Well its that time again. A big finale to sweeps month and Christmas hiatus. We’ve had an exciting week speculating since Phase 3. Now is your chance to comment on the episode and gloat over speculation you got right. Over the coming break we will do a season re-watch and discussion, watch here for more details in the next week.
– Dave
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amyabn
Ernie Davis
Faith
joe
thinkling
Chuck This 
I’m going to watch it again. I am feeling really neutral about this episode. some good moments, but overall, I’m feeling “meh.” More later.
ditto Amy.
Yep!
I thought the episode was OK, but is anyone else irritated that the writers once more forgot that Chuck has skills outside of the Intersect? Volkoff has a hacker and Chuck just cools his heels.
Bingo. Why Casey and Sarah were running point on Castle’s computers during the invasion while Chuck watched in the background struck me as odd. And when the hacker overrode the system, I didn’t understand why Chuck didn’t leap in.
This was the same guy who once read Castle’s original operations manual and was able to basically run the systems from within his cell using a security keypad. “Unleash the Casey” anyone?
I though things were reasonable up until the point Casey lost control of the weapons, confirming the presence of a hacker. Chuck’s basically been busted down to one level above Morgan since he lost the Intersect. Having the “real spies” man Castle’s defenses fit what the writers have been showing.
Once Casey lost control of those weapons, all bets should have been off and Chuck should have commandeered the computer consoles. This is the nerd herder that managed to do in minutes what the entirety of MI6 failed to do when he hacked the Fulcrum chip in Beefcake.
Yep, since the 2.0 everyone has forgotten about his non Intersect skills. I just don’t get point of having an arc where Chuck losing the Intersect and not showing his skills without it.
That’s what was going through my mind as well. I thought Casey should looked up at Chuck and asked him to take over. And did anyone else notice thenerdmachine logo sticker on the hacker’s computer?
And it was Morgan and Chuck going to an outside source to learn self defense . Shouldn’t there have been some indication that Casey or Sarah was training them?
After all there’s been plenty of times that Chuck has been in danger when he was staying the car so he needs some training.
I agree on the hacker issue. All throughout that scene, I was thinking, “ok, Chuck, do your thing and save the day…” but it never came.
Maybe it was a way of showing how Chuck has lost his confidence? In any other episode before 2.0 we would’ve been jumping up and down saying “me, me, me, let me try!” I just remmember the fat lady episode, where he said something along the lines “the running, jumping, shooting part of the job is all yours, the puzzles and etc its mine”
Anyway, overall, it was a good episode, and kept me glued to my computer/tv for a solid 43 minutes 😀
Except the Morgan/John McClane scene, I laughed too much and missed a bit 🙂 jeje.
It was Casey and Sarah on the computers since they were bringing up the weapons to use. Chuck still doesn’t do guns. They didn’t know there was a hacker until the guns went down, so why would Chuck be running the weapons? Once the hacker was in maybe they should have had Chuck do something but I didn’t see it as a problem.
That’s exactly what we were talking about Ernie. When Casey ran off to “fix” the problem, they knew it was a computer issue. Just seems like Chuck should have been trying to do something useful right then.
But what fun would that have been? Chuck brings up the miniguns, Casey vaporizes Volkoff and all his minions, episode and arc over.
Now if it were Shaw… 😉
Who says Chuck has to succeed? I just wanted to see him act like he had a clue.
Look you know I’m very happy with the show right now. All my beefs are pretty minor right now. But among them would be, Chuck’s been way too helpless since the Intersect got zapped.
I think chuck’s ineptness was an overwrite, to emphasize sarah would marry hapless helpless chuck gladly. Kind of how the beautiful princess would marry the penniless pauper, only to find out he was a wealthy prince in the end in stories when we were growing up.
Yeah Jason, I even like the point; and I thought it was played beautifully in Phase 3. I just wish Chuck had been able to prove himself a little without the Intersect. I guess, to his credit, he did handle the hostage situation without freaking out and used the resources he had (Devon); but I had hoped for more.
Also didn’t he say it’s the best he’s felt in a long time. He is OK without the Intersect. So he’s ready to make the decision he made at the end.
I agree with the “meh” sentiment – it feels like Mama B didn’t just erase the intersect, she wiped out about 35 points of his I.Q.
Not to put too fine a point on this, but:
1) Mama B saved Castle as she did in this episode because the Frost Queen story told us she would.
2) There was no cliffhanger and the intersect was be restored because that was the arc of sweeps episodes. And you always wrap up the arc at the end of sweeps.
I did tell you all this. And I’m not smarter than the average Chuck fan. Really, I’m not. But Chuck is by the numbers and, frankly, has been by the numbers for a long time. We just didn’t see it because two of the previous three seasons were so disrupted (Season 1 by strike, Season 3 by the late start and short initial order) that we didn’t realize it.
Without criticizing the show, can we now all PLEASE remember this IS a TV show with a fairly standard TV approach to telling a story? It would save a lot of grief and the more mindless spec…
That said, Dalton is BRILLIANT. This is an RSC-trained actor knocking it out of the park on the small screen. And the Die Hard parodies were HILARIOUS. And that is high praise since they ALREADY did a parody of Die Hard in Santa Claus.
Ditto on the Dalton kudos. This guy has been the best guest star in the series. Have there been others that have been more “fun?” Sure. But as far as what he’s brought to CHUCK in terms of “Tuttle” and then Volkoff, the guy is – simply put – “ACES!!”
Agree entirely about Dalton, easily the best part of the episode and best villain they’ve had. he is soooo psychotic its a pleasure to watch.
I loved the Morgan Die Hard bit . I knew that’s what they were doing the minute he crawled into the airduct with no shoes and a white undershirt.
I think he used too much tape on the gun and he didn’t test as to wheter or not he could reach the gun first (a lot of people couldn’t do that reach, I can if the gun was a little higher up).
And kudos to Morgan for not falling for the femme fatales wiles to get into the store and declaring himself taken so easily and eagerly.
Yeah it was great to see him just easily say “taken!”
Yippy Ki Yay!!
Not a bad episode, but loved the Die Hard references. I agree that Dalton plays a great villain. I’m glad that he got the intersect back before they went on Christmas break.
Yeah. Ditto on the Morgan “taken.”
An o.k. episode. Not “great,” but not terrible either. Liked how it ended with the recovery of the Intersect, but there wasn’t enough that left me “dying for Jan. 17th to get her quickly” to see the next episode.
The Devon/Chuck conversation at the end I thought was a strong point – for Devon. The “spy stuff” put his wife’s (and now child’s) lives in danger (not to mention his own). Will be interesting to see how the whole Ellie/Devon/Chuck + Spy World aspect pans out in future episodes.
One thing – if this was episode 10 of an original 13 episode order – unless the writers can adjust “midstream” during those 13 episodes, then this thing with Volkoff is going to have to come to an end by episode 13. If that’s the case, he’s going to have to die (in my opinion).
The interesting thing will be to see who “offs” him and under what circumstances.
When you like an episode, you overlook the plot holes. When you like it less, the inconsistencies become more evident. I really liked this episode, so the (very) many inconsistencies don’t matter to me.
I thought I read that Timothy Dalton had signed for up to 7 episodes. The interview out today said that he was filming/finished the 4th. I’m assuming that it’s 4.13. So perhaps he’ll be around for 3 more.
Really after this episode the story can go anywhere. It doesn’t necessarily need to be resolved by 4.13.
I feel that some plot was removed from the script to stretch out the Mama B/Volkov story to the back eleven. Some good bits and Dalton is tremendous as an unbalanced bad guy. Still don’t think that we’re done with the is Mama B good or bad and also I think we get a few more proposal fake outs before the real thing.
I did like Chuck and Sarah just walking and talking, sort of like the market scene in Subway. Also the first mention of Prague this year. Awesome had one of his better episodes this season and strangely another good Morgan episode, the Die Hard references were funny and go back to Santa Claus. Chuck was underwritten and very little for Sarah to do in this one.
No Beckman, no Greta but Volkov is a threatening bad guy, convincing and unpredictable, glad that he’ll be around for a while. I think that the episode needs another viewing to decide, but I think that it goes in the bottom half of this season.
Agree entirely Herder, good summation. I hope they’re done with the proposal gags, but only a fool would bet on it!
If Volkoff dies, my money is that Frost is the one who is going to ultimately take him down.
I, too, am neutral on this ep…however, Timothy Dalton was great and Linda Hamilton had some very nice moments as well.
And IMHO, the Devon and Chuck exchange should have been a driver for the first part of the season…how the family dynamic is disrupted and has changed with Chuck’s lying/spying–that he should have been “found out” before this ep and the ramifications met head on.
At the end of last season, I wrote something about Ellie and posed a lot of questions about how her discovery about Chuck would play out…I was surprised—and then again, not–that it wasn’t really addressed in S4..so I am interested if they continue this thread or it’s dropped.
Totally loved the Die Hard homage.
*That* was great!
I didn’t quite see it coming until Morgan was crawling thorugh the ducts in his “John McClain” outfit. And Casey even handed him a Baretta 92F, the same gun McClain uses in the Die Hard series (nice detail BTW). When I finally recognized it, I was laughing my butt off.
And did anyone else notice that Josh Gomez is actually pretty buff.
I started laughing at about the same time. The gun taped to his back was an excellent gag!
The tacks in his feet were totally awesome…shoot the glass!!
I was a little slower. It was the tacks that clued me in. He was hilarious.
Joshua Gomez has been working out. All he really needed was the balding head to really embrace the bad assiness of Bruce Willis.
thinking of the method for Morgan to have lost his hair has my head spinning, I can’t imagine what kind of freak occurrence the writers would have contrived to make that happen. I wish they would have if only to have played in one more laugh.
I thought this episode restored a lot of the humor to the show. I laughed a lot.
Me, too, Patty! I probably laughed as much or more in this one than all season. That’s not to say it’s my favorite, but I really laughed. I think it’s the TD factor and all the fantastic facial expressions.
The writers would never forget that Sarah can kick some serious butt, or that Casey is the man with firearms, yet somehow it seems to randomly slip their minds that Chuck is aces with computers. Chuck not trying to thwart that hacker is like Casey failing to draw a weapon during gunfight or Sarah shying away from the use of her knives.
Sorry, posted in wrong place.
Ok episode, but I did love that Chuck and Sarah were holding hands in the elevator before facing possible death.
Mama B blocked the Intersect on purpose but she didn’t realize how stubborn her baby boy is because she wasn’t around for most of his life. I thought they should’ve mentioned the part where the Intersect block almost got him lobotomized.
The minute Awesome passed the computer to Chuck I realized what the new password was.
I wonder who’s brain scans they are, Papa B’s, little Chuck’s or grownup Chuck.
I’d like Mama B telling Chuck about her using Volkov because he’s in love with her to spark some serious discussion between Chuck and Sarah.
I think Chuck forgives way too easily. I would’ve gone with a maybe someday instead of an I do trust you.
i’m going to buck the trend on this one. i think this was one of the best this year. for me there was more drama in this episode than in any other one. even though i knew that nothing would really happen, i was trying to figure out how it would play out. dalton was good that i wasn’t sure what he was going to do. mama b takes two big chances in this episode, one telling volkoff chuck is her son and 2 pulling her gun on him saving sarah
i would have given it higher marks but 2 things held it back. the first is, when are they going to stop falling back on movies so much for their dramatic moments. they used 3 last week and another one tonight. the second and it’s been said before. the writers bungled it again when they had chuck not involved in the running the computers. that’s his strength isn’t it? enough said about it.
i feel this cleared up a few loose ends and still leaves us wondering is mama b good or bad? when will they get volkoff? those of you that have read my replies to other posts know i am the ultimate fence sitter with the show. this episode showed me they can put out 2 good episodes in a row and for different reasons. last week had the emotions people waited over 3 years to see and tonight suspense we don’t often get to see. it was more than enough for me to come back in seven weeks.
I liked it, sounds like more than some of you, it was a very safe episode in my estimation, mary left with volkov, no cliffhanger, and chuck gets intersected. No ellie involvement with the re-intersection. Very safe, transition episode.
dalton and hamilton brought it, chuck has been written pretty useless all season long, so I did not even notice he did not help on the computers with casey and sarah.
Volkov’s blind love for mary seems a little far-fetched, but I liked how mary asked sarah to explain to chuck her situation – definitely a connection. Dalton is such a good actor, he plays certifiable looney tunes pretty well.
jeff and lester stole from the buymore, hundreds of phones to sell on ebay, that is not a story I am proud of – about half the time they are too creepy for this show.
Somewhere in the middle to the bottom of the season 4 eps I guess, but at least this ep did not ruin anything, which is all I really wanted tonight.
Jeffster trying to steal phones is soooo something those two morons would try.
I mostly agree Jason. I had a really good time, but it didn’t get me all excited about anything. Dalton is VERY funny; that and Morgan trying to get the gun from behind his back were the best parts of the episode.
I guess I was a little disappointed Ellie remains clueless, but at least she did help even if she has no clue.
dave – I will have to rewatch to try and figure this out, but did ellie fix something in the program – maybe to make the flash come easier – or did she just get far enough to reach the ‘chuck’ password puzzle???? Did chuck’s flash seem different (i.e. easier) or was it the same?
I think she fixed something in the way the data is stored or retrieved from the brain. So perhaps we’ll see quicker or more efficient flashes. Maybe, as JC has been speccing, some of the skills will remain permanent.
Ellie’s line gives me hope about my spec Dave. It seemed to imply that she changed the way the brain would access the Intersect. More like human memories than a computer. So instead of a program being accessed he would just know something.
@Jason
The flash did seem longer to me. And at the end of images that he saw there was one that seemed different. It looked like the beginning of a flash.
Yeah JC I was thinking about you when Ellie was talking about it. But it was pretty hard to tell at the end there if anything had changed or not. Maybe better retention, maybe more ability to flash on command, hard to say.
@JC and Dave – Although like you I would love to see some enhanced features or an embedded Intersect, what’s to say that the writers having finished up this Intersect-less arc will conveniently forget what happened and everything will go back to the way it was before the malfunction.. All of Ellie’s work on the laptop was just to get to the next level i.e the password for Chuck.
I think there’s a good chance you’re right Genie. But for now we’ve got 7 weeks to speculate!
I thought it was very cool the way PapaB set it up. He knew his design was flawed for the brain, so the first to get the computer is his neurology-smart daughter.
As soon as she fixes it, the thing shuts down and goes to the next password, which only the spy-son would know. It was GENIUS.
@genie
There’s a good chance you’re right and it’ll be completely forgotten. But part of me is still holding onto hope that there’s more to it. Ellie did fix something with the Intersect and Chuck’s flash seemed different. The blur at the beginning of the flash wasn’t something we’ve seen before.
@JC
Agree on the flash being a little different – also there was this weird light like a big halogen lamp going off at the end of the upload/de-suppressor/whatever. I had high hopes that the writers would prove Chuck’ worth without the Intersect. But clearly that is not their plan at all. So, in a way I am glad this arc is over with. At least we will have the previous status back – *grin on my face similar to the one on Casey & Sarah’s faces at the end*
@Genie
You noticed that weird image at the end of upload to? I mentioned it above but your description of it was much better. It seemed completely out of place.
And I agree with you I’m glad the whole arc is over with. It just angers me that it was such a wasted opportunity .
One thing I wanna know is whre’s the freaking promo!It’s going to be 7 weeks -we need something to dissect and speculate on. Thankfully Leverage is showing 3 new episodes in 2 weeks to help tide me over a little bit.
Well the Cape looked pretty good.
Hopefully we’ll get something on line soon. I’d say keep checking NBC.com.
Due to family issues I had to restart this ep half way through. The non use of chuck was not as bad on the rematch especially when I realized what they had to do. In order to get Vol to the house it had to happen this way.
Kudos to Zachary, I thought his direction was fabulous. The party scene was outrageously tense. It also had a mature C/S. My quibble is nothing was mentioned about last week. I guess that’s the domain of the fic writers.
I really enjoyed this episode, it was much more thoughtful than action or intense emotion, but we definitely have the best villain in the series.
Pretty underwhelmed. 😦
Especially with the spy part of the story and the pushing of Ellie to the side. Again. She had no scenes with Chuck about the laptop?!!??! Bah. Plus Zac got overly film schoolish with the off kilter camera angles during the dinner scene.
On the plus side, Dalton was fantastic.
In this episode fthe humor felt very forced.
I think that was supposed to illustrate the psychotics of not just the moment but Dalton’s character.
The only thing really missing from this Ep was relationship angst!… ok just kidding…
my impression is that this episode was not intended to be the last ep before Christmas break.
To that extent – I think they have shuffled the deck…
So Chuck lost the intersect to basically tell us what exactly?
I’m also guessing they are trying to get the most out of Timothy Dalton while they have him… so consequently – the Ellie vs. the laptop plot was sadly moved out of the story….
Maybe it was suppossed to be for the whole rampaging Sarah bit as the payoff. There was also Beckman wanting Chuck to still be on the team (something he was asked to do in the Ring part 1 but understandably turned down because why would he want to spend that much time with Bryce!) .
But really thats one heck of a lost opportunity they’ve given up. Maybe they’ll be a backburner payoff , like having Chuck say that he’s not a second class citizen anymore he’s got the Intersect back if they try to do all the work or leave him in the van or something similar.
It was just an OK episode. The saving grace of the episode was Dalton.
Some Random musing
Unless Mary is lying about the PSP, why wouldn’t Orion want Chuck to see it? I know the show doesn’t handle continuity that good but man that’s an epic plot hole. I’m really hoping there’s more too it and this version of the Intersect. Still crossing my fingers for permanent skills.
Please get rid of the BuyMore. Its really not funny anymore.
While I love movie references they went too far with the Die Hard ones. The first time was funny, after that not so much.
Ellie is still in the dark, what a waste of her character. Since she’s on Volkoff’s radar now you would think Chuck would tell her. Its not like she’s ever trusted the wrong spy before because she was being lied to. Oh wait.
Chuck is still written as useless without the 2.0, maybe I should send my DVDs of season 1 and 2 to the writers as a reminder. And shouldn’t have Sarah or Casey been training Chuck?
@JC
Totally agree about the Ellie story line. This was a golden opportunity for TPTB to get her involved somehow and they again went back to the old status.
Also agree regarding your views of Chuck – it is becoming grating on some level that the writers have chosen to portray him as someone completely useless without the Intersect. I was hoping to see him duel it out with Volkoff’s hacker – it wouldn’t have been a shame if he had lost – at least he would have tried.
And couldn’t Chuck be rational and mature for once – is it too much to ask. Personally I found his behavior in Castle very childish and irritating (when they brought in Mama B and were trying to get answers from her).
As for the training part – just because they had to include some comedy through the strip kick they ignored the obvious route of Chuck getting trained by Casey or Sarah. ( at least the kung-fu is back now and we don’t have to worry about that)
@Genie
I was sitting there watching Sarah and Casey work the computer and thinking to myself why aren’t they asking the guy who created a program to find Orion to do this. Its bad enough that Sarah,Casey and Beckman all forgot how smart Chuck is, it seems like he has too.
The way he acted in Castle didn’t bother me because he was asking the questions that needed to be asked. And I really didn’t like the way Sarah dismissed him, guess that growth from Phase Three didn’t stick.
JC, it seems to me Frost’s line about Orion not wanting Chuck to see the PSP was a pure throw away. I don’t think it was ever even true, she said it purely to get Chuck to look.
It is also an obvious contrivance to keep Ellie in the dark; I was glad she helped Chuck get the Intersect back, but disappointed they’re right back to keeping Ellie out. You’re exactly right about it being more dangerous for everyone if she doesn’t know what’s going on. Really it almost happened again; here she found a way to fix the Intersect, yet meant to keep it from Chuck to “protect him”. Doh!
I’m hoping its more than that Dave and not just because of that line. If Orion had the PSP just sitting there, what was the point of Dream Job and Colonel?
The most annoying part about Ellie being in the dark is it’s starting to make her look stupid.
I think the PSP is different from what we saw in S2 because it only suppresses the program rather than uninstalling it. So it was a very brief download to bring it back. Of course its also possible only Chuck, Orion, and Frost would ever know the difference.
was this the first beckman-less episode ever?
I think she was not in a couple of the Shaw episodes.
Which most didn’t notice because they were busy cringing at Shaw.
LMAO.
Not me, I noticed. Chuck and I were both pining for Dianne.
For the record, I have no desire to go back and verify!
Oh you don’t need to Dave, I assure you Chuck was pining for Dianne.
Quick Question :
Is it just me who felt that the episode solely belonged to Volkoff and Mama B. Team B for most of the part just looked like spectators on the sidelines.
Volkoff certainly was the highlight of the episode. Of course I want Chuck and Sarah to be the highlight, every week; but Volkoff was fun.
it’s because they were. but i liked that about the episode. this is the first episode where team b was out gunned, out planned and in danger the entire time. the big three were in dire straights the entire time and we are not used to seeing that. what good is it to have the ultra villain if you don’t use him like one? i don’t think they looked like spectators. they looked more like a team that had never come across anyone as good as they are and they were at a loss.
They should be careful about that. Last time they gave the lead to a guest star, it wasn’t really successful…
I enjoyed the performances of Volkoff and Mama B, but the next to nothing presence/lack of usefulness of Team B left a jarring note after the episode ended. Kind of reminded me of Alistair McLean’s novel “Puppets on a Chain”
Its a little different when the guest star in question is just a humorous villain as opposed to someone destroying the characters we love for most of a season.
I agree it is completely different, but I still think that they should be careful about balance. Some of the regular characters could use more screen time, like Ellie. Volkoff had more to do in 2 episodes than Ellie in 10.
@Crumby – Couldn’t agree more.
Let’s see how it pans out for the remaining arc. TPTB have a tendency of ignoring the main characters while serving to enhance the “Special Guest Stars” to the point where it seems that they are totally taking over the show (*cough*Shaw*cough*. As excellent as TD and LH are in their respective roles, there needs to be, as you say a balance.
There was no hug. What happened?
I notice that too, KG. ???
Yeah, bummer of a cut!
I was bummed that they cut off that scene – and I blame the spoiler pics for the anticipation and subsequent disappointment. On a positive note – we at least got to see the hug pic and it looks great in it’s embiggened state 🙂
Did you all see how Sarah reacted to Mama B? She really gets her. Understands the extremely difficult and dangerous predicament she’s in. She’s certainly intrigued.
Volkoff is an unstable loon. She rolled the dice saving both Chuck and Sarah. Could have been a disaster, but she succeeded. And she threatened him, too. And still not sure what to make of her. She’s that good.
kg – you’re onto something. From Sarah and Mama B’s first encounter in the park, to Sarah watching the interaction between Ellie and Mama B in Ellie’s apartment, to Mama B’s slip of the razor blade to Sarah in Orion’s hideout, to Sarah’s observation of Mama B’s methods to protect her children, I think Sarah is learning something of how both to be a spy and a mother and how NOT to be a spy and a mother.
And I also think there is another link. Sarah was kind of “forced” into her situation as a spy. Daddy gets thrown in prison leaving her without a whole lot of attractive alternatives when Langston Graham makes her the offer. Mama B was a spy, but she was “forced” into her present (and past 20 year situation with Volkoff) to protect her family.
There’s definitely a Sarah-Mama B connection underpining these episodes. And I like it. It would be interesting if Ausiello or Sepinwall or somebody from TV Guide (perhaps in the issue that we “win” the cover) would ask the showrunners about that. Chuck has had to learn to be a spy. Sarah is having to learn how to be “human” (if you catch my vibe).
I am shamelessly going to toot my own horn here, somewhat.
“Jace said that people choose sides in this epi. I postulate that the side involves a team of Sarah AND Mary. Mary more than anyone will appreciate the difficulty and the amount of love Sarah had to find within herself to do what she needed (felt she needed) to do.
”
Kinship FTW!
Hey Faith, I love the Sarah/MEB dynamic. I have two questions:
What does your quote reference?
When Sarah said it was hard to go under cover for so long and remain loyal, was she implying that MEB had remained loyal or failed to remain loyal?
My spec from before first fight. I added a link 🙂
I don’t think anybody knows if she’s loyal to “good” aka CIA. But I don’t think that matters. What Sarah is referencing in this specific instance I think is her loyalty to her kids/family. It’s hard to stay attached and retain that aspect of humanity when you have to wade in the murky depths of evil/bad.
@faith – would that be shipping sary or marah? I love the way mama b tries to win chuck over by saying – ‘sarah – tell him how it is’ & so far, sarah has backed her up each time, in a way, very, very, very clever, as what aspring duaghter in law would not want to suck up to mama B in law if given a chance – mama b isn’t so cold, that she has even found a way to play sarah, nah
Part of me thinks they’re setting up a situation or conversation where Sarah is faced with the same choice as Mary twenty years ago. And they’ll have Mary tell her that no mission is worth giving up the people you love, she knows from experience.
Bonus points if Sarah figures it out on her own.
I’m sure of that, I would just expect Mary to reassure of her decision. I’ve been there and you’re making the right choice type of thing.
I’d like that. They’re hitting us with the parallels pretty hard, it has to happen sometime.
Since we are discussing Sarah/Mama B kinship – One thing I noticed – in the elevator when C/S were escorting Mama B to the Buy More. The camera first focused on C/S holding hands and then it panned to Mama B giving those entwined hands a sidelong glance. Can we expect some Mama B/Sarah interaction in the upcoming episodes regarding a possible married life as a spy? Or maybe Mama B comes up with some ring (family heirloom)for Chuck to give to Sarah when he proposes.
love this spec. someone at the avclub even commented that sarah was made up in silvers and grays… even setting up a parallel there with agent frost.
Alladins, straight from my mind to your keyboard. I had thought about a ring, and I wrote about the hands in the post about to come out. Great minds think alike … maybe it’s the brain bleach. 😉
@Thinkling- the brain bleach serves two functions. Primarily,it’s a suppressor for much of Season 3. It’s side effect is that it gives the power of analyzing Season 4 in a positive way. 😉 🙂
if this has already made it to our blog, I apologize, if not, check it out, Yvonne and Zach really are cute:
http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/11/30/lopez-gives-zachary-levi-a-customized-golf-cart-video/
I loved the elevator hand holding thing. Not sure if it foreshadows anything, but it sure confirmed for Frost what Sarah means to her son; and when Volkoff aimed his gun at Sarah, Frost knew he was threatening family.
Thanks for that link Jason, I’d heard about it but not seen it yet; that was fun.
Damnit I missed that elevator hand hold thing. GRR. Must Rewatch stat.
Neither. I’m shipping badass she-males haha.
JC I definitely think they are. I think I said this before and it’ll come up in a future piece from me but one of the themes this season are the choices we make and what love has to do with it.
@Alladins: powerful stuff, that brain bleach. 🙂
Thanks Faith, I bet you’re right, b/c I was pretty sure she meant it in a good way.
Thinkling – Wasn’t it amazing foresight (or blind luck)from me that I cleaned out all the cartons of brain bleach from the local pharmacy. I am in a happy place now. 🙂
@Faith & Thinkling – After 4×10, I believe Sarah will have started trusting Mama B a lot more (although doubts about her true intentions may remain). She is the only one keeping us safe from Volkoff
@Alladins: Oh, fine, just leave the rest of us jonesing for brain bleach. 😉
Thinkling – No need to worry. I can give you some – provided you keep us enthralled with your analysis during the hiatus. 😉
Alladins, how could I possibly do that without brain bleach?? 😉
Thinkling – LMAO. Touche. So, I will be releasing some of my stock in the South American markets. You should be able to get all you need within a matter of days. 🙂
Alladins, can’t wait. 🙂
Hey Faith, as we say, don’t pull your rotator cuff patting yourself on the back. LOL. In all seriousness, congrats kiddo. You pretty much nailed it.
Worst episode of the season, I thought. Maybe funnier than the last few episodes have been, but that was about the only thing it had going for it. Well, that and Timothy Dalton was fabulous.
The first half was not very good and extremely uneven. It seemed like Sarah, Casey, and Chuck (but especially Sarah and Casey) got hit with the stupid stick repeatedly this episode. And I really disliked how Sarah completely dismissed Chuck before the interrogation. That was extremely patronizing and rude, especially since Chuck’s questions were the questions that Sarah and Casey SHOULD have been asking. All that growth in Phase Three completely forgotten. Way to make Chuck feel like he has to have the Intersect to be a valued member of the team, Sarah (and Casey too, he doesn’t get a pass either). Great job. Thanks, writers.
Second half was much better, with the Charades after dinner being the highlight. But I still don’t really understand what the heck is going on with the Intersect and I’m not sure the writers do either. Continuity has gotten so bad on this show that I don’t even know why they bother sometimes.
Really disappointing way to go into the midseason break. I mean, I know that the scheduling was largely beyond their control, but wow. This was just not very good. If not for Phase Three, I’m not sure I’d still be anticipating the show’s return after this episode. I’m just so disappointed.
Totally concur mxpw.
Spot on Mxpw, we basically had the same complaints. The only part I was going to disagree about was it being the worst of the season. I thought FOD was worse but since this was the climax of Chuck without the Intersect arc I have to agree. The resolution was a let down and the whole arc was to show Sarah loved him without it. Lame.
I’d agree worst of the season, but that still gives it about a 7 out of 10 for me. I mark it down for plot and character inconsistencies. I mark it back up for being very funny. And I’d much prefer a so-so episode going into break than that really ticks me off!
Well, I rewatched as I said I would. I feel like the episode was a collection of very, very good individual performances, but not tied together. I don’t know how else to explain it.
Dalton was fantastic. I didn’t understand Mary’s reluctance to admit Volkov was in love with her. I liked the strip-kick for humor, but only for that. Sarah should still be in lioness mode, ensuring her Chuck will never be helpless again, with or without the Intersect.
I didn’t like that Chuck didn’t jump in to help with the hacker. Even Casey said it in Anniversary that he missed having Chuck do those things (hacking) and he just stood by, helpless. They seem to swing from extremes-extremely smart and confident to extremely neurotic and needy.
Why did Volkov end up at the Buy More? Does Frost have a tracker? If not, that is the worst kept secret CIA/NSA substation on the planet.
Why are we still leaving Ellie in the dark? She clearly grasps the Intersect and how it works. At what point does she get pulled in to help?
I did like Sarah and Chuck spending time together. Sarah’s comments about how Chuck reacts to things were sweet and telling. These two have come a long way.
I agree with most who think Jeffster has over worn their welcome.
I’m hoping to be able to pop in and out today (to the blog) to see if anyone else can diagnose the episode.
amy – I posted a very long winded group of comments, saw many of the same things you did, I just hope the show doesn’t get too beat up by the critics. I read a few random reviews this am, they were not dreadful, but certainly not over the moon in love with the ep either.
Jeffster’s purpose in this ep was to let the bad guys in and be hostages. They probably would have had Morgan do it but they wanted to clearly show that he’s matured and is taken and very happy about being taken.
And I forgot the whole phone thing was to give Jeffster an excuse to be there to open the door and to give the bad girl an excuse to get them to open the door.So Actually good use of them.
Plus now Big Mike can reclaim the phones , sell them ebay for over list price and put the money into the store’s coffers.
Though I wish we’d actually seen the employees deal with Black Friday, especially the CIA recruits since they disappeared during the gaming riot . It would’ve been fun to see them overwhelmed.
just rewatched – what a confounding episode to discuss:
I liked the little CS romance bits interjected into the background of the entire ep, was chuck going to propose? Is that going to be the new angst stick in the upcoming eps, interrupted proposals for 10 or 12 episodes?
The last 2-3 minutes contained 3 great little snipets, chuck – mom, chuck – sarah, chuck – devon (devon’s first drama on the entire show maybe? – he nailed it)
We were treated to a final wow – chuck intersected – note sarah’s euphoric smile, chuck looked almost giddy – I wonder if he has been using that intersect in a non official way in the walker barkowski apartment?
Dalton and Hamilton were great, but unfortunately their success appears to require team B getting repeatedly hit upside and about the head with the stupid stick – this pulls from the dramatic effect of the show, and reduces the show to what I have written b4, often to the more serious chuck fan’s chagrin, chuck is ‘get smart 2010’
On top of that, there are 3 or 4 things that just required one to completely suspend ones ability to link viewership with one’s ability to think and rationalize
nearest tactical response team was 10 minutes away, did not 10 minutes almost expire between devon’s sounding the alarm and devon and ellie leaving (it was 2-3 minutes in tv time, but much of it was cut out, like devon’s return walk, devon and ellie getting ready to leave and leaving, etc)?????
chuck’s total ‘benching’ as a character, he literally walks around 100% of the time as the damsel in distress these days, although I suspect that part of the arc ended with 4×10’s end – I do think the intersect is back and is going to be a supersized one in some way, shape or form, compliments of Elanor B
jeff / lester stealing – I don’t know how any of you can find that acceptable for our show – or am I missing something funny or relevant about that?
volkov walking in and taking over a cia substation, that a hacker can take completely over in 5 minutes – didn’t beckman call up the USA nuclear aresenal from there in 4×1, would it maybe not be sort of kind of protected maybe?
but for me maybe the worst, almost identical to 3×9’s male guest star’s attempt to execute chuck, volkov has a gun within inches of chuck’s head and sarah’s hands, sarah just holds chuck while powerless to respond, same women that seemingly was faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive & lept tall buildings with a single bound the ep b4 – allowing chuck to be executed in her arms
Chuck’s unique style of story telling continues …. the break is going to be very interesting.
Jesffster stealing is funny because it’s something the morons would try, but ultimately get caught doing becuase they aren’t very smart and would do something obviously wrong.
“We were treated to a final wow – chuck intersected – note sarah’s euphoric smile, chuck looked almost giddy – I wonder if he has been using that intersect in a non official way in the walker barkowski apartment?”
If iso then I definitely want to see that! Haha.
“If iso then I definitely want to see that! Haha.”
Just one or two mentions would be funny as hell 🙂
lol that would be funny
she did ask him to flash in the dream so you sort of had that already. But yeah something like “chuck lets go to the store room to test drive the new intersect”
casey grunts and walks out
that could be very funny
So on one hand PapaB leaves a device that suppresses the Intersect and on the other he leaves another device that resurrects the Intersect.
Convenient story devices.
Dismal character and mythos logic.
I’m with ya on this one. At face value it doesn’t make a whole lotta sense – and at a deeper level it’s kind of lame.
I know there was a mass exodus of the CHUCK writing staff over the last season or so. I wonder if some of this kind of stuff would be part of this fourth season. You would think a coherent, still-in-place writing team would be beyond such things. I don’t mean it as a dig, but just as an observation: perhaps with new writers this kind of stuff comes with the territory.
The other thing that I found a little far-fetched: Volkoff loves me (Mama B speaking), but “we’ve never been together.” WHAT? This evil, psychotic villan was like a sick puppy regarding Mama B in this episode – and you assume that this has been going on for 20 years? And “we’ve never been together?”
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all about “waiting until marriage” for both religious and non-religious reasons, but this part of the Volkoff/Mama B story just seems to be bordering on the edge of ridiculousness. Am I alone on this one??
I puzzled about both those things.
It appears that the line about “your father never wanted you to see this” was just a ploy to make Chuck look. ?? I was expecting a little more on that front.
And the romantic relationship is bizarre to say the least. It does strain credulity, but for some equally strange reason I believe her. I just don’t know how she’s pulled it off. Did you see her face when she had to hug him? Still …
Rick, LOL – did you notice how mary kept asking sarah to explain things to chuck, I was waiting for mary to say ‘sarah can tell you, she did the same thing last season with …’
No,you are not.The way Volkoff acted around Frost,really undermined him as the bad guy.
If Frost slept with Volkoff,it would both make sense and her look bad.
If she didn’t,Volkoff is a love-sick puppy.
The writers really need to give up on mixing spy plots and love dilemmas.
“The writers really need to give up on mixing spy plots and love dilemmas”
That’s like asking them not to breathe. I laugh everytime I remember this line “Spies don’t fall in love”. Seems like Carina is the only one who remembered that.
The only way I can explain it is if Mama B somehow kept him at arm’s length by saying that she was married and she didn’t believe in divorce or infidelity . Of course that might have made it where part of the time Orion was running from Volkov’s men trying to kill him so he’d have a clear field. And then after his death she could say she’s observing a period of official morning and that it’s part of her belief system but that’s the kind of thing that won’t hold out forever and part of Volkov’s desperation is that he believes he’s near getiing her.
OD i’m not disagreeing with you. but this is how i see it. the whole show from day one has been full of convenient story devices. how long did it take chuck to flash on sarah for the first time? when he does it’s only a small amount of data, where most of the time it’s more. last week there was a big one. sarah managed to do what every available resource couldn’t do. find chuck. casey and morgan happen to arrive at the exact moment sarah needs help? almost the same thing isn’t it? if i missed your intended point, sorry.
i’m of a different opinion on the psp being designed to suppress the intersect. i think he may have made it as a back up to remove 1.0. 2.0 is different so instead of removing it, it messed up the programming. the lap top he left was to correct 2.0 so chuck would not need the governor. he needed ellie (someone like her) to fix it. when chuck viewed the laptop, it was like windows doing a repair instead of a complete reload to fix problems.
the twenty year bit is a bit much but can be explained. people say all the time there is a difference between sex and making love. a spy sleeping with a mark is sex. a spy sleeping with the person they love is making love. that could have been why she had sarah explain things to chuck. she knew sarah would understand. her face when she hugged volkoff was anything but happy.
with the writers i agree as well. it’s pretty much a new group this year and they are suffering growing pains. it could explain why there are some great ones, average ones and bad ones. the other thing that probably caused them trouble is the addition of new episodes. TPTB said that several things that would have ended by 4.13 had been pushed to the right and into the new episodes. this could not have been easy. maybe they should have just ended the first 13 like they had planned and started a new ‘season’ with episode 14.
if i offended anyone one by this post i apologize. that was not my intent. i am just offering a different point of view to the ones you have. i respect your views and i hope you can respect mine.
I less inclined to blame the writers as I am the showrunners. They map out the season arcs and I would hope review the scripts. The writers are only following the outline Schwedak gave them.
Its episodes like these support the notion that they’re making up it up as they go. And there wasn’t much planned out.
If your going to make a serialized show you need some semblance of continuity or whats the point.
Agree with most of this army. I would only add that there’s been a measure of inconsistency, both in terms of quality and continuity, since S1. So I see no reason to think “the old writers” would have handled things any better.
@ JC TPTB have already shown they do things on the fly. they came out in interviews and said things would be moved from the front end to the back end. as for a serialized show i don’t think chuck ever was. in that type of show each episode leads into the next. for me this show has never done it. it’s more akin to CSI where each episode stands on its own but has a sub plot that pops up during the season. CSI did it with the doll house killer (don’t know the name) every once in a while they got a new clue and put it in the doll house.
I’d call Chuck a hybrid as far as episodic vs. serialized goes. Most episodes tell complete stories, but we often get hooks into what’s coming next. It is far more serialized than old school television ever was, it just doesn’t go all that way like 24 or Lost.
Dave beat me to it. Its not serialized like Lost but more like Fringe or Buffy. There’s an underlying mythology that pushes the show forward.
And I have no problem with some plot holes and continuity problems, it happens even on the most thought out shows. The problem is that Chuck has massive ones that could be avoided with just a little forethought.
I totally buy that he’s so infatuated that they’ve abstained. Seemed like a psychotic love thing to do.
Really? For 20 years? Get reday for another Shawlike* reveal,people.
*Still hoping it was a joke though 😛
Expect some good news in the ratings, the overnight metered markets are in (no demos) and Chuck got a 4.2/6 this compares to 3.3/5 last week and 3.4/5 the week before. It’s really tricky trying to convert this to viewers and demos but it looks good. Also I have seen some online commenting that Chuck repeats will air at 10 pm on December 20th and 27th haven’t been able to confirm the source.
too bad 4×9 did not air last night – not sure is 4×10 was good enough to hold many of the fans who returned
Would be great to get a 2.0 demo or above. I think if we can pull a 1.9/2.0 demo average for the season (with 14 more episodes to go), we’ve got a good shot at eeking out a 5th (and likely final) season.
I’m hoping that “Skating with the Stars” dies a very quick death. But then again, I thought “Dancing with the Stars” was a stupid idea that would never catch on! So go figure.
One thing I notice – and it must be a result of the “male demographic” of Chuck is the large number of advertisements for cars/suvs, etc during CHUCK. It almost made me want to go out car shopping – almost – but I’m still happy with my 9 year old wheels.
Plus in last night’s episode and another recent episode, Devon has certainly inserted a mention of a certain make and model of minivan.
And, again – and it’s becoming so blatant that I find it to be a large part of the humor – was the appearance of another Subway sandwich!! Truthfully, I think they should find a way to slip either an actual sub or at least a Subway reference into every episode. It could almost be like a litle fan competition – “O.K., how are they going to do the “Subway thing” this week?!?”
Cars and Food. Definitely fits the male demographic. Surprised there weren’t more beer commercials!
Like Hitchcock!
I guess I should qualify. Having a mysterious, hard to find appearance of a subway sandwich in every episode, like Alfred Hitchcock showed up in some way in all his films. I think that would be great. Make it a competition to find the sandwich.
@rickholy:
I’ve been waiting for someone to mention this so I can point out the subliminally obvious: The Honda commercial uses “Holiday,” the song they used for Chuck and Sarah at the beginning of Honeymooners.
If Honda is trying to tap into the happy vibe of Chuck fans, there simply was no better song to use.
@FT: I noticed that, too. I can’t afford a Honda, but it did make me want to watch the commercial. 😉
@Firsttimer. Remember also that last season HONDA was big in the CHUCK advertising story. The ads of with the Ellie/Awesome/Morgan journey to the Olympics in the Honda Crosstour were very prominent.
Now this year it seems like it’s more TOYOTA (at least as far as egregious product placement – which is fine by me).
I DID catch that song, “Holiday,” and I was like, I KNOW I’ve heard that on CHUCK before – just couldn’t remember the episode.
I know there are other songs I’ve heard on CHUCK that have popped up in other places, too.
A CD would be nice, but it doesn’t seem like either WB or NBC is anxious to do it.
please correct me if i’m wrong but wasn’t subway in some part responsible for the new season? i just remember hearing rumors that when the season started the OO would be replace by a subway shop because they helped get a new season. it could be advertising, like a coke can in a movie.
armySFC
Subway has been influential in the continuation of Chuck since the very beginning and the fans buying $5 footlongs. The egregious (and often hilarious) schilling for subway is actually a part of a marketing contract that continues to keep Chuck on the air. One can only assume that there is a similar deal for Awesome’s continuous product placements for the Sienna.
Subway is among the reasons the show was saved after S2. I’ve heard nothing new about the relationship for S4, but obviously Subway is still involved in some capacity.
One Question: Does anyone remember the story of Peer Gynt? I’m just wondering if them playing “In the Hall of the Mountain King” as a Volkoff theme had any meaning to the story other than sounding “foreign” and menacing.
I was just trying to figure out if should be able to guess the movie from that. But Fantasia does not have three words…
if you mean the charades it was laurance of arabia josh tweeted it
Thanks Timlay. I don’t recall, was “Hall of the Mountain King” used in Lawrence of Arabia?
Laurence of Arabia … that significant episode for Tuttle
Considering Sarah’s propensity towards jealousy, I can’t imagine her letting Chuck attend pole dancing self defence classes. And as Chuck pointed out, he does have 6 months of self-defence training compliments of the CIA. I think his “helplessness” is a little overdone.
Plenty of people have pointed out his standing there with his finger up his nose while a hacker took over.
Don’t ya think Ellie is going to miss the laptop?
I think the story was being artificially stretched out in order to fill in the back 11.
Yeah , but from what we saw most of his training consisted of yelling Flash at him.
I loved this episode, there were parts like morgan doing the whole die hard scene that was awesome. Also in the end I liked how Devon had something to say to chuck but he showed class and did not have a go at chuck in front of sarah, he did not embarrass him and that shows a lot of class, he had every right to be angry, but she does respect chuck a lot, I like great character beats like that.
It looks like a 2.0 demo and 6.17 million viewers. Chuck had the best demo and the highest number of viewers of the Monday night line up. For the first time this year Marc Berman didn’t call Chuck a loser. I was hoping for a bit more, but an increase of 0.3 in the demo and 1.27 million viewers wasn’t bad even against very weak competition.
😛
Hey, we’ll take what we can get. When people aren’t used to regularly watching a show, it takes a little for them to “switch over” (or in some cases with the casual viewers, “switch back.”).
The other thing is if people are so used to tuning into ABC or CBS to watch DWTS or whatever is on CBS, they’ll probably automatically do it, just to see what’s on. And isn’t that when they normally “count” the viewership in the Nielsen system – during those first few minutes??
I’ll be eager to see what Skating with the Stars did. What next? Sledding with the Stars???
Fr. Rick, Skating with the Stars did horribly, 1.2 demo and about 6 million viewers, less than a third of what DWTS was doing. ABC may be better with repeats of almost anything else in that time slot, I only wish Chuck had another week or two against this dreck to build its ratings.
How about “Dining With the Stars?” If it fails on CBS, they can have a go at the Food Network.
Hi everyone
well I faithfully sat in and watched. I am probably going to make myself unpopular (or more so) by saying this but ..
I LOVED IT!! I AM LOVING THIS SEASON
Really some of the comments i am reading talk about over analysising an episode. As i said I am more a casual viewer these days. I watch from one weekend to the next. I do not need or want to over analysis every single detail of the episode.
I want my shows to entertain, sometimes scare, make me cry, laugh and come out wanting more. You know what season 4 just like season 1 and 2 is doing that.
Were their problems – yes it would have been nice to see chuck show he has talents without the intersect such as he is the expert with computers. I understand what is mom said about removing the intersect she thought it would put him off looking for her .. so he would be safe from volkov .. she did not know her son very well. I doudt she will make that mistake again.
I seriously was crying with laughter at the pole dancing only geeks would think of that for training LOL and the die hard scences they worked I loved that morgan failed and the hot evil spy just said your free LOL.
There was real menace to Daltons acting and Mamma B was awesome. Team Bartowski were together and they lost big time they were majorly out matched .. and i really did not think they were handed the stupid stick they were too over confident in they were fine casey said it big mistake walking into a CIA substation. Man the guy had a bomb that could burn through metal .. COOL
I do not think chuck was childish its certainly how i would act in finding my mom has a guy who loves her. Maybe its and age thing.
You know what I am glad they did not try the cheap shot and do a mid season cliff hanger they left me worried at what happens next but wanting more. I really enjoyed last night and now looking back through the season I have really enjoyed this season more than 1 and 2. I now actually believe they (TPTB) are trying to make ammends and write a better story this year. Sadly some of us are seeing things through lense of season 3 and for me yesterday that ended.
YOU KNOW WHEN THE CREDITS CAME UP I FELT LIKE I DID IN SEASON 1 and 2 happy, excited and really loving what I saw.
I loved those little touches ellie was kept out of it cause awesome is protecting his baby and wife- thats realistic.
I loved when chuck used the computer its said “hello son” – that brought a lump to my throat Pappa B we miss you man.
I really do not care that it was not perfect it was chuck my chuck like season 1 and 2 but better there is no wtwt. They finished me off with the fountain scence things a.
Hey Timlay … I’m happy you’re happy. I really liked the episode too. Who knew TD was so hilarious?
hi thinkling looks like many more people are liking this season as well went up to a season high. I am sure 3.9 helped and i think it did heal alot of the damage done.
Sorry pressed button windows 7 sigh
contd
They finished me off with the fountain scence things are bad the only thing stopping volkov from killing them is mamma b that is not going to last.
I really am looking forward to seeing where this goes and happy that there is going to be issues and problems but maybe the crap soap opera of season 3 has been learned from and they are going to give us something differnt. They proved that this season so far … and last night they resisted the urge to go down a soap style cliffhange and now i want more.
Chuck saved sarah twice last year she has saved him many times 3.9 being the most awesome. But looking back really there has been progression and development with the characters and i love that.
I have been a staunch critic of the show since season 3 and i even tweeted josh telling him he had jumped the shark/shaw in 3.7. I wish i could tell him how much i am enjoying the show this season they have given us back chuck its different but its still chuck the nerd. But after the behaviour of some core idiot fans I doudt i will ever use twitter again.
Last night i emailed some mates invited them to a beer and subway/pizza night, i am going to show them the whole season they need to see it.
oh yeah TD was so funny but that menace was there i was laughing when he was “oh children love me” LOL
@ timlay as a casual viewer like yourself i couldn’t agree more. i said many of the same thing when i posted last night. i feel this was the type of episode they needed to keep fans like us engaged with the show. i am looking forward to seeing what they have planned for next year.
YES i am sort of really fed up with the constant pick pick of every single episode hell time to kick back and enjoy it.
so far they have delivered is their problems yes i would have liked to see more made of chuck without the intersect and the skills he does have without it. But really i do not feel the need to debate it. So what i was left saying that did what i wanted it to do keep me entertained i am back for another week.
Timlay, you will not hurt your popularity around here by loving this episode! I had a great time too. I will say I think its the weakest of the season, but that is a credit to the season, NOT a slam on this episode. I would watch Chuck and be very happy about it if every week were like this one. Granted, it never would have become my all-time favorite show that way, but I would enjoy it.
dave, as usual, that is where I am at, for all of its flaws, this ep did what it needed to get done and kept the show out of trouble.
For those who are unhappy ellie is in the dark, might not be for too much longer, she is the intersect doctor / expert as of now.
My intersect spec is that it is on all the time, sarah knowing how to do that bizarre fight sequence that rizzle asked her to do in the swiss gondola episode foreshadowing ellie’s intersect fix.
If you get a chance, look at the smile on sarah’s and chuck’s face as the episode concludes, talk about happy endings, those two smiles should be worth a 10% increase in fans after the break.
I still wonder if sarah knows some secrets about the private parts of the intersect and his flashing abilities – she seemed awfully happy chuck had his flash back.
Oh I saw the smile. I think that was my main spec all week; “Chuck and Sarah will be together and be happy about it.” Hey even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then…
I do wish they’d ended with a big hug… or something. But that’s just a minor complaint. Overall good episode and good place to take a break.
Its not just that episode its being able to look back on the whole season its very good .. 100% better than season 3. It feels like season 1 and 2 but better. Partly cause chuck and sarah are together .. morgan is working and not irrating fat kid friend. Hes chucks wing man. Last night I looked back and saw that there was not one real episode after i watched it that did not leave me not wanting to watch the next one. Its back on form.
I agree with all of that timlay. Bottom line is; if the show had started with S3, I likely never would have watched past the premier. But if started with S4, I think I’d be just as hooked as already am.
i read a spoiler interview with chris Fedak he said in the back we would see ellie dragged into the spy world … he said something like “she is a bartowski and they are all spies” i suspect it will be intersect related. we would also see sarah back story episode.
Ok now for all those who complain about how this show keeps on putting yvonne in skimpy outfits and objectify her…. I just have to say this…..they have asked zach to give not one but two same sex kisses in this series and probably more the time it is out. Now who would I rather be…..hum… as a man I would rather walk around in my underwear all day long, then have to kiss another dude, I am not a homophobe, but I love girls and well……So zach does have to sacrifice as well as yvonne, just saying……..
Good point. Plus, Yvonne is an Aussie! I doubt she has any problems with donning a two-piece. And like even many of the female Chuck fans have said, “if I had a bod like that, I’d want to show it off, too!”
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone didn’t run around in movies without their shirts on for nuthin’. They “had it,” so they flaunted it.
So you’re right. The dude on dude kissing is a bit more of a sacrifice (at least in my book, because kissing other guys on the lips is probably not part of Zach’s usual routine) than an extremely beautiful woman like Yvonne “having” to put on something that she probably wears on a regular basis out in public – a nice bikini.
Just please. No male speedos. NONE. NEVER. “Awesome’s” tight biker shorts are close enough, thank you!
i have to say the skimpy outfits are working, this season she seems more the kickarse awesome spy but their is a real warmth to her. As for her keeping chuck out in his moms interogation he was too close and it was played for laughs and it was quite funny the constant phone calls. Sarah did seem a little weak this episode but thats likely in comparision to the blonde she male mind you she was hunting after her man. She did get some kicks in at the start vs the assassins. The kissing thing is very european if you go to france you get kissed all the time same in eastern europe. Its usually on the cheeks though.
For those who read it, LA Blog/Chuck, for me was pretty spot on re: Last night’s installment.
—but what the author said at the end of the blog is good news for those–like me– who hope for a 5th season–his assessment is that NBC will keep it going.
Its official for me. This season is at the bottom of the heap against the others unless TPTB can pull a major fricking rabbit hat of their hat for the back half.
Once again Ellie is left on the sidelines when a wonderful opportunity to integrate her into the spy mythos had been created.
This is the fourth kick at the can, maybe third because the first season was pretty good in that aspect in retrospect, at the spy mythos and this episode pretty well killed off any chance of a compelling one this season.
Major regressions with Chuck’s character this season too. I also want Chuck the hero, the good guy, the guy who rose to meet challenges in his own unique goofy way back too. That at least still may be possible.
And guess what? The lying is back too. Not just Chuck with Ellie but now Ellie with Chuck too. Lovely. 😦
Season 4 – the season of playing it safe. Blah.
seriously the viewing figures went up not down like the misery arc you and others seemed to like so much in season 3. Highest since the season 3 mid season mess started they are doing something right like getting back to what the show is about like it was in season 1 and 2. If you want pain and suffer i suggest the wire or dexter.
Everyone seriously here
You have just had the best news highest viewing figures since 3.10 which was 5.80 4.1 was just over 6.06 you just hit 6.17.
It ended in a great place setting up a showdown between team bartowski and volkov. Generally the season has been fun and alot of heart. Finally chuck and sarah are together and although seperated for a while it was dealt with well and i think healed alot of the mess from season 3.
I never thought i would say this but be happy with what you have and stopping kicking it down there is little reason to do so.
They are balancing all sorts of different needs shippers, action and spy fans – 3.9 was awesome as was suitcase. The heart is back and its more like seasons 1 and 2 the reason why we all watched. Season 3 was a disaster stop looking for that find of soap opera pain drama as far as i am concerned there is not one episode this season i would not watch again.
Be thankful everyone. We ended on a high stop kicking it down.
Wow, couldn’t disagree more.
Well OD we’re back being in total disagreement (I guess that’s how its meant to be!). This is my favorite season yet. Last nights episode was weak, but S2 had a couple episodes I would have ranked lower. I only wish they had run Phase 3 last night, with viewership up that would have been the best possible episode to dazzle folks, and make sure they come back. But my bet is, most casual viewers will be pretty happy with Leftovers; I expect ratings to build this winter.
atcdave some people are never satisfied I find it interesting when I was saying much the same things about season 3 OD was one of those who defended the disaster of season 3, that is nothing against OD he has just different tastes. Season 3 is not chuck. Not of season 1 and 2 that is, which is what brought us to watch the show. Season 3 made me a casual viewer not a fan any more … if season 4 continues like this I will be an avid viewer i expect issues and problems as we saw in 4.7 to 4.9 and in suitcase etc but they have been dealt with well.
I do think there was a bounce in effect from 4.9 each episode for casual viewers builds on top of one another. Like i said i am week to week, last week i loved so am back.
Old Darth I know that you are a big Ellie advocate and have heard you say this in two different podcasts (chuckgamsic and CNN) and in your columns, but you must know that last episode was probably the last one until they heard about the back 11 and so they have to slow things down and parse it out, it does come across frustrating I know that, but I think you need to remember that this season has had 2 of your all time favourite episodes of the series, so how can this season be a waste and bottom of the heap? BTW Lost did this all the time hitting the reset button on things and so did BSG, but hey whatever, if they do this because they keep getting more episodes the cool, more chuck yay………..
Telling a pregnant big sister that you are a spy, is a bad idea.
While Ellie is smart and capable,she is also out of her element anything regarding spyworld.
We were shown that in the end of Season 3.
Well we know ellie in the back episodes will be dragged into the spy world. Chris said that in an interview. So OD its evidently coming. Actually I liked ellie last night and i am really not a big fan of ellie and awesome. She without knowing it fixed pappa b’s system and saved her brother.
I know ! Captain Awesome said if we do this then there is no turning back and as soon as they met up after the rescue she was like lets go to the police! how dumb is she, the cia is higher then the police, dummy! She lost her temper and was being irrational, fair enough she just lost her dad, but she does not understand the life chuck lives and so should be kept out of it for a long time, her having a family is a good reason to do that, so cool………..
If the end of S3 showed us anything it was that Ellie not knowing the truth put everyone in danger.
I’m half expecting an episode where Volkoff tricks her into coming with him to use as leverage against Chuck and Mary.
Ellie could be informed.
Chuck: Sis,the guy you met was an international arms dealer. We had to play along. Just to give you a heads up.
No need to bring her into the middle of it.Just give her reasonable info.
@Anon – My guess is that they will reveal Chuck’s secret life to Ellie in 4×13 during some dramatic scenario. And hopefully this time they don’t make her act like she did in 3×19.
It would be nice if Ellie could see how Chuck and Sarah are doing something worthwhile, not just some “spy thing.”
Ditto, Dave. I’ve been begging for this since 3.19.
Personally, I’ve been in both positions, and I think Ellie is out of bounds.
@Thinkling – it’s like JC? said – everyone makes arbitrary decisions on how Chuck should lead his life. Whatever he does/doesn’t for himself doesn’t matter.
@Alladins: That’s one thing I liked about this Intersect upload. It was Chuck’s decision with the people he cares about right there with him in full support.
Yeah I think Ellie goes too far to. I understood Devon’s anger in the last scene, but was mildly annoyed with Chuck promising what isn’t in his power. There certainly is a defense Chuck can give, perhaps Ellie and Devon will see first hand what Chuck’s life is really all about. So far they remain annoyingly clueless.
@Dave – regarding the “talk” that Devon had with Chuck – it was nice to see Devon stepping up to protect Ellie. But calling out Chuck was a bit harsh. Did he intentionally get Ellie involved, was it his idea to bring over Volkoff to the dinner, was it anything in his control? One may argue that his search for Mama B led to this scenario – but then again, if it wasn’t for his search, Ellie would never have met Mama B. There is a whole big picture out there that Devon (and Ellie by extension) are not even concerned to know about. And without knowing anything they treat Chuck as the doormat that can be scolded and chastised any time they feel like something bad is happening to them. To be frank, I hated that Chuck had to apologize to Devon.
Thoughts?
Agree Alladins. Volkoff is not going to retire, and the Bartowski’s are in danger, whether Chuck is a spy or not.
Clearly Chuck didn’t get up and say, “wow, I think I’ll invite an arms dealer to the family dinner.” Duh.
@Genie
I said that after Coup and the conversation between Chuck and Ellie. She saw how much he gave up but it didn’t matter because she got what she wanted.
Its like that every season there’s always someone claiming they’re protecting or looking out for Chuck without any regards to his feelings or wants.
Ellie is doing the exact same thing as Sarah in S3, Orion in S2 & 3.5 and Bryce in S1.
Yeah Genie, there are two sides to the situation. I loved that Devon was angry and told Chuck why. But I didn’t like Chuck apologizing (for something he had no control over) and making a promise that isn’t his to keep (or break).
Chuck should have explained the situation, and promised only to do his best.
I agree about how Chuck has been written as a character this season. He has been whiny, neurotic, annoying, ineffective, and not at all heroic. What happened to the guy we saw at the end of S3?
As for this season as a whole, I’m not writing it off. “Couch Lock” to “First Fight” was a great stretch of episodes, and the show really seemed to be building towards something interesting. Unfortunately, this flash impotence arc killed the momentum, has been a gigantic waste of time, and hasn’t given Chuck the opportunity to do anything important or to display any non-Intersect skills other than the ability to learn about gemology really quickly. I’m also not too pleased about the revelation that Volkoff is supposedly in love with Mary, but maybe he’s playing her in an attempt to get info out of the CIA. Speaking more broadly, perhaps the perceived “payoffs” from the storylines in “Leftovers” will turn out to be just more pieces of the puzzle. Maybe there’s more than meets the eye. (Wishful thinking, I know, but a man can dream, can’t he?)
Although it’s been done better, it is, in a way, starting to feel somewhat like what happened last season, where they held on to the point of the story too long, and the backloading didn’t work.
Hopefully the payoff is worth some of this confusion.
OD,
Interesting that you should be so down on a season where 2 of the last 3 episodes have been your favourites. But I’m going to agree with you, at least to a point and probably for different reasons!
I can understand why TPTB have gone down the safe road this season, after the travails of S3, and I’m happy enough to give them a pass on that decision – but I do agree with you that the jury is well and truly still out on S4.
I’m enjoying the season thoroughly, but I’m certainly not feeling it the way some are. First Fight and Phase Three are up there with the very best, but much of the rest has been lightweight and derivative. So far, I would have to say that the season has promised more than it has delivered.
Wins? MamaB and Volkoff (obviously) and Morgan. Losses? You allude to both of them – the complete regression of Chuck, and the missed opportunity with Ellie. I still have some hope that Ellie will become involved down the track, but I have to say, I now enjoy this show in spite of Chuck (the character) rather than because of him. The insecurity and neuroses and the insistence that Chuck has no abilities outside of the intersect are way past irritating. I’m exaggerating to make a point, but it’s almost as if Chuck has replaced S1 Morgan as the person who annoys me most.
This has a knock on effect with Chuck and Sarah, of course, and that is to make their story less than compelling for most of the season so far. They love each other. We know that. And that’s wonderful – but them loving each other isn’t enough on its own to make their story interesting. Seeing the depths of Sarah’s love/obsession in Phase Three was wonderful. I thought the exploration of the conflict between Chuck’s loyalty to his mother, and Sarah’s more professional instincts was an interesting dynamic, although I know some disagreed. But much of the rest of the “relationship” story this season just hasn’t been that interesting.
What I’ve loved about this season has been more about the performances, the acting and some of the dialogue than the actual stories.
That’s fine – and it’s the nature of this show that the episodes tend to get better as the story dynamics play out later in the season – but I can see where your sense of disappointment might come from, especially with this whole intersect-less arc, which seems to have been purely a device to give us Sarah’s moment in Phase 3.
Wow. This post has come out a lot more negative than I intended. The show is still great – but we’ve had a couple of glimpses this season that it could be something even better. I’d like to see those glimpses more consistently.
I can appreciate what is being done in individual episodes separately from what is happening in the season arc.
This episode killed the season arc from the spy perspective. And the other aspects such as the engagement, proposal etc are fait accomplis holding little dramatic value. Those moments will be fine and touching and awesome to be sure, but not the things that entice me to watch the show.
Oh well, maybe next season the show will get back on course after all the Chuck and Sarah stuff is put to bed.
Of course, then the cry will be for Sarah to have a baby further derailing the show.
OD, I don’t think it’s quite fair to characterize our engagement/wedding talk as a cry. There’s been much speculation about something many of us are eager to see, but I’m not seeing the frustration and anger that came with last season’s misery arc. In fact, I’d say the ‘shipper crowd is pretty content right now. I also don’t believe many of us are eager to see Sarah out of action with a baby (although kick-boxing while 8 months along might be amusing).
And you know one of the reasons I was hoping for an early engagement a couple months back was to avoid exactly what you’re complaining about; I thought it would let them give the relationship arc a rest and focus on the spy plot for a while. It’s obvious now they have no intention of doing that, and actually intend for the looming engagement to be a major distraction. That will bother me less than it apparently bothers you, but I also would have prefered a slightly different structure.
I’m not sure why you say it kills the spy plot though. I think Volkoff remains an interesting and viable villain for as long as they want to use him. It’s true the Frost/Carmichael relationship is now out of the bag; but I think that has the potential for raising the stakes, certainly Frost could suffer for any success TeamB has, and any interactions between the various factions will be quite loaded. I’m not sure if, at this point, the next Volkoff story will be about blocking some nefarious scheme of his, bringing down his entire operation, or more about rescuing Frost from his clutches; but I sure do enjoy Dalton as the baddie and look forward to wherever this goes next. I guess the only thing is it breaks the serialized aspect up a little, and it is fair to say I prefer a more episodic format so that also doesn’t bother me at all.
Have we even heard anything yet about a new arc for the back episodes? Or will Volkoff be around to the season finale?
I thought they were at the place at the end of Coup d’Etat where they could have left the relationship on the back burner for a bit, but if they were serious about exploring Chuck as a spy without the intersect how it would impact his confidence and his relationship with Sarah was a necessary part of that.
While I understand some people’s frustration that the lost intersect arc didn’t seem to pay off as well as they may have hoped I’m sort of glad to just have it done. They’ve had several episodes where Chuck does a ton of spy craft with nearly no flashes, so I didn’t really think it necessary to begin with, and lately it seemed the only thing he used it for was kung-fu so I don’t necessarily see the intersect as central to the spy-story.
I’m interested to see what the new Ellie-improved intersect does differently, but for the most part, lately especially, the intersect is just the big MacGuffin that lets a normal guy play in the spy world without years of training turning him into just another standard spy. It’s precisely by preserving Chuck’s “innocence” so to speak that we get to see his unique view and his own personal talents and traits on display. Some complain that those very talents were what was missing from the arc, but I’d contend that what they are really seeing is how Chuck’s mother seems to absolutely regress Chuck to the guy who has no confidence and gets emotionally compromised to the point he can’t seem to function as a spy. Something that could play interestingly into the rest of the Volkoff arc. This year it may be Mama B who is both spinach and kryptonite to our hero.
Agree with most of that Ernie. The Intersect has become less central to how Chuck does business anyway; he only flashed once in Couch Lock and not at all in Aisle of Terror. I had hoped Chuck would do something awesome as a spy without the Intersect mainly for the sake of his own self confidence; but in the end the arc seemed to mainly be about Chuck learning Sarah loves him regardless. I would call it a successful and wonderful arc in that sense.
I have to pretty much agree with Dave. My call to have them married is so they don’t drag it out but with these extra eleven episodes I don’t see it happening. And count me as one of the people who doesn’t want to see Sarah pregnant until the series finale. I’m worried enough about how Ellie’s baby will change the show let alone two kids.
I would love for the show to focus on the spy stories more but after three plus seasons I know its not going to happen. The main source of tension on the show will always be the Chuck and Sarah relationship. If we get a S5 and they were to create a villain who had no impact on the relationship maybe they wouldn’t feel the need to go to C/S well so often. One can hope.
I find myself in the middle, not as down on the season as OD or as positive as Dave. Chuck’s regression is a big part of it and I don’t like that they’re keeping C/S in this bubble away from the other characters. At this point I’d rate it with S1. It still hasn’t hit the highs of S2 but with thirteen episodes left that could change but its leaps and bounds better than S3.
I find myself between Dave’s and JC’s assessment of the season. Overall, I am happy with what we have been shown so far except for some quibbles about Chuck’s regression.
@JC
It still hasn’t hit the highs of S2 but with thirteen episodes left that could change but its leaps and bounds better than S3.
This^^
And JC, you are so right when you say that TPTB will always use the C/S relationship as the driving force of tension – I fully expect them to use it in back 11 if major issues regarding Mama B and Volkoff are taken care of by 4×13.
And speaking of the show focusing on the spy stories, I am reminded of stand alone episodes. Hope to see some awesome ones in the back 11.
Don’t me wrong I’m very happy with the season and comparing it to S1 is high praise from me. Even though I think season 2’s overall arc was the best the show had done, S1 has some of my favorite episodes.
Earlier in the season I thought they had learned on pacing a shorter more serialized season but I’m going to retract that somewhat. The greatest improvement is on not having characters act completely different episode to episode. And not having characters forgetting major issues or actions that happened in the previous episode.
But I’ve come to the conclusion that the show doesn’t work as well with a short season. They need more two or three episode arcs that build up the season’s story. That’s why S2 flowed so good. Of course it’s not their fault the timing of the extra episode pickup didn’t allow them to do this.
all of you made some good points, I too was happy 4×10 was over, in spite of my liking how CS was handled near all of the season,
the no flash chuck mini arc was painful to watch, in that sense, I love short arcs so the bad gets over quick. I did not want to watch intersectless chuck any longer than I was forced to, kind of like not wanting to watch sarahless chuck for so long in season 3, and being thankful when that was over.
I don’t think the creative team is hitting on all cylinders, but they seem to be in the right part of the book at least.
This season has been aided by 3 incredible acting performances, dalton, lh, and yvonne. Zach has really been sort of sidelined, I was thinking in the orig plan, the last 3 were going to be his, I have no idea what will happen now.
I think CS will not be as it has been, it either has to get better or worse, it was sort of left in a place after 4×9 and 10 that normally I would say things will be great, but I have very limited trust in schwedak, wish I did, would make being a fan of the show easier.
I don’t think we have to worry about Ellie being pregnant until the extended series finale. They speeded up her pregnancy a month in Fear of Death because they had all Chuck’s tests take a month total.
Also the title of one of the upcoming eps leads me to believe that it is the arrival of Baby Stephanie (that WILL be her name) . So as not to spoil check wikipedia season 4 if you are intersted in finding out since the ep name is already up but not the synopsis.
I just checked , Wikipedia no longer has the upcoming eps listed , it just has up to the current ones. Maybe someone removed them because they were technically spoilers. Try Chucktv.net to get the name.
Hey uncle joe. It’s been a long long time. But your nephew mclovin is back. The reason i have not been here is because my country only showed the season 3 finale tonight. So back from may didn’t want to know what is was about. On the subject of the season 3 finale it was totally amazing! Leaves so much promise for season four which you’ll seem to be half way through. Hope it’s good. Could you do me a favour and post a link to the season 3 finale review from this site. It would be so much easier and i wouldn’t have to read the other posts. It would be appreciated. As always take care. Peace.
If you are happy with the Season 3 final. You are probably goning to love season 4.
Why, Hi, McLovin. Glad to see you here again.
We first commented about Chuck vs. the Anniversary with this post and I followed up a bit with this post.
But reviews were only a part of the fun we had. You may want to keep hitting the “see older posts” button at the bottom of the main page until you get to October 19 or so of this year and check out the titles. I tend to get a little cryptic and “cute” with them, but the topics are pretty well layed out in the first line or two.
I do not get why a lot of fans are so dissappointed with this episode, I know that they set up a lot of things to get to this point, ultimately end up where it did not pay off in the end. But I will say this, I thought last week’s episode was the last one they filmed and wrote before they heard about the back 11 and that I guessed that these next 3-4 episodes would be majorly scaled back to cover those episodes, am I dissappointed, yes, but if the trade off is more chuck episodes then hey I am more then willing to accept this. I would love to have known what the original 4 episodes would have been if it were the end of chuck as we know it, but it is not and so we have to wait and hope the back 11 is like the back 6 last year where the writers did their best work.
I think the episode was good; just not quite to the level of Aisle of Terror, First Fight, or Phase 3. So it suffers mainly by comparison. Still a very good episode.
The whole take away the Intersect from Chuck’s story, was all about Sarah, and
nothing else. And I so hoped that there is some thing else in the background, but no.
The whole thing was all about Sarah save Chuck again, with
a very very stupid story and set up : Fear of Death. Although it was a good Sarah-centric episode, we all agreed about that was a great episode for Yvonne, and just liek I said, we can kill Chuck and rename the Shoiw Sarah.
Unfortunately the writers has not enough balls to write the story in the right direction.
lets make it Chuck a BAD ASS super spy, or leave the shit, but there is no carachter development of the season. from Chuck side, now this is realy true and unquestioned.
and now we know: without the Intersect Chuck is nothing, Make him a loser and fool again like I said before. Very good Job writers.
and please, let me not to talk about the whole Strip Class thing. Okey yea it mean to be funny, but come on, another great possibility has wasted. Like Sarah trained Chuck for fight or self defense.
And the goofy Chuck , is simple. that means what is mean, a fool nothing more nothing less.
Dalton has saved the whole episode 10.
sad very sad. I was so very high expectations about this season but now, its getting lower and lower down.
it really would be better if the end coming.
I’m sorry to hear you’re not enjoying Chuck this season Szollo. While I would agree Leftovers wasn’t my favorite episode, I did have a good time with it. I would have preferred if Chuck had shown a few more skills during the time the Intersect wasn’t working, but I think its safe to say Chuck will never be a Jason Bourne; and while I liked those movies we have to know Chuck is a totally different thing. I think what a lot of us really do like about the show is that Chuck remains a normal guy. I know I like the theme of the sweet nerd who ends up in an exciting life doing important things, and gaining the love of an amazing woman; all while maintaining a fundamental decency, with strong friendships and family oriented values. Just don’t expect it to be 24, and enjoy Chuck for what it does well on its own terms.
@atcdave:
The only problem with your otherwise VERY reasonable analysis is that Chuck CLAIMS he wants to be a spy now. He CLAIMS he wants to do good and great things with Sarah. And TPTB used to write him as clever and brave and willing to work with the skills he had at the moment.
A huge part of the fanbase was offended a couple of weeks ago when Sarah was given dialogue in Fear of Death that showed she doubted Chuck’s ability to be a spy without the intersect.
Well, we had 3 episodes of Chuck without the intersect and what did he do? Precious little.
So while I DO honestly agree with you about Chuck’s core values, he is now being written as even less useful than back in season 2. Remember when he did things like jump off the roof to save Sarah or track down Orion or even go into Fulcrum’s lair to try to save him?
What happened to the Chuck that moved Casey to say, “Before the Intersect, you were smart…” We don’t see that Chuck anymore, with or without the Intersect.
I agree with your analysis First Timer, except maybe for the importance we assign it. I believe I’ve said many times I’m disappointed Chuck didn’t perform better without the Intersect. It seems the writers have decided its more important that Chuck knows Sarah loves him and accepts him even if he is a bumbling buffoon; than having any level of professional capability. He said it back while hanging from the gondola, Sarah’s love is more important to him than the Intersect. Apparently we can take that a step further; Sarah’s love is more important to him than any level of professional competence. I’m a little disappointed in him, but it is a sweet sentiment. I suppose that is my attitude towards this entire arc as well.
I guess we’re supposed to see Chuck as a moral and emotional leader; while Sarah is the traditional heroic type. You’re right that leaves a bit of a disconnect between what Chuck says and what we see. Sarah’s assessment is apparently correct, her only regret should be bad timing and delivery that hurt Chuck’s feelings. But what Chuck does really well, is make Sarah a better person. No small thing that.
And just for the record I don’t totally buy my own argument here. Chuck is still brave, he doesn’t shirk his duty, and he is Sarah’s partner throughout Leftovers. Of course she will be better at all the traditional spy work. I would have done a few things differently, but overall I’m very pleased with the show we now have.
i agree with both your thoughts about chuck. i have a slightly different take on things. for me it all goes back to S-3. for once i believe the writers of a show listened to what the fan base wanted. in this case the end of wtwt. to my relief we got just that. the writers in an attempt to please the fans did the same thing most people do when a mistake is made (i can’t find the right word to fit here so i’m going with mistake). they begin to over compensate for it. they got sickeningly sweet with the honeymooners then leveled off. this season there has been a large amount of time spent on strengthening the relationship so the fans know it’s in a rock solid place. i think the writers just let it get away from them in their effort to prove it to the fans. by forgetting about chucks abilities to do things with out the intersect it emphasized the point that sarah loves chuck with or with out the intersect. to me from the beginning of season 3 this show has never been able to find a happy medium for many of its plots. they always seem to go towards the far end of the spectrum. i think the last three episodes are proof of that. chuck became almost worthless and sarah became to unbelievable in her actions to save chuck. again no middle ground.
i don’t think that when the plans were first being drawn up TPTB envisioned so many fans would get invested in the C/S relationship. in the first 2 seasons the show was mostly mission driven. chuck could use his brains to assist with the missions. he did crazy things to get the job done. then that all changed and things got twisted into the emotional turmoil of last season. which in a different way carried over to this year. this year it mostly emotionally driven.
It wasn’t an awful episode, but it was going to pale in comparison to Phase Three and other epic ones we’ve seen each season.
It was certainly different. I loved Volkoff. We got to see that bad guys have a heart too. That their lives, although twisted and evil, are not completely defined by crime, smuggling, murder, mayhem and world domination. Alexi was believable as a man who loves Frost.
I thought it a little odd and ironic that initially Sarah (of all people), after going rouge on a diplomat and tearing up half of Thailand for one agent (Chuck) out of love, would have difficulty understanding the concept. Didn’t take her long to overthink like a spy and forget she’s also a woman.
Other things I liked: Chuck and Sarah’s little hand-to-hand walk; Sarah, in comparison to Frost, admitting and appreciating how fortunate she was to be assigned to Chuck; Frost walking a tight rope and threatening an international psychopath to save and protect her son and his girl; Chuck thanking his mom by acknowledging a pledge of trust; Morgan’s ingenuity and bravery with the Die Hard mimic.
Things I didn’t like: He and Morgan in the womans’ pole vault class – emabarrassing; Casey telling Chuck to “leave it to the grownups” – (I know Casey is famous for his wisecracks, and maybe its just me, but that’s worse than what Sarah said in Fear of Death. That’s what he had Morgan for, right? Hasn’t Chuck done enough to warrant a cease or pass on that crap?); Chuck just standing around helpless while Volkoff’s hacker takes over Castle – isn’t he a computer genius?
One more thing: I’ve worked for Las Vegas casinos now for 11 years and immediately knew what the password was when Ellie first saw it. Our group (all dealers) thought it was cute.
Casey is like a big brother to Chuck. And big brothers are always going to give you red bellies and nuggies no matter how much they are proud of you.
That’s a good take on it. Chuck didn’t seem overly offended. In fact it seemed like a very big bro/little bro thing.
BTW, I love the Casey big-brother-of-the-team this year. It’s great.
In Chuck’s defense, while he dropped the ball in regards to countering the hacker this episode, the questions he wanted asked of his mother were the questions Sarah and Casey SHOULD have been asking. While Chuck may have been too close to the subject to interrogate his mother, it seems like Sarah and Casey’s complete exclusion of him in this regard was another example of them underestimating his level of professionalism.
Agreed.
OK, I just need to add this one more time for those bothered that Chuck didn’t try to counter-hack the hacker and see it as some sort of giant plot hole or regression for Chuck. As someone who actually works with maintaining computer systems, you don’t counter hack. You pull the plug taking the system down and fix it offline rather than risk further damage. That’s what they did. They over-rode the computer system with manual backups and failsafes, rendering the hacker useless, and then sent Casey to manually regain control of the guns. While it could have been funny to see Chuck and the hacker dueling like Shaw and Hannah in The Mask, with the guns continually re-activating and de-activating what actually happened was, believe it or not, a more realistic scenario in this case.
As for being shut out of the interrogation of his mom, despite having good questions, I thought it was the obvious thing to do given how quickly Chuck turned things into a shouting match with his mother.
MmmHmmm ~ Yup!
On both points.
@Ernie
I don’t think it was the fact that they didn’t have Chuck try and stop the hacker. It was the idea that Sarah or Casey didn’t ask the person who has the most experience with computers for help. Or that Chuck didn’t try and help himself.
They had a whole arc of everyone questioning Chuck’s value without the Intersect. So we have a moment where he could prove himself and instead he’s treated like a nobody. It would be like having a scene where Chuck and Morgan are using throwing knives and Sarah is the background doing nothing.
And while you’re right about the hacking bit being realistic. This is Chuck and the guy took over Castle from a cell in S2.
The same goes for the interrogation scene. I have no problem with them keeping Chuck out it. It was how they just dismissed him and the questions like they were ridiculous.
I didn’t see it as a problem. By the time they knew there was a hacker it was too late to do anything but over-ride the computer so he couldn’t open the doors. The baddies even mentioned it. (That the hacker could no longer control Castle).
As for the interrogation I didn’t think they were dismissing his questions, after all Sarah asked them, they were bothered by his distracting everyone, his mom included.
Yeah, you mean like “tough spy, silent spy?”