Chuck vs. the Fear of Death
Season 4, Episode 8, air-date November 15, 2010
Summary: In order to repair his status as an agent and his relationship with Sarah, Chuck agrees to go on a dangerous mission with an eccentric partner. Morgan and Casey must stop Jeff and Lester from knowing the true identity of Greta at the store.
So you know how sometimes Frea is the optimist and mxpw is the pessimist and they're at each other's throats because they don't agree on a single thing?
Er, you're not going to find that with this episode review.
mxpw: So...the episode...I have mixed feelings.
Frea: Yeah?
mxpw: I really don't like what they're doing to Chuck's character and I'm not really sure what they're doing with Sarah's, but it was still a fairly entertaining episode.
Frea: I can see it.
Frea: Optimist or pessimist?
mxpw: I hate this idea that they keep perpetuating that Chuck is worthless without the Intersect. It drives me crazy. And that Sarah seems to buy into it, at least a little, annoys me even more.
mxpw: Definitely pessimist.
Frea: *laughing* Okay, I'll be the optimist.
Frea: Because I kind of felt that Sarah's very valid points were being undermined by the writers.
mxpw: Eh...I have to agree, for the most part, but at the same time, ultimately, Rye is right: If Chuck is going to be a spy and do the job, he can't turn to Sarah every time he needs help. I just hate that they keep couching that in terms of using the Intersect. Seasons one and two proved that Chuck didn't need the Intersect to be a spy. I don't know why they've forgotten that.
Frea: Well, that was the weird thing. They didn't. They showed Chuck doing really well with the loupe and the gemology course.
mxpw: It's purely a S3 creation that Chuck is useless if he doesn't have the Intersect.
Frea: But they were pulling a bit of their Shaw mythology out of their asses again.
Frea: AKA – the belief that sending an agent in with no intel is a good way to go.
mxpw: Eh...I'd maybe agree if I thought for one second that this storyline is leading to a point where Chuck realizes that and solves problems without the Intersect. But I don't. I think he may learn to flash again, but we're past the point where Chuck's non-Intersect spy prowess is considered a good thing.
mxpw: I was rather shocked that Sarah told Chuck she didn't think he was a spy, but then again, this is the woman that agreed with Shaw in Beard that Chuck had no use if he couldn't flash. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Frea: They really need to learn the difference between "spy" and "protect yourself."
mxpw: For reals.
Frea: That's their main issue, really. Because Chuck has proven time and again that he can do the spy work even if his methods are a bit unorthodox, and Sarah has time and again had faith in him in that. It's where he might get shot and killed that she really has issues, but the writers bungled that.
Frea: He's not an assassin, and without the Intersect, he's not a fighter, is what she needs to say.
mxpw: Yes, agreed 100%. Instead, they keep tying spying ability to whether or not he's a spy. I mean, it's total nonsense. Look at Morgan. The man has no fighting ability whatsoever and yet they let him go on missions. Hell, Casey even gave him a gun in FF! Granted it was a tranq gun, but still. Sarah gets so blinded by her need to protect Chuck that she coddles him.
Frea: Which is weird because she didn't really coddle him too much when he was her asset and she was his handler. I mean, look at all of the times he got into trouble because she didn't properly explain a situation or even have a learning curve that goes "Hm, maybe Chuck will listen to my orders even though he never has before." Though the coddling was over the top in this episode in a way that made sense to me -- something's wrong with her headstrong boyfriend, who's going to throw himself headlong into any situation that can help him heal it, and she has to sit back and let this guy beat the crap out of him.
Frea: Fates Sarah would have flattened Rye after the first smack, no joke.
mxpw: But the problem was, like you said, in the writing. She wasn't coddling him in the right way. Instead of telling him that he could still be a great spy even without the use of the Intersect, she was telling him that he couldn't be a spy period. She should have been constantly encouraging him to use his brain. That was the mistake she made here.
Frea: Definitely agreed. I'm inclined to let her off easy about it, though, since that outburst kind of stems from her philosophy: spy-work to her and Casey seems to be either surveillance or shooting, if the very grim reality we were allowed to see in the glimpses of writing for Sarah from Season Three have anything to say about it. In fact, more times than not, it seems to come down to assassination and thievery in her world and no, Chuck is not really that great at either of those. If anything, I'm hoping they don't sweep her opinion under the rug and instead, both Sarah and Chuck finally realize that, hey, there's more to spying than this inexplicable law-breaking and murdering the government delights in having us do! If they both come to this realization, awesome. If not, well, imagine me having problems with the Chuck writers. There's a real first!
mxpw: Haha, total shocker there.
mxpw: This just really felt like a retread from Season 3. Maybe that's why I wasn't crazy about the episode. And it was another example of the inconsistency with which the other characters view Chuck's spy abilities. It's like in S1-2, Sarah would tell Chuck he needs to realize that he's a hero, and this was before Intersect 2.0. But ever since S3, how Sarah (and others) view Chuck really seems to fluctuate depending on the plot of the episode. I don't think Sarah intended to hurt Chuck, but that's what her emotional outburst did. I did appreciate her barely holding it together at the end and the guilt trip she was feeling.
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mxpw: The spy plot just wasn't very strong and didn't make a lot of sense.
mxpw: And yet, oddly enough, I still kinda liked Rob Riggle's Rye.
Frea: I was very sad that the Belgian's name wasn't Jean-Claude Gestreaux.
Frea: I thought Rye was pretty fun, not anything particularly memorable to me or worthy of writing home about. One thing, one major thing: GON-dola. Not Gon-DOH-la. The Belgian said it right. Why can't you?
mxpw: I noticed that too and thought it was a little odd.
Frea: It drove me NUTS.
mxpw: I'm just hoping that after Sarah embraces her inner badass next episode (I seriously cannot wait for 4.09), that they put to bed finally all these relationship issues between Chuck and Sarah regarding their efficacy as a couple in the spy world. Seriously. It's time put a stake in it like Buffy, Chuck writers.
Frea: We put a stake in Buffy? I thought that was the UPN.
mxpw: In it like Buffy, Frea, in it, not into.
Frea: Whoops, my bad.
Frea: So I have to bring up something very important.
mxpw: No Castle slide?
Frea: And I'm amazed we didn't start with this.
Frea: Oh, no, much more important than the Castle Slide. Yes, you may gasp in shock now.
mxpw: *gasps in shock*
Frea: Summer Glau. Summer Freaking Glau.
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mxpw: Oh man... I was trying to contain myself for your benefit, but I have to be honest with you Frea, I think I was drooling for like 75% of this episode.
Frea: Between Yvonne Strahovski, Summer Glau, and Mekenna Melvin? I totally don't blame you. I mean, the only thing that would have made this episode better for you would have been Sarah Lancaster in a bikini, I know.
mxpw: Yeah, pretty much. Or Mini Anden popping in. First, some of the best SWP ever and then, holy crap, Summer looked spectacular in the Nerd Herd uniform. The SGLP was just...awe inspiring.
Frea: Let's face it, Summer Glau would eat a very sophisticated sandwich.
mxpw: But, hey, they did put Zac in boxers. I actually think that's the least amount of clothing he's ever worn on the show.
Frea: Yes. And that shot gave me a very good view of his shoulders.
mxpw: Oh I suppose it would be tied with Fat Lady.
mxpw: Ha! I actually thought to myself while watching that: "Frea must have really enjoyed this scene, Zac's shoulders are on fine display."
Frea: What? Everybody was thinking it, I figured I'd play to the crowd. Yes, I did rewind that scene, twice.
mxpw: This may shock you, but I rewound one scene too and it probably wasn't one you think.
Frea: Casey and Alex in the diner?
mxpw: Haha, no. I mean, that was a very good scene and I found Alex's utterly casual and blase attitude while talking to Casey about his itchy trigger finger and going on missions very amusing, that was not it.
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Frea: Easy access.
Frea: Also, I am now terrified of Summer Glau in a way that is giving me River Tam flashbacks, the way she brandished that knife.
mxpw: Oh man, is it wrong that I found that totally hot? Because I did.
mxpw: In fact, I found most of the stuff she did in this episode really hot, including just standing around.
Frea: You and the sighted community, Maximus. I was glad to see her back, and to see previews for The Cape, which I am so freaking excited about.
mxpw: I am a Summer Glau fanboy, so I will watch anything she's in, so I'm looking forward to it too.
mxpw: And I do think we should talk about SG and the Buy More at least a little. What did you think?
Frea: As amusing as Jeff and Lester could be (which one DOES GretaGlau think is the psychotic one?), remember how Morgan fired Lester? And it was awesome because Lester obeyed him for awhile, and then Casey treated Lester like an insurgent and Lester obeyed Morgan for awhile again? Remember how awesome it was when Lester obeyed Morgan? You feel like I'm going somewhere with this? Maybe?
mxpw: Haha, vaguely.
mxpw: I think I have an idea.
Frea: Yeah. It would be nice to remember that hey, Morgan is the manager. Dude says drop something, DROP IT. Of course, I just naturally dislike any story where Casey has to stand up for Jeffster. It breaks something inside my soul a little bit. This is all Summer Glau aside because she was hilarious (and yes, hot) while threatening Jeffster.
Frea: I guess I can't have it both ways, can I?
mxpw: Oh yes, I know what you mean. I thought this was the best use of a guest character in a Buy More plot in some time. I thought Summer was really great (and yes, super hot), and Jeffster were funny at times, but I just found myself kinda rolling my eyes through most of their plot. Even though I'm glad that they finally did a plot where somebody questions the fact that there are all these strangely competent people around the BM now. Ultimately, though, I would have just been happy if they had just filmed Summer walking around for the B plot.
Frea: She could even do the Cameron Baum headtilt once in awhile. I would be down with that.
mxpw: That would have been awesome. Or if she had gone, "Thank you for explaining."
Frea: So the spy plot. We should probably talk about it.
mxpw: It was kinda dumb. I mean, I kinda get what Rye was going for, trying to scare the Intersect into action, but it just seemed he went about it in a stupid way. I didn't understand why, for example, Beckman couldn't have sent Chuck and Rye off to Switzerland without Sarah and Casey, and then ordered Sarah and Casey to follow without telling Chuck. That way, they would have had backup on site if they needed it, and Chuck never even had to know.
Frea: Yeah, I kind of shouted the same thing at the TV. I mean, have they never watched Fringe? The brain is a miraculous place. You can trick somebody into believing almost anything, and I would happen to think you could probably set up a fake facility to drop Chuck off of a cliff or chase him with zombies or something, given how much money the government regularly drops on this team on the show.
mxpw: Yeah, really, it seemed really unnecessarily dangerous to put him in a situation where he could be genuinely killed. And I'm not sure what was going on in the actual spy spy plot. Did Beckman send Sarah away so she could test (looked more like torture to me) Chuck without her interference? How did the Belgian find out Chuck was the Intersect? Is that why Mama B suppressed it, because she knew somebody was looking for him? What was going on?
Frea: Ditto. I'm hoping that we get some of those answers in between Sarah kicking all sorts of tail next episode. Also, I liked the Belgian better when he was Adelai Niska. He was just much scarier.
mxpw: Hahaha.
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Frea: I enjoyed the episode, despite all of my whining about the writing of the -- if you're playing the season three drinking game, hurry and grab your glass -- "real spy" drama. I liked Sarah for 95% of the episode, I thought Chuck was being needlessly reckless and that Sarah had every right to be the annoyed, overprotective girlfriend. Heck, she was kind of reminding me of Fates Sarah for most of the episode (and yes, I know Maximus over here is wishing Fates Sarah would wear more outfits like any of the ones she sported in this episode). There wasn't too much Morgan. The scene with Alex and Casey was well done; Alex remains the most level-headed of the entire extended crew, which tells me that her mother must be a rock star of some type in parenting because you know that girl got half of John Casey's stubborn genes. Er, no Castle Slide, so I'll have to deduct points for that, and even worse, no Summer Glau on the Castle Slide, giggling like River Tam. But a good episode, excellent performances by everybody, a funny mentor that really served no purpose other than to remind me Shaw's methods of teaching and make me roll my eyes...yeah. Not bad, I say. What'd you think, Max?
mxpw: While I was annoyed with the spy antics in this episode and thought both Chuck and Sarah brought up good points, I was still taken aback by Sarah saying what she did, in the way that she did it. In a way, this is actually more of a fight than the fight in First Fight. Other than that moment, I liked Sarah throughout most of the episode and thought that this was one of Yvonne's best performances in a while. Her acting like a caged animal during most of the Castle scenes, especially at the end, were just superb. And I seriously loved her yelling at the General. My how far she's come. Also, those pants she was wearing? I have NO earthly idea why she was wearing them as they didn't seem very practical (seriously, they had to be painted on), but I am so happy she wore them. And of course, the massage scene. Now that's the SWP I've been missing.
mxpw: As for the rest of the episode, absolutely loved Summer Glau, thought the BM plot was funny at times, but mostly pointless. Really enjoyed the Casey and Alex scene. Thought Rye was funny but also dumb. Like the Belgian waffle joke, liked the chocolate joke, and am really confused about what the heck is going on. But oh man, 4.09 is going to be so epic! I can't wait. As one commenter rightly pointed out, it looks like Sarah is about to become an awesome combination of my three favorite fandom Sarahs: DA, AP, and Fates.
Frea: Let's hope she got her sanity from Fates, otherwise all the brunettes on the planet are doomed.
mxpw: Well, clearly she's not AP. Summer is way too hot a brunette to let within a 100 feet of Chuck.
Frea: Excellent point. Greta/Sarah knife fight? Who's writing the fic, people?
mxpw: Heeee, that would be such an awesome fic. If I didn't have enough on my plate already, I might do it.
Ratings:
Frea: 7 Castle Slides out of 10.
mxpw: 2.5 Half-Naked Sarahs Giving a Massage out of 5.
As a courtesy to other readers, we ask you not to post spoilers (apart from those in the preview for next week's episode), as others on the blog might not like to be spoiled! Thanks, guys! - Frea and mxpw
This show is a bit overly fond of shifting definitions of "spy" and of setting up false dichotomies. I think that the dichotomy Rye outlined just before getting killed is a false one, and the show knows it.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't precisely a repeat of last year's "feelings for Sarah make the Intersect malfunction", because that was all about how denying the feelings and bottling them up was driving Chuck bonkers. The dichotomy between family/emotion and spying was exploded over the course of last season as Awesome, Morgan, and then Ellie were brought in on the truth and Chuck and Sarah became better together than apart.
This time the false dichotomy is "as long as Chuck needs Sarah for security he can't access the Intersect or be a spy". Which is...half true and half BS. I find it believable that somewhere in the back of Chuck's mind there's a part of him that always thinks Sarah will save him, and another part that still has low self-esteem and doesn't believe he's up to this job at all without the Intersect's aid. And those two ideas can feed into each other and make the Intersect inaccessible to him, sure.
But as any viewer of the first two seasons knows in abundant detail, he doesn't need the Intersect to be a spy. He does, however, need Sarah in an emotional sense in order to be a spy, because again, S3 was all about Chuck needing his loved ones in order to function in espionage.
So basically, the show needs to decouple the Intersect from being a "real spy" by having Chuck get along without it, so it can do the "exploding the dichotomy" thing again and give us our happy ending. I'm choosing to believe that in their mixed-up way, they will do that, because Casey explicitly set up the idea last year in "Other Guy" and this whole season has been less 2.0-dependent in general. Ironically, it's by letting go of his need for the Intersect that Chuck should be able to access it again. And to be fair, part of that is letting go of any dependency on Sarah's protection. (Which isn't the same thing as letting go of her love - that's the mistake Rye made.)
Also, apropos of nothing, I have made up a new piece of fanon. Since Casey's timeline is already FUBAR, I've decided that as far as I'm concerned, Alex was born around 1985 rather than 1989 and just waited a while before going to college, which puts her closer to Morgan's age and removes any lingering creepiness from that relationship. So there.
Frea, if I knew how to make a .gif of Chuck's shoulders (and the rest of him) on his bed, I totally would. Somebody should get on that. :P
When they showed Chuck in his boxers and then went away I said linger, linger to the tv. I mean really let's have equal opportunity fanservice here people.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that something was done with the Greta storyline . It makes no sense that no real employee (especially the stalker ones) or even a regular customer wouldn't notice different women (and one man) all named Greta (it's not exactly common) .
Loved the Firefly shoutout in SG/AB confrontation , not to mention the growling.
In spite of his frustration with Chuck's lack of flashing , Rye seemed impressed that Chuck had not only brought a loupe but taken a gemology course on the way there. I think he had a little bit of a crush on Chuck . Maybe that's why he was so determined to get him to set Sarah aside. If he'd lived (really don't turn your back on the bad guys unless you taken all thier weapons) then maybe AP Sarah could've gone off on him for putting her man in danger and trying to clear the field for himself.
Did anybody else think Rye was like the Richard Simmons of the spy world?
I think Rye was suppressing his emotions too much. That's why he didn't think to check for weapons.He treated the situation like a training session.
ReplyDeleteWe had 2x01,3x05 and 3x09 in just one episode. The government is determined to have Chuck functioning just like 3x05.Chuck has emotional issues and can't sort through them like 3x09.And Sarah walking in to Jeffster's comments, 2x01.
Sarah is over-protective even though she trusts Chuck's judgment.A tigress :P
Just watched the promo for the next episode. WOW. Sarah Walker.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the lack of equal opportunity fanservice. I mean there were multiple slow-mos of Sarah and Greta this episode. Why not the same for Chuck? The show is called "Chuck" isn't it? Anyway, needless to say I pressed rewind as well :-)
ReplyDelete-Nysa
I kinda felt this episode was kinda filler for the original order. I felt that the bm plot was stronger than the spy plot though not by much. Understandably an episode like this was bound to pop up after the last couple of episodes being pretty well written and executed. You also have to remember that this is tge same new writer who wrote cubic z. This episode is out their to possibly just set up the few remaining chucks before its december hiatus cuz the next 2 chuck$ look and sound pretty cool, withi think judkins and lefrancs epidode being the next one cuz I read judkins wanted to dh o a cert as in sarah scene that looks like its in the next episode, and the last chuck of 2010 marking the return of chucks most interesting new p er ople.
ReplyDelete"Fates Sarah would have flattened Rye after the first smack, no joke."
ReplyDeleteI think Fates Sarah would've been too distracted by shirtless Chuck to notice there was anyone else in the room.
-Derek
Maybe Sarah's pants were compression pants? For enhancement of athletic abilities?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-compression-pants.htm
I'm not sure originally how the Belgian knew that Chuck was the Intersect but he was the one selling the fake diamonds with the intelligence on them. It's safe to assume that he knew what was on the microchips. He's probably in cahoots with Volkoff somehow and that's how he found out. Chuck didn't exactly hide his flash last week so then in order to protect him, MamaB suppressed the Intersect.
ReplyDeleteSarah should have said that Chuck wasn't a spy in the way he thought he was a spy or that he wanted to be a spy. Chuck did come up with the plan in couch lock without the Intersect and he did make those gloves thingies in suitcase. (not the best examples but examples nonetheless) It really is his fighting abilities and such that come from the Intersect. Without the Intersect, Chuck needs Sarah for the fighting aspects of a mission but clearly he can do the intelligence part alone. He does have a brain in his head that got him all the way to Stanford so start using it people.
It would be nice to see Chuck in more of a mastermind roll. Using his Stanford sized brain to out think his opponents instead of just going all chopsokey intersect style. If anyone watched Rubicon they would understand that the murky gray world of Intelligence is not all fighting styles and thundering guns...it is mostly supposition and planning and the real bad guys are rarely the ones holding the guns on the hero.but this is a supra reality where the CIA is a little forgiving...until they send you on a mission with absolutely no back up, where the idea is to either get you functional or to get you killed so that you don't present a security risk anymore. That fact more than anything else would turn our badass question no orders Agent Walker into the mix of AP/Fates Sarah that we saw at the end of the episode and in the previews for next week. Can't wait...so till they find out that Bryce really faked his death a second time and is hiding in NY and helping an FBI agent named Peter, make mine Chuck!!!!
ReplyDelete-JS Fan
P.S. Frea loved your AP story, more please!!!
P.P.S. MXPW thank you very much for the update to 9 Months thought it was great, again more please!!! Also perhaps an update on DA, I mean you left poor Bryce hanging in the wind.
@biskwit - Thank you for the link! Hmm...if they're compression pants, that makes them even more of a bizarre fashion choice because the link says they're used mostly for healing purposes. And last I checked, Sarah wasn't hurt. It's not like they are your normal, every day clothing. That's just really...odd.
ReplyDeleteNot that I didn't appreciate the visual, but they are always so bizarre with Sarah's outfits on this show.
@Anonymous and Ayefah - I'm just really tired of the notion that Chuck needs to kick butt to be a spy. In the real world that is not remotely true (actually, in the real world, genuine "spies" are about as normal as you can possibly get) and I wish they'd realize that in the Chuckverse as well. I want them to go back to the dynamic where Chuck is the brains and Sarah is the muscle (well, Sarah and Casey). Coming up with Intersect 2.0 was one of the stupidest things this show ever did. It messed up the whole dynamic and began, as Ayefah pointed out, introducing all these ridiculous false dichotomies that they keep perpetuating.
I did like how concerned and worried Sarah became about Chuck in this episode. That was nice. One thing that I am still puzzled about: Chuck's mom "turned off" (or whatever) the Intersect in Chuck's head with that little box that she found in Father Bartowski's hidden base. And when she used it on Chuck, she said Father Bartowski didn't want Chuck to see this. WHY???? Father Bartowski WANTED the Intersect out of Chuck's head and went to great lengths to remove it. If he had that box in the hidden base that would have removed it, why didn't he use that??? Did that little box do something else to Chuck besides remove the Intersect???? Or is this another case of the writers forgetting what was done in previous episodes?
ReplyDeleteIntersect 2.0 was a nice new way to develop Chuck's character and it opened the way for Chuck to think of himself as the hero.
ReplyDeleteI'm biased obviously :) One of the reasons i didn't hate much of the first 11-12 episodes of season 3, was the cool things Chuck got to do.
Chuck isn't a capable field agent without the intersect 2.0.
He is smart,resourceful and capable of defending himself. But to take on numerous bad guys would need a long time period of training and sparring.
@Anonymous:
I think the writers are letting us doubt everything :)
Basically, I think we can all agree that the Intersect is better used as a tool than as a crutch. And to be fair, I do think that Chuck has been written as leaning on it less this season. Fighting is his last resort rather than first, he handles guns without qualms (and we know he doesn't need the Intersect to shoot), and he does have very basic close combat ability - the problem is that "basic" doesn't count for much against ninjas. It was enough to dodge Ana Gesteyer's knife in "First Fight", though.
ReplyDeleteHe knows how to operate a parachute and harnesses under duress, his tactical plan in "Couch Lock" got the approval of Beckman, Casey, and Sarah even if it didn't work, he didn't go insane and had the presence of mind to use Jeff's slide show in "Aisle of Terror"...basically, he's an agent minus the hand-to-hand. Which is more than respectable, dammit, and next week had better show that.
Also, I would like to note for the record that Chuck and Morgan have not one, but two sets of bongo drums in their apartment. "Why" is a bit beyond me, but there it is.
Of no conscience:
ReplyDeleteZac looked like he was working out a bit since the first episode of this season. I look forward to seeing more of him without his clothes. They should put him in a suit more often as well. Having Yvonne next to him, makes him really sexy as well.
I demand more fan-service. Someone show me to WB headquarters.
@JS Fan - Thank you for the kind words about Nine Months! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. As for DA, well, it will get updated eventually. I just can't tell you when.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous - I think we will see the PSP of Doom come back into play in the next episode. I'm betting the car with the mysterious device/computer underneath it will come back as well. FOD was clearly a setup episode for everything that unfolds in 4.09. And I'm totally okay with that because it means we get Sarah kicking ass.
The whole scene in a fighting pit looks so utterly ridiculous I can't wait for it. Hurray for Sarah being showcased as the big action star!
ReplyDeleteThe whole climbing-out-of-the-water scene couldn't have been fun to film fifteen times, though.
"Zac looked like he was working out a bit since the first episode of this season. I look forward to seeing more of him without his clothes. They should put him in a suit more often as well. Having Yvonne next to him, makes him really sexy as well.
ReplyDeleteI demand more fan-service."
You and me both...drool... I did not use to find Zach hot. I used to find him unattractive, but these past 2 seasons have me drooling. Why don't we get more fanservice for the ladies? Devon is nice, so lets keep him shirtless, but why stop at Devon? Chuck can pull it off too (see what I did there) and so can the male Gretas. Ok, so that was my moment of shallowness. What were you all talking about?
Oh yeah, Chuck using plot lines that do not make sense in order to force some angst and conflicts into the story. What else is new? At least this time we'll get a kick ass Sarah centric episode out of it. I'd accept pretty much any flimsy excuses for that episode to happen.
Lily
P.S.: eh...Mxpw, I've been wondering, what happens, in 9 months, when Sarah and Chuck's daughter turns out to be...a...brunette? Sarah wouldn't kill Chuck's child, right? Right?
Sure, this storyline doesn't make total sense, but it doesn't make sense in a Chuck way, as opposed to a WTF IS HAPPENING S3 sort of way.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Sarah is going to be Rambo. So there.
@MXPW a suggestion for 9 Months...AP had already decided on naming a son Chuck Jr. so how's about a call out to a rather awesome spy flick called 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' and name their daughter Charlie aka Charlene, as in the precursor to AP in the form of Charlene Baltimore.....just a thought. :D
ReplyDelete-JS Fan
Personally, while I have liked seeing Chuck do a bit more things himself this season, I do like to see him kick butt so I really hope they get the intersect working again next episode.
ReplyDeleteAlso, while I was a bit confused as to why Sarah suddenly seemed to forget the first two season -- in all fairness Chuck was an asset, not an agent or "spy" before the 2.0.
In addition, I've read some places where people are confused as to why heightening chuck's emotions now activate the interesect, rather than shut it down. I thought it was because it didnt' really have anything to do with the intersect itself, but whatever Mary showed Chuck. If it was a suppression device(which I'm still not convinced of since Steven didn't want the thing in Chuck's hair) my impression was that they thought increasing Chuck's adreanaline would deactive it rather than activate the intersect. Then I thought, maybe Mama Bartowski didn't want Chuck to be a spy w/ Sarah, and that's why its tied to her. But that doesn't seem to be where they're going so...
On a shallow note:
Chuck in boxers! Also, I'm surprised there was not comment about Sarah's reaction to having her massage interrupted before the happy ending. Getting Chuck kidnapped and interrupting naked massage oil time? Rye's lucky he fell 200 feet to his death.
Ayefah has it right, y'all. It doesn't matter how nonsensical or illogical or dumb the whole spy plot is, because Sarah is going to be Rambo. That excuses EVERYTHING. Well, that and her coming out of the water with a knife in her teeth. Most badass moment ever.
ReplyDelete@Lily - Didn't use to find Zac hot? Tsk, tsk. That is one good looking nerd. He does fill out a suit well too. Though, yes, Yvonne standing next to anybody would automatically up their attractiveness quotient at least a little as well. :P
Also, don't worry, little baby Bartowski will be safe, even if she has brown hair. AP has always made an exception for family. For instance, she's never threatened Ellie before. Besides, as much as she may have wanted a boy, AP will love her unfortunately dark haired child all the same.
@JS Fan - I kinda like that idea. It's something I will have to discuss with Wepdiggy as I gotta make sure whatever name I pick gets his approval as well. We had always used the placeholder name of Miranda when talking about AP and Chuck's first child (yes, there will be more). Both Charlie and Miranda appeal to me. We shall see.
Heh. I look forward to the moment when AP is temporarily disappointed that the baby hasn't defied probability and somehow pulled a recessive blond gene out of the Bartowski side of the family.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the knife in preview-Sarah's teeth was an extra awesome touch. Oh gosh, now I'm getting all excited again. Are there more previews up now?
...
How about now?
I am really surprised that people are surprised about Sarah saying that Chuck is not a spy at the moment because he is not. He may be brave trying to fight 3 Ninjas, Intelligent doing the gemology class and bringing a loop. He is also sacred as he lets a man withn a gun in a crowded room stop him from his mission of buying the diamond, stupid as he goes into a vault holding without knowing what security is inside. Part of being a spy would need to be able to protect your partner, intelligence or asset and yourself and even with the intersect
ReplyDeletehe has lost as many as he won, he could not beat Shaw in Fake name, or Other guy, Panzer in Cubic Z or woman and man in plane in first fight, he would not have a chance without the intersect unless he was trained and we have not seen that since 3.02 Three words. So Sarah is right to be worried for him.
Also in terms of his and Sarahs relationship he is also an idiot in First fight he goes off and talks to everyone else except her, Sarah just wants to talk to Chuck so they cant sort it out. Now we have selfish Chuck thinking about himself and that he wants to be a spy and get the intersect back. In the process ignoring Sarahs feelings and worries. Ignoring that he wanted to run away and quit the spy life so they could be together or that Sarah would not love him if he is not a spy. When Sarah leaves on her mission in Anniversary she makes a point of saying 'Nothing will stop me from coming back to you' and 'I Love you' Chuck gives here a kiss but says nothing when she says 'Dont be a hero...just come back to me' I speaks to her on the phone but never says that he wishes she was there or says ILY although she does in her message to him when he is possibly ignoring her calls.
Oh and Summer Glau was brilliant and gorgeous as Greta
I highly disagree with most of that.
ReplyDeleteIf Chuck is an idiot on missions, he's no moreso than Sarah and Casey, so I'm loathe to blame him for stuff like walking into the vault unprepared. He "couldn't" beat Shaw in "Fake Name" because he wasn't trying to - it was a fake fight that Shaw was being creepy about and refusing to throw. Chuck genuinely couldn't beat Shaw in "Other Guy" because he was having Intersect constipation problems.
But the phenomenon of him having a hard time against guys who are especially large and strong even with full Intersect utility is a new one - one that I think is meant to take the 2.0's perceived power levels down a notch, which is a good thing. If the Intersect can't solve everything, it's less like a superpower and more like a tool, and Chuck is less an ordinary scmhoe possessed than a man who happens to have a really cool toolbox but needs skill and poise to wield it. Closer to Batman or the Doctor than Superman, if you will.
He still loses a ton of tradecraft when dealing with family/emotional issues, but not as much as he used to, and not drastically moreso than Sarah and Casey. Sarah's automatic response to Chuck being in danger is still to run off on her own without asking for Casey's backup. Casey's response to his old COs going bad is also to run off and try to deal with it alone. It's not much different than Chuck deciding to clear his mom's name on his own. Those two just have fewer button to press than Chuck does.
And of course Chuck wasn't overflowing with endearments when he was on the phone with Sarah in Switzerland. He was pissed at her, not entirely unjustly. What's nice about that videophone argument is that Sarah and Chuck were both coming from really understandable emotional viewpoints that made sense for them as characters.
No, Sarah and Chuck were not going to run away together and never spy again. They thought about it and rejected the idea in "Honeymooners". And part of having a spy for a romantic partner is dealing with the fact that they're going to be putting themselves in deadly danger. Chuck is just...better-adjusted to that idea because he's used to thinking of Sarah as the superhero who can overcome anything. And part of Sarah still thinks of Chuck as a protectee - she's encouraged Chuck to think of himself as a hero, but when it comes down to him being in real peril she tries to shut him down again out of panic, and that's not cool.
If Sarah's "wishes" are that Chuck give up the life he's found fulfillment in, the life that brought him together with Sarah in the first place, Chuck isn't entirely unjustified in sidestepping those "wishes". She can't protect him from everything ever, even if he never goes on a mission again. And they both need to learn that. It's the corollary of the "spy will": The other side of "I might die on a mission" is "and you won't be able to prevent it".
Sarah gives Chuck her spy will because she's willing to be the one of them who dies first. She needs to accept that the reverse might be the case. This isn't a "who's more virtuous" contest - they're both right and they're both wrong, and that's why it's a juicy argument.
One of the hardest things about people is that they don't develop or mature in a straight line of progression. Instead, they have ups and downs, they repeat and return to past failures and revert to old ways of acting/thinking when they are in moments of intense pressure. If this is true in real life, this can and should be true in TV shows about life. That doesn't make it any less annoying. How many times have you made the same mistake? How many times have you had the same argument with the same person over the same thing? How many times has someone you loved promised to change, only to stay the same? How many times have you promised to change for someone you love and tried to change, only to fail? It's annoying in life, and it's annoying on TV, but that doesn't make "repeating" and "being stuck" in relationships and in character development unrealistic. In fact, it makes it more so. It's hard, I think, as a writer, to balance "being stuck" with honest character and relationship breakthroughs. Sometimes the writers on Chuck get that balance right, and sometimes they get it wrong. I thought they got it right in this episode. - jwr
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