NBC Synopsis: CHUCK AND SARAH MUST UNCOVER AN ASSASSIN AMONG THE EMPLOYEES OF A BUY MORE SALES CONVENTION—DAVID KOECHNER AND CATHERINE DENT GUEST STAR—Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) go undercover at a Buy More convention to hunt down an assassin whose mission is to take down the new Intersect. Meanwhile, Morgan (Joshua Gomez) must deal with the consequences of having the Intersect. At the Buy More, Jeff (Scott Krinsky) begins to show a very different side of himself.
Chuck This Ranking: 42
Dave’s Ranking: About 20 better
First Impressions: Chuck vs The Business Trip (5.04)
Full Write Up: Chuck vs The Business Trip (5.04) by Dave and Joe
Approaching Normal – Chuck vs The Business Trip by Thinkling
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Chuck This 
I think I rate this one even higher than Dave. For me, this is perhaps THE go-to episode when I want that lovey-dovey Charah sensation that a not-yet married “Honeymooners” ep doesn’t quite deliver.
Here we have Chuck and Sarah working as husband and vet successfully to thwart a top assassin. And the Cadey “Star Wars” revrnge scenes are priceless.
This is definitely in my top 5. If not higher. It’s just a lot of fun.
That’s Casey Star Wars revenge scenes.
I only mark it down further because SO MUCH of Chuck is just extremely good.
I’ve mentioned before I have about 30 episodes I consider “Top 10”; Business Trip is clearly and absolutely one of those. Along with Hack Off and Baby this is the best of S5. And no doubt this is exactly the Chuck and Sarah I wanted to see more of and spend more time with.
Business Trip is one of my favorite episodes of Season 5. I like the scenes between Chuck and Sarah this episode as they wonder about whether they can be normal while being spies and work together to stop the assassin who’s after Morgan. I also enjoyed the new dynamic between Lester and the newly improved Jeff, and the family dinner up to Casey’s arrest.
I also love Chuck and Sarah discussing “normal”. And I love the later talk at the convention when they’re discussing the assassin. Nice, but not quite normal!
I think of this as a season 2-style episode but with season 5 main characters. Great combination.
Absolutely!
This did not make my top 10(29), but it came darn close. The only over the top, excessive Morgan overload was the throwing star scene. It was just gratuitous.
Otherwise this was great. Sarah dragging Chuck to the floor and pouncing on him, only to be interrupted by Beckman was beyond funny. Everything after Chuck and Sarah got to the convention was first class. Especially the rabbit suit thing with the “hippity–hop on over here” line and the look on Sarah’s face during it was priceless. Casey “spoilering” all of the Star Wars movies for Morgan was funny as well. Oh, and defusing the bomb between Sarah’s legs (pun intended) was hilarious.
Less the throwing stars scene, this was a really good episode maybe 32 or 33 on my list.
Sarah’s development during this was also fantastic.
Awww, I liked Sarah playing with her boys.
Hey anyone else watching Agent Carter?
Fun show. And this season has really been terrific. First season was good, S2 is great!
Yeah, we’re watching it. I agree. It’s a really fun show that keeps getting better. I dumped SHIELD. I just didn’t like where it was going. But I am thoroughly enjoying Agent Carter.
We still watch SHIELD, but enthusiasm is at opposite ends of the spectrum.
I just wish Agent Carter would get a full season.
I’m enjoying watching Agent Carter and still enjoying Shield. I’ve also binged and am now following Arrow. So far I’m sticking with Legends of Tomorrow, it has a few glitches that hopefully they’ll get worked out. Still can’t get in to Flash. Still following Supergirl but enthusiasm for that is waning. Didn’t watch the last three episodes of Heroes Reborn, but I’ll do it for Zach. Skipped a big chunk of Gotham from season 1, then got back in to it in season 2, but am not currently caught up. We’ll see. Sticking with Blindspot, Castle, New Girl, Brooklyn 99, iZombie and Big Bang Theory with varying degrees of enthusiasm. A lot of good TV out there.
Supergirl has been one of our favorites, Really the new find of the year. I also am still loving Grimm (favorite show on the air) and Madam Secretary.
NCIS and NCIS:NO are steady.
Watching Galavant with waning enthusiasm.
Dumped Castle and Blind Spot.
I could mention “reality” type shows; we’ve been watching Mythbusters (it will be missed!) and Expedition Unknown, which is Travel Channels attempt at archeology. It’s colorful and fun, but hardly serious.
A few sitcoms: I love Last Man Standing; The Middle is okay; Simpsons is better than the last few years.
Just out of curiosity what made you dump Blind Spot?
I’m still watching Blindspot (or will again when it finally comes back), but ditched Quantico. I keep current with the comics: Flash, Agent Carter, and Super Girl (yes, Dave, a nice new find). I may, or not, watch Arrow’s current season, depending on where it goes. I doubt I’ll get back to Castle, since this season’s direction was such a turn-off, and we’ve pretty much lost interest in Hawaii Five-O We’re slowly working through the back seasons of NCIS and occasionally the stockpile of Bones recordings. Besides that I follow Madam Secretary (still a favorite), Elementary, Blue Bloods (really like it), Blacklist (pretty dark for me, but intriguing), Limitless and Scorpion (both just fun shows). I am watching the reopened X-files mini-series for old times sake (Lester had a bit role, recently), though it seems to have lost some of it’s … whatever it had. But I just haven’t been able to muster any interest for Heroes Reborn.
I enjoyed a short lived series on Netflix: The Bletchley Circle, a murder mystery series centered around a group of women who used their WWII code breaking skills to solve murders.
I forgot both Elementary and Scorpion! I’d rank Elementary very highly. Scorpion is fun, but I think more cheesy (the characters are better than the actual stories).
I MIGHT return to Castle if I’m ever satisfied its getting back to the show I want (it’s absence leaves a hole), but I have very little confidence in the current show runner.
Ernie Blind Spot was always a bit on the dark side for me; when they got to the season break with a new round of doubts and a triangle shaping up I said “enough”. I need someone to like and root for, and that was too problematic in that show.
I’ll just say this about Castle and how they handled the problematic element that drove a lot of people away. It was in my opinion a valid decision and made a very important character point that, while it is a bit late in the show’s run and drawn out a bit more than I think they needed, did and promises to continue to put just enough tension back in to the relationship to keep it interesting. It also was resolved in a way that made Castle look a lot better than what I consider his sometimes bufoonish portrayal lately. The show was always better when they were equals, each capable of besting the other in banter and wit and to me lately Castle was on the losing side too often. I get it, late seasons you go broader, etc, but I think their decision seems to have worked well enough to have been worth it. Others may disagree, based on the number of fans who dropped it, but I believe this is the last season anyway, so better to swing for the fences and be happy with the double that results.
Well I know you know my response.
I’m not really interested in “valid”. Seriously, given their line of work, either main character could just as easily be killed and it would be “valid”. Early onset Alzheimer’s happens, that could be valid.
I make my entertainment choices based on shows that deliver a product I want see. Of course allowances must be made for a story teller throwing us curve balls to keep things interesting. But “allowances” should not be confused with “license”. You know I feel strongly about long term changes in mood and format. And that’s exactly what happened here. Changes were made that left the product unacceptable. And Castle never had the goodwill that Chuck did. So they’re taking a trip I won’t follow.
I miss the show. But the current offering is not acceptable. I understand ABC is still talking about another season. I will follow the Castle news, I might rejoin if I have reason to think they will make something to my liking. But I make my own choices for entertainment, the show runner does not.
Let me explain what I mean by valid. The more well established a character becomes the more defined their future possible actions become. A valid choice for the writers is one that comes organically from the character traits and personality they have established. It can still be surprising or unexpected, but once the conflict arising from the choice is explained or resolved the reader/viewer should be able to go “Oh yeah, he/she really is like that and I can totally see that happening”. Once it is revealed that becoming a spy nearly destroyed Sarah Walker’s humanity we can see why watching the man she loves lose himself down the same path makes her act a bit crazy and do things we wouldn’t expect. We can understand why she has been pushing him away and separating herself, even to the point of taking up with another man, all in an attempt to not feel what she is feeling, that she destroyed him with her presence in his life. We can see why an impetuous choice by her drove him in to a no-win decision that he wasn’t ready to make and she wasn’t ready to follow through with.
Same with Beckett (the reveal, not the toxic love thing). While this seemed at first to come out of left field and make no sense, once the big confrontation happens Castle basically says “of course you’d do this, ’cause this is what you do” and there is a little lightbulb moment where you say Ohhhhh, that’s right, she does this… And in a weird way this would make sense to Beckett.
That’s what I mean by valid. It comes from well established parts of the character and story and it shows us something important that we need to remember about who our heroes are.
Well anyway we both know I’m far more tolerant of these things so yeah, I can see why you don’t find it acceptable.
Yeah even with a very specific definition of “valid” it doesn’t work for me. I’m not interested in spending half, or more, of a season to understand an ugly twist. The decision to watch is weekly; and ugly twists have to be justified quicker not slower.
Oh I get it. I’m the one who always said any show was a weekly contract. I’m just saying that to me the initial twist wasn’t deal breaking and the reveal was enough to make it seem worthwhile, if risky.
I too watch supergirl, but would never consider rewatching it. Never watched Blindspot. It seems to me most of these superhero shows – Shield – Arrow – Flash – Gotham, they all have a high chance of losing me, as they force their way into their comic book mythology, and ignore on screen chemistry and natural character development.
Two shows I simply gave up on in the last year, once upon a time and game of thrones. Not even sure why.
Might give Blindspot a go in an off season lull, as shows that most of you enjoy I seem to enjoy too.
The Castle faux breakup never bothered me near as much as most of you. For me, my reaction is more intuitive, maybe unpredictable, to things like angst or a wt/wt gone bad. I thought the Castle reunion was sort of funny, almost 5th wall’ish, when one of them stated we could have done this all along, as I’m going to myself ‘Duh, you think?’.
Finally, it is dark’ish, yet tasteful IMO, pure drama, and so many of the themes of Chuck’s spy world are seen in the X Company based in WW2 France. It’s only 9 eps into itself, so does not require a big block of time. The team would be a Beckman leader at the home camp, Sarah in charge inn the field, a complete Casey clone, and chuck split into three characters, the LI for Sarah version would be his interect side, she as his handler. Then a kid tech genius (bombs, morse code, etc), and a real world people person, nice guy fill out the team. If you try one ep, watch the second episode first, as the team is in full stride, the pilot would be more telling the Sarah and Bryce backstory, which is important, but is not as important as the second episode.
My one concern with Supergirl is it’s obvious that at some point they will start pursuing stories I have no interest in. There is a built in love triangle I currently have no strong feelings about, but you all know how these things get under my skin…
It’s funny when i read your viewing lists because Nielsen would report most of those shows appeal to people 55 or older.
On Heroes Reborn, I was deeply disappointed in the show and the role Zac took. It was so poorly written, I felt sorry for him trying to make sense of character that made no sense from start to finish.
We call it “mature”.
Hey, if the 55-year-old shoe fits …
Just as an FYI, here are some median ages for some of the shows mentioned:
Madam Secretary: 64 (73% 55+)
Blue Bloods: 63 (71% 55+)
Scorpion: 59
Elementary: 59
Blacklist: 57
Supergirl: 56 (unfortunately, for a comic book show)
Grimm: 55
Agent Carter: 53
Heroes Reborn: 53
Shield: 47
Arrow: 44
Flash: 43
At the lower end of the spectrum is Keeping Up With the Kardashians–median age 35.
Sounds like a pretty good proof for “older people watch better shows”.
OK, here’s my two cents.
I’m with OS with regards to X Company. The WWII spy drama is excellent and really everyone should be watching it. IMO it is one of the few shows on TV that treats their audience like intelligent human beings and not they’re brain dead. It’s set in Europe, mostly France, and yes is a little “dark”, but then so was wartime Europe. Evelyne Brochu (Orphan Black) is excellent and so is the rest of the cast.
Blindspot – When I realized 2 weeks ago that I had not watched the fall finale that was on my DVR, I officially cut ties with the show. Although it had been coming since about episode 4. The best part about Blindspot for me was the opening Time Square sequence. I think I figured the story would be centered around Jane, but it isn’t. It seems centered around everyone around Jane. IMO they’re propping the male lead (who’s totally miscast, imo) at Jane’s expense. If they ever let JA run with the role I might come back, but right now, with no likeable characters, I’m not tuning in.
Castle – It’s unwatchable this season.
Lucifer – My Castle replacement for the time being. It’s unlikely to get a second season but you can tell that the actor that plays Lucifer is having a blast. It’s a campy show and it knows it.
Supergirl – I’ve moved from Supergirl to watch Agent Carter. I won’t be back.
Agent Carter – Season 2 is better than S1.
X-Files – I’m enjoying the reboot, but 6 episodes will be enough. Also, to date I see no reason why Mulder and Scully were split up by the showrunners. (Other than the fact that I don’t believe writer know how to write couples.) This is my biggest fear should there ever be a Chuck reboot.
CM I agree exactly about that concern for Chuck; the longer we go, the less enthused I am for new content. Primarily because I have limited confidence in how a writer will handle the time off.
I watch several of the shows mentioned but I’ve found myself dropping some shows out of waning interest and also to make room for others. E.g., Elementary and Bones have just fallen off my radar. I’ll say that I have enjoyed Quantico and Agent Carter because my 25-year-old daughter (living with us once again for a few months) likes them both so we can enjoy them together. I also really like iZombie, although part of the fun is identifying iconic Vancouver scenes that are pretending to be situated in Seattle. I’ll also mention the new America Ferrera vehicle, Superstore. I think that it is often hilarious, and the occasional efforts to rally enthusiasm among the staff hit very close to reality.
I should probably comment on Business Trip, too, but I haven’t (re)watched it yet, so my memories are not fresh.