10.24.2011

mxpw vs. Frea - The Preseason Games


Frea: So, fans, friends, foes, and everything in between, it's a sad day for me. That's right. (No, the Dr. Pepper supply has not been tampered with, no worries) The great and mighty Maximus has convinced me that the world cannot live without mxpw vs. Frea.

Frea: Naturally, I am hesitant about this. After all, the show and I did not end Season Four on amicable terms.

mxpw: Understandable. I remember it was sleeping on the couch a lot by the end.

Frea: Only because it sneaked in through the window after I changed the locks, that bastard.

mxpw: Well, it probably learned its lock picking skills from Sarah.

mxpw: She's pretty good at it. Casey even said so.

Frea: And he couldn't lie! He was on Super Convenient Truth Juice at the time!

Frea: But anyway, another reason I'm so hesitant is because...well, it's been awhile and things get rusty. I mean, we tried to keep up the mxpw vs. Frea love over the summer with Fringe, but we got our start on Chuck and we need to come back to Chuck. So think of this like a practice mxpw vs. Frea, if you will.

(more after the break)



mxpw: What she means is that we're going to roleplay for a bit.

Frea: Oh, we're roleplaying? Hold on, I left my Cloak of Magnificence in my other Bag of Holding.

Good thing we came prepared.
mxpw: That's cool, I've already got my Invisibility Cloak.

Frea: Harry's Cloak of Iniquity?

mxpw: Yes, I've been reading Harry Potter a lot lately.

mxpw: I think what Chuck needs is a Hermione Granger.

Frea: Awesome female who constantly leaves the boys in the dust? Hmm, you're right, Chuck doesn't have one of those yet. Let's fill this gap, people!

Frea: Heh. Now I know what the sound of 1,000 angry SW fangirls coming at me at once sounds lke.

mxpw: Good thing you said it and not me, Obi-wan.

Frea: So yeah, roleplaying?

mxpw: But speaking of Sarah Walker, should we talk about our hopes and dreams?

Frea: I want a pony.

mxpw: I meant for S5. Unless you're going to include the pony as part of your roleplaying.

Frea: Oh, right, Season Five.

Frea: I shocked the hell out of myself the other day.

Frea: I got online and the great Kris Hekmi, who does some great reviews herself, was talking about Season Five, and I felt something besides dead inside, Maximus.

Frea: It was truly frightening.

mxpw: Understandable. I'm sure it was much like how I felt after Honeymooners aired for the first time.

mxpw: It was like your heart grew three times.

mxpw: And positive feelings about the show sprung forth.

Frea: Broke the little frame thingie surrounding it, too.

mxpw: So what has got your desiccated little heart all aflutter?

Frea: I don't know! I mean, it can't be Season Five, right? The same team of writers that gave me Cliffhanger, which I hated too much to even review, are bringing the first episode of Season Five, so it can't be that. Sarah Walker makes me feel less dead inside because I know she makes you happy, Max, but even she's not powerful enough to inspire this odd feeling of hope--or heartburn--flooding through me. It's definitely not the Morgansect. I don't know what it could be! But I hope it goes away soon, as it's making it hard to be pessimistic in my everyday life, dude.

mxpw: *nod* I think, maybe, you are just excited. I know, I know, hear me out first. Only the things that we love can hurt us the most, and there once was a time where you really liked this show. I think maybe you are feeling that again. I can understand it, because I feel it too. All the reviews and previews and just general sense surrounding the return of Chuck has made me actually anticipate its return.

mxpw: Plus, when people like Kris say it's good, well, I pay attention.

Frea: I might even, *gasp* watch it on Friday night.

mxpw: Wow!

mxpw: I don't know if the readers realize how monumental a confession that is.

mxpw: Especially considering what else is on Fridays.

Frea: Or as I call them, Olivia Dunham Days.

mxpw: It's a good thing you may watch on Fridays. I might need your help to recover from the double whammy of Yvonne Strahovski and Anna Torv.

Frea: And what a way to go, dude. What a way to go.

Frea: So our roleplaying...

Frea: We're going to make sure we're each in "shape," so to speak, with our sarcastic Chuck and pop culture references.

Frea: Because, you know, it's been awhile since we took the mxpw vs. Frea mobile out for a spin.

mxpw: Wait, we have a mobile now?

mxpw: When did this happen?

Frea: It looks amazingly like the Weinermobile.

Frea: Like almost dead-on.

Frea: On a purely unrelated note, if you see news reports that the Weinermobile has been stolen, please ignore them.

Frea: Complete coincidence.

mxpw: Right, right, okay. So how do you want to do this? Fair warning, I'm a trivia machine.

Frea: We should bring in our friend, uh, Curly.

Frea: He can ask completely and totally, 100%-free unbiased questions!

mxpw: *clears throat*

Curly:  Hi, I'm Curly. I've got your first question. If you know the answer, just buzz in!

Frea: Buzz!

Frea: Aldrin! Lightyear!

mxpw: Wow, that is correct! That is amazing, folks! It's like she could read my mind. I would have also accepted "Cola".

Frea: I'm just super talented that way.

Curly: Best entrance by Sarah Walker into the Buy More: go!

mxpw: Easiest question of the night. That would be her entrance in Chuck vs. the Seduction. Come on, give me a hard one, Curly!

Curly: That is correct, but I would have also accepted "Any episode in which Sarah walks into the Buy More as she's Sarah Frakking Walker," Maximus.

mxpw: A fair point, Curly. A very fair point.

Curly: Greatest Casey one-liner. Go!

Frea: Oh, God, oh, God, there are so many good ones!!

Frea: Gonna have to go with "Sucker."

Frea: So succinct, so well-put.

mxpw: True, but for my money, I don't know if any will top the one from First Date. I think that will always be my favorite.

Frea: "Someone order a drive-through?"

mxpw: Yup!

mxpw: So what have you got for me next, Curly?

Curly: Name at least four times in which a member of Team Bartowski has fallen off of a building. Extra points if you can include landings AND villains.

mxpw: Oh geez.

mxpw: Do combos count?

Frea: Nope, we're going solo on this

Curly: Each major team player has done it at least once. Chuck has twice in the span of two episodes.

mxpw: Chuck, in both First Date and Seduction. Mr. Colt the bad guy for FD, and the Black Widow for S. Casey caught Chuck in FD and the bad guy caught Chuck in S.

mxpw: Does Sarah fighting the Pita Girl count?

Curly: Sarah fighting the Pita Girl definitely counts

mxpw: Then that one.

mxpw: In Marlin.

Frea: And you're wrong about Seduction, by the way.

mxpw: I am?

Frea: He landed on a poolside sofa-pad thingie.

Frea: That's the technical term for it, too.

mxpw: Ohhhhh, I was counting his own jump off the building. I guess that doesn't count?

Frea: Oh, good point.

Curly: Sarah also shoved Casey off of a building in one of those Season Four episodes. Maybe Gobbler.

mxpw: That is correct!

Curly: And obviously your combo deal referred to the Emmy-winning jump off of Victor Federov's hotel room balcony.

mxpw: Obviously.

Curly: Okay, Frea, here is a moment uniquely suited for your interests. Best moment of SWP in S4?

Frea: The shimmy out of the dress in Suitcase?

Curly: Correct!

Frea: YES!

Curly: Also, Maximus says there are no wrong answers when it comes to SWP.

Curly: Only winners.

Frea: Oh, that Maximus.

Frea: Only winners indeed.

Curly: All right, time for the harder questions.

Frea: I'm putting on my headband and jogging in place, Max.

Frea: Better stretch, really get those muscles loose.

mxpw: Okay, give me a few seconds to do the Running Man.

Curly: It's the lightning round.

Curly: Name the two Jack Burton episodes.

mxpw: Delorean and Wedding Planner!

Curly: The game in Tom Sawyer.

mxpw: Missile Command!

Curly: Was John Casey hatched?

mxpw: No. But he can hit a high C.

Curly: Sarah Walker's least favorite food?

mxpw: Olives!

Curly: Chuck's childhood dog?

mxpw: Peaches!

mxpw: Or Peaches 2?

Curly: No, sorry, that is Peache--oh, you're right. Continuing on. what video game was college!Jill addicted to?

mxpw: Um...Everquest? I am not sure about this one.

Curly: Everquest it is!

Curly: Best Shaw line of the show.

mxpw: Who?

Frea: Yeah, I'm going with Max on this one....who?

Frea: Did Robert Shaw come on the show at some point? Pretty sure that dude's dead, and Chuck doesn't like zombies, so....

mxpw: He does not. I believe there was even some story written about that very fact by somebody. Who was it? He was pretty awesome...

Frea: It's totally not coming to mind.

Frea: Maybe Curly means Jordan Shaw, the awesome guest star of Castle Season Two?

mxpw: Honestly, that has to be it.

mxpw: I can't imagine there are any other Shaws out there worthy of note.

Frea: Man, that Shaw was so awesome. I adored her.

Frea: Okay, Curly, keep going, I like this game.

Curly: Well, the answer to that one was...wow, this card was blank. Interesting. Moving on. What's the name of the first episode of Season Three?

mxpw: Chuck vs. the Honeymooners.

Curly: Ding ding ding! Correct!

Curly: Wow, Max, you really know your stuff.

mxpw: *bows* Thank you. It's nice to know that my education has paid off in such a satisfactory way.

mxpw: Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need to bone up on my Sarah Walker history. To keep it fresh in my mind.

Frea: I'm sorry, you were saying something? I was staring at Zac's shoulders again.

mxpw: I think we know the real reason why you're looking forward to S5.

Frea: It's exactly like we never stopped doing mxpw vs. Frea!

mxpw: We are quite awesome, it's true.

mxpw: And so this has been our warm up for the return of Chuck. I don't know about you, Frea, but I can't wait to see what The Honorable Sir Morgan Guillermo Grimes-Casey does now that he's the Intersect.

Frea: I think you mean The Honorable Sir Morgan Guillermo Grimes-Casey, The Intersect, At Your Service, don't you, Maximus?

mxpw: My apologies, Frea, but you are indeed correct.

Frea: Lots to come on mxpw vs. Frea this season. Assuming the SWP and the CBSP doesn't break us first. Oh, I think Curly has one more question for us.

Frea: I really like Curly, it's like he's totally not made up.

mxpw: He's real and he's fantastic.

mxpw: So what have you got for us, Curly?

Curly: Well, I saved the best question for last. What are you guys most excited for during S5?

Frea: Oh, lame, that's for the readers. Very well, readers, tell Curly what you think. I'ma go watch some Chuck to get really excited about Friday. Also, be sure to come back Saturday, to see what Shoe or BDaddy have to say about the episode! And next week, for our return to fame episode of mxpw vs. Frea! Say bye now, Max.

mxpw: Bye now, Max.



All right, folks, you heard the possibly-name-stolen-from-The-Three-Stooges Game Show host. What's everybody most excited for in Season 5?

17 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you are all doing this again. I feel a bit, uh, nervous at bearing some responsibility for Frea's excitement. I LOVED the premier. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it.

    However, they go heavy on Morgansect after that, and I have absolutely no read on how you're all gonna feel about it. Personally, Imma keep watching. I just have invested too much to quit now. My Mama didn't raise no quitter!

    I hope you all keep doing this, because I'm selfish enough to want this every week! My Mama raised a selfish brat, unfortunately.

    There were several things that really touched me here, and not in an inappropriate way. And also many things that made me laugh.

    First, I kinda agree with Max on the whole the thing you love hurting you the most. I've just seen that first-hand. I felt it too. Thankfully, my emotional investment was always Sarah Walker heavy, so I could still cling to the positive returns in that stock option even as the rest of my Chuck portfolio sunk in value.

    Funniest comment thus far: the blank card, and Honeymooners being the first episode of S3.

    LMAO infinity.

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  2. Oh your question. I'm excited for the Sarah and Casey interactions(hint:they're funny). Also, for Sarah Walker to like, be on my screen every week. I say hello to her whenever she enters the scene.

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  3. Anonymous24.10.11

    I think I can answer for the men aged 12-60 and that is SWP. Fuck it, 12-100.

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  4. The fact that the writers don't have to write contrived second halves and so can (hopefully) go all out in thirteen episodes, tell their story and then be done with it. That's what I'm looking forward to the most.

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  5. What am I most excited for during S5?

    Retrenchment.

    Weird, huh? Looking back on the last season, it feels like Chuck lost its way. I mean, there's light, and then there's the point at which light becomes farce. And for me, the needle was cranked way over into the farce zone for far too long. They need to retreat.

    And it all begins with the writing.

    What I'd like to see is a little bit more effort expended in clever screenwriting. Stories that makes me grin and nod. Dialogue that makes me want to be one of the writers on the show, not wince in embarrassment for them.

    Something that reminds me of what brought me to Chuck in the first place.

    I think they can do it, because I've seen it inside my head. I've watched the Pilot, Tango, First Date, and Seduction. They're really great. I've even gone back and watched Anniversary and Suitcase. And you know what? They were also pretty good. What do they have in common?

    They were the episodes that began each of three seasons.

    Because they kicked off those seasons, it's tempting to theorize that they received special care. And if that's true, the show-runners need to expand that care to all of the episodes this season. This is it, after all, for them and us. Our last chance to be enchanted. Their last chance to make good.

    So, that's what I'm hoping for, however unrealistic or fanciful it seems. To recapture the sense of optimism I felt at the beginning of those three seasons. To just love the show again.

    Is that too much to ask?

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  6. If I don't find myself facepalming or muttering come on during most of the season I'll be happy.

    Not butchering Sarah's past or character anymore would be a bonus.

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  7. Casey with a love interest. Casetrude? Gersey? Casbinksi? Vercasey? The name needs work.

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  8. I just hope we see some married Charah scenes and maybe give Sarah a life that doesn't revolve around anything but herself.

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  9. Nervert24.10.11

    That's a great return for mxpw vs. Frea. Thanks for more than a few spontaneous snickers.

    In answer to curly:

    I hope for a Sarah centered episode where the conflict is external and doesn't involve Chuck in some way (other than in supporting her).

    I hope for the writers to take their jobs a bit more seriously. If they have to do something that stretches credulity, at least make the payoff worth it.

    I hope to see the writers not use too-cute character interactions like little doggie treats for the fans (i.e. scenes shouldn't come with a wink).

    More Sarah/Morgan and Sarah/Casey interactions.

    Oh, and lots of Trinity ... and I wouldn't totally hate a bit of SWP.

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  10. Ayefah25.10.11

    I'm with Aerox - hopefully having a set episode order will mean the writers can just tell their story instead of engaging in modular writing in order to deal with changes in season size.

    What I'm hoping for? Well, there's the stuff that seems within reach and the stuff that's a pipe dream. The realm of the possible: Giving Chuck character development again, bringing him back to the character I loved to watch so much in the early seasons, making Ellie part of the team instead of keeping secrets from her, one last hurrah for Carina, and mission outfits for Sarah that do not involve Ally McBeal-length pencil skirts and stilettos.

    The impossible dreams: Giving Sarah an inner life - her own pop culture taste, preferences in home decor or anything, please, for the love of monkeys. An acknowledgment of what a phenomenal dickhead Casey was for leaving his family for a job promotion. An season-long villain that makes a modicum of sense. Chuck working his ass off to learn for real the things the Intersect gave him for free.

    I live in hope. :)

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  11. I want to see the characters be the characters we have know them to be. I want Chuck to be smart, Supportive, brave. I want Sarah to continue being "a real girl" when at home with Chuck but being a kick ass spy when on a Mission with some great fight scenes as well.
    I have a question for JC re his point about butchering Sarahs character and wanted to know how they have done that?

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  12. Still permanently soured. Sorry Kris not even your joy can turn me.

    Listened to the Firewall & Iceberg Podcast & still hearing the same complaints - underdeveloped, skipped over potential story points; all buildup with inadequate or no payoff.

    And the latest news has the series ending on a 4 episode arc? Uhuh, cuz we all know how well the show does arcs.

    However for those of you left behind, I sincerely hope the show' s final season brings joy & happiness or at least some warm thoughts before it is all said & done.

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  13. Well I wasn't trying to turn anybody ;-)

    I understand your bitterness Lou. I'm sorry you feel the show has treated you so shodilly. However, I feel it's almost like a form of masochism to keep tuning in to Chuck news, reading Chuck articles and going over everything Chuck has done wrong in the past.

    I know it's impossible to make it a clean break on twitter. People whose timeline you enjoyed are Chuck fans of varying degrees. But clicking on articles about Chuck and commenting on a "what are you looking forward to the most about Chuck?" prompt seem rather joyless to me.

    I can understand yours, and everyone in the comment section who has been rather bitter of the past season. I completely understand. From my viewpoint though, it's the last season. Let's let the joyful fans raise their joy flags.

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  14. Hardly bitter Kris. Disappointed is far more apt.

    At this point, I am far more intrigued with fan reaction than the show itself.

    More cause for concern about the last season ending in a clean victory lap - just listened to Mo Ryan & Ryan McGee's podcast and they both expressed concern about the last season trying to tie all the mythology into one nice package. Tough task when trying to do that with a soggy pile of noodles.

    if miracles of miracles happen and the 5th season is universally praised by most then I would emboldened to check it out.

    'Let's let the joyful fans raise their joy flags.'- Exactly the sentiments expressed in the last statement of my previous post.

    Fingers crossed.

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  15. And it's very interesting that you failed to mention that both Mo and McGee were very happy to have them back.

    Oh dear, your choice of activities puzzle me to be honest. But oh well.

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  16. 'you failed to mention that both Mo and McGee were very happy to have them back. '

    Fair enough.

    Also fully agree with their statement that when the show is working it is able to generate a heartfelt earnestness.

    Something very few shows can do.

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  17. I'm looking forward to Sarah Walker.

    Sarah with Casey, Sarah with Morgan, Sarah with Ellie, even some in-laws interactions with Devon, Auntie Sarah with Clara would be awesome, even some Sarah/Buy Morons stuff, they might as well take advantage of this Buy More ownership to play some comedy with it.

    Also, Casey and Ellie.

    And I *really* hope that the Series Finale won't be anything like Cliffhanger was, and that they took/ are taking extra care with it.

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