Chuck vs. the C.A.T. Squad
Season 4, Episode 15, original air-date February 14, 2011
Hey, look, it's Mini Anden, the awesome guest star of Chuck Vs. the Wookie! Surely that means this episode has to rock, right?
Why is everybody laughing? Guys?
To see what mxpw and I thought, hit the break. You should be proud -- not a single one of us used the word "pussy"--oh, crap, broke that record. Either way, you should still click the link. We promise only about 60% of it is mxpw drooling over Mini Anden.
Frea: So, nobody told me Sarah was the fourth member of the Powerpuff Girls. I wish I'd known that 341,000 words ago!
mxpw: Or an oversized Charlie's Angels.
mxpw: I did appreciate that last shot of the three "good" ones in Castle in the CA pose.
Frea: Nope, ditzy blond, troublesome redhead, bitchy brunette. Definitely Powerpuff Girls.
mxpw: As somebody who never watched the Powerpuff Girls, I can't comment.
mxpw: But I will take your word for their characterization.
Frea: Ah. Well, as somebody who's only seen the Charlie's Angels movies, Drew Barrymore is
just getting better with age.
mxpw: Never got into the movies, but I did like the show. Come on, who didn't like Farrah Fawcett?
mxpw: They were pushing the CA parallels pretty hard in this episode, especially with that cheesily awesome opening sequence.
Frea: Yeah, we got to hear Josh Grimes's retro announcer voice again, just like for 3.15, Role Models. So...which retro show are they going to have Morgan imagine in 5.15? Get Smart, plllllleeeeease be Get Smart.
mxpw: Six Million Dollar Man.
mxpw: Or no, since this is really the show Sarah now, probably The Bionic Woman.
Frea: Bionic Woman. Sarah, sprinting full force, with a robot leg.
mxpw: Whoa
mxpw: Freaky.
mxpw: For the record, folks, we both typed that at the same exact time.
mxpw: Yeah, we are oddly in sync sometimes. I fear what that means for me.
Frea: I can see Double Agent growing by at least 200,000 words.
mxpw: I would kill myself first.
mxpw: That's just a horrible thought.
Frea: While you're sitting there in utter terror at the possibilities of dragging out the WT/WT for a couple hundred thousand words, I'll go first: I liked the episode. That makes me the optimist. I'm also wearing these fabulously rosy-tinted glasses. Aren't they wonderful?
Frea: Also, show of hands: who called the ditz?
mxpw: And I was pretty meh on the episode, that makes me the pessimist. Also, oddly coincidental, there's been dark clouds over my house all day.
mxpw: *raises hand*
mxpw: It was so obvious, they could not have telegraphed it more if they tried.
Frea: An awesome move would have been to have the guy not have an in.
mxpw: Though I did like for once one of the female spies on this show expressed disdain and anger at being exploited for her looks. That was nice.
Frea: Wait, they exploit the women on this show? Shut the front door!
mxpw: Haha. I didn't necessarily mean the show (though they do) but how very exploitative of women the spy world is in Chuck.
mxpw: So I appreciated Amy listing that as one of the reasons why she had turned rogue.
Frea: She looks like a (very tiny) friend of mine, whom everybody was always picking up and carrying around because she was so short in high school. Probably one of the reasons I called her being the cat among the pigeons.
Frea: Like what I did there?
mxpw: I did!
mxpw: But yeah, it was pretty obvious. I'm not sure if they meant for us to know right away or not, but the spy plot was really a non-entity in this episode. It existed just to patch things up between Sarah and Zondra.
mxpw: Which leads into one of the things this episode did that kind of annoyed, but I could have tolerated if the writing was better: the retcons flew fast and furious.
Frea: You knew they were going to.
mxpw: I know that, but it's like I told you earlier, I couldn't believe they would retcon something as huge as Sarah's Red Test.
mxpw: They pushed it back a whole two years.
Frea: Okay, maybe I missed that, but did they outright say it?
mxpw: Well, okay, so apparently they were on this mission in Milan in 2003, I guess? And Sarah says the reason why she couldn't have been the traitor is because she got called away for a surprise mission in Paris. Now I guess that could have been a separate mission from the Red Test, but it seems weird to pick Paris of all places for the mission she got called to if it's not for her Red Test.
mxpw: I mean, they could have picked any city in the world, why Paris?
Frea: Cos they're weirdly obsessed with Paris?
Frea: Oh. I didn't even put that together. Well, if that means that was her Red Test... a) the concept of a Red Test just makes me laugh and b) Yay, you made Shaw look even more stupid for being willing to risk Chuck's life in First Class to retrieve seven-year-old intel! Awesome!
mxpw: I suppose. I'll concede that it's not definite that they retconned her Red Test, it just seems highly suspicious to me. I DO think, however, they probably did retcon away her time in the Secret Service.
mxpw: This episode just seemed to have a lot of holes in it.
mxpw: Though I do have to say I let out an incredulous laugh when Sarah said that Carina was the "mellow" one of the group. I was like, "Wha-huh?"
Frea: See, most people heard Carina was coming back and were like, "Yay!" and I was like, "Uh, crap."
mxpw: I liked Carina in this episode, though I freely admit I could be biased by the fact that this was probably the hottest episode she's done so far.
Frea: She was so freaking pitch perfect in Wookie, and pretty much the only good thing about Three Words.
mxpw: Mini Anden is a freaking goddess.
Frea: Yes, Mini Anden is. Please don't ever put her in a storyline where Morgan is seen to be a better person than her ever again, though.
mxpw: Oh agree with you there. I wasn't too fond of the Carina/Morgan/Alex storyline, but I did enjoy seeing Carina mess with Morgan. But I admit that's probably mostly because I just like looking at Mini.
mxpw: I thought she had some funny moments, though.
Frea: I did, too, but...I'd rather have her interact with Sarah.
mxpw: Again, agreed, but I kinda expected she wouldn't. We already know she is Sarah's friend. This episode was about getting Sarah more than just her.
Frea: And yes, I realize this is a bias on my part because I had an unholy amount of fun writing Sarah and Carina's dynamic in Wasted and my other stories.
Frea: Which, by the way, is not a claim that fanfiction is better than the show.
mxpw: I was pleasantly surprised at Carina's acceptance and almost non-reaction to learning that Sarah and Chuck were getting married. She seemed genuinely happy for Sarah. I really liked that.
Frea: Yeah. And I enjoyed Zondra's derision, actually.
mxpw: Really?
mxpw: See, I didn't. Mainly because Sarah did very little standing up or defending of Chuck throughout the episode. I was disappointed by that.
Frea: Well, I enjoyed Zondra's derision because I was on her side against Sarah.
mxpw: You'd think she'd have snapped back at Zondra if for no other reason than to stick it to her, but she was oddly placid when Zondra was taking potshots at Chuck and only got angry when Zondra took potshots at her.
mxpw: Yeah, Sarah's unwarranted suspicion of Zondra was one of the many things that annoyed me about her in this episode.
Frea: They were like the worst spies in the world.
mxpw: For serious. I really wanted to take Sarah's side in this episode, because Chuck WAS being annoyingly pushy, but I got fed up with her when Chuck came to her with the file on who he thought the traitor was and she just refused to even entertain his thoughts. Not only did she fail at her job, but this episode made me think that she really doesn't respect Chuck much as a spy/colleague.
Frea: Eh, she was being dragged around by the plot again, and Chuck is starting to fall into the Buffy Syndrome.
Frea: Every time Buffy came to her friends with a theory, they immediately dismissed it as crazy. And how many times was Buffy right in the end? Pretty much every single time.
mxpw: Buffy was kind of an idiot. Chuck is not. Plus, he was using the Intersect, not just his brain. He had actual data to back up his findings.
Frea: Buffy wasn't an idiot!
mxpw: Being an analyst is actually what Chuck is best at. This is the kind of thing Sarah and the others should be going to him for.
Frea: Sure, she was flighty occasionally, but idiot's a bit harsh.
mxpw: Sorry, you're right, I'm letting post S5 Buffy cloud my judgment.
Frea: That's weird, I thought Buffy only had three seasons?
mxpw: Hahaha
mxpw: No, it only had five.
Frea: That's so weird. Maybe I'll look up these two mythical seasons of yours. But anyway, you're right, Chuck's analyst skills are a major asset. I will say that I did really like Chuck in the Buy More. FINALLY! Intersect + Smarts=Awesome. THANK YOU, Show.
mxpw: Agreed, that sequence was pretty awesome. I liked that Chuck used his brains AND the Intersect. The DVD as throwing stars was pretty inspired.
Frea: A little late on the waffle iron plus DVDs equals throwing stars considering they've been obsessed with keeping this set around since S1, but hey, I'll forgive it.
mxpw: That's mighty kind of you.
Frea: I know, my sense of entitlement is absolutely amazing, right?
mxpw: So question: How do you feel about Chuck's refusal to fight girls? I thought this episode it was a bit much, myself.
Frea: I think they were going for humor?
mxpw: I was like, "Dude, she's trying to kill you, at least throw her to the ground or something."
Frea: See, I would've found it funnier if he had hit her and then was like, "Oh, sorry!" even as he's being tossed through a shelf.
mxpw: I know they were going for humor, it just feels like an avenue for them to mock his character a bit.
mxpw: See, I would have liked your version a lot better.
Frea: Well, what can I say? I'm awesome.
Frea: And now that I'm thinking about it, the spy plot really makes no sense whatsoever.
mxpw: Hahaha, no, but they rarely do.
Frea: Let me get this straight:
Frea: Evil Lou Diamond Phillips wants to recruit these women, right?
mxpw: Can you blame him? I think if I were Evil Lou Diamond Philips I'd take the chance to have Sarah Walker and Carina Miller join my ranks.
mxpw: Think of the company photo!
Frea: He's got Amy in his pocket already. Why hasn't he been, you know, courting them all this time? Gradually trying to win them over? Why blow up the car and drag them down to Rio?
Frea: I mean, you get more flies with honey than vinegar, and I'm pretty sure you get more cats with cream than with, you know, car bombs.
mxpw: Because he likes them in skimpy white dresses? I know that I appreciated the SWLP.
mxpw: And I have no idea. He didn't even get all four of them. It wasn't the best thought out plan.
mxpw: Maybe he believes in always having the home field advantage?
mxpw: Or maybe he just doesn't know what the best mountains for dumping dead bodies are around Los Angeles?
Frea: Well, that's probably smart. Everybody knows that the best place to dump bodies is the Dread Pyramid of Itzilichlitlichlitzl.
mxpw: *blinks*
mxpw: Wow, that's a hell of a reference.
Frea: Why, thank you.
Frea: But yeah, the plot made no sense, alas. I wondered how many times they were going to show us the sequiny crotch shot in the Carnivale party. I counted three, maybe four.
mxpw: But yeah, the spy plot was pretty threadbare. I didn't much care for the scenes in Rio either.
mxpw: I shook my head at the bad guys' crappy search of Sarah. I mean, really, there were not many places she could have hid a knife in that dress, it couldn't have been that hard to find.
Frea: Ooh! 'Nother Reference!
Frea: Veronica, Sarah, when somebody comes in and saves your life, the correct response is, "Thank you."
Frea: Well, I guess for Veronica, it's more, "Saves your pretty face," and for Sarah it's "Saves your still-tied-up-and-vulnerable friends."
mxpw: I really disliked her yelling at Chuck in front of everybody too. That's twice now she's done that in a professional setting and it's one of the reasons why I don't think she respects him much. I would never yell at a colleague like that in front of their peers, let alone my girlfriend/boyfriend.
mxpw: And after he pretty much did his job, albeit haphazardly, too.
mxpw: It's why Sarah actually annoyed me more than Chuck this episode. She just handled things so poorly, I thought.
Frea: It could've been saved with a better apology, I think
mxpw: I agree. That would have been nice.
Frea: Ellie's "Pretty sure she still loves you" line made me blink. I was like, "Um, don't couples fight without it being all, OMG, he/she doesn't love me anymore?"
mxpw: Sure, Chuck was being annoying and pushy, but I honestly was a bit confused with this plot. I said this earlier too, but wasn't the point of Seduction Impossible that Sarah was sad and embarrassed and uncomfortable over not being able to have family at the wedding. So Chuck tries to help her change that and she...gets pissed at him? I mean, talk about mixed signals.
mxpw: For the record, I'm not necessarily talking about Sarah here (though I think it does apply), but mainly more the show itself. I feel like they are sending me, the viewer, mixed signals about what I'm supposed to be feeling.
Frea: That whole thing could've been handled better. Sarah freezes when she doesn't know what to do, and inevitably lashes out. She wants to have people from her past at the wedding, but they come with strings, strings she's not so sure she can deal with. I think she'd like nothing more than to be able to interact easily with the people in her life like Chuck does, but she could be afraid that once she tries, and fails, that's never going to happen.
Frea: And everybody she knows is pre-Chuck, so there could also be the attached fear that they're going to drag her back to wherever she was at, mentally, when she was around these people. She doesn't like who she is without Chuck, and this episode kind of proved that these people do make her regress some, though she came through at the end, got her team back. I wish she'd given Chuck a bigger apology or verbalized this better, but it explains her terror about whatever it is from her past that Chuck's going to drop on her. Honestly, she could have been afraid that she was going to walk in and face her mother, which sounds like it's going to be a fun story.
mxpw: You all bring up good points, as usual, and I think that's what they were going for, I just found the execution pretty lacking. I want to sympathize with Sarah and agree with her that Chuck is being pushy, but when they futz plots like this, I can understand why Chuck sometimes doesn't see the boundaries he crosses. How can he, when Sarah seems to always be pulling him in different directions?
Frea: That's why they need Ellie around more often, Maximus.
mxpw: I do want to talk about her mother, though. The dialogue in that scene with Ellie, which we need to talk about, really made it seem like Sarah had some kind of ongoing communication with her mother. I thought that was really strange.
Frea: I don't know if I'd call it ongoing communication.
mxpw: Since, you know, her mother was never even mentioned until Balcony.
Frea: Strained relationship might mean quite a few things.
Frea: We got mention of BOTH Sarah's parents in this episode, including confirmation that her father is still on the run.
mxpw: How strained a relationship can a nine-year-old have with her mother? What nine-year-old even conceptualizes of things in those terms?
Frea: Where are you getting nine?
mxpw: Well, wasn't she around ten in DeLorean? I just assumed any problems with her mother would have developed before she went on the run with Jack.
Frea: I don't know if that's a safe assumption. Sarah could have gone back to talk to her mother at any point after the scene we saw in Cougars, or even before.
mxpw: It wouldn't really make much sense for them to happen after, I don't think.
mxpw: What mother let's a conman take her daughter away?
Frea: That could be one of the reasons the relationship is strained.
Frea: There's really not enough for me to make a hypothesis on this, sorry.
mxpw: But then the problems would have existed pre-on the run. Which is what I was saying.
Frea: They might have. We saw, what, a two-four minute scene with kid!Sarah? That's hardly an in-depth biography of how things were.
mxpw: I think that's more than we've gotten for a lot of other stuff in the fandom, but that's really not the issue. I'm just curious to see what they do with this Sarah/mother stuff.
mxpw: I did like her two scenes with Ellie, those were pretty great. I thought Yvonne was great in those scenes. You could see the awkwardness just under the surface, but she was talking to Ellie anyway. Sarah really has come a long way.
Frea: My conjecture about Sarah's mother: she'll be played by Lindsay Wagner and we can have Sarah Connor face off against the Bionic Woman.
mxpw: And fanboys everywhere just had simultaneous nerdgasms.
Frea: I live to serve. I did really love the Sarah and Ellie scenes as well. It was nice to see a measure of friendship between the two that didn't directly involve the fact that Sarah's involved with Chuck.
Frea: Quick, I'm trying to come up with at least five more uses for the word "involve." Involve yourself in this game, quickly!
mxpw: They did have a pretty involved discussion and it's great that Sarah has asked not only Zondra and Carina to be involved in the wedding, but she's making sure Ellie will get involved as well.
Frea: Very nicely done.
Frea: You earn a gold star, minion.
mxpw: You are too kind, MBO.
mxpw: So should we even mention he who shall not be named?
Frea: Casey needs to hunt more unicorns.
mxpw: Heh, I thought it was hilarious he said that in conjunction with Morgan. Made me a bit paranoid.
Frea: Also, Casey, you are neither a virgin, nor as far as I can tell, a direct descendant of Alexander the Great, and also not female. You cannot hunt the killer unicorns, dearie.
Frea: My use of references is running rampant tonight. The one person that got that joke just groaned.
mxpw: I just wish Carina hadn't been tied to Morgan's plot. She is so awesome and hot and funny and wild and hot and did I mention hot? Aw well.
mxpw: I guess I have to give Morgan points for stepping up to the plate at the end and telling Alex how he felt, but I got a definite American Hero vibe from that scene.
Frea: You did?
mxpw: Yeah. Morgan is on the verge of losing Alex, interloping third party, spy life intruding, she thinks he's changed, he makes a big speech where he tells her he loves her three times? Made me think of AH.
Frea: Oh. Wow. Heh, and to think I did not enjoy it the second time through, either. Go figure.
mxpw: Funniest moment of the night, though? When Carina walks up to Morgan and Alex. I just cracked up at how much Mini just absolutely towered over both of them.
mxpw: It was just such an odd image.
mxpw: I don't know, I thought it was amusing.
Frea: Yeah, that was a great image. I'm attempting to brain bleach the rest of the scene out, though because: unicorn.
mxpw: Unicorn.
mxpw: So any final thoughts on this episode, Frea?
Frea: I think they need to find another awesome writer like LeJudkins or Newman and pair Nicholas Wootton up with said writer.
mxpw: I am not nearly as enamored with him as you are, but that might actually be a really good idea.
Frea: Also, I could not stop laughing this whole episode, whenever they called Sarah a cat. Which is your fault, by the way. The wipes with the cat scratch were insanely cheesy, but as long as they don't make those gimmicks a habit, I was fine with it.
Frea: My first thought when Morgan told Chuck Carina had a Facebook alias was, Haha, guess she really did piss Fates Sarah off.
mxpw: I am completely proud of the cat thing and don't feel bad for it at all.
mxpw: I was shocked that Carina even gave Morgan her information. Like, really? Oh this show sometimes...
Frea: I was entertained by the episode and wouldn't mind watching it again. Got really nothing to say about Amy or Zondra, as neither really stuck with me too much save that I was on Zondra's side of the Sarah/Zondra argument and hoped Sarah would realize that she was kind of being a bitch to Z. Evil Lou Diamond Phillips is fun to say, and I loved the idea of pink taffeta and machine guns (my best friend would not let me have a machine gun when I was her maid of honor, but thankfully, no pink taffeta in sight). I guess that it's it. What about you, Maximus? Final thoughts?
mxpw: Hmm...well, Chuck was a bit annoying in his clueless pushiness, but he didn't bother me as much as he usually did. And that's largely because Sarah was equally, if not more, annoying throughout the episode (her attitude toward Zondra just grated). Like you, the CAT squad members didn't really leave much of an impression on me, but I did like Carina. But I did think it had some fun parts and quite a few good scenes. I liked the Sarah/Ellie scenes, I liked the Sarah/Chuck scene at the end (though I wanted more apology from Sarah there), I liked Chuck using his brain a little more than usual this episode. And hey, they used the TARDIS suitcase in this episode too. Only way to explain their trip to Miami. So it was disappointing after last week, but still a decent enough watch.
mxpw: Oh, and the promo for next week looks awesome. Yay for SWP!
Frea: They did something new with the promo. Though I giggled hysterically at Sarah's, "I've been to those parties, they look nothing like this." Chuck: *whiplash*
mxpw: Sounds like my kind of fanfic.
Ratings:
Frea: 7 out of 10 Castle Slides...still no official sightings.
mxpw: 2.5 Sarahs in her white dress out of 5.
So what'd you think? Spoilers are only okay if they're in the preview for next episode. Otherwise, please let people know you're going to post a spoiler in all-caps and bolded.
Nice review, guys. Sort of a quick read through here, but I definitely agree on a lot of points. The CAT Squad didn't really stand out (Amy being the mole came from a mile away, and the Zondra/Sarah feud seemed silly until I realized this was Sarah and she can be nearly as stubborn as Chuck), so I didn't really care about them.
ReplyDeleteCarina, on the other hand, was just so fun. She really wanted her some...Martin? Was that what she called him? That and it helps that she's a hottie McHothot.
Sarah was pretty annoying here, though. She let her stubbornness bleed through. The bits with her not listening much to Chuck.. I think that had more to do with her already being set in her ways with Zondra being the mole, and being the way she can be in mission mode, she refused to really change her mind. Then we had Chuck going Rookie!Spy on us and falling through the roof (they need to test the reinforcement on that glass, by the way), so it just nudged Sarah further into irritated Agent Walker mode, and we all know how she can be when she is mad/irritated. By the way.. incoming flood of Charah superfans going "Omg she was so mean to poor Chuck does she still love him?!!?11one".. and I will laugh, laugh, laugh.
Aaaanyway, before that minor tangent.. yeah. I'm not trying to completely defend Sarah here as yeah, she was basically led around by the Plot Monster, but she did have reasons to be majorly irked through most of the episode as it is. Chuck's gotta remember that Sarah hates surprises, :P
Keep up the great work, guys! Sorry about the wall-o-text I'm leaving.
/Katsumaro
Regarding how we were supposed to view Chuck's actions in this episode, the writers made sure to have 3 separate people (Casey,Sarah,Ellie)tell him how wrong he was. I think we were meant to agree with them. I'm not really sure if I buy it, though. Sarah can be just as pushy and presumptuous as Chuck (Fear of Death,Balcony), but it's not treated like a bad thing when she does it. I was more annoyed by Chuck's incessant apologies than anything he actually did.
ReplyDelete@Katsumaro - I don't care if Sarah was pissed and more in Agent Walker mode than girlfriend mode, I think she was out of line for yelling at Chuck like she did. Or for ignoring him later in Castle when he tried to tell her who the mole was. It was disrespectful and very dismissive and if my work partner, let alone my girlfriend, yelled at me like that in the workplace in front of my peers and colleagues (not as bad as FOD this time as at least it wasn't in front of his boss), you had better believe that there would be a problem between us the next time we were alone. I don't think he really deserved it, and even if he did, that's something you handle in private, not in front of everybody. That's the second time Sarah has done that now with no resolution or even follow up and it's really starting to annoy me.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous - Yeah, I am with you with the constant apologizing from Chuck. That was grating and really unnecessary, as I didn't think he did much wrong that warranted that much apologizing either. I did think it was funny how Chuck actually said "I'm sorry" during his apology, but I don't think Sarah ever actually said those words during her own.
@mxpw - Yeah, I can see your point there about how she shouldn't have yelled at Chuck, but in my head, all I know is she has before, so I didn't really pay it no attention. That and he admitted (when she cut him down from the rope) that he deserved it. Sarah's always had a bit of a temper as it is, so combine that with all of the elements of her past resurfacing without him giving her any warning, and then boning up the mission temporarily, and yeah. Angry!Sarah is a force to be reckoned with.
ReplyDeleteGranted the bit where Chuck tried to give her the info.. yeah, that was the stubbornness shining through, and that stunk. Good thing they sort of made up for it with the end of the episode, though.
Also, resolution.. you mean Chuck getting mad at her for getting mad at him? You mean you want some sort of semblance of angst? Yeah.. let's just avoid that. >.> All we need are crazy shippers coming out saying 'zomg, she was so mean to chuck!1one Q_Q" Please god no.
I'm getting really tired of the writers making Chuck look like a bumbling idiot. He made so much progress as a spy in Season 3 and now it feels like he's regressing. The CAT Squad must have been thinking to themselves, 'what the hell is Sarah doing marrying a guy like this?' Sarah did nothing to help the situation, she didn't stick up for Chuck and yelling at him in front of everyone (again) is, as you say, disrespectful and this needs to be addressed although knowing the show it probably won't be. Sarah's apology at the end was too lightweight given that, despite Chuck's methods, he actually reunited Sarah with her friends. I love Carina but sadly she was under-utilized in this episode. Casey's admission about Kathleen seemed misplaced. I have always wanted some Ellie/Sarah scenes but both scenes between them in this episode felt awkward especially as they consider themselves to be friends. I don't think Nicholas Wooten knows how to write Chuck and Sarah because in his episodes they seem to act out of character. Maybe he needs a co-writer like Newman or LeFranc to balance things out a little. Not one of my favorite episodes of the season.
ReplyDeleteCan I ask why they still have other spies questioning why Sarah is dating Chuck in the same episode that Carina is all over Morgan? Seriously can the writers stop acting like Chuck is an average looking guy. Its not like he's Seth Rogan in Knocked Up.
ReplyDeleteAnd what does Chuck have to do to earn respect as a spy. He's taken down Fulcrum, The Ring and Volkoff. Stop making the hero of your story a joke writers.
I don't think they've necessarily ret-conned Sarah's time in the Secret Service. The C.A.T. squad was active in 2003, Sarah didn't get partnered up with Bryce until 2005. The Secret Service is incredibly busy during Presidential election years (to the point that their investigative duties fall to the wayside) so it would make sense for Sarah to have been loaned out to them in 2004.
ReplyDeleteFirst, props to Frea for both a "Legends" and Middleman reference. I laughed at both.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with both of you about the spy plot, the Charah ( can you still use that reference if it is not fluff? ) and the Sarah/Ellie scenes, I did not agree with you about all of the Morgan scenes. I actually enjoyed most of them, tough Carina obvious want of him was "weird" to say the least, and I did not think that his confession scene was anything like Chuck's in AH. But if it was, as one of the select few that actually enjoyed AH, I don't mind.
Also, I agree with JC. Chuck is a very good looking guy, and to say that he is after they have been putting him the clothes they seem to be putting him in is also a bit "weird" as well.
I look forward to seeing the Sarah's family if they ever put them on-screen and the promo was funny. Yvonne + that dress = my mind short-circuiting. I'm pretty much typing this from residual memory.
Thanks for the review, funnies, and the quick release.
@Frea and mxpw - Nice review and the banter is delightful, as always.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Chuck was too pushy at all. I saw it as him taking a bit of a proactive approach on how to make Sarah happy.Chuck still doesn't know a lot about Sarah and he thought helping her reconnect with her old friends would help uplift Sarah's spirits. And wasn't Sarah nursing a blind spot when it came to Zondra.
@katsumaro - As for Sarah hating surprises - did she ever tell Chuck that. No. She said that to Morgan and we the audience know it because of that. Poor Chuck is still in the dark.
@JC - Hi! I was hoping for some moments which showcased Chuck at his best - although the Buy More take down of Gaez was great. But the skylight fumble could have been done better. While I was watching the episode and saw Chuck constantly apologizing (although I felt that he was not at all in the wrong ), I was reminded of your pet peeve that Chuck continues to apologize for things right/wrong and everyone calls him out while all the others get a free pass. Although the C/S bedroom scene at the end somewhat redeemed Sarah's acerbic behavior it still fell short of a direct apology (like mxpw said) - but I was happy that she at least acknowledged the fact that Chuck's helping ways do indeed help her.
About the time line / retcon, I also thought that this mission in Paris Sarah mentioned was probably her Red Test. Otherwise she should have an apartment there or something. By the way, they really are oddly obsessed with Paris and France in general, which I kinda like even though it’s always full of clichés and mistakes, it always makes me smile. What do you mean I’m biased? Anyway, the Cat Squad existed for several years. My understanding is that it started in 2003, not ended there. So it’s possible that Sarah graduated High School in ’98, graduated from College in ’02, did one year in the secret service between ’02 and ’03, then 2 years of Cat Squad until her Red Test. The Milan fiasco ended the Cats and she got partnered with Bryce from ’05 to the Pilot. It works that way.
ReplyDeleteS5 of Buffy has its merits if only for “The Body.” Fantastic episode.
To be fair to Sarah, she did read Chuck’s report, so she does value his inputs. She was just pissed off, and he was REALLY insistent…
Wasn't the point of Seduction Impossible that Sarah was sad and embarrassed and uncomfortable over not being able to have family at the wedding. So Chuck tries to help her change that and she...gets pissed at him? I mean, talk about mixed signals.
I’m not sure Sarah intended to reunite with anybody. She told Ellie that she told Chuck she didn’t want to invite anybody to their engagement party. Seduction Impossible showed me that a big wedding would remind Sarah that she doesn’t have family and friends in her life anymore, not that she wanted to do something about it.
And seriously, Chuck was very pushy. He knows how Sarah reacts when it comes to her past and when he’s poking around it. She's very touchy. He’s seen it in Cougars. Going behind her back, and forcing things to her isn’t exactly the best way to go, IMO. I can get that Chuck would try to convince her to invite the Cats, but actually inviting them for her is a bit much. He doesn’t know shy she doesn’t want to talk about her past, so what if she had a really good reason? What if it was something really painful and horrible and revisiting it wouldn’t do her any good. He has no idea. So instead of taking a risk with this, I’d rather have him trying to find out, even being pushy about it if he really wants to, but not inviting people behind her back. He’s supposed to protect her.
In DeLorean, in Chuck’s flash on Jack Burton, there are pictures of him getting arrested in ’78, ’81, ’85 and ’08. Now, considering that the show doesn’t know what a timeline is, it’s not really any indication, but it leads to think that Jack Burton was a conman before Sarah was born. Therefore her mother probably knew all about his activities. Also, when parents that actually love their children abandon them, I’m not really shocked that a mother would let her daughter being raised by a conman that uses her for his cons.
I’m not sure what “strained relationship” means, not sure about how to translate it, but I wasn’t expecting that either. Even if she doesn’t really communicate with her, it does mean she knows where to find her if she wanted to, right?
I liked the Ellie/Sarah scenes, and I also thought they did a great job at showing that it was kind of awkward for Sarah but she really wanted to open up to Ellie. And Ellie was great, really supportive. I think we'll have great wedding planning scenes between those two. Also, a bachelorette party with the Cats and Ellie & Alex has the only normal people could be hilarious.
And I liked Sarah’s apology, but it's probably because I thought Chuck was out of line. Sarah telling Chuck he was helping her every single day was really sweet.
Finally, do you think the last line was foreshadowing Ellie's future storyline? Like she’s joining the spy world or something like that?
@Genie
ReplyDeleteHey.
Yep,the whole free pass issue has really gotten old at this point but I just don't think the writers see it that way. And really I don't know why they make Chuck look like a moron whenever other spies show up. Its not funny and makes him unlikable. I was really hoping during the dinner after Zondra blew off his story he would've added "Oh and I took down Alexi Volkoff last month, what'd you do?" but that would require Chuck to man up and we have to save that for the finales. ;) Speaking of Zondra holy crap, she was gorgeous.
I don't know what it is about Wotton's episodes but they all feel like they're leftover scripts from previous seasons. FOD from S3 and this one from S1.
That dinner scene was just...I didn't get it. I know we were meant to laugh at how unimpressed the "CAT Squad" was with Chuck, but it already feels like he's been the butt of a season-long joke. "Push Mix" was one of the few episodes this year where his character was taken remotely seriously.
ReplyDeleteThe breakfast scene wasn't about Chuck. It was about Zondra just being nasty to Sarah, and showing the tension between them. Sarah doesn't give a crap about what other spies think about Chuck, especially someone she believes could be a traitor, she knows he's "perfect," she told him so, that's all that matters. And thank god she doesn't try to prove wrong every spy they met, 'cause they're always going to underestimate Chuck at first. Unless they're called Fitzroy. Plus Chuck can defend himself, he doesn't need his girlfriend to hold his hand.
ReplyDeleteI know Chuck can defend himself. The point is that he didn't. At least, not adequately. He was almost daring the girls to make fun of him with that line about "internet pornography". And I can't really agree that Sarah thinking he's
ReplyDelete"perfect" is all that matters. How Chuck sees himself actually matters a great deal, and in spite of Sarah's validation he's really lacking in the self esteem department.
Bringing it back to the episode, I think Chuck's insecurity is what was driving the "A" plot here. We're just coming off a story that sees Sarah trying to reunite Chuck with his mother. She did the same thing with his father in season 2, and has helped him without hesitation in countless other ways througout the series. From Chuck's pov, if he has a chance to return the favor and he lets it go, then he's not only a crappy boyfriend but a failure as a human being. It's not true, but no one's harder on Chuck than Chuck himself, and you just know he'd see it that
way.
@Crumby - I'm going to take your two comments and combine them here.
ReplyDeleteFirst, didn't they say in the episode that Milan happened in 2003? I can't remember, but I thought I heard them say that. Still, even if it was in 2005, I find it hard to believe that Sarah's first kill didn't happen until her Red Test, two years after she'd been part of the Cat Squad, a special group sent in to get the hard jobs done. Yeah, right.
When did Sarah read Chuck's report? Chuck goes up to her, tells her about his report, she yells at him some more and refuses to listen, then kicks him out of Castle. Right after that she fights Zondra. I don't remember there being any time for her to read his report.
Eh, I don't necessarily agree that Chuck was really pushy. I don't think he should have pushed as much as he did or invited the squad without talking it over with Sarah first, but that doesn't excuse Sarah's behavior in the episode. And maybe Chuck wouldn't be so pushy about Sarah's past if she just freaking told him something. My patience for Sarah's reticence to actually share with Chuck anything about her is wearing thin. Anyway, two wrongs don't really make a right and there was NO excuse for how she yelled at him in Rio. She should have given an actual, real apology just for that. The more I think about that last scene, the more it bothers me how little Sarah actually apologized. She actually apologized more heartfelt to Zondra than she did Chuck (at least she said the actual words to Z).
As for the breakfast scene, I think I might agree with you, Crumby, about Sarah's non-defense of Chuck if she hadn't completely undercut him professionally later on in the episode. Twice. I do think she really should have stood up for Chuck more.
@JC, Anonymous, and Anonymous - Ditto. Heh.
When Sarah is fightinhg Zondra, they talk about who did what and then Sarah says something about Carina that it's not her for sure, because that's what she read in Chuck report. Yeah, she was mean then to Chuck and was being a bit irrational, but she still read his notes.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's not like Chuck knew Amy was a traitor, he guessed right, but his reasons were as doubious as Sarah about Zondra
And Chuck/Sarah story has always been about two
deeply flawed ppl trying to find themselves in life. That's why they are making so many mistakes.
And i know the story went from Sarah kicking Chuck out and then fighting, but lets assume it took some time between those two scenes and Sarah was able to check the report...because that is what Sarah said to Zondra.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but Chuck's guess actually had to do with one of the reasons Amy went rogue. I'm choosing to believe he had Buffy powers of prophecy that were just ignored, as Buffy's inane reasons (that usually turned out to be somewhat right) were.
ReplyDeleteCan't defend this episode. I have what I thought they were trying to do, but the execution didn't match the expectation. I'm going to write it off under the guise of "I can't take anything with a cat scratch wipe too seriously" and leave y'all to your debating. Got Fates to write, yo.
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ReplyDelete@mxpw - I haven't had time to re-watched so I'm not sure, but I only remember 2003 being mention in Morgan's fantasy. I'll have to check. If we consider the Red Test being more like a first assassination order than a first kill, it can work. It still far-stretch, I know. They're so bad with dates, it was probably wishful thinking from my part, to think they actually could have it right this time.
ReplyDeleteI also remember Sarah saying "Carina was in the US. I read it in Chuck's report" when she was cat fighting. I don't know when she had time to read it, you're right about that though.
I thought that Chuck was being extremely pushy. Once he learned about the Cat Squad, he could have work her into telling him what happened with Zondra. From there he could have fix the situation doing his analyst thing, without inviting a mole into their home. I'm not saying that's what I wanted to see, just that they were both wrong in their stubbornness. They probably took her anger, and his pushiness to far (again) but I actually like the middle ground they found at the end of the episode, where Sarah tells him she wants his help, and he accepts to let go of her family issues for now. I think she needs to be the one to take the decision to reconcile or not with her family. Instead of it being forced in her by Chuck, just because that's what would make HIM happy if he was in her position. They don't react the same way about those stuff, he needs to get that, and find a way to make her want to fix things herself instead of avoiding like she always does.
Now Sarah's anger didn't irk me as much as it did you, but I can understand it.
In the end, I thought that she proved she had complete trust in his skills as a spy in he Buy More fight.
@mxpw - I think Chuck and Sarah's argument would have worked better if it wasn't so one-sided. Even if I thought Chuck was dead wrong and he didn't have a leg to stand on, I would have expected him to fight back a little and argue his point of view. I miss their fights from seasons 1 & 2 when they used to really get into it. Here it felt more like Sarah was a parent scolding a child.
ReplyDeleteI was baffled by the Morgan/Carina subplot in this episode, but the ending when he tells Alex he loves her was really sweet. I also really liked the Chuck/Casey scene in the van. I know everyone loves Casey and Morgan together, but I miss the dynamic he used to have with Chuck (and Sarah). We've only seen glimpses of that this season.
@Tatu - Thank you for pointing out Sarah's dialogue during the fight scene! In my defense, I can only say Sarah in her workout clothes distracted me. :P It seems I was wrong about her not reading the report, though like Crumby pointed out, how she had time to read it, I don't know. I can only chock that up to really bad editing. I guess then, that was supposed to show Sarah's stubborness that she was still determined to suspect Zondra? I don't know.
ReplyDelete@Crumby - Even saying it was her first assassination is really dicey to me. I can't believe the CAT squad never set out to kill people before. Meh. You are right, there is no point in talking about this, it's just a huge mess.
I think her anger bothered me more because it was the second time she's done this now and not been called out on it. If it had been the first time, I could have more easily shrugged my shoulders and let it slide. But after FOD and the non-resolution there, it just left a really bad taste in my mouth, I guess. To me, it's a huge sign of disrespect to do something like that, but I realize not everybody feels the same way.
You know, I will be fine with the middle ground they found in this episode if they stick with it. If Sarah still drags her feet kicking and screaming whenever they delve into her past or Chuck still sticks his nose where it doesn't belong, I'm going to be really disappointed. That's one of the big problems with this show: consistency. I'm going to be really curious how they deal with the whole Sarah's family issue. I hope it goes over a lot smoother than the execution in this episode.
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ReplyDeleteI understand that her display of anger towards Chuck in public bothers you.
ReplyDeleteBut the thing is that he just NEVER listens. Honestly, it annoys me A LOT and at some point the only thing that seems to be left to do is yelling at the guy. If she hadn't got mad, he would still have not got it.
And I really agree about your last point. I like the middle ground they fine, but they really need to stick to it. I'm optimistic about it though, because just after that, Sarah and Ellie had their talk and it seemed to me that Sarah was willing to work on the issue of her family.
I find it hard to be angry at Chuck for wanting to know more about Sarah and her past than her favorite pizza toppings and condiments on her cheeseburgers. Maybe if they actually had Sarah share anything willingly with him it'd be different. And then to have Ellie the queen of being in other people's business reprimand him is even worse.
ReplyDelete@Crumby - Give Chuck some leeway here. At the end of 4x14 Sarah made it clear that she was avoiding her family. So, Chuck does the next best thing - he figures that friends in the spy business could help fill some of that void in Sarah's life. Granted that he should have talked to her about inviting the CAT squad over but to be honest his idea would have been struck down immediately with a resounding NO. Sarah never had any problems going on a girl's night out and getting hammered. Her issues with Zondra surfaced when Gaez entered the picture. Also another thing about Chuck being pushy - hasn't it been always this way in the show - Chuck has had to push Sarah for everything - opening up to him,going away with him, moving in with him, unpacking, communicating, proposal, wedding etc etc. He has pushed her and that has led to positive results and astounding growth for both of them in their relationship. This time he inadvertently pushed her to confront her past and look how it turned out. Sarah regained a good friend in the end and even had two slots for bridesmaids filled out.
ReplyDeleteChuck was definitely over the line in issuing an invitation to the Cat Squad without asking Sarah first. But it would be helpful if Sarah would say things more specific than "that would be opening a Pandora's box" when discussing why inviting her ex-teammates over is a bad idea. Their relationship was built on a foundation of Sarah saying little to nothing and Chuck acting anyway on what he perceives her wants to be. It's no shock the pattern is continuing now.
ReplyDeleteSarah could have said any number of things to keep Chuck away from the Cats: The bug in the boot story, or "we had a falling-out and I don't want to see them again" or "I'm okay with not having anyone at the wedding", or even "I'd like to pretend that the years before I met you never happened and I'd appreciate it if you cooperated in that", but she...didn't, so far as I remember, until things were already underway. So there just wasn't that much for Chuck not to listen to, you know? :P
And I share mxpw's discomfort at Sarah yelling at Chuck in a professional context and contributing to the general denigration of his spy skills, which are fine thank you very much. The fact that Chuck has almost no ego to speak of isn't a good reason to keep stomping on the little ego-shaped hole where it should be.
The thing that really felt like a waste of time to me was Alex/Morgan, but I feel that way about just about all Alex/Morgan. I just really hate jealousy storylines, and especially ones based on "wacky misunderstandings". HATE. Carina (well, Mini Anden) was great, and her eye makeup down in Castle was awesome, but I would have preferred her sexually mocking Casey rather than having to participate in the farce of pretending that her one-night stand with Morgan had any emotional significance whatsoever.
But I mostly enjoyed this episode anyway. I mean, it was clear from the start that the team had one too many blondes and one would have to go, and there wasn't anything to bring "Cat Squad" into the realm of the extra-delightful, but I had fun watching it. Maybe it's the happy glow from "Seduction Impossible" bleeding into this week and making me easy to please.
Q: How many Buffy seasons are there?
ReplyDeletea-3 b-5 c-7 d-8
: P
"I find it hard to be angry at Chuck for wanting to know more about Sarah and her past than her favorite pizza toppings and condiments on her cheeseburgers. Maybe if they actually had Sarah share anything willingly with him it'd be different"
ReplyDelete^^^ Totally agree with this. And JC get back to posting at ChuckThis - I kind of miss our discussions. :)
Er, right, I didn't reference Legend in this review, by the way. That was actually a reference to a series of novels by Diana Peterfreund about the virgin female descendants of Alexander who happen to hunt unicorns. As silly as I just made it sound, the premise is awesome. The first book is called Rampant. Worth a read if you like YA. Sorry, I get really obscure sometimes.
ReplyDeleteAnd Sparky, the answer is clearly A.
Ayefah: Word.
@Frea
ReplyDeleteYou didn't like the Buffy and Spike show?
@Genie
I do too but after the incident I have no desire to post over there anymore. I prefer the snarky people.
@Sparky - Ignore Frea, the answer is clearly B. S4's "Restless" is one of my all time favorite episodes of Buffy and there were some great moments in S5. So obviously five seasons exist. I have no idea what these other two seasons are, though. I find their alleged connection to Buffy the Vampire Slayer tenuous at best.
ReplyDelete@Ayefah - Thank you for saying what I wanted to say, but in a far briefer and more articulate manner. Or, in other words, Word.
To be clear, I don't reproach Chuck to want to know more about Sarah's past. And he's right to be pushy about it, because she needs to be encouraged to deal with her past. That’s why I had no problem with him digging into her past to find out about the Cats. I just think that what he did with the information wasn't the way to go that's all. And I can understand that Sarah didn’t react well to it, which isn’t saying she was right to yell at him. To me they were both wrong.
ReplyDelete@JC - Saying that Ellie reprimanded Chuck is seriously exaggerating. He asked for her opinion, and what she said made complete sense. Sarah isn't like Chuck and what she needs isn't always what would Chuck need. Maybe she doesn't tell him anything because she knows if she does he'll get involve.
@alladinsgenie4u & Ayefah - Honestly, at the end of 4x14 I never understood that Sarah wanted help with her family or friends. She said yes, eloping was a way to avoid her family. My understanding is that it was because it would avoid the fact that she doesn’t really have friends anymore, that she doesn’t know where her dad is, and whatever happened with her mom. Chuck was the one asking how he could help, she didn’t ask for it.
The thing is, to me it’s clear that Sarah has given some thoughts to all of this. When she said “Who’s gonna come? Who’s gonna walk me down the aisle?” in 4x14 it proved that she had thought about it. She just needs time and support, she doesn’t need Chuck to bring everybody back together for her.
And I disagree that she would just have said NO to Chuck if he had come to her about the Cats. And even if she would have, that’s precisely what he would have needed to fix, instead of forcing her into this situation.
And Sarah did tell Chuck about the Zondra situation before Gaez entered the picture.
If he hadn’t forced her into this, maybe she would have been more receptive when he tried to prove that Zondra was innocent.
Also, this situation with the Cats was weighing on her. Sarah hates being accused to be a traitor, and she felt betrayed by someone from her team.
Having said that, both Chuck’s meddling and Sarah’s anger felt in character, it isn’t new behaviour for any of them, maybe it was taken too far, but still. And like I said before I like what they’ve done in the end.
Oh and I checked about the timeline. Chuck said in the van that Milan was 8 years ago. So you were right mwpw. It doesn't make any sense.
ReplyDeleteJust out of curiosity is Chris not doing instant reaction anymore? Or is this a temporary break?
ReplyDeleteAlso since he's got 50% of the next-next chapter of twist of fate done when do we get the one that been complete for a while? I seem to recall that being the requirement for it's release....
Don't really have much to say about this ep, I enjoyed it almost as much as last weeks as it feel similarly carefree and fun. Something that still feels fresh this season.
JohnClark, last night was Valentine's Day, so I think he had other plans. Last week's Instant Reaction can be found on his blog, I think. I don't know if he'll come back to CI with it, though.
ReplyDeleteAnd actually, the progress bar is currently a lie. He writes 20% more of the chapter and I'll release my death-grip on 13.
The thing that bugged me with the Carina/Morgan/Alex story is they didn't draw on what should have been a real source of tension - Carina has slept with both Alex's father and boyfriend, and I would have liked to have seen that given attention because that's the sort of thing that can pysch a girl out.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, all the flaws of the ep may have been redeemed for me by the fact that Chuck made shurikan out of a cd - that rocked.
ReplyDeleteSparky the answer is C because it's still somewhat fixable at that point especially in fanfic. Beyond that it's complete roadkill where every time I said they can't make it any worse they would.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Chuck was a little pushy, but if he waited for Sarah to tell him things , he would be a married ma with a 5 year old asking what Mommy's birthday was and he wouldn't be able to tell them.Chuck told her more on thier first date in the Pilot than Sarah has in 4 years . Most of what he knows he figured out , snuck around to find out (her father), found out during the course of a mission (in Cougars) or overheard her whispering or telling someone she shouldn't have trusted.
Sarah seriously needs to learn to apologize to Chuck. Just because he's a people pleaser who apologizes first (even when he shouldn't ) doesn't mean she has the right to never apologize to him.
And the other Cats probably know that Carina has a thing for men who turn her down and she appeared to have stayed in touch with the others a lot better than Sarah so she might have told them about Morgan . Maybe that's why she handcuffs Casey to things because he's such and easy catch for her. It could be that Casey hasn't slept with Carina at all he just keeps trying . And since I don't recall her knowing out right that Casey is Alex's father then she wouldn't know to bring it up if she did sleep with Casey.One of the reasons they might question why Sarah would be with Chuck (except for Carina) is that they know her type is pretty boy manipulative scumbags.
And since a few season 3 eps were mentioned. I found it odd that the bad guys were going after the discs in the Beard at all considering I thought they were stolen from the bad guys in the first place and presumably they'd seen the info (I could be wrong) . And why were they still in Castle anyway? Shouldn't they have been sent up the line and the info acted on soon after they were acquired?
In American Hero we see Shaw set out on one heck of an ill conceived suicide mission, he isn't even slowed down by his relationship with Sarah and the way he acts as if he's returning the keys to a rent a wreck that he's trashed to Chuck when he pretty much returns Sarah to him was yuck. Chuck was good in the this, Casey was good, Sarah was only good when she was packing and we saw that she had the picture of her and Chuck up. She would have continued to be good if she had ignored Shaw when he showed up or at least told him she had to go to the bathroom quick and called Chuck to tell him she'd be late instead of that lame wait until I'm in the desert and then try to call scene.
Now take all this from AH and look at The Other Guy. Sarah (and to a lesser extent Beckman though she didn't see all of Shaw's bad behavior like Sarah did) didn't believe that the guy who was going for a lame suicide mission on the off chance he might give the bad guys a small boo boo and who wasn't even slowed down by his relationship with her and who has a stated obsession about going after the Ring because of his wife's murder won't try to kill her and she thinks it's safe to go with him arm and arm to the city and then walk to the spot where she killed his wife. It seems like starting a real relationship with Chuck didn't unblock her head from her rear where Shaw was concerned. In fact that might not have happened until Shaw was about to be beaten to death by Shaw in the Buy More. And even so , she obviously never acknowledged that her behavior had anything wrong with it (even the blatantly idiotic) because in FF we see that her blind trust of Shaw over him is still a sore point with Chuck (the line about her only trusting people Beckman ordered her to trust).
And Chuck's ego really has been trampled enough his entire life without Sarah not only adding to it but not defending him when other put him down. Even his mother was part of that, first with her leaving and then later we see her connecting with Ellie but only really relating to Chuck on a professional level for the most part . This was interspersed with her refusing to know anything personal and outright manipulating him .
ReplyDeleteAnd yes I am a hyperactive insomniac who's a fast typist.
Obviously I mean Chuck was about to be beaten to death by Shaw . Not Shaw by Shaw but he should have been beating himself up with the things he did.
ReplyDelete