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 Bo

A less than perfect "10"!

Photo Credit: NBC

Is there anyone in Hollywood who isn’t a spy? First Stan Lee, now Bo Derek!

Chuck Versus Bo was probably one of the more fun episodes of the season. With things starting to be wrapped up, although most of the last few episodes have had a sense of closure to them, it was time to unveil the final villain.

What they’ve done is neatly bring everything into play, the fact that Nicholas Quinn (Angus Mcfadyen) was supposed to be the first candidate for the Intersect, and that he’s been going after it ever since was a pretty interesting way of linking the past to the present. He blames Chuck for being broken because he didn’t have the Intersect when he felt he needed it and it seems he might have plans for him.

It was quite amusing that in the list of Quinn’s clients, as well as FULCRUM, The Ring and Volkoff Industries, they also mentioned Kim Jong-il. Spooky timing when they say they’ve taken down some of his biggest clients and Morgan comments regarding the late Mr Kim; “Did we get him?” A similar thing happened last year with a gag involving Casey having Bin Laden targets, just days after he was killed.

Is Casey involved in the assassination of evil foreign douchebags when he’s not on a mission with Chuck and Sarah? Just a thought :)

Jeff managed to prove that he has considerable smarts in the last episode and this continued in this one. While Lester was more than willing to accept a debauched night in Vegas that he couldn’t remember, Jeff questioned the evidence.

The X-13 gas that Casey used on them, multiple times, was meant to knock them out and they’d forget the last 24 hours, but it didn’t quite seem to work. Jeff took a cue from Memento and started writing clues on his arm to help him remember – surely something that Casey would have spotted and erased before leaving them at the set-up scene.

Of course, Jeff and Lester got to the bottom of it in Vail, following the team to the Buy More. Just as Lester accuses them of being spies, Quinn and his men come in and start shooting. The very notion of Jeffster being involved in a spy vs. spy shootout would never have crossed my mind last season, but there we were, Jeff cowering and Lester trying to scale a climbing wall to safety as the bullets flew!

In the end, Casey managed to outsmart them by writing ‘not’ into the phrase ‘they are spies’ on Jeff’s arm. So, with the +1 vultures on the car, Big Mike treated them to a Subway Fresh Fit meal and they drove off towards Vegas. That could have been a nice ending for them in the series, but they’ll be back in the palace of emerald and gold, hopefully with Jeffster! rocking out one final time!

I liked the Vail Buy More, a strange Twilight Zone version of the familiar Burbank store, right down to the Jeff and Lester-alikes (note how their Lester IS a woman), the female Big Mike, Big Michelle, and even a version of Fernando!

Adam Baldwin tweeted that he’d ad-libbed Casey’s “I hate Twitter” line. Who doesn’t love a good Baldwin ad-lib?

We knew that everything wasn’t going to end smoothly, right from the moment that Sarah said “one last mission” – even Casey knew that you never, ever, say one last mission – it’s like saying “nothing can possibly go wrong” or “this’ll be the best Christmas Walford’s ever had”*

*A trope taken from UK soap Eastenders, where something terrible happens every Christmas. Line also completely nicked from Doctor Who episode The Impossible Planet ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hdvMjVSctc )

The bad guy and his new set of goons grab Chuck demanding that Sarah bring the Intersect glasses to a location at the docks. Sarah and Casey go off to save Chuck, only to find that the exchange is a trap. Pinned down without an exit, Sarah decides the only thing to do is put on the glasses and upload the Intersect. Well, to be fair, it was either that or surrender and most likely be killed.

I’ve seen a few people on Twitter complaining that Sarah doesn’t need the Intersect to be badass. Whilst this is true, it should be noted that the Intersect 2.0 was supposed to enhance the skills of already competent spies. The Giant Blonde Shemale might be awesome, but give her the Intersect and she can dodge bullets.

I would have said that with Intersect-enhanced skills she’s unstoppable, but we all know what comes from uploading a dodgy Intersect. Can we expect Sarah to start losing her memory, or worse? There’s only one way to find out – tune in next week!

Next time: Chuck Versus the Bullet Train

A MISSION ABOARD A JAPANESE BULLET TRAIN SPIRALS OUT OF CONTROL, PUTTING THOSE CLOSEST TO CARMICHAEL INDUSTRIES IN DANGER – ANGUS MACFADYEN GUEST STARS — When a mission in Japan becomes a hostage situation, Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) and Chuck (Zachary Levi) must face the merciless Nicholas Quinn (guest star Angus Macfadyen, “Braveheart”) aboard a speeding Japanese bullet train. Meanwhile, the mission leaves Casey with an impossible decision. Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster, Ryan McPartlin, 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 Versus the Hack Off

Chuck shows a little Community spirit (and a lot of skin)!

Photo Credit: Matt Kennedy/NBC

This episode marks the third time that Zachary Levi has sat in the director’s chair. It was a little different, thematically, from the previous two – ‘Leftovers’ and ‘Beard’ – which both had bad guys taking hostages at the Buy More and a secret about Chuck revealed.

Well, actually there was a secret revealed in this episode. After five seasons we suddenly found out that Chuck used to be a super-hacker, nicknamed ‘The Piranha’. So it seems that the men-folk of Carmichael Industries are amongst the top in their league; Casey being one of the world’s best snipers and Chuck being one of the world’s best hackers.

I’m sure that few people will complain about the amount of skin on show in the episode, but this being NBC and not HBO, we had the use of pixelization to protect the actors modesty (a little) and eventually the robes although we did get an amusing comeback of the pixelization when Colin’s robe bunched up when Verbanski tranq’d him!

There was an amusing little exchange between Verbanski and Chuck after he and Sarah had stripped off. I noticed that Sarah had a couple of glances down at Chuck’s, ahem, ‘self esteem’, as he and Gertrude were talking about how he had ‘nothing much to see/nothing to be ashamed of’. I wonder how awkward all of that was to film; they certainly wouldn’t have been able to film that outdoors in the UK!

Sans-Intersect, Chuck was a little cocky getting back into his hacker routine which he and Morgan cleverly used to call “The Routine”! A little bit of chardonnay and some fast fingers gave us an incredibly quick hack of the ‘Omen’ code to get the coder’s name, and later, Chuck was able to manipulate The Collective’s security systems allowing Sarah and Verbanski to grab the modified USB drive, put in a temporary kill switch and get free flat screens from Buy More.

Carrie-Anne Moss showed that she has great chemistry with the principal cast, not just with Adam. Her use in this episode was an amusing throwback to the first season when Casey hadn’t warmed to Chuck and was distrustful of Sarah.

Gertrude Verbanski is very much an equal and opposite to Casey. They work well off each other and have similar traits. As Chuck says following her comment about the ‘filthy hippies’, “It’s like Casey never left!”

Nice B-story this week with both Casey and Lester locked up in the same prison. There was a funny role reversal with Casey trying to keep his nose clean and Lester using his Buy More skills to become the big dog in prison.

Casey was prepared to wait it out in prison until Chuck and Sarah could find out what Decker’s angle was. Although he admitted that he was using a lot of restraint to not crush Lester.

Amusingly, his connection to the ‘shorter, feminine version’ of Victoria Beckham paid off when Lester saved him from a gang of thugs by threatening to “pull their plugs”.

There was a nice bit of subversion early on when an inmate told Lester he had the 12 gauge he wanted. Of course, we all thought he was talking about a shotgun, but oh no, this is Lester. It turned out that it was 12 gauge wire that had come in for him and that he was using his tech skills to get free cable and internet for the inmates.

In an attempt to convince Lester to see the error of his ways, Morgan and Jeff showed him his ‘competition’, guest star Danny Pudi. However, he wasn’t the only ‘Community’ star to get in some time at the Buy More. Kudos to NBC for managing to keep Yvette Nicole Brown’s cameo a secret. Usually that kind of stunt casting gets leaked, but it made it even better the fact that it was a complete surprise.

A few weeks ago Ryan McPartlin had a cameo on Community, so there’s a lot of shared love between the casts. Hopefully the cameos will convince any Chuck fan who hasn’t cheeked out Community to do so, and who knows, we might see more Chuck stars guest on Community (as long as NBC doesn’t cancel it!)

The final scenes were rather interesting. Decker had used Chuck to grab the virus so that he could frame him for releasing it. Hopefully he had that footage on him as Verbanski pulled the old lift and switch routine, planting a bomb in Decker’s jacket that turned him, an possibly the goons behind him, into chunky kibble.

Alas with Decker blown to smithereens, there’s a lack of a middleman to hint at who’s behind all of this. If you watch the promo for the next couple of episodes, there might be a clue as an old face makes an unwelcome (for most) comeback.

Next time: Chuck Versus the Curse

A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY GIVES ELLIE AND AWESOME A DATE NIGHT THEY WILL NEVER FORGET — REBECCA ROMIJN GUEST STARS –Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) race against time to take down a dangerous computer virus, pitting them against Robyn Cunnings (guest star Rebecca Romijn), a ruthless spy who will stop at nothing to get what she needs. Meanwhile, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Awesome’s (Ryan McPartlin) date night takes a dangerous turn and Morgan (Joshua Gomez) is sent on a special mission to recover Chuck’s P.A.N.T.S. Adam Baldwin also stars.

Here’s the trailer, take a look:

Chuck Versus the Business Trip

Missile Command is a part of our process.

Photo Credit: NBC

What a fun episode it was this week with most of the elements that make Chuck great being used. It brought the Morgan-sect storyline to a close and re-affirmed just how much of a snake Decker is. To me it felt, in places, like an episode from late in the first season; a fun mission with a little bit of danger and no Intersect kung-fu to help them.

Even before the opening credits, Morgan has the Intersect removed, but not before having one last ‘zoom’ and what a fun way to go out. Chuck and Sarah were having a lot of fun throwing shuriken, or ‘ninja stars’, at Morgan, who himself was having fun catching them in various ways. Casey and Beckman, however, were less than impressed by the shenanigans; just the look on their faces was priceless!

The mission to draw out The Viper gave us some good relationship moments between Chuck and Sarah. A couple of points reminded me of ‘Versus the Suburbs’ where, despite it being a mission, they were trying to blend in as a normal couple and wondering what that would be like.

Sarah seemed so excited that she’d made a ‘normal’ friend. It was really sweet the way she said “I think that she just really likes me” in such a hopeful way. Made me go ‘awwww’ anyway. She really wants to have a normal life and hanging out with normal people reinforces that for her.

Not everyone there is normal though. Apart for the assassin and the decoy assassin there is the worrying furry-fetishist. It certainly explains why Yvonne was beating up a guy in a rabbit suit (an went for the nuts straight off!) on the Coco-Cam that we’ve all seen.*

*If you’ve somehow missed it – here ‘s a link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFzzqQDfnDc

Whilst the mission at the Buy More convention is going on, Casey is left babysitting Morgan. His re-nerd-ucation starts with watching Star Wars, but Casey tricks him into watching Episode 1 first by telling him “everyone loves Phantom Menace”. The cruel man, although he obviously has picked up some nerd knowledge along the way.

Morgan, of course, starts watching it and voices the opinion of a large number of nerds everywhere: “I would rather scratch out my eyeballs than to listen to that Jar-Jar Binks any more.” We’re with you buddy.

Casey then tells him he lied and to start with the original trilogy. Then he goes and gives away the twists about Darth Vader and Leia, robbing Morgan of the revelations. He’s still mad that Morgan broke up with Alex and hurt her.

Casey makes up for it eventually by getting Morgan the Indiana Jones trilogy. Morgan is wary, asking if there are only 3, and that Casey isn’t keeping the best one from him. In his own way, he’s helping Morgan because I think a number of us wish we could unsee the mess that was ‘Crystal Skull’.

This week had, in my opinion, the best use of the Buy More for a while. As well as it being the reason for the convention, it gave us more on the Jeff/Lester relationship. Now that Jeff has become a functioning human being, Lester has become rather bitter about it. The fact that Jeff has turned into a company man, inspiring the rest of the staff to vow to work harder for the next year, has brought out that dark side of Lester. He was willing to pump carbon monoxide into the break room to get Jeff back to his brain damaged self, and in the process could have killed Big Mike.

This gave us the return of the word that will forever be code in the Chuck fandom. Whilst being wheeled out of the Buy More in a wheelbarrow by Jeff, Big Mike shouts the word that must not be spoken; “Pineapple!”

Not since the first season have we heard the word, so that was a nice little call back to the roots of the show.
Again, going back to how it felt very season 1, there was a parallel with the very same episode in which we discovered 'pineapple'. In 'Chuck Versus the Nemesis' the store was evacuated, leaving the Fulcrum assassins alone in the store with Chuck and Casey. Sarah and Bryce come in to help rescue them. In this episode, the store is evacuated leaving Morgan and Alex alone with The Viper after them. Chuck and Sarah come in to help rescue them.

The new and improved Jeff was even able to help out Captain Awesome. With the fresh air helping his intuition, he could see that Ellie wasn’t happy being at work and that she wanted to be at home with baby Clara. Devon decided to go back to work to give Ellie time at home, lying that all the house-husbandry and mother and baby classes were driving him nuts so that Ellie could be happy and spend time with her daughter.

Casey proved that he’s still a badass. Following The Viper, he found out that although Decker officially rescinded the kill order on Morgan, he was unofficially approving The Viper kill everyone in Chuck’s life who knew about her, with the exception of Chuck and Sarah. With Alex, Morgan and Casey all in danger, he took out The Viper and her team of six men because it was necessary. I have to say that he manage to shoot five guys and The Viper in an impressive three seconds; that’s why you don’t mess with the Casey.

During the week, we were all submitting how our lives have changed due to the show using the hashtag #BecauseOfChuck. It was another fun coincidence (remember the baseball dig in the first episode) that we got to hear Sarah’s #BecauseOfChuck;

"I've been having a hard time with the fact that I have no real friends, but I look around here at all of you today and I realize that because of Chuck, I do."

We ended up with two characters being arrested, with Lester having pumped exhaust fumes into the Buy More break room, he was taken away for attempted homicide. Decker came to arrest Casey for the murder of the Viper and her team and since he’s no longer working for the government; he has no license to kill. Actions have consequences, so it will be interesting to see how everything is resolved.

 

Next episode airs December 9th: Chuck Versus the Hack Off

A mission to track down a computer super virus leads Chuck (Zachary Levi) to return to his roots as a hacker — and to call on his biggest competition, Gertrude Verbanksi (guest star Carrie-Anne Moss), for help. Elsewhere, a new Buy More employee (guest star Danny Pudi) complicates Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester’s (Vik Sahay) friendship. Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, and Joshua Gomez also star.

Here's the trailer, take a look:


Thanks to Chuck & Sarah Media at chucksarahmedia.com for the trailer.