We only have a few episodes left and this one looks like a doozy! So what do we know?
CHUCK TRIES TO KEEP HIS SPY LIFE SECRET FROM HIS FATHER – SCOTT BAKULA (“QUANTUM LEAP”) GUEST STARS – After his last dream, Chuck (Zachary Levi) asks Morgan (Joshua Gomez) to help him on a side mission. Their investigation becomes complicated when Stephen J. Bartowski (guest star Scott Bakula) returns and learns that Chuck downloaded the Intersect 2.0. Luckily, Chuck’s father may be able to help his son. Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Ryan McPartlin, Scott Krinsky, Vik Sahay and Mark Christopher Lawrence also star.
Let the speculation begin! I’ll start mine after the break!
-amyabn
Ok, it looks like the Rings ruse to use Ellie to get Orion back into town has worked. I’m hoping they’ll do a family dinner at Chuck and Sarah’s (it kind of passes the torch to them instead of having Awesome and Ellie do it). Something will happen to make Stephen realize Chuck re-intersected and will spawn the disagreement. Ellie beans Casey with the frying pan. Stephen is kidnapped. Team Bartowski will rescue him and see what a debilitated state Stephen’s Intersect 1.0 has left him in. Ellie is clued in to the spy life and Stephen tells her he got her the Neurology internship. Ellie takes on the mission of fully understanding the Intersect so she can save Chuck. Sarah will give Chuck hell for not being honest with her, but in true fashion, they will quickly reach an understanding. Hopefully Morgan’s side mission involves either getting a couple of new charms for the bracelet (I’m thinking Eiffel Tower and a train) or an engagement ring. Yeah, I’m a hopeless romantic! I would love to see a heart to heart between Sarah and Ellie. I have missed those moments. Ok, so what do you think?
-amyabn
amyabn
atcDave
Ernie Davis
Faith
joe
thinkling
Chuck This 
i’ve been calling for sarah ellie shippin time since early this season, it is amazing that morgan can be bonding each ep with casey and awesome, and they haven’t let two of the best characters have what would amount to great story telling opp for the fans, I mean don’t we all want to know what ellie and sarah think about things, chuck, the future, kids, chuck and sarah’s employment options, love, africa, morgan, casey, etc, etc, etc,
It is probably a little like chuck and sarah in the dark arc, if they talked, they’d have to talk about something, that would advance the story …. but anyhow, now ellie is ready to be advanced, sarah would be the perfect device to allow that growth to occur thru.
I think this is going to be a great episode, although I am not sure there really will be a sarah ellie component, I do think ‘family’ will be a big theme, it is probably my fav part of chuck, although I would guess the ring will bask the bartkowski’s about a bit, the B’s are pretty resiliant, I am hoping they are up for it.
I think that family will be a theme of the next few episodes. Chuck is Chuck, Sarah is comitted to him, Ellie is the heart of the family, Awesome seems to have thrown off his mid-season jitters and Papa B is a force all of his own. Among the extended family, Morgan has been a revelation this year and Casey seems poised to be an honorary member of the family too.
It seems to be more of a case of the Bartowskis’ vs the Ring more so than the CIA vs the Ring. I think Ellie makes a mistake and plants a tracker on Papa B that gets him caught and you get the extended family coming to the rescue. Now if only I could figure a way to bring the General in, maybe she is really Papa B’s sister-in-law and therefor Chuck and Ellie’s aunt.
This doesn’t mean that they all have to be happy with each other all the time, no family is, but when the chips are down and I think there will be many occasions over the next few episodes where they are, the family closes ranks. Don’t mess with the Bartowskis’.
QFT herder you never said it better. Chuck has always been BIG on the theme of Family and loyalty to your friends. It’s one of the many reasons why I love the show so much. Ever since Operation Awesome in that last scene, I’ve always felt like the Bartowski sibs, Devon, Sarah, Casey, and Morgan had formed their own adopted family. And there have been plenty of hints of it through out the series. I love it.
How do you think Ellie would feel if she finds out how Sarah and Chuck “met”? I have a feeling she would not go to a happy place…it may take intervention on Chuck’s part.
I think if Sarah starts the story with the bit about the ballerina she’ll grab Ellie by the old heartstrings. Heck, Chuck got me with it!
he had me at “Vicky Vale” and the phone dropping. Just so charming.
BTW who loved the watching TV scene. He’s teaching her about jokes and humor lol.
Do you remember in the pilot Sarah drops the phone when she is told to “kill Chuck” as she opens the door to see Chuck with flowers and that goofy grin? He got me at that scene.
he had me at that adorable voice when he first spoke. 😉
I think that grin was his best one!
amyban he got me at that scene too! I mean the character has it all: looks (although he seems not to notice, which is adorable), brain, nerdiness!, and he is sweet…
Strange they do not list Sarah Lancaster among the stars of the show. Since she is in the preview that has to be a mistake.
It looks like we get the full cast next week!
Maybe they will let us know in this episode as to why they faked the whole malaria incident with Devon
I think that it’s already kind of been explained. They needed Ellie back in California to lure Orion out. Getting one of them sick was the best way to do it.
I think that reason that they chose to make Devon sick is that they might need to use Ellie for some sort of mission.
But, was is not the ring that sent her to Africa to begin with? I guess what I’m saying is, What was the whole point of Africa?
Contact with Justin and to possibly smuggle something back on/in Devon? I know, it does seem convoluted if you assume that the hospital sabbatical was a Ring initiative to allow them to go to Africa.
Maybe the hospital sabbatical wasn’t a Ring initiative. I think that that’s the simplest explanation.
But it seemed too out of the blue to be otherwise. They were ready to cancel Africa when Ellie says the hospital offered her a sabbatical from the fellowship she’d just been awarded without her even asking? It’s either a REALLY strained plot or a Ring initiative.
Its written By Judkins and LeFranc
Scott Bakula
Sarah with an axe
Ellie smacking Casey with a frying pan
Another flashbang scene
Is it Monday yet?
Also it’s directed by Jay Chandrasekhar who also directed the Ex and Suburbs.
I didn’t realize Jay Chandrasekhar had directed any eps of Chuck. I am for the most part a fan of his with Broken Lizard. Thanks for that bit of trivia herder. 🙂
Just a stray thought, I would love to see Ellie put to work on finding solutions to the long term health problems associated with the intersect; but because it is such a secret project she is sworn to secrecy and has no idea who her patient is. Perhaps over a couple episodes she could piece it together after observing some of Chuck’s symptoms.
I doubt they’ll do anything that involved; I’m with everyone who said we need some Sarah/Ellie scenes.
I’m also on the more Sarah/Ellie scenes bandwagon, but maybe for a different reason than others. I want to hear more gems like: “Creepy, Nerd Herd, serial killer Jeff?” or “Chuck…Chuck is like a duck.”
I admit I snorted a bit of beer when Sarah said “Chuck is in a tux?” They have to quit teasing us that way.
But yes, the Ellie talk with Sarah is long overdue. We missed Ellie’s reaction upon her return, understandable with Devon laid up, but Chuck and Sarah are living together only weeks after they got “back” together. There must be a serious Ellie/Sarah talk that will be hilariously uncomfortable for both Chuck and Sarah.
Maybe the whole timeline is being retconned too.
I would love to see Ellie and Sarah go shopping for housewares or something-that apartment needs a feminine touch!
I did not know where to put this, but my daughter had a great idea for an episode. Chuck Casey Awesome go into the boonies to “bond”
Sarah and Ellie go shopping and its there she recognizes terrorists about. Now Sarah has to beat the bad guys while keeping Elli out of the loop.
I just wish they’d get together and start turning Chuck’s place into something a bit more grownup. I know it’s blah blah nerd getting the girl and staying nerdy fantasy but seriously, some of the decor is ahem …
@Josh, I think it would be nice for Chuck to hang Sarah’s heavy bag as a surprise, and Sarah has Chuck’s Tron poster framed (after adding some stuff to the back of it).
The funny thing is that Chuck’s room never looked cluttered, so most of that “stuff” is likely Morgans. I can just see him moving it over to Casey’s and Casey being annoyed!
I’m curios what else you guys (& girls ;-)) speculate
I doubt Ellie will find out about Chuck, this episode or this season for that matter. PapaB is pretty adamant about keeping his family out of it, doubt he’d consent to Ellie being dragged in.
Morgan’s side mission is probably Shaw related isn’t it? Since we get a scene of Chuck and Morgan talking about Shaw.
Alex, PapaB may be adamant about keeping his family out of the spy game, but Chuck has freely chosen it and Ellie has been conned into it. I think he will quickly see the merits of Team Bartowski-let’s face it, they’re AWESOME! and the danger Ellie is in by being left out of the loop. We know he trusts Sarah and Casey by virtue of his statement and their actions in pulling Chuck out of Roark’s. If he sees how fantastic they are as a team, I think he’ll change his mind. Well, here’s to hoping!
Poor Ellie, If she does find out the truth it’ll be so devastating for her to have betrayed her friends and family. I’m so excited for Dad B’s return it’s going to be epic from now on.
I wonder what happens to the rest of the gang? I know Casey gets whacked, but what about Sarah, or Morgan if he gets caught by those camo goons as well as Chuck and Papa B? Can’t wait 🙂
I doubt this will happen, but would it not be great if sarah and morgan had to stage a rescue mission? I think morgan is a little intimidated by sarah the spy (as well as sarah the near naked goddess running around his apartment) and this would give morgan a chance to see what she is about, and sarah seems tolerant of morgan (her look as morgan picks drunk chuck up in ‘other guy’), but is probably least appreciate of the agent known as morgan grimes of team B’s members. I don’t see how ellie & sarah can bond without ellie knowing the secret?
Well
As great as Sarah is, she’s not invincible, and as a result, allowed Special Fraud tree trunk to lure and trap her in Paris.
While Beckman, Casey and even Chuck were clueless, it was Morgan Grimes who alerted Chuck to the scam initiated by Shaw and his new buddies.
Therefore, Sarah should appreciate Morgan, because without him she would have drowned at the bottom of the Siene River and Chuck would undoubtedly serve out the rest of his life in the CIA looney bin after all.
also, this ellie and the ring story line will cause chuck, sarah, casey, awesome to realize ellie is safer knowing the secret than not
OH, i think this would be really a clue. All season 1,2 & 3 Chuck had to lie to his family and friends to keep them save and meanwhile it’s saver they all know the true. A fully upside down effect. At least only Ellie left not knowing anything…
I agree you guys, and I think that’s important. Ellie has now put everyone in danger because she doesn’t know what’s going on. I’m not sure they’re ready to read her in yet, but this will be interesting either way.
The only thing I worry about is that by letting Ellie know that takes away any reason for a lot of the funnier cover stuff like BuyMore or Orange Orange, although it seems the OO is passing from the show, as is Sarah’s hotel room. Of course the other danger is that Ellie not knowing becomes the next CRM, preserved at all costs despite the strain it puts on the show and characters.
I suppose they could let Ellie know about Chuck, but then Devon would have to keep his involvement a secret. I dunno, with Ellie getting so directly involved it seems she’s going to have to learn something or look like a flake.
If Ellie learns the truth she could have pretty mixed feelings about it. Everyone in her life have been lying to her. Her husband, her brother, her father… It’s not like she hasn’t suffered of the situation. Make her “safe” has made her life pretty hard.
My money is totally on Ellie finds out this season. That is a change for me, I used to think she would be the symbol of “normal” until near the end of the series. I hope it doesn’t become some huge drama, yes there’s been lying and deception from everyone close to her, but I think it would be tedious to spend too much time on that. Focus on saving her life, maybe Devon or Orion die protecting her; and she quickly sees how big a deal it will be keeping her safe now that she’s involved. That way we can have a dramatic moment, then return to the fun stuff.
Yeah if she’s a little pissed off about being lie to for so long I hope it won’t last long. But for Ellie I find it more difficult to accept than Morgan, because her whole family is involved.
Oh I just thought of something.
She lost her father, and she thought he was crazy for years.
Her brother was all she had left, and the spy game put distance between them.
And then it put distance between her and her husband as well.
Now she’s been played by the Ring. Thinking about it that way. She could be so pissed off that she’d put all her anger on the Ring. She could be the one taking it down!
Look at the bottom right hand corner at 10 seconds on the YouTube preview at the top of this page.
Nice pick up!
Speculation time!
The side mission: I think that Chuck and Morgan are going to investigate to see if they can find proof that Shaw is actually dead. While I don’t think that they’re going to return to the scene of the shooting, they might check through French police records or ask someone who might be in the know. Morgan is pretty resourceful, so this should be funny.
Ellie: I think that she is going to lie to Chuck about why their father is back in town. She is going to go through with whatever mission the Ring had for her. The frying pan smacking scene (which will be awesome, by the way) is probably going to be played for comedic effect, and Ellie is going to come up with an excuse for her actions so as not to arouse Casey’s suspicions. Finally, wouldn’t it be cool if Sarah caught Ellie with a Ring phone and then pulled a gun on Ellie? I think that Ellie will discover the truth behind everything in the following episode, “Subway.”
Stephen: He’s going to be angry that Chuck re-intersected. He might give himself up again to get the Ring off Ellie’s and Chuck’s backs, but I’m pretty sure that he’ll be rescued. I think that he will be the one to tell Chuck that he shouldn’t keep secrets from Sarah, pushing Chuck to come clean about the Doc’s diagnosis.
Other stuff: Jeff and Lester will continue to be creepy. Big Mike will eat more doughnuts. Scott Holroyd will continue to demonstrate all the charisma of an inanimate carbon rod. Sarah will beat up a bunch of bad guys. The episode will be awesome.
Jeff and Lester will continue to be creepy. Big Mike will eat more doughnuts.
Merve, whoa, where do you get this stuff. Obviously Big Mike turns vegan and Jeff and Lester join the neighborhood watch… well their version of the neighborhood watch…
It seems Orion is captured and Chuck goes to rescue him and is captured also, and Sarah kicks some butt in the same cabin where Chuck and Orion are. And there is another flash-bang employed in that same cabin. I’m going to go out on a limb and say there’s a kick-ass fight scene there.
Also this sets up the epic game-changing one-upping two episode finale, so we have to be prepared for a less than satisfying resolution in this one.
I’m with you, Ernie. I don’t think that there’s going to be much in the way of resolution in this episode, and even if some issues (such as Chuck’s lie or Ellie not being in the know) are resolved in this episode, then I’m sure that new ones will be raised. That being said, I don’t really need closure or resolution; all I need is entertainment, and if the past 5 episodes are any indication, I have no need to worry about that.
Agreed. Being entertained is the big one. I’m guessing this is the start of the throw everything in the blender approach for the finale. One nice thing, if the rumors are correct (knock wood) is that this time it seems we’ll probably already know we’re going to be treated to another season, and from the sounds of it we won’t have to wait till January!
I would prefer resolution to the lie next week, but we are entering the big run-up to the finale so all bets are off. I can’t imagine how Ellie comes out of this arc still clueless about things, but it will be interesting to see either way.
I think they are going to find a way to deal with Chuck’s mental deterioration caused by Intersect 2.0 overwhelming effects with the help of his father. You would think that Stephen Bartowski has found a way to curb the side effects of the intersect considering that he has one of his own for what seems like a long time now. With all that time, he should have enough experience to come up with a solution; especially because of the fact that he is the creator of the Intersects inside both him and Chuck.
But Orion seemed to be in pain from his flash in The Ring, so maybe he doesn’t have a cure. My thought is that he’ll have some ideas, and maybe a working treatment, but he’ll die before he can find a cure. So it will pass to Ellie to cure her little brother.
Could possibly be Dave; that would be one way to smoothly transition Ellie from civilian onto Team Bartowski as the medical technician. Though, she would probably need the schematics for the intersect, and she would still have to overcome the engineering aspect of the intersect, unless she gets help from Chuck. Even possibly from their father, hopefully before he gets killed.
Of course Stephen’s going to be upset but in the promo he’s not yelling or anything. Disappointment and displeasure are what I can see for his behavior. But not anything too over the top angry.
One of the things that they can do with these dream flashes is bring back characters that have passed on. I don’t think we will see it but it could be fun to have Bryce make a cameo in one of Chuck’s dreams.
Perhaps while Chuck is struggling with Shaw, Bryce could come in and say “um, Chuck, while this is all very interesting, don’t you have more pressing concerns, after all Sarah is pregnant” and we have a sweating Chuck sitting up in bed coming out of his nightmare. You could even take it further, you could get both Chuck and Sarah looking at each other “sweetheart, do you have something you want to tell me? no sweetie, do you have something you want to tell me? no”. Also you could have Chuck trying to figure out if this is an intersect/message dream or just an ordinary dream involving Sarah.
That would be a great way to bring Bryce back. They could also use him, if Chuck was having any doubts about himself or Sarah. Give him the “I know you’ll do the right thing.” speech.
It is also a way for them to bring Emmitt back, which CF said they want to do. Again using the pregnancy idea he could say something like “So blondie is pregnant, I thought I told you…. NO TOUCHING”. Not that I’m stuck on the pregnancy thing, it could be Emmitt warning about a danger to the Buy More too.
often a dual theme exists for chuck, Papa B as one ‘living dead’, shaw as the other?
speculation for the cliffhanger – how about sarah tells chuck she is pregnant – the end – would give the dark drama lovers the entire offseason to speculate whether shaw or chuck is the father and probably create a shipapocylypse, if fedak supplies just enough dual meaning clues to rile everyone up?
would also pass the test some shippers would love it – others would hate it which I seem to recall he said in one of his 3.13 time frame interviews
A problem I see with that is that TPTB would have to definitively confirm that Sarah and Shaw were sleeping together. I don’t see them doing that after the pains they took to make it ambiguous.
I think they will leave it ambiguous, even further, all they have to do is confirm chuck is indeed the father in 4.1, thus starting them off on a positive step, rather than the depressing sarah exiting her new boy friend’s pool of 3.1. I can’t think of a worse way to turn off a fan base than by how 3.1 started?
This is cracking me up…do you really think we will see a 7mos pregnant Sarah doing a high kick on some bad guy….or better yet…a “baby on board” sign on the Porche. 🙂
There’s a difference between a pregnant Agent Walker and a pregnancy scare. They may deal with pregnancy and kids late in the series, but for now, no way.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be a period where Chuck, Sarah or some combination of other characters thinks Sarah is pregnent; but I seriously don’t see them going that way this season.
I tell you there is more comedy gold in the pregnancy scare than any other couple based story. Think:
-Sarah’s reaction (I say a closup of her face, “Oh Chuck” and credits roll)
-Sarah telling Chuck, or not and Chuck finding out anyway.
-Chuck’s reaction
-Chuck going super-crazy overprotective
-Sarah resisting super-crazy overprotective Chuck.
-Casey noticing super-crazy overprotective Chuck and Sarah arguing.
-Casey’s reaction
-Morgan’s reaction
I think you get the point. I doubt that they are planning a who is the father of Sarah’s baby cliffhanger though. At least I hope not. That is the sight of Fonzie wearing a leather jacket and water skis.
If they went there, have fun at comic con Fedak & Schwartz.
What about Ellie’s reaction?! Could be priceless!
I think Ernie (and JC) hit the nail on the head. If they do it, it HAS to be for laughs; otherwise it becomes a soap opera very fast.
Hope not … baby might be nice to end the series with but at this point it will either be like the Rachel/Cuddy babies (ie mythical creatures you hear off but never see or have any effect on the characters) or downright ridiculous (I mean yeah a stroller fight is cute, 20 stroller fights and it gets boring)
I don’t know about the cliffhanger at the end of the season finale but I do know that Yvonnes new movie will end filming at the end of August. So if we S4 in the Fall, we might not see Sarah Walker until the 3rd episode….I miss her already
While cutting the grass I had an epiphany regarding the final arc. What if Shaw actually didn’t go psycho, but everything he did was intended to infiltrate the Ring? I won’t go into all the plot holes this fills, but there are many (starting with Beckman’s cryptic comment about needing to tell them). Beside filling holes, it also allows for the big ending cliffhanger, as Sarah now must choose between a half crazy Chuck and a true hero (who is the father of her child). Also, since Chuck tried to kill Shaw who was actually good, Chuck is no longer “her Chuck”.
Do I actually believe this? no. Would I put it past them? no as well.
triple cross idea has been floating around for a while, but I admit it is IMO a bit too complicated for Chuck the show. And I m pretty certain all Beckman’s it’s dangerous we got to tell them comment referred to was Shaw’s part in Operation Awesome, nothing more.
Beyond that … having Sarah choose between Chuck and Shaw again (even ignoring the whole elephant in the room thing called love) would probably result in Fedak having to move to Australia or something. Seriously.
I was just reading an interview with Ryan about the season finally and a lot of the things he said got me thinking.
“If we get another season”
“pulling the rug from underneath”
“killer twist”
The first one tells me that he is defenitely coming back for a 4th season which means someone else is going to die. After the 2nd and 3rd statement I started to wonder…. What if Awesome was part of the ring and they fake his death? The last scene would be him in the Ring headquarter taking off his wedding ring. That’s a killer twist and would defenitly have the rug pulled from underneath me. Or I’m wrong and Papa B will die
same place that reported chuck is renewed, reported heroes is out today, here is the link text (tv by the numbers)
htt*://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/05/12/report-heroes-to-be-canceled/51184
Any chance for some references to cheesy undead movies?
Maybe we get a character named Sean, as in “Sean of the Dead”.
Awesome’s line in Tooth add to the foreshawdowed death: “You can die just as easily from a mosquito in Africa as you can from a spy in Burbank.”
Except he wasn’t bitten by a mosquito in Africa, he was poisoned by a spy who is now in Burbank. I’m not certain the quote was so much foreshadowing as it was ironic.
Has anyone considered that what they are setting up is Awesome leaving Ellie, a la Mama B leaving Papa B? Since they are now afraid of messing too much with Chuck and Sarah, a lot of the parallels are going to come with the subsidiary characters.
So when we get Papa B back in the last three, it’s probably going to be revealed that Mama B split when she found out about Papa B’s spy life. And once Ellie gets involved in some way with spy life, and given Awesome’s own distate for it, he splits by the end of the Season. Balance achieved.
And the “big” death of the last episode is maybe Sarah faking a death for Casey so he can escape the spy life to protect his daughter.
The Ring also destroys the Buy More (and maybe Castle below).
That leaves TPTB the chance to reconstruct the show for Season 4 based on available budgets and what NBC wants Chuck to be next year, which I assume is something different in look and tone from the JJ Abrams spy-couple vehicle.
not sure about all the details, but yea, what you said is sort of what I think too, funny thing, the more they take away, the more chuck and sarah are left looking like the abrams show.
I guessed some time back the jeffster was going to form a band and leave buymore, with big mike as the manager. This would eliminate 3 recurring characters, who could be brought back for special episodes. The canadian promo makes that guess look better.
I just hope CS are not too battered by the vile powers that be at 3.19’s end, they took enough of a beating already this season.
Here is a thought that I can’t seem to shake: what if they remove the Intersect from Chuck? There are several themes stressed this season:
-In Other Guy, Casey reminds Chuck that before the Intersect, etc, he was smart
-In Role Models, Chuck and Sarah are the heirs apparent to the next best spy couple title
-Sarah is the best of the best (yeah, all the way back to season 1).
Where am I going with this? Well, let me see if I can tie this together in a coherent manner.
Sarah has pretty much been taken for granted-I’m referring to her skill set. She speaks multiple languages, knows at least a couple different fighting styles/martial arts, is wicked with knives, and even more wicked with her intellect. Ok, Casey has his skill set too, but it is more brawn. But Sarah does all this as a mere mortal-no Intersect to rely on to work, or worse-fail. It’s all Sarah.
Look at Chuck. He has resolved himself to be a spy and in a relationship with Sarah (Finally!!!). Was it the Intersect that made him want that? I would say no. The Intersect was a means to an end, a way to reach the goal.
So what I propose is this: how do they proceed if Chuck’s Intersect is removed? I can’t believe that after all this time, Chuck wouldn’t have a sort of muscle memory. He started fighting Dr. Kwambe’s goons without a flash. He deducted Sarah’s whereabouts without help. I’m sure there are many other examples, but it would make him more like S1 and S2 Chuck.
So take away the Intersect (or at least the skill portion-leave the intel) for Season 4 and have Chuck have to re-learn the spy craft stuff. It could be very interesting to see him and Morgan on the same level playing field, each with their own skills that make the team unique. I’d like to see Sarah and Casey back in the driver’s seat training them, with Chuck determined to learn all that he can to remain on TB. Afterall, Beckman still sees him (to a point) as an asset, despite agent status. She would likely want to can him, which could be a source of good angst and comedy. Your thoughts?
I guess that makes sense. The theme of the show is about Chuck the geek or nerd, whichever. Now he is far from it. He is still smart but he no longer fit the stereo type typical geek/nerd, not to mention he is turning in to a pretty attractive guy. I can see them going that route to return to the root of the show but I don’t exactly know how I would feel about it.
Amy, I’ve always thought 2.0 was a bit too much. I’d love to see them eliminate it or scale it back in some way. But that said, I think its too much a part of the core concept of the show now. Its like the Buy More. Logically it ought to go, show wise, it won’t.
It could be fun if they skill it back to intel again, and he has to re-learn kung-fu, etc. Or maybe they fix the deteriorating effects but it has more glitches, played for comedy.
They never really did do any fun glitches this season. You know like, desperate life and death situation, must flash to use strange weapon correctly, instead learns how to play some Micronesian wind instrument. All we ever got was Chuck is nervous, can’t flash.
I do think the time is past for that sort of stuff now. Either Chuck continues to have good control of the Intersect, or we see a reduced/eliminated Intersect that forces Chuck to develop more skills on his own (“before the Intersect you were smart…”)
That’s probably one of the more disappointing aspects of the season. There was a deep well of comedy, action and drama to explore with the glitchiness of the new Intersect and it was reduce basically to will it work or not and a performance anxiety joke by Shaw used in his oh so smooth seduction of Sarah Walker.
Gee, at least we got an epic love quadrangle.
I was about to make a joke about Shaw and stiff, but well…
But hey, we’ll get zombie Shaw! How we’ll tell the difference I’m not sure.
Also in their defense we did get a good flash joke in the mental ward. I too wish they had done more of that type of thing though.
Hopefully Zombie Shaw has a goatee or mustache he can twirl. That way everyone will believe Chuck when he tells them Shaw is evil.
I have a question – if the first killing of Shaw was epic, then what adjective can be used to describe the destruction of zombie Shaw? Is that mega-epic?
I think the term will be “anti-climactic”
bringing him back from the dead makes the epic, more sub-epic. So to answer your question the only way it becomes epic again is if his death includes some sort of shooting, falling into a pit of fire, with his ashes sent to Mars to prevent possible cloning. They better use a dyson for those ashes too lol.
Oh and here’s a way to recognize zombie Shaw:
(from the boards and Gwydeon)
LOL!!!!!! Thanks for that Jem =P
You’re missing the big picture.
Zombie Bryce will kill Zombie Shaw and Sarah will have another choice. Chuck will go a crazy.
Zombie Eve returns and catches Chuck’s eye, dead or not she’s a brunette. And we know Zombie Eve loves crazy guys.
I’d really like to think Shaw will only return in Chuck’s dreams; but I think they flat out told he’ll be back in Tooth.
I’m taking hope from the fact that, in the first flash, Chuck shot Shaw into the fountain. In past seasons, anything that happened at the fountain was true. So maybe Shaw is TRULY dead. However, that wouldn’t explain the IMDB call for a Shaw stunt double in e19. Unfortunately. And I do hope we’re past the PLI stuff, so maybe a straight-villain Shaw wouldn’t be bad…
If Chuck kills Shaw in another dream, they still need a stunt double. I’m still more concerned by what he flat out told us in his dream. If it was an intersect dream, he will likely be back. But of course, he’s not likely to much of a romantic rival after trying to kill Sarah and all…..
Personally I think they need to kill Shaw a few more times. Each time Chuck does it with a little more gusto. One gun, two shots, then two guns and at least five chest wounds. I say make it a weekly event and by the end of the season we should be up to the tank. Sarah appreciates the tank.
They Killed Shaw! Every week. He’s the Vincent of Season 3, I guess…
Which is fine, I suppose. SOMETHING useful should be left from e1-13. Otherwise, you have to question why they didn’t jump right from Ring to Honeymooners. All of the other themes have been dropped, that’s for sure…
I thought of something strange today. In the last few episodes Morgan is growing up fast. Could they be trying to tie up loose ends before the finale? I always thought Morgan was safe.
I wonder what would be the point spreads on who dies. Ya know Chuck .0005 % Morgan 2% Sarah .0005% and so on
CityTV Promo is out
http://www.citytv.com/toronto/show/micro/65370–chuc
That is funny! Jeffster!
Did you notice papa b is working on the intersect with Chuck. Looks like Chuck will take it head on. GREAT
And an Earth, Wind and Fire joke, too. I LOVE the music references of this new writing team. Not that I don’t appreciate being exposed to new music, but Nina Simone in Honeymooners, Mel Torme in Role Models and now Earth Wind and Fire? Excellent…
I know it’s too small of moment to pass judgment, but does anyone else sense a bit of a chill coming from Sarah in the quick bit with her and Chuck in the Castle?
Bring on the cold. That’s what you get in a relationship when you lie and show you don’t trust your partner.
In what way does Chuck’s lie display a lack of trust?
Much like when Chuck withheld his actions in Predator, etc… By not telling her what is going on he’s showing that 1.) he can trust Morgan more than her because he tells Morgan without thinking it’ll dampen his feelings for him. 2.) he doesn’t believe she would stand by him. Case and point, “you should have told me, I would have helped you!” and his response? “I wanted to get some proof” What proof do you need when you’re in an intimate/committed relationship that they have? She has shown she’s willing to stick by him to the point of treason, what more proof does he need to trust her with this?
faith – weasel – the reason I don’t like this line of story telling is a fear or lack of trust in the story tellers using this as a device to make our heroes unsure about one another – if cleared up soon, no big deal, if we get a shaw like arc about it – then not so good – matter of fact – a shaw like arc may mean 2 arcs at the rate we are going – did I mention I don’t either like or trust the story tellers
one part of the contrived story I think we are getting hit with, chuck now knows how important the CIA is to sarah, so he does not only not want to hurt her feelings, he also does not want to hurt her career – I think for all his hand wringing, he is pretty aware that he is somewhat immune to beckman’s threats – after all the show is named chuck – that is unless fedak has officially renamed the show ‘shaw’ – how can he possibly be in 3.16 already – geez
I’m hoping Chuck comes clean with Sarah on this pretty quickly. He said no lies, and he has already lied twice about his condition.
I agree Lucian, its already bordering on one of those character damaging sort of things. I could sympathize with him “waiting for the right moment”; but that wait better be short.
I should probably add that I actually like this sort of conflict…so much more preferable than the PLIs angst.
But that said, I’m operating a lot on the assumption that it won’t be resolved all that quick (synopses has him continuing to go to Morgan to help him), and it’s wrong to do any way you slice it.
But that’s just my opinion 🙂
But with Papa B back he might think that the Intersect can be fixed and there’s no need to tell her ever.
Personally, I think at that point Sarah is the one who is lying. I saw no indication prior to that point that Sarah would have backed Chuck up. She, like Casey and the General assumed that Chuck was off his rocker and in need of rest. If she’d really had faith in Chuck she would have already been at the symphony and she would have backed him up with the General.
Chuck displayed faith in Sarah and his team. The first thing he does after his dream is notify Sarah, Casey, and the General. Do they decide to follow up on his claims by assigning a detail to the President of Zamibia? No, they assign Chuck to see a shrink. Chuck came to Sarah and she blew it. It’s only after this point that he approaches Morgan for the first time and the little bearded man steps up.
The honest conclusion is that Chuck can trust Morgan to back him up more than he can trust Sarah. Morgan supports him unconditionally while Sarah is inclined to consider him a banana short of a full bunch.
I would take this with a grain of salt…from spy notes:
“Unlike some people (Cough… Casey), Sarah trusted me all along. Not for one moment did she really think I was crazy. She just needed time to figure out how to prove I was right. I’m proud to have a girl who cares about me just as much when I’m sitting in mental hospital as when I’m out saving people. She needed me to be okay, just like I need her. That’s loyalty and that’s amazing. Oh, and she finally said, “I love you.” Yes!”
As for the opera…well he didn’t tell her he was gonna go. I think if he would have she would have helped him.
I think Chuck lied to protect Sarah like people have mentioned. He did so if anything went wrong both he and Morgan would be responsible. Also, he didn’t want to tell Sarah about the intersect, because he didn’t want it to change the direction that Sarah was headed because of their relationship. Though I’m sure Sarah would much rather here the truth; Chuck would rather compromise himself than Sarah. I’m sure he’ll try to figure something out before spilling the beans, or finding the opportune moment to tell her.
Faith, I’m still curious about your contention that Chuck has more trust in Morgan than Sarah. Chuck gave both Morgan and Sarah the same information regarding his first dream. Morgan was never informed of his condition.
As to the second lie, we have no indication that Chuck actually tells Morgan about the severity of his condition. We only know that he approaches Morgan to do some snooping into whether Shaw might have survived the accident.
So again, I’m confused about how you conclude that Chuck places more trust in Morgan than Sarah.
ummm…not accident. I meant multiple, well placed bullets to the chest.
Weaselone :-D, it’s in the conversation…
“The dream that I had made me think. Made me know that the President of Zamibia is in danger…and nobody believes me.”
“Sarah doesn’t believe you?”
“I’m trying not to involve Sarah in this. Things are really good with us right now and I don’t want her to think I’m..”
“Crazy”
So with that conversation I’m led to believe that when the stakes are on the line he trusts Morgan to be on his side more than he does Sarah.
“You should have told me I would have helped you!”
“I’m sorry, all right. I didn’t want to get you mixed up in all this dream stuff until I have proof”
And my contention is she’s already proven ten-times over she deserves the same courtesy.
“You came for me.”
“I’ll always come back for you”
Something that somewhat shows/proves that she’s with Chuck. Always.
The CityTV promo isn’t as spoiler-ish as it usually is.
Does anyone else think that the woman telling Jeffster! to stop looks a lot like the annoyed customer from the beginning of “Sandworm?”
Little help here: Why is there a frame or two of Zork in Chuck’s first dream in Tooth? Can that possibly be presaging a return of Bryce? I thought it was DEFINITIVE that he was, as Miracle Max might say, All Dead.
Does Zork have any other meaning except as it relates to Chuck and Bryce–and Intersect 1.0? The dialogue in the frame–the terrible troll/sword stuff–is exactly the dialoge in the Email from the pilot…
I think it’s supposed to make us believe that his dreams aren’t normal dreams but intersect images. It’s a way for us to clue in to the fact that he’s not crazy, rather the intersect is going awry.
Yeah, like he’s “flashing in his sleep” is what i understand. And since he’s sleeping, teh flashes are mixed up with his subconcious, his thoughts, memories.
I’m liking the whole SpiderChuck thing going on in the promo; Scaling walls with magnetic suction cups, running on the roof tops, jumping buildings , it’s going to be epic. 😉
YEah.. i was like WHAT! and that is Sarah with him, i saw a flash of blond hair.
Looks like it’s gonna be a cool ep!
This is somewhat OT, but I ran across this AP news article today.
A social-media promotion this season for “Chuck” gave a fan, David Paul of Turlock, Calif., the chance to have his photo included in one of the title character’s flash-of-brilliance sequences in the May 25 finale.
This is part of NBC’s promotional initiative.
I must admit, I’m nowhere near as keen on promoting NBC as I am on promoting Chuck, but it’s hard to do one without doing the other. And I have to say, I *am* hearing some awfully positive things about the show’s renewal possibilities (and not from just the usual on-line sources, either). Without being overconfident, we have reason to be optimistic.
I have a book on Social Media Marketing (I’ll post the title later-it’s at home) that has a section on Chuck and this very type of thing. Pretty interesting!
That’s pretty cool! i’m an IT Chick, but i’m facinated by all this social media marketing and it’s reach; it’s a monster! I work for an Adverting so i see here first hand how it’s used. I’m dying to get involved! I Woudl love to read that book.
Jen, all, the book is called “Social Media Marketing An Hour A Day” by Dave Evans.
Thanks Amy. I found it on Amazon. I’m buying it 🙂
I’ve read a few interesting articles lately on how advertisers are starting to demand information on more than just ratings. The Nielson site and survey we all got pointed to is a part of that. Advertisers now want to know that viewers actually pay attention and remember parts of their ads. It seems that Chuck was an early leader in this regard. It’s apparently the third most “engaging” show after Lost and American Idol (WTF?) Because we remember things more subtle that the in your face Subway spots, like Devon reading with a Kindle or Ellie buying all 14 seasons of ER, advertisers like us. A few interesting articles:
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=143754
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=143831
Thanks for sharing these links Ernie. I love that Chuck is being counted as one of the shows that is bringing about this change of how companies view advertising and viewers. THis all makes for a very interesting case study!
I just ordered the book AMy mentioned above. Adage is a good mag, we get it here in the office. Unfortunatly, i don’t really get to read it, but i think i’ll start going through it.
Kennt ihr diese Photos von 3×17 schon???
http://bit.ly/chuck-photos-3×17
Sarah mit Hackebeil 😉 Na wenn das nicht wieder eine hammergeile Crazy in Love Sarah Szene wird…
Here is one more “speculative” rumor about Chuck’s season 4
http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/05/13/ausiello-cancellation-pickup-scoop/
Nothing confirmed yet, but all these rumos can’t be wrong, right?
jen, after all these rumors, if they don’t get picked up, I can’t imagine how much anger would be generated … if picked up, undercovers gets an automatic free pass from a chuck demo that would seem to insure at least a 2M base to start from for september’s undercover’s debut
Yep… if after all these rumors there is no S4, i think we will all be dusting off those pitchforks!
I like that possible Monday lineup that was “rumored” about with Undercovers at 8 and Chuck at 9, but god know what will happen now that it is very likely Heroes will be cancelled. Heroes was possibly goign to get the 10pm slot. Too bad for HEroes… i really liked that show until this last season. They lost me completely with those carnival/circus people.
I don’t want to get hopes up just yet. They just cancelled L/O. Nothing is safe on NBC
@moryan RT @thefutoncritic: We’re told LAW & ORDER cancellation report is a bit premature: negotiations are ongoing
I just re-watched that CityTV promo… i’m cracking up at Big Mike’s “You, you have the hips of a 6yr old girl…”
LOL!
Gotta say I love all the detailed analysis –
but I can’t believe we refuse specs. on the elephant in the room – Which characters are not coming back? There are at least 2 deaths – if I’ve read the teasers correctly…
I have my guesses – but seriously – how can you remove any of the pieces and keep the chemistry and the flow?
They must really need to change the direction of the show…
Maybe “John Casey” dies and Alex Coburn is reborn, getting to know his ex-fiance and daughter. My other money is on Orion.
I totally agree on Orion. The next one is a problem. I know Devon has been a popular guess, I like the idea of it being a cover death. Are we actually sure a cast member will buy it?
My bet is that Big Mike goes down with the Buy More, which will go up in flames and be rebuilt next season.
Guys please tell me u heard the news!!!! All over Twitter the word us that Chuck got S4!!!
Sorry if someone else already mentioned this, I haven’t checked cause I’m driving!
CHUCK HAS BEEN RENEWED!!!!!! Got the scoop on Deadline Hollywood Daily. Link: http://www.deadline.com/2010/05/primetime-pilot-panic-chuck-renewed-david-kelley-legal-show-picked-up-for-midseason/
Time to squee and dance all over the house!
Still no official press statement that I can find. Ausiello over on Entertainment Weekly says: “Woo-to-the-hoo! As I predicted, NBC has indeed done the right thing and picked Chuck up for a 13-episode fourth season! A network rep declined to comment.”
I’m going to look for a few more minutes, but I have an early day tomorrow!
Awesome news!
So any idea who is coming along for the S4 ride? Two deaths…major gamechanger…reset?
Time for Pepto Bismal
Phew, what a relief, I was worried that the run of poor ratings had put a nail in the coffin for renewal. Now I can take what ever they throw at us in the “game changing” finale, season finale that is. This six episode season 3.5 was supposed to be a preview of season 4 and the quality of the episodes so far give me great enthusiasm for next year, I really hope that they get a fall start with a real chance at the back nine. No clue as to who the two deaths are but I would guess that they are story related and not budget related.
Season 4 gives us the hope of more Carina, more Jack Burton, more Roan and maybe more moms. If they have to get rid of a cast member – Big Mike or heaven forbid Awesome- it also opens the door to semi-regular appearances of a new love interest for Morgan and/or Casey. Above all else more stories about team Bartowski and the Bartowski’s. Woo Hooo!!!!
I hear that herder! These last few episodes have been the show I love again. I’m really excited about S4!
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!
I feel like yelling out VICTORYYYYYY!
Jen May…
Uhuuuuu!!!
I thought that I’d start my last minute speculation a few hours early today. Another episode that we don’t know a lot about. The themes that are carrying over from last week and that we have seen from promos are: Chuck’s health and his *ahem* concealing it from Sarah, Papa B’s return, Justin/the Ring’s evil plan and an odd synergy between Big Mike and Jeffster.
Things I’d like to see/answers I’d like to get:
1-The living dead, is that singular or plural, if plural who are the living dead? Papa B, Shaw, some other suprises.
2-Sarah and family time, I’d like to see an afraid/nervous Sarah getting involved in Bartowski family business. We know that Papa B isn’t thrilled that Chuck has reintersected and joined the spy life, will Sarah worry that he blames her? Will she go to Ellie or Awesome for advice on how to deal with Papa B. Sarah in a meet the in-laws situation could be both endearing and funny.
3-What is Papa B’s secret that Chuck doesn’t know about, is it family related, intersect related, Ring related or all three. Is this secret why the Ring kidnap him or is it a generic “we want the guy who invented the intersect”.
4-What is Morgan’s mission with Chuck, is it sanctioned by the General or is it something extemporaneus. Is it spy related or something trying to prove or disprove a nightmare.
5-Ellie, Casey, frying pan, ‘nough said.
6-In the promos Sarah is alone with her hatchet, is this her solo effort to rescue her guy (and his dad) or is Casey somewhere in the background providing backup.
We start getting answers to some of these questions in four hours.
herder – that was some fine writing – well done – and on this site – that is saying something because much of the writing is great – I too really am looking forward to tonight
You’ve written some pretty good stuff yourself, Jason.
And I can’t wait, Herder.
You bring up something that I really miss – family time! We haven’t seen that since 3.03, right? It seems like forever. 1h 17 minutes left by my clock.
Hello Chuck fans! I’m back.
Great news!Chuck has been renewed for Season 4.
Prediction. Chuck is having dreams that Shaw is alive.
PAPA Bartowski comes back only to Find out that Chuck is a spy but he also downloaded the 2.0 Intersect.
Ellie Thinks she’s a spy and is working for the U.S. Government but won’t find out later that she’s working for the Ring which might get her father kidnapped.
Papa B is not thrilled that Chuck is a spy but he will support him by fixing the problems with the intersect in Chuck’s head which is slowly killing him.
By the Change if Shaw is alive the last two episode of Season 3 is going to be exciting which means all hell is going to break loose into season 4 when Shaw will be out for revenge against Chuck,Sarah,Casey,Devon,Ellie,and Morgan.
I think the Las Vegas line is about even money that Shaw is really alive, and even money that he’s a zombie! 😉