First Impressions
Is this the end of the Morgansect? Or just the end the first arc? Are we a happy bunch of Chuck fans tonight?
We’ve heard from critics this is the best of the opening arc. But of course “our” opinions will always matter more than “theirs”; whoever they might be! So let’s hear it. What did you think?
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amyabn
Ernie Davis
Faith
joe
thinkling
Chuck This 
The pay off was terrible. Like, literally, terrible.
The twist? FANTASTIC! I’m so excited for the next episode, it’s unreal!
This was not the best of the opening arc. This was “as good as” the rest of the opening arc. Damning with faint praise, I guess. It was…fine. Morgan blabbing to the world that he was the Intersect though…I thought that may have repercussions.
But Holy Hell. “New Jeff!” LOL
He cleans up well. No?
I’m not sure if he is more creepy as normal Jeff or as creepy Jeff. LOL
First impression, Morgansect, worth it. In a compressed season, I see the wisdom of both establishing the new normal, and meanwhile having the assassin’s bullet strike close to home, but allowing our hero to move forward without having to recover, had the bullet found him. It was kind of what I suspected, so maybe I’m biased.
Looks like Verbanski could be something more interesting than a rivalry.
For me Morgansect was the worst story arc they have ever done. I am so glad its just about over. Hopefully now we will get some great episodes instead of the horrible to mediocre episodes we have had so far.
Although I liked Bandit and Tips, for me they were mediocre for Chuck episodes. I usually love Chuck episodes and so far this season I am not feeling the love.
I have to say that this was the best of the first three eps. I was truly surprised that the intersect glasses wasn’t Beckman’s “doing” and had a virus—I just thought it was the intersect reacting as the intersect does—thinking about the governor that Chuck had to wear.
As for Jeff—I think someone posted somewhere that Jeff was really CIA and “all would be revealed” about him—makes me smile that this may be the “sub-arc”.
It also wasn’t lost on me that it was Sarah who figured out Morgan “wasn’t right”…another example of how Sarah has changed.
I liked it.
Finally S5 has started.
I thought this was a lot of fun, some really good moments. And I’m very pleased with the direction they’re going on a few counts; Morgansect is ending fairly quickly, looks like Morgan will be back being the comic but annoying sidekick. I liked the twist that the Intersect was not from Beckmen (not an unexpected twist, but still!); I liked Ellie’s observation about how many Intersect programs there have been. Of course I absolutely loved that Sarah was the one standing up for Morgan, it was like a complete role reversal for Chuck and Sarah from Best Friend; awesome sign of Sarah’s growth. I loved the teamwork and Chuck’s competence throughout this episode.
Jeff was a hoot as a “C” plot. I’d love to see him stay like this, but my bet is it won’t last.
This episode seemed less comic than the last couple. Not to say it wasn’t funny; it was, and I had a couple of big belly laughs. But there was more drama here than the first couple episodes, especially Zoom which I thought was hilarious.
Bring on 5.04!
weak conclusion. Casey is the only fun character left …
Ok, the way they bring back Morgan was… not good, but everything else… I liked!
I mean, between Casey hugging his daughter and protecting her, Chuck being the only one who could beat Morgan because he IS the master (i loved it!) and Sarah being the one who was there for Morgan, it was amazing!
My faith in the show has been restored.
I’d forgotten to mention Casey’s scene with Alex! That was awesome, almost brought a tear to my eye, very nice character moment.
“Ok, the way they bring back Morgan was… not good, ”
What you saw there is how the show resolves the dramatic portion of the storyline. “Poof” it’s resolved. Why do you think I’m scared to death for 5.08.
I didn’t actually mind the way they brought him back. At least there was some resolution.
I know, I know… Sarah’s past is one of the greatest pieces of mythology in all the story. In fact, sometimes I found myself wishing that TPTB leave it to the fandom imagination…
The parents who spawned Alex Coburn and made him into a choir boy might be the other big unknown piece. (He wasn’t hatched, after all!) There are at least a couple of older fanfics about that.
Morgan’s dad is also an unknown. We could get a three episode arc about him. *ducks*
I think Casey’s parents would had been extremely… sweet. Too much for hard-core Alex Coburn goals. After all, he always wanted a mother as Mama Wintherbotom…
” I found myself wishing that TPTB leave it to the fandom imagination…”
Totally agree with you.
This was a really strong episode that gave a lot of interesting things for our characters to do. I really like it.
More than anything, they did a lot with Casey with this episode. We got to see Sarah take on a new role, too.
I’m glad they brought the Morgansect plot to a conclusion and can move forward. Bring on the next 10 episodes.
I have to rewatch a few times to be sure, but this might be my favorite episode since Wedding Planner.
My only (minor) complaints are about the roof scene. Chuck’s memory reboot of Morgan might have worked better in a different location, and I was a little disappointed in the Sarah/Verbanski face-off compared to some of Sarah’s other classic fights (the outfits were too restricting) for Sarah’s roundhouse kicks and jumping beat down punches.
The rest of it was all sorts of good:
– Sarah’s mission with Casey at the beginning, and teasing him later
– Only 45 minutes?
– Awesome’s commercial convinces even Awesome to go to the Buy More
– Morgan’s vehicle
– Evil people have goatees (Star Trek Mirror Universe), but Morgan already has a beard. Solution: frosted tips
– Morgan calls Fernando “Cabbage Patch”
– Casey and Gertrude are really creepy, but in a good way. Strangers in the Night FTW
– Clara is the chosen one.
– Casey goes directly for the cigars, but where was he hiding is safe cracking device? I don’t want to know.
– Chuck can block the Intersect because like in A-Team, he can recognize Intersect moves
– Chuck, “I am the Master”. Doctor Who reference?
– Chuck calls Morgan “Gollum”
– Sarah does everything she can think of to console and support Chuck by figuring out what is happening to his best friend. Sarah has grown so much.
– Beckman and Casey are still calling Sarah “Walker”. I would have liked it if she was always correcting them to Bartowski, but this is probably more realistic. Chuck wouldn’t mind and “Sarah Walker” has a professional reputation just like “Charles Carmichael” and “John Casey”
– Ellie explains it is not the same Intersect
– “You are all a bunch of maniacs!”
– The kiss pan was funny. Thank goodness it was Chuck and Sarah kissing.
– Casey is rugged, dependable, smooth, sophisticated, and indecisive.
– Jeff is not lost! His frosted tips are gone with his combed hair.
– Sarah and Chuck adopt a troubled homeless kid from the neighborhood.
– All the Morgan haters can stop watching and imagine Morgan dies at the end.
I was surprised with everyone using real guns.
My final comment is poor Alex.
Since yours is the most detailed list of sort of goods, I will dare to add this one:
-“I’m here ’cause you stole our mission, and our moron.”
What can I say? I love the Colonel manners…
Another good one, Amron. This episode had a lot of fantastic one-liners. Probably twice the normal Chuck episode.
Wow! Great takes, everyone.
What I liked was that every character (with the exception of Big Mike) was on board, even baby Clara. I can never get enough of Ellie, Devon and now Alex, but every second they were on camera was time well spent. Jeff and even Lester were absolutely fun tonight.
It’s fantastic that Chuck without the Intersect still able to hold his own. I’m overjoyed that Sarah is still a superspy even though she now has a heart. (And I don’t miss Chuck-Sarah relationship angst one bit.)
I really didn’t expect that Decker would be behind the Intersect Trojan, but I should have. Great twist for a mature show.
i didn’t watch it so joe how close did i come on my spec?
Here you go, Army….
> morgan will be acting the way he did at an earlier time in his life.
(This was in the sneak peek) Chuck thinks so, but not really
> mogan will hit bottom tonight and chuck will save him by using the powers granted to him by some deity.
Depends on how you look at it, but not that blatant
> when morgan hits his low point chuck will be able to reach him just by talking,
(This was in the promo) yes
> and stop him from doing something stupid, like killing.
(This was in the promo) yes
> then chuck will save morgan’s butt from getting killed.
(This was in the promo) yes
> when all is said and done chuck and morgan will be fine.
The relationship yes, but Morgan, not exactly.
> morgan will still have the intersect and realize he still needs to grow up,
yes
> that will take the time.
Time would have to be in the next episode, and Morgan might not have that long (duh duh duuuuuuh)
> chuck and co will be back with beckman as contractors.
Early, yes, but not later. There are more pressing concerns (duh duh duuuuuuh)
thanks jeff!
It does however look like Morgan will loose the Intersect nearly first thing next week (we saw it in the preview, and he was still smoking from the car bomb that will likely start the episode).
I do find it funny that they are advertising Morgan loosing the Intersect so prominently; I think they got the memo that fans aren’t thrilled with Morgansect!
Dave, let me get this straight. they show them planting a bomb on morgans car in the episode, then showed morgan survived it in the preview? some how that doesn’t make sense, does it? not much of a cliff hanger.
Since Morgan’s name is in the synopsis of episode 4, it’s not really much of a cliffy, in terms of wondering what will happen, but it’s good story telling, even though we know he survives. It’s a little early to start killing of your main characters. 😉
Army I don’t think Morgan’s survival was ever in doubt!
The cut was actually hilarious, probably intentionally so. The end 5.03 has Morgan walking towards his vehicle with the bomb planted under it. The very start of the preview shows Morgan all blackened and smoking like something from a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Very funny stuff.
got it thanks!
So what do you think, Joe? Does the angst feel real?
My early impression is yes, Amron. I like the notion of Morgan getting angry and rebellious about his station in life (in this case, the Chuck universe), discovering that it ain’t so bad (and has some nobility) and his coming to terms with it.
But after one viewing, I’m not yet certain it will be a lasting impression. That depends on what comes next for Morgan, I’m sure. Can you imagine Morgan, for instance, playing an integral role in bringing down Decker, for instance, without the Intersect? If that depends on lessons he’s learned here, then yes, it’ll feel real. Otherwise, it’ll feel wasted.
My impressions often change after I see the season as a whole, and we’re far from that so far.
Glad to know. I was curious to know what do you think, because I believe you are the less visceral of the bloggers here. I agree completely, and no, by the moment, I can’t imagine Morgan des-intersected being part of the final battle: he’s still a burden for the team, sadly.
I did find it interesting just how capable Chuck has become in hand-to-hand fighting. We’ve seen a little of that every episode this season, but he also did better than any of Verbanski’s thugs (trainees?) against Morgan. I get his “Master” comment, but that alone seems inadequate (as the first and most successful Intersect). It seems to me he’s been getting a lot of training, and actual martial arts skills likely means Sarah; I’d like to see more of their training scenes (like the jogging last week).
The change from when he and Sarah were walking in Leftovers and got attacked to this episode, where he could go toe to toe with the intersect is jaw dropping. I am hoping that at some point the story deals with the issue. What if his brain did absorb the skills he borrowed while intersecting & they are slowly manifesting themselves? Either that, or he has done thousands of hours of training, to match the intersect hand to hand, we are talking ‘sensei’ level, if he earned that on his own, he did it quickly. More than likely, it will be swept under the rug, but I’d like to see it dealth with one way or another?
Part of me is hoping that Chuck isn’t really that good at the Kung Fu yet so we do see some training scenes with Sarah. I like the idea (coming from A-Team) that Chuck recognizes what the Intersect would do, so he instinctively knows how to fight that better than the someone else. However knowing this show, I’m not expecting any explanation, and I’m ok with that.
You know, Chuck made an off-the-cuff comment in S4 that struck me the same way, Dave. He and Morgan were talking about doing a quick “snatch and grab” and he added that he “had done thousands of those.” I got the impression that we were supposed to think that he wasn’t exaggerating and that there were many missions to which the audience was not privy.
It was a quick way to get the point across.
I’m enormously glad to see his growing skills. Yvonne had said in an interview that it was different for Chuck now that he didn’t have the Intersect and had to train. That gave me hope. I don’t need to see Intersect 2.0 chuck-fu. Just some adequate skills to hold his own and back up his team. Plus it means that Chuck is stepping up to the plate in a big way. I just love the Chuck we’re seeing … grabbing guns with Casey to take down the competition. He is without the Intersect, back to basics, but so not back to S1 Chuck. This is an all new Chuck, as far as I can tell.
I completely agree. Basic skills like the beginning of Zoom, to hold off Morgan for a few seconds, or to guard Sarah’s back, but nothing special. Otherwise, Sarah might get bored.
Sometimes it seems like Intersect Kung Fu is like Fezzik in The Princess Bride. It’s good for “fighting gangs for local charities”, but “you use different moves when you’re fighting half a dozen people, than when you only have to worry about one.” Chuck just needs the skills for fighting one person. Kind of like Iron Man 2, where Jon Favreau takes out his one guy while Scarlett Johansson takes out everybody else.
Oh, I love Capable Chuck! He’s the Chuck of the S4 Finale, confident and a little bad-ass. As a character, he has grown-up notoriously from S4 – in this season he was annoyingly whinny, apathetic and sometimes idiot- to S5. The five-year plan worked, after all… I guess if he chose the font for Carmichael Industries…
5 yr plan … good one, Amron
Amron, thanks for the five-year plan call-back. I had accepted that there would be no more Chuck. Didn’t mean I liked it, but that is the way it is. Now, I don’t want there to be a 6th season because the five-year plan/font line from the pilot fits too perfectly. Of course while I am only expecting 13 episodes, they could extend this season to eighty or so…
I think 100 would be a nice round number for episodes this season….
Actually with ratings being what they are we’ll be lucky just to get all 13 to air!
C’mon… am I the only one that thought that Chuck giving Morgan the PANTS treatment was hilarious??!??!!!
Lots of great one liners thrown out tonight [ by everyone]… almost too many to list.
Interesting to see Chuck was quick to be holding a grudge – but Sarah as the one who sought to bring Morgan back from the dark side…. say what you want about character growth – but that was kinda outta character for both of them [ just say’n]
Didn’t like the way Chuck talked Morgan back from the dark side – then poof – he reboots and he’s back to normal? It would have made more sense in he had slapped a ‘governor’ on him first.
Casey and Alex was good…
Casey and Gertrude was Fantastic!!! [- please sir, may I have some more? ]
Overall, I wish this was the way that Season 5 should have started… they could have thrown some of the other plot points from 5.01 and 5.02 in somewhere along the way, or left out completely.
I suspect they still have soooo much story and so little time.
This was the Chuck Season 5 I’ve been waiting for…. let the fun begin.
gringochuckfan, I was originally thinking like you that Sarah and Chuck were OOC with their role-reversal. However, Chuck has always quickly overreacted before coming back to a more level-headed attitude. It’s one of the show’s go-to story telling techniques. So this might not have been in character for how he related to Morgan, but it was in character in a more general sense.
Sarah was being the level headed problem solver she normally is. The difference was pre-Best Friends Sarah wouldn’t have worried about Morgan as a person vs. an intelligence asset. S1->S3 Sarah would have worried about what her bosses thought and wouldn’t have rocked the boat, something she worried about less in Colonel, Pink Slip, Honeymooners, and S4. Now, she simply focuses on helping Chuck (like she has always wanted) more than the mission, which in this case meant figuring out what was wrong with Chuck’s best friend. As long as she continues to do that, it is the character of S5/married Sarah.
Just to add to Jeff’s comments. Chuck did react strongly to Morgan’s betrayal; but for Chuck its extremely personal. Its seems reasonable to me that even apart from Chuck’s tendency to over-react, he is going to be the most hurt by Morgan’s actions. And true to form for Chuck, he was completely forgiving and eager to help and make things right once he had reason to think there was an actual problem that might be hurting Morgan.
And I think Sarah was completely in character; her more secure and complete character that we’ve seen more and more of since Honeymooners. She was always the steady problem solver. And even in late S1 I could have seen her taking this sort of approach if Chuck had been the one having the problems Morgan was having; it would have been fitting both her personality and her mission to protect Chuck. But the new and improved Sarah we’re seeing can now extend this level of concern to others. She’s consistantly been patient with Morgan throughout this arc (just as she was usually very patient with Chuck in the first two seasons) and that continued even when his problems began hurting her and Chuck. Sarah is really a very appealing and strong character, and always has been.
Here’s my take on the episode
What I liked:
The opening with Sarah playing Cyrano for Casey. Reminded me of Morgan helping Chuck with his sub mission in Balcony (I miss S4 Morgan).
The return of Gen Beckman
Casey/Alex scene
Awesome stay at home dad “9:45 what are we going to do for the rest of the day”
Casey/Gertrude fight – who knew hand-to-hand combat could sizzle.
Sarah/Ellie scene
Flight Attendant Sarah – I would love to fly the friendly skies with her.
Carmichael Industries finally having a successful mission. Its about time they did not act like a bunch of incompetent fools.
What I hated:
All things Morgansect. I think it was the worst story arc TPTB have ever done. Now that its basically over I wonder what was the point of it all. It wasn’t funny to me and the bromance angst just seemed so forced. All it seemed to accomplish was to alienate a group of fans. I just hope the ratings don’t keep declining to the point that the show is cancelled before all the episodes are shown.
I thought it was going to be Chuck who figured it out and was all for going and fixing Morgan but he was hampered by knowing about Morgan’s earlie bad behavior in childhood. However the fact that it ‘s Sarah who’s concerned shows us how far she has come from the woman who ignored what she thought was Chuck changing and took up with a personality deficit mannequin. I’m proud of her progress.
Casey romance is very strange. And how the heck does he keep getting in walls.
I love Morgan’s vehicle. In fact I think I saw it in an article once where the electric /gas version got 300mpg. So neat but not roomy.
Frosted tips are not a good look for Morgan.
Jeff’s new look is interesting. I wouldn’t have thought his hair would go down. I wonder if he realizes how many years he’s spent out of it. It’s amazing what finally getting oxygen to his brain will do.
Lester’s biological clock is ticking. This could get strange.
Both Chuck and Casey went thought copter fuel fire to save the day.
Now Awesome knows why Ellie was so wired when she spent so much time with only Clara. She lasted a lot longer than he did . Less than an hour and he was looking for other adults .
Everyone’s got a talent, Ladycat. And Casey’s in for getting inside walls! 😉
Oh and I loved seeing Beckman again. She’s grown from the woman we first saw in season 1. She now understands the importance of friends.
I kind of want her to be the one to kick Decker’s ass.
Are you saying Becky has strengthened her core? (metaphorically)
Maybe when they bring down Decker it will end like Push Mix with Gen B coming in with her army – “arrest him”.
Did anyone else notice that in the promo tonight it looks like Casey is the assassin that Decker hired to kill Morgan?
Casey did tell Morgan that if he broke Alex’s heart that he would break Morgan’s everything.
Didn’t pick up on that, Gord, but wow! Next week is going to be good.
I was really surprised that they didn’t get back to Alex and Morgan last night. I’m hoping that’s a good sign – the story with them is not over.
Now that you mention it, that would explain the look on Sarah’s face. But that could be (hopefully) a misdirection.
Really enjoyed this one. Felt very much like the return (kick ass at that) of Chuck.
Lots to love off the top of my head:
– Sarah – Trinity/Gertrude fight. Oh man, I wanted it and I got it, in a big way. Really epic, awesome sauce. What more can I say?
– Morgan and Chuck’s friendship was actually engaging, and entertaining. Felt very much like Best Friend with Chuck fighting for his buddy, Morgan.
– Really liked that they didn’t shy away from “villain” Morgan. He was unplugged and I loved it.
– Casey and Gertrude. SO VERY HOT and yet SO VERY WRONG. So hot in its wrongness. Also, bonus points for playing “strangers.”
– Chuck and Sarah being, well Chuck and Sarah. It felt great to see Sarah be there for Chuck and Chuck listening to her and valuing her input. It felt even better to see them be married. Last week one of my few issues was that they were constantly telling me that they were married, rather than showing me…in this one they showed me. From the opening morning scene, to the end with the paycheck, very well done. But most of all…near death? What. A. Kiss. Now that’s the kind of passion you show for the love of your life, much less for the love of your life that you almost lost.
– Ellie and Sarah talk. Apart from the fact that I’m tickled pink that I knew where that was shot and I feel that much closer to Chuck for that reason, just a good scene. It’s one of the simple things that we often overlook. The simplicity of Sarah, asking a sister in law for advice (because after all Ellie has known all the parts and their dynamic for far longer) and a caring friend asking advice from an expert all at the same time.
– A good use of the characters. So often these past several episodes we’ve really only seen the story, the motions, the breadcrumbs, it was very encouraging to see the characters returning. And I do mean “characters.” These characters felt very much like the characters we have gotten to know and love. The relationships were more than genuine, they were identifiable. As I was watching it really, actually felt like they cared about each other and would do anything and everything for one another.
– Last point: this episode was Chuck, with all the promises and expectations that label brings. It aptly balanced and represented the many genres that only Chuck can bring, and it left us wanting more. Oftentimes Chuck excels in only one aspect, be it plot A or B, or comedy or drama–there is always usually one aspect for those looking to enjoy, but in this one I thoroughly enjoyed all of it. Even Jeff turning straight man. Hi-larious!
My only negative was that it was far too short. Can’t wait for next week!
I agree with all points, but my negative is that the pay off after all that drama was SO unbelievably weak. Here we’ve been angsting for a good week due to the betrayal and Morgan going bonkers and it’s all fixed by talking about a mustache sandwich… REALLY?!
Also, I had the same feeling as you about them TELLING us they were married, but I had that issue in Zoom, not in Bearded Bandit.
“Here we’ve been angsting for a good week due to the betrayal and Morgan going bonkers and it’s all fixed by talking about a mustache sandwich… REALLY?!”
Well, we are discussing here a show whose main character had diffused a bomb with both internet porn and apple juice, so…
True, but I mean, this was SO hyped up and it all resolves around a chat. That just… ugh.
Hehe! Yes, I understand completely, believe me, but there are chapters (Phase Three, for example) AND seasons (Vivian) with worst resolution than this one. Because of that, I’m a little afraid of how they are going to wrap everything for the series finale, by the way…
Glad you finally liked one Faith!
Agree with you Faith on how awesome the episode was, and I’m soo glad it restored your enjoyment of Chuck. It truly did balance and do justice to all its signature genres and its A and B plots … and all the characters. It was like old home week.
I love the married-ness. I think it was shown in Bearded Bandit, too, with the non-verbal communication and all their communication, actually, plus the jogging scene. In The Zoom, I just figured they were making sure everyone knew, including people who crawled out from under a rock to watch or those who thought the wedding was a cruel hoax. I love CS married, and I love the team.
The married dialogue was actually very minimal in Bearded Bandit. Sarah only mentioned it when talking with Gertrude, and she didn’t even say who she was married to. I watched the episode with that exact issue in mind (since there’d been some grumbling about after Zoom); if you were new to Chuck and watching for the first time, its possible you wouldn’t have been sure WHO Sarah was married to until the jogging scene (her friendship with both Chuck and Casey was warm and familiar).
Zoom was a bit heavy handed, but it as a season premier they presumably were trying to be clear about all the status changes from last season (they also had several lines related to the new company, sleazy clients, how Morgan got the Intersect, and the Volkoff fortune). I could swallow it even for story reasons on the basis of Chuck and Sarah being newlyweds.
I’ll have to re-watch again, but I’m pretty sure there was no mention at all of marital status in Frosted Tips.
The show doesn’t need to constantly mention their marital status. It’s not like the show is trying to grow an audience. From Frosted Tips alone, do we know Devon, Ellie, and Clara are related to Chuck and Sarah? Devon could juts be a neighbor who worked in a Buy More ad, and Ellie could just be a doctor-friend of Sarah’s.
In Frosted Tips, we did have the Chuck and Sarah morning scene where Chuck had been up all night right after the first C-break. It made it clear they are involved, and Chuck is wearing his wedding ring. It looks like Sarah takes hers off at night.
In Sarah’s confrontation with Verbanski (in Bearded Bandit) she did say she wasn’t going to leaver her husband’s company (right after Verbanski baited her with the skinny arms comment). That actually made the Miss Walker insult even more blatant and Sarah’s reprimand all the more cheer-worthy. So, if you know Chuck is Carmichael, then you know who Sarah’s husband is. It was indirect, but it was there.
Jeff that wasn’t my point at all. Of course it doesn’t need to be brought up every week.
My point was purely that we hear a lot of the complaint that Chuck and Sarah bringing up their marital status has been overdone. I’m only saying that I believe that was only actually true for Zoom; and as newlyweds I think we can give them a pass for that. It has actually been quite understtated in both Bearded Bandit and Frosted Tips.
Got it, Dave. I was channeling those (annoying) complaints that they are not affectionate enough, coming from people who forget this is 8/7c show on network TV and who should be happy with the outfits that the characters wear.
Jeff, I think that’s what we’re all saying is that we like that they show it and don’t tell it any more like they did in The Zoom, acknowledging that for the introductory episode of S5 and the first episode after the wedding, it’s allowable. After that it’s unnecessary, and they didn’t do it any more. Awesome and Ellie are well established, so it’s a different animal.
Maybe it was my wording. When I said married-ness, I meant vibe not verbal reminders.
Sorry Jeff, didn’t mean to double team you. Dave and I posted at the same time.
Yeah Jeff, I think there’s quite a crowd that seems to want this to be a Showtime series or something! I actually really like the level of affection and intimacy we’re getting. I find it completely convincing, and I really don’t need to see their more “private” sort of moments. And more affection in public is not normal at all! I thought the little glimpses of “private time” we saw in Frosted Tips was perfect (the morning and evening scenes).
Good stuff, Faith.
I always seem to hold my breath about Chuck&Sarah. It’s like, after so many years of wanting them to be together and being frustrated about it, it’s hard to let myself believe that they really are. This week, it was easy, and you described it exactly. They’re showing us in a lot of believable, little ways.
Oh, I can always tell when the episode is great. My wife says “That went by so quick! I can’t believe it’s almost over.” every time. 😉
“True, but I mean, this was SO hyped up and it all resolves around a chat. That just… ugh.”
Just shows the strength of their friendship, they could connect enough just with that much and seriously its an hour long show(not even) they don’t have enough time to show much more
I liked the ep, and the arc, all three were top 20 to 25 type eps for me, falling in a category with most of s4 as well as Role Models, but even this ep, which was the best, fell short of a top 5 type ep.
But …. the ending was so Vivian versus Chuck like (as well as many other eps) where Chuck defeats his opponent by talking him or her into submission. Far better for me would have been Chuck getting knocked out by the blast and in danger of getting burned, and Morgan shoving Sarah out of the way and rescuing Chuck, and then snapping out of his intersect induced stupor.
Jason, I like your idea of Morgan recusing Chuck. However, if that had happened, this blog would be filled with complainers about Morgan being the hero when it should really be Chuck.
A lot of Chuck episodes have resolved with a chat: Three Words, Coup d’etat, Cliffhanger, the bad guy buy-off in Break Up, and Broken Heart. He’s tried it in other episodes with less success: Sandworm, Family Volkoff, and Nacho Sampler.
It always seems a little out of place, it’s part of what Chuck does. As the Incredibles taught us, the key to bringing down a bad guy is to get him monologuing (or in this case, dialoguing) The rooftop setting seemed a little off to me, for some reason, but I figured they would have Chuck solve the problem by talking.
Talking certainly seems to be Chuck’s weapon of choice, I think its well established by now. But it does fail spectacularly on occasion, I was thinking of Other Guy…
Gotta agree with pretty much everyone here. Loved the episode,
I was wondering if this one was going to have an Undercover Lover vibe and it did with Sarah taking on Chuck’s role. I was hoping for that since we learned Casey was getting a love interest this season.
No need to rehash what others have said but for me the best part of the episode was Chuck getting really angry about Morgan. Hopefully now the writers see that him yelling or calling out someone he cares about doesn’t make him a jerk but an actual human being.
The only thing I had a problem with was the resolution to the Morgansect but that’s typical for the show so it didn’t bother me that much. And hopefully it’ll lead into a better story with Decker trying to kill Morgan.
I have not read any reviews, I barely watched the ep last night late, but I wonder if this ep was satisfying for those who want the show to be more dramatic? For my dollar, this ep really was not all that dramatic, it was much like most eps in s4 and s5.
What this ep did show me, was how much character development is now possible with everyone sort of ignoring Chuck and Sarah the couple (including the writers & fans).
In no particular order, a great Awesome / Jeff sequence led to real change in the show, for Jeff and maybe starting one for Awesome even. A great Lester throw away line, calling Clara ‘the chosen one’, or was it a throw away line at all???? I hope the biological clock thing was a throw away line, as Jeff gets normal, I am afraid Lester is going to get creepier, if that is even imaginable?
Casey was free to console Alex and pursue Verbanski, rather than being Sarah’s wingman in her pursuit of Chuck.
Morgan was free to figure out who Morgan is, rather than being Chuck’s wingman in pursuit of Sarah.
And Sarah, she and Ellie need a scene each and every episode, have they ever had a bad one? Sarah as Casey’s wingman, how epic can epic get, without it involving Chuck and Sarah? Then, if that wasn’t enough, Sarah as Morgan’s go to girl in his relationship with Chuck, just as Morgan was for her during s4 as she was trying to figure out Chuck and her relationship. Yet, Sarah and Chuck managed to have a very good episode as a couple, without getting in anyone’s way.
And yet, with all this going on, the episode felt about Chuck. Was this ep a return to a more balanced or dramatic version of Chuck? Not for me. But it was a solid effort in growing all of the characters forward, seemingly at the expense of no main character taking ‘two steps back’, which is remarkable growth for the show!
Agree completely Jason – the characterisation in this episode, for everyone, was outstanding. Hasn’t always been Klemmer’s strength. He normally does mythology better than characters, but he nailed them all in this one. Big kudos to him.
Will need to rewatch to flesh out my thoughts but first impression? A genuinely schizophrenic episode. The good was so good – and almost unanimously agreed on by all – but the pantsing scene and the “resolution” of Morgansect? Lord, they were awful….
So I enjoyed the ep – but on first watch I can’t agree with Ernie – Morgansect not worth 3 episodes for that resolution for my money.
Totally a much better depiction of Chuck in this episode than the 1st two.
Sarah had more to do in this episode than the first two. I hope that continues.
Casey had been outstanding all season.
I’m afraid I’ve had more than enough Morgan to last me a while.
Oh BTW. CAM rocked! Again.
This was a good episode. But I can only call it a good dramatic episode if the drama is resolved properly. The show hasn’t resolved any drama in a truly meaningful way since at least before Mauser, if ever.
They chose instead to give us a very quick (kindergarten-like) resolution that leaves a lot of fans shaking their heads because it sweeps a lot of stuff under the rug.
That being said I didn’t mind this resolution. Was it perfect, no. But it was a resolution.
The only thing I would have changed would have been to make the final talk down a little more involved. I would have liked to see it center around more than just one incident to reclaim Morgan’s memories. Like several from Chuck, and maybe a couple from Sarah; after all she’s had some wonderful scenes with Morgan these last couple years, and the Sarah comments would be things we already knew that would sort of tie the scene back into show history we know. While Chuck’s memories could reach into the more distant past.
The actual execution was close with Sarah encouraging while Chuck did the actual memory jogging, it was just too simple and quick.
I guess ultimately I’m fine with that, it resolved the story and we got the point. Even from the beginniing Chuck has used a lot of these blazing fast resolutions to lengthier set-ups, but I think this situation could have been better served by another 60 seconds or so of dialogue.
I agree with all of that, Dave. I think Sarah should have mentioned Chuck getting Morgan’s pants back under threat of the Intergalactic Federationof Planets (or giving her permission to marry Chuck) and then the Meredith incident. Then Chuck could have mentioned a couple of other things. It might have been good to start with a more recent incident and then move backward in time. But, like you, I’m fine with it. I wouldn’t have really thought of it until you brought it up. And ultimately whenever they lengthen one scene, they have to shorten another. This episode was so good, I’m not sure what I would have shortened.
Funny the Morgan giving permission for Sarah to marry Chuck was exactly the first scene I was thinking of.
But yeah time is always the villain in these things. I can’t think of any other scene that could have been parred back to make it work, so a slightly rushed wrap-up will have to do. And once again I find myself thinking it would be nice to get extended cuts on the discs!
I really really enjoyed this episode. It had some really fantastic little character moments, from Casey and Alex’s relationship being so much more comfortable than we’ve ever seen it, to Chuck and Sarah’s silent conversation about letting Morgan stay with them at the end, and of course, all of the Morgan and Chuck stuff.
We really got a bit of everything last night, from drama, to romance and action and comedy. I thought it was balanced really well.
I was so afraid that the fight scene at the training class between Chuck and Morgan was going to be one of them beating the hell out of each other, and if this were a dark show (it’s not. Not ever.) Morgan would have had Chuck in traction and then realized the error of his ways.
Instead, he got pantsed. And tranqed. And it was awesome.
I don’t know how the hell Carey-Anne Moss and Adam Baldwin have so much damn chemistry but I want more. And I’ll be interested to see how all of the Casey-Morgan stuff and the Alex stuff gets resolved from the mess Morgan has made.
They also did a brilliant job of setting up for next week, which looks ridiculous and hysterical.
Yeah Leigh I thought the sparring/pantsing scene was a blast. Very fitting and very funny.
Finally, an episode that I had to immediately go re-watch. Chuck is back! I’m in Faith’s camp, not really enjoying the first two. Yes, they had moments, but Frosted Tips was back to a complete episode of awesomeness. Loved:
-Sarah and Casey. Hillarious.
-Sarah and Ellie. Heartwarming and genuine.
-Sarah and Chuck. Perfect!
-Casey and Alex. Sweet.
-Casey and Gertrude. Do we have a nickname for them yet?
-Awesome and everyone
-Morgan is back to not being a total DB.
Glad to see Beckman back, Jeff is some kind of “normal”. I loved Sarah and Chuck communicating non-verbally to allow Morgan to stay with them-I just hope it isn’t permanent. I was waiting for one of them to remind Morgan of the pajama rule 🙂
Looking forward to next weeks ep. I’m wondering if Casey’s previous order to take out Chuck is going to slip out. Sarah’s reaction to that would be epic. Anyway, I’m just so glad to be excited again! Still waiting for the ratings to see how they did.
Ca-banski pronounced like Ka-boom is my term, but that is just me. Wonderful to see you posting!
Love the name, Jason. Fantastic. I think we hava awinner.
Cabanski / Ca-boomski … potayto / potahto
Love your list, Amy. So glad to see your gravatar again!
Well for me this episode fit into the scheme we have seen through this entire season. I loved the Sarah Casey stuf even Chuck was better this episode but Morgansect was absolutely horrible.The resolution of simply having Sarah mention his incident in seventh grade completely eliminating the douchebag persona was simply ridiculous. And if this was the big payoff to this stupid story? I’ll pass. It was not worth wasting 1/3 of the final season on that garbage. Though I think again there was lots to enjoy in this episode the Morgansect arc for me is now second only to Shaw and the trapezoid in hated stories.
DR was absolutely right it was a Zero story idea and the way they resolved it was lazy and totally unsatisfying to me. This episode is in some ways like Other Guy for me, it simply ended the misery. God I loath this story.
On a completely unrelated note to anything Chuck…
Has anyone else recently upgraded to iOS 5? The command of tapping the top bar to return to the top of the page no longer works. Is there a substitute gesture or command for this? I can’t find any mention of it in documentation. ChuckThis in particular involves A LOT of scrolling to the top of the page; I’m pretty sure if there is no command for this it will drive me stark raving mad! (I know, short trip…)
I don’t have an iPhone, but if you are not bandwidth limited you could reload the page. It still takes time, but is less frustrating than scrolling.
That’s what I’ve been doing, but its A LOT slower than the “tap to top” feature was, especially on some of our heroically long pages like Spoilers. That and I normally use 90-95% of my allowed data every month, this may become a problem!
Maybe you are already using it, but I’ve noticed there is a wordpress app for iOS and Android. It looks to be more for bloggers than readers.
I tried that once before and didn’t care for it, but maybe I need to give it another chance. But I think I’ll wait until I have wi-fi access tonight.
[Sniff…sniff] Neeerrrrddddsssss!
😉
I’m still on iOS 4 and totally fine with it. Have no intentions of upgrading and learning that it doesn’t feature ‘tap to top’ (heh) makes me even less reluctant. I don’t know if it’s possible, but you could try a rollback to iOS 4
I’ve thought about looking into rolling back, the problem with that is always compatibility with newer apps and updates. I’m also not certain yet that there is nothing similar to “tap to top”, only that I haven’t figured it out; which proves nothing except that I’m really too old to be handling technology…
Update to 5.0.1 Dave, they activated gestures for iPad 1.0 and I think it does scrolling to top.
That’s actually what I have. Apparently I just don’t know the gesture, and I don’t see a guide for them.
I guess I should modify that, I just checked the on-line user guide and it still says to tap the subject bar. But that no longer works.
You mean tap to time right?
The direction for the gestures are in settings-general but no scroll to top (gesture). Weird.
ARGH that took forever to load. WordPress is being a pain.
I guess I’ll just be eager for 5.0.2!
TV by the numbers reported Chuck at .9M, for those curious, Grimm dropped to 1.5M, Grimm is starting to feel like ‘The Event’
Maybe following such a strong episode, next week will be better. Or maybe now that the Morgan arc is out of the way, some others will come back to cheer Chuck on to the series finale.
Well it’s an improvement over last week! Even better if we get a bump in the finals again.
Dave…same as last week. chuck was adjusted up to .9 on monday.
Errrrr, right?
Last week was a 0.8 adjusted up to a 0.9 in the finals. This week is a 0.9; hopefully we’ll adjust up again in the finals and get 1.0.
sorry was confused by it’s an improvement over last week part. i was talking .9 to .9 not .8 on sat then adjust to .9, my bad. now if it goes to 1.0 to me it will be an improvement.
Chuck’s actual rating last week was a 0.85, which got rounded up to 0.9 because they only show one decimal in their charts. The reason the estimate went up in the final calculation was that it must have been close to that “could go either way” spot.
We won’t know until Monday afternoon if this is a solid 0.9 or even a 1.0 or will slip below .85 and round to 0.8. The total viewer estimate did go up, but only 2%.
0.9 is a percentage. It’s not “.9M”. The only numbers in their charts that are in actual thousands is the total viewer number.
In a sentence, it would be “0.9% of Adults 18-49 watched the average minute of Chuck”.
A rating is also the measure of how many people are watching during the average minute of the telecast.
that’s certainly something 🙂
I think the countdown timer needs fixing. It says 8 days since Chuck vs the bearded bandit.
Is that not true?
Okay, it’s not useful but it is true!
Thanks. It’s fixed now :).
Faith have you seen the December schedule? More to the point, do you know yet when 5 and 6 will run? I know we’ve heard 5.07 won’t run until January.
Grr. I hate it when they spread it out like that!!! Just show the dogone shows!!!
Rewatched “Frosted Tips” last night. The Alex Chuck scene was really sweet, so big brother / little sister like. I wonder if we might see a season long B plot of Morgan Alex angst. If so, I would love that, give that poor girl something to do this season other than hold Morgan’s hand and say ‘Oh Morgan’ or ‘Oh Daddy, I love him’.
On second viewing, if ANY fan out there does not like the Sarah Walker character, they could complain the show is becoming ‘Sarah’ not ‘Chuck’. She literally stole every scene, her meeting with Ellie to get help, with her teasing quips & hi-jinx with Casey (Sarah and Casey scenes are soooo much funnier than Morgan and Chuck), her loving ways with Chuck, and her steadfast friendship and faith in Morgan.
Also, this season might find some of the genius of season 2’s layered spy story. Although the resolution of Morgansect was Vivian like in how shallow it was when it was so close to being brilliant, the season long arc IS building up nicely. Just as in mid season 2, fans did not understand the nature of Orion or the Ring (or was it Fulcrum, I can’t even really recall) or Roark or the CIA. Right now we have 3 potential big bads out there, Decker, the guest star teased for the last eps, and some grand master who has been pulling the strings from the start (possibly the ‘our superiors’ Decker teased). Heck, it might turn out Decker is a good guy following orders, exactly like John Casey from season 1’s pilot. I’d rather see 13 procedurals myself, but that isn’t going to be, so I am hoping the season wraps up in a way that works for most, and mostly works for me. Based on what I have seen so far, there is hope.
I agree with all of that Jason. The Chuck/Alex scene was very sweet, and Sarah was as/more appealing than ever; SEVERAL great scenes for her.
I think this is going to be a very strong Sarah season … and a good CS one as well.
Agree jason. Not a fan of the Morgansect arc, but the bigger implications could be awesome. Sarah was great in this episode, in every aspect. Also agree with Faith’s earlier comments on Chuck and Sarah’s ” appropriate affection” I don’t want to see them rolling around in bed every episode , just make proper intimate responses to situations that require it. Klemmer nailed them in this episode for me ,from Yvonne’s great expressions in the early C/S chat all the way through Sarah’s relief that Chuck was safe from the explosion. That’s what I’m talking about, little connective things, that Chuck once did better than anybody. On that level, it was an immensely enjoyable episode for me. Nice performances and as commented on earlier, nicely balanced.
I like how not only do Chuck and Sarah have those silent conversations, but I noticed a couple of times during the episode Chuck and Casey having silent conversations as well, especially during the rescue at the end (just before he runs in to save Morgan, he looks at Casey.) and earlier as well after they find the zip drive was taken and they decide to infiltrate VerbanskiCorp. Klemmer certainly out did himself in this one.
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