through 13 episodes, the final 11 will have a bit more breathing space. With a story that most shows would take 2 seasons to tell, everything was building to last night in a very short time. Now they have room to play about a bit, Josh Schwartz said that the next episode will be a “launching pad” for a new story-arc, although where it will go from there is anyone’s guess.

Next episode: Chuck Vs The Seduction Impossible – Team Bartowski travel to Morocco to rescue suave spy Roan Montgomery and Sarah dresses as a belly dancer. Miss it at your peril!
 
 

Chuck Vs The Leftovers

Welcome to the party, pal! More turkey?

Photo Credit: NBC

 Proving he doesn’t need an Intersect to have a multitude of skills, Zachary Levi stepped behind the camera again to direct his second episode. There were some slightly avant garde shots, but overall another fine work.
 This episode contains plot elements that bear some resemblance to those in the episode he directed previously, 'Chuck Vs The Beard'. In both, there is an enemy takeover at the Buy More, both looking to break in to Castle. Both have a big reveal; in 'Beard' it was Chuck revealing his spy credentials to Morgan, in this episode, it was Frost revealing to Volkoff that Chuck is her son, and that she has a family. Most importantly for me, both of them feature a Chuck who is unable to flash at the beginning of the episode, and has his kung fu restored by the end.

 Timothy Dalton was brilliant as the menacing, threatening villain, and the lovestruck villain who is apparently great with kids and wanted to meet the family. The menace carried through so that even in the supposedly comfortable setting of the family dinner, there was still that underlying feeling that anything could happen.
 Dalton has, for me, been outshining Linda Hamilton with his passionate performances, first as Tuttle and now as Volkoff. He manages to tap into that balance between serious and silly which is something this show does when it is at it's best. He may be best known for his role as James Bond, but he completely owns the Volkoff character.

  Was it just me, or did you expect someone to shout out ‘License to Kill’ or 'The Living Daylights' during the game of Charades? Well, it was a film, three words - although I have no idea what he was actually trying to mime!

 We had another great homage to Die Hard with Morgan filling the role of John McClane in clothing as well as action, although trust him to tape the gun to his back in such a way that it was unreachable! Yippee ki….oh.

 There was also the African-American computer hacker (with Nerd Machine sticker on his laptop!) and the very subtle inclusion of Dean Martin’s ‘Let It Snow’ when Chuck and Sarah are about to be attacked by Volkoff’s assassins.

 Speaking of which, considering that Chuck was willing to take on three ninjas in Castle just a couple of weeks ago, why was he so insistent that he couldn’t take on even one of those guys without having the Intersect? Is he really that uncertain of his own abilities?

 It turns out that the laptop is a portable Intersect, another curveball for us just as we started to think it wasn’t.

 I’m sure most of the business with the laptop will be quietly forgotten about, given the number of questions it raises. Awesome would need to explain to Ellie where it was, and he couldn’t convincingly lie if his life depended on it. What would have happened if Ellie had put in the correct password meant for Chuck? She knew the phrase ‘Aces, Charles’, having used it in the pilot. Then the business about WHY it was left for both Chuck and Ellie is a little vague at best.

 Ellie had to solve the first problem to unlock it for Chuck so that the Intersect could be restored. Does this mean that Papa B thought that Ellie would be helping Chuck in a professional capacity as well as in a familial one?

 Originally Steven didn’t want Chuck to be involved in the spy world, so I’m guessing that the laptop was programmed after he came to accept that Chuck was going to be a spy.

 I have my own theory as to why it was given to Ellie and then had to be passed on to Chuck. It is possible that, given Ellie’s background in neuroscience, she had to figure out the data storage problem for the Intersect so that she could help Chuck either to restore it, or possibly to come up with a more efficient storage method in the brain, thus enhancing it. She did say that Papa B had been looking at it from an engineering perspective, rather than a neurological one. She made a few adjustments to it, so perhaps this is Intersect 2.1?

 I liked the subtle references to, firstly the pilot, with Chuck falling straight backwards after absorbing the Intersect, and to the end of Season 2 with the line: “Guys, I know Kung Fu. Again.”

 One more thing, there was (I’m assuming) a little fan reference with Casey referring to Frost/Mary Bartowski as ‘Mama B’.

 Next episode: “But, soft! What light from yonder window breaks?” It’s Chuck Vs The Balcony – unfortunately we have to wait until January 17^th for our next fix. :(

In the meantime, here are some things you can do to fill the Chuck-less void.

- Watch Chuck again from the beginning; remind yourself how far they’ve come.

- Rent films like Terminator, Repo Man, Spies Like Us, Cobra, Die Hard and Tron; Chuck has referenced them all.

- Listen to the Chuck podcasts; you may have missed some.

- Go and see Tangled (if you’re in the US, it’s not out until late January in the UK)
- Join a Strip Kick class :) (I'm pretty sure these don't exist!)

- Fight your way across Thailand and earn an unflattering moniker!

 

Chuck Vs Phase Three

Forget taking names. Sarah Walker is just here to kick ass.

Photo Credit: Greg Gayne/NBC

 If you were still sitting on the fence regarding the awesomeness of Yvonne Strahovski/Sarah Walker, then this episode should have turned you into a fan.

 It has been suggested by a number of people on Twitter that Yvonne deserves an Emmy for her performance in this. I think it would be hard to find many fans that would disagree, and I’m sure those outside the fandom would admit that she should at least be in contention.

 This episode was, of course, Sarah-centric, and it showed us that she needs Chuck as much, if not more, than he needs her. Fighting her way across Thailand and taking on anyone who got in her way, Sarah proved that she was willing to do whatever it took to rescue Chuck.

 For me there was a great comparison to Chuck in last week’s episode. Chuck thought that he needed the Intersect to be a spy, and needed to be a spy to have Sarah; for that he was willing to risk anything. This week, Sarah was willing to risk everything to rescue Chuck because she realised she needed him to have as normal a life as possible.

 As well as the kicking of ass that went on, there was a great deal of heart and emotion to Sarah in this episode. Despite the loss of Chuck taking her dangerously close to crossing the line, there were also some very tender moments. The scene where she finds his proposal plan, when she smells his shirt, and when Sarah tells Chuck, as he lies unconscious, that she loves him, that she wants to marry him were very moving.

 I loved that Sarah referred to Morgan as ‘The Magnet’. This could be his permanent new nickname; it’s certainly better than ‘Organ’!

 Casey was a lot more reluctant in this episode to include Morgan in the mission than he has been recently. From taking him to rescue Chuck and Sarah from his old squad, to telling him he wouldn’t learn anything if he stayed in the van, it seemed that casey had been embracing the bearded one as his protégé. Okay, so Morgan has never been trusted with a loaded gun, but there’s plenty of time – baby steps, little ammo-less baby steps.

“You’re not getting bullets for a long, long time” – Casey to Morgan.

 Events in this episode did get me thinking how Casey would react if ever something were to happen to Alex involving the spy world. No doubt that scenario would largely involve bodies flying about, as The Casey would truly be unleashed.

 Ellie finally found the computer in the car that Papa B left for her, and it was indeed specifically left for her.

 It was nice to see the Buy More gang outside of the store, although why Awesome would agree to give them all a physical regardless of their contribution to fixing the Orion computer is beyond me. Nice callback to Season 2 with Lester referring to it as a Roark 7.

 It made for a wonderful cliffhanger having Ellie log into it and then that reaction. I wonder what could be on it? Luckily it seems not to be a version of the Intersect – I dread to think what would have happened in it were and Lester had activated it, or even worse, Jeff!

 It seems that the Intersect-less arc will continue, hopefully for a few more episodes. Will we see Chuck being a spy during a mission without having the Intersect to rely on? Perhaps he needs to have the confidence not to use it for it to start working again.

What are your thoughts?

 Next episode: Guess who’s coming to dinner? Chuck Vs The Leftovers, which has, for me, one of the most anticipated Terminator references. I know that because it was spoiled by the preview at the end of this week’s episode. Thanks NBC!

Chuck Vs The Subway / Chuck Vs The Ring Part II

Bye Bye, Buy More!

I’m writing this intro just minutes after watching the jaw-dropping, quite literally explosive two-hour finale of Chuck Season 3. To be honest, I think I’m still in shock – OMG does not cover it, no matter how many exclamation marks you put after it!

We’d been told that this was going to be game changing; I feel that was an understatement. It would be like saying that the Sun is quite hot.

I think most people predicted, having been told that one major character would die, Papa Bartowski would be the unlucky candidate. If it couldn’t be any more obvious, he used the line  “This is the last time I’m gonna walk away from you, I promise”, which is equivalent to the clichéd horror movie line “I’ll be right back” – you just know they’re going to die.

There is still the question of what happened to his body, but more importantly, his Governor. Of course, I’m assuming that one of The Ring agents took it, because even though it may be damaged, they could still use it to make their own

Ellie finally found out that Chuck is a spy and discovered that her father is as well, or was. Not only that, but after Stephen was killed, she stepped up to the plate and helped to rescue Team Bartowski by using the B Team of Devon and Morgan. Somehow, despite their bungling, they managed to come through and get our heroes out of trouble.

Morgan managed to get in and out of trouble, especially with Casey after the latter discovered that Morgan had his daughter’s phone number. It might be interesting to see a Morgan-Alex-Casey dynamic next season.

Despite that incident, he did earn some respect from Casey by doing something that Chuck was never willing to do. That’s right – he broke his thumbs to escape the restraints, despite it proving amusingly unnecessary.

During most of this season I know a number of people, myself included, have thought that The Ring was a sub-par Fulcrum, but boy were we proved wrong. Whilst Fulcrum were very visible in their evil doing, The Ring were extremely insidious, playing a long game for much higher stakes.

Shaw has been taken into custody and The Ring is in disarray, but have we seen the last of either?

Talking about seeing the last of someone, how about Jeffster? Now that Jeff and Lester are fugitives, suspected of blowing up the Buy More, how can they go on to do the stadium tours?

Mind you, Jeff managed a whole new level of worrying in just one comment – “It’s my dream come true. Ellie is exactly like Chuck, but with lady parts.” Devon decided to leave at that moment, and even Lester looked worried. How much more can be done with the two characters without integrating them into the spy world, which would be interesting, but most likely a huge mistake.

We got a glimpse into the Bartowski family history, and it seems that Chuck has always been special, after downloading the proto-Intersect at a young age. I’m assuming that he got de-Intersected at some point, cos otherwise it would just be weird!

The references during the finale were grand in scope, ranging from pop culture – General Beckman and the Star Wars ref, Big Mike and the Planet of The Apes ref, to meta, to call-backs – the Mexican Hat ringtone from Vs. The Undercover Lover; all juicy titbits that’ll keep you watching and re-watching.

I’ve seen a few people comment that the Intersect vs. Intersect fight was a little disappointing. I think that it was played to the abilities of the actors so that there was as much face time for them during the fight sequence, just to show what they were capable of, with as little need for stunt doubles as possible.

So, for Season 4 we have a new threat, a probable lack of Buy More, Mama Bartowski, the possibility of Casey becoming a family man and so many more things.

As I usually recommend, check out the latest ChuckYouTuesday podcast – just click the link to the Chuckgasmic blog in the side bar, but remember, it contains strong language.

Until next season, Semper Fidizzle, Chuck fans.