mxpw vs. Frea - Chuck vs. the Baby

Chuck vs. the Baby

Season 5, Episode 08, original air-date 30 Dec 2011

When Sarah's old spy handler reappears, she goes off on her own to prevent a secret from her past from destroying her family.

Finally! Another LeJudkins episode! What did Max and Frea think?


mxpw: Want to start things out, Frea?

Frea: My entire review: Thanks for not sucking like last week, show! Okay. I'm good.

mxpw: Haha

mxpw: Well, I don't think that will be my entire review for this episode.

mxpw: However, I will say that compared to Curse and Santa Suit, Baby was a vast improvement. I was starting to get worried about the remainder of the season. And while Baby did nothing to reassure me completely, it at least helped stem the damage.

Frea: Yeah. I think I'm the pessimist this week—surprise, surprise—because it helped stem some of the damage, and it was enjoyable, but unfortunately, I'm left kind of ambivalent.

mxpw: Well, it's an understandable feeling. There was a lot to feel ambivalent about this episode. And I'm not talking about just the potential issues with Sarah's spy past. I mean, people could probably write an essay trying to fit this whole mission to Hungary into Sarah's past and still not completely solve the issue. I'm not really going to get into it myself. Mostly because I think the stuff surrounding her mother is far worse.

Frea: It feels to me, and this is my theory and nobody else's, and also just a theory, that writers of this episode, the fabulous LeJudkins themselves, were handed this assignment. It said, "Give Sarah a younger sister and a past with a baby so that we can get past the last parts of Sarah's reservations about small children and families, paving the way for the perfect ending to this love letters to the fan. Oh, and we have to answer lingering questions about her mom, too, so throw that in there."

Frea: And LeJudkins took a single look at it and were like, "Well...nothing we've implied about the backstory really fits. I mean, we haven't really outright said anything about Sarah's past, so technically we're not retconning if we just...don't say anything now."

mxpw: I happen to kind of agree with you about your theory. I think LeJudkins had their hands tied about the baby and mother storyline. I think Sarah's spy past being...convoluted is probably more their fault, but the baby stuff is on the people on high. It was just so blatantly obvious to me that they were tiptoeing around the fact that before this episode, Sarah's mother had always been presented as...not that great.

mxpw: I mean, she would have needed to be for Sarah's childhood to make sense. So the fact that they never once tried to fill in any blanks about Emma (I believe that was her name) was glaringly obvious.

Frea: Her name was Emma? Oh, okay.

mxpw: Yes, I believe so.

Frea: Yeah, it just felt like really lazy storytelling to me because they knew it didn't make sense. But that's okay. Chuck fans expect plotholes.

mxpw: I don't deny that it was lazy storytelling, and I'm a big fan of LeJudkins. I mean, maybe if Emma hadn't seemed so perfect, it would be one thing, but not only was she like perfectly understanding and caring and cool, but she knew all about Sarah being a spy.

Frea: Yes. And was completely fine with calling her daughter Sarah, so we dodged any Sam bullets. Whew!

mxpw: Which, I feel like I should call foul on. How many times in the first few seasons of this show did we hear that telling family members you were a spy was too dangerous for them? And yet Sarah was being completely free and open with her spy past with her mother, to the point of even calling her while on missions.

Frea: I'm pretty sure that there were two American Girl dolls named Molly and Samantha. I think we figured out Mama Walker's biggest secret: an obsession with American Girl Dolls.

mxpw: Okay.

mxpw: I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do with that.

Frea: Sorry, it was the first thing I thought of.

mxpw: Aaaaaanyway, yeah, the stuff with them kind of whitewashing Sarah's childhood was something I found more annoying than the confusion about her spy career. It undermined what could have been a super powerful reunion story with her mother.

Frea: But that's pretty par for the course for the show.

mxpw: But I actually have a theory about that.

Frea: Instead of letting Chuck and Ellie have realistic reactions to their mother's abandonment, one statement from her and all was forgiven with no hard feelings, after all.

Frea: Oh yeah? I love theories!

mxpw: Too true, Frea, too true.

mxpw: I think Sarah Walker is a Doll.

mxpw: From the Dollhouse.

mxpw: I think it would explain everything about her.

Frea: Let me guess: her Doll name is Delta.

mxpw: It would explain why her past always seems to change.

mxpw: It would explain why she never seems to learn anything.

mxpw: Also would explain why she's like the most un-self-aware person on the planet.

Frea: I just don't know...

Frea: I mean, brainwashing your main character to be controlled like that?

Frea: Seems lame.

mxpw: I know, it is lame, but it's just the kind of things these writers would try to pull off.

Frea: I fully believe that, yeah.

Frea: Wepdiggy told me a theory that Chuck actually takes place over several universes like Fringe and that way, the backstory is all completely consistent.

Frea: I see his point.

mxpw: I like this theory, as it means there's more than one Sarah Walker out there.

mxpw: That's the kind of multi-dimensional universe I want to live in.

Frea: I'm still happy with the fact that there are multiple Olivia Dunhams, even three seasons later. Anyway, yes, multiple Sarah Walkers, and they're all wonderful, even the one we visited for the first part of Season Three.

mxpw: Heh, so after saying it's in my contract to be the optimist for Sarah episodes, I'm going to say a few pessimistic statements.

Frea: Wait, wait, I don't know how I feel about you stealing my job, Maximus.

mxpw: I said this on twitter, but this episode didn't really do Sarah's intelligence any favors. I think that's the real flaw of this episode for me. I can ignore the spy past issues, I can even (mostly) ignore the whitewashing of Sarah's past, but I thought it was one hit after another for poor Sarah in the first half of this episode.

Frea: I mean, not everybody can wield a scepter this awesome.

Frea: Yes, the MBO job comes with a scepter.

mxpw: I'm sorry, MBO, but I have to get this off of my chest. Communication is the key to any healthy relationship.

mxpw: And I don't want my relationship with Sarah Walker to suffer.

Frea: It's for minion beating. Anyway, yeah, I'd agree with that. Of course, Sarah's intelligence is usually the first thing to go when they need to wank their own plots around.

mxpw: Look, I try to be fair in my reviews. Everybody knows I'm a huge Sarah Walker fan, but I try not to handwave stuff she does when I think it's wrong. And Sarah was wrong a lot in this episode. I know some people might not like me saying this, but I found Sarah annoying in the first half of the episode.

Frea: I knew you were going to, actually. And I would agree. Look, I'll be honest here:

Frea: I knew exactly what they were going for. They wanted Sarah to see that Lone Wolfing is wrong and have that big the Big After School Special Lesson to be learned so that they still get away with telling the story of the time Sarah once robbed a baby of its birthright.

Frea: That way, they're clear to tell this story because hey, look, Sarah learned her lesson!

Frea: I have so many fundamental problems with this because it feeds into the same problems I've been having with the past couple of episodes, in which characters haven't learned a single thing from all of the missions they've done. Sarah should already know she can trust Chuck with this information. She married him and Chuck has come through for her so many times. For her to be just figuring out this lesson now and not have the baby simply be a reflex and something to apologize over just really dropped her intelligence levels down to Other Guy rankings.

Frea: And you can't tell me that Sarah willingly going to Paris without backup and then letting her guard down around the guy whose wife she killed in cold blood wasn't the biggest walloping with the stupid stick there's ever been on this show. I know people want me to get over Season Three already, but how can I, when it provides me such great fodder for examples?

mxpw: Right, exactly. I said this to Crumby earlier, but this is basically Sarah...

mxpw: Sarah in Curse: "No, Chuck, you're not allowed to do this on your own! We're a team."

mxpw: Sarah in Baby: "No, Chuck, I have to do this alone. It's the only way! I can't tell you anything!"

mxpw: She learned nothing.

Frea: I guess I have to give props to Chuck for being the bigger person, but I'm not as big of a fan of LeJudkins as Maximus is, so they don't get as much of a pass with me. *grin*

mxpw: Haha. Yes, I am a big fan of LeJudkins. They're my favorite writers on staff, but I'd put this middle of the pack for me in terms of their episodes. For precisely what we've just been talking about. You would think Sarah would have clued in just once during the episode that she was basically doing herself what she just yelled at Chuck for doing and made him promise to never do again. But she didn't She was completely un-self-aware. Didn't see the hypocrisy in her actions or even think what she was doing was wrong until it was too late. It made me facepalm, honestly.

mxpw: What was worse for me, though, was when she got on the bus and then got captured. I hated that scene. Not necessarily because Sarah was going off on her own, though that was part of it, but because of what it implied.

Frea: Look, I liked the episode. But I liked the episode in a very, and I'm quoting my friend Ayefah here, "And as regular recipients of Chuck's abuse, we're happy when it just refrains from hurting us" way.

Frea: Also known as "The funny outweighed the stupid for once."

Frea: Which tells you there was a lot of funny. Because there was a whole hell of a lot of stupid.

mxpw: I'm just going to say this and then move away from criticizing Sarah: I thought she was kind of mean to Chuck a bit when she left him behind. Because of how she was acting when Ryker captured her. When she learned that Molly was safe, she just seemed fine with dying because it meant Ryker would never find out about Molly. And yet the whole time I was watching that scene, I couldn't help but think of poor Chuck, who Sarah was apparently perfectly fine with making a widow. Who, because she was unwilling to tell him anything, would never know why his wife left him, would never what happened to her, where she was, any of it. And that just seemed really kind of bleak to me about their relationship.

Frea: Agreed. But it also speaks of the usual tone-deafness for this show.

mxpw: Oh, and okay, one last thing: I pray that Sarah thought Ryker had captured some random infant and was holding it hostage, and that's why she fell for his trap, because otherwise...I just have no words.

Frea: I think she purposely put herself in his trap.

Frea: I thought it was her way of finding out if he really knew about Molly.

mxpw: Hmm...I don't know if I can agree with that.

Frea: I have a really hard time not finishing that name with "Weasley." I FEEL LIKE YOU SHOULD ALL KNOW THIS.

mxpw: I think it's giving her too much credit, honestly. Haha.

Frea: Oh, probably, but neither of us is in her head, so anything we argue is just fanwanking. Like most of the people trying to explain her spy past now!

mxpw: OH SNAP

mxpw: Too true, too true.

Frea: Which may be one of my biggest problems with every single Sarah episode save Phase Three.

mxpw: DeLorean! Since it was the first, not much to screw up. ;-)

Frea: Very true. DeLorean. So wonderfully done.

mxpw: Actually, wait, no, Cougars.

Frea: Let's take a moment and remember DeLorean. And Cougars.

mxpw: *moment of silence*

Frea: Okay, that's over.

mxpw: Onward to the stuff about Sarah I did like! Her awkwardness with the baby!

mxpw: I loved Sarah's improvised crib. Perhaps not the safest thing in the world, but very her.

mxpw: I actually liked that she knew enough to change the baby and feed her. It shows she's not totally socially dysfunctional.

Frea: Childcare with Sarah Walker. An empty magazine can be easily converted into a rattle!

mxpw: I liked her singing. Are we sure that was actually Yvonne?

Frea: I hope so!

mxpw: She didn't sound half bad.

Frea: I like to think it is. She has a deep singing voice, which is neat.

Frea: I'm not just saying that because Altos Have to Stick Together or anything like that.

mxpw: That just made me think of the Princess in her cell in Spaceballs.

Frea: "She's a bass."

mxpw: Haha

Frea: I dare somebody to shoot Sarah's hair. I wonder what would happen.

mxpw: It would bounce off.

Frea: And honestly, I'm kind of amazed this show hasn't stooped to "You caught their stunt doubles!" levels of idiocy.

mxpw: The hair porn in this episode was nice.

Frea: As I called it, "Hey, look, that's Killin' Eve Shaw hair!"

mxpw: I love Yvonne with short hair, but it's nice to see her with long hair again.

Frea: We've all noticed that Sarah's first kill was a brunette, right? More proof that they read the Adorable Psycho.

mxpw: Even if it was fake and unflappable.

mxpw: Haha

Frea: Okay, so the opening part of the episode was just this HUGE shout-out to the Bourne Identity, right?

mxpw: I liked Sarah's tactical turtle neck. It reminded me of Archer.

Frea: I wasn't imagining that?

mxpw: Bourne Identity mixed with the Matrix, yes.

Frea: Okay. Yeah, her shoot-out (which I didn't like but did enjoy for the stylistic elements; I really wish this show would refrain from having characters mow down ten or twelve people in a row, as I'd rather like to forget they're all sociopaths) was Matrix-y, but the "Kids are Her Hang-Up" and disappearing behind the bus plus the shaky-cam special all smack of Sarah Bourne.

mxpw: Well, it wouldn't exactly be the first time they've tried to imply that Sarah was like a Jason Bourne equivalent.

mxpw: Her entire past spy history kind of reads as one long homage to the Bourne trilogy.

Frea: I don't see it.

mxpw: You don't?

Frea: No. I'd say she's more like if Linus Caldwell had been the daughter of a Charlie's Angel and then had become a spy instead of a conman.

Frea: And not like Linus Caldwell in temperament at all.

mxpw: Hmm...I suppose I can kind of see that.

Frea: I mean, the Bourne Identity has a military background that volunteered for a brainwashing program. I'd say if anything, she's more Tomb Raider Spy, which was how the beginning scene struck me more than the Matrix.

Frea: If they could've gotten away with Sarah coming in on a bungee cord, they would have.

mxpw: Haha

mxpw: Perhaps you're right.

mxpw: And they probably didn't have the money to do anything like that, though I have to say this episode seemed to have higher production values than the show usually has.

Frea: Way better than last week's. It actually looked like a Chuck episode. I guess it helps to have one of the three editors behind the camera making his directing debut.

mxpw: Yeah.

mxpw: So I want to talk about Ryker for a bit before we move onto the second half of the episode.

mxpw: Can I just say how unbelievably refreshing it was for me to have a bad guy who only wanted money? I was like "Finally! A bad guy who isn't trying to destroy the government or take over the world! He's just normal!"

Frea: Wow

Frea: I did not even consider that

Frea: This episode just went up a point in my estimation!

mxpw: I think the last time we had a bad guy with such normal, mundane reasons was Amy in CAT Squad, who didn't want to be a spy anymore because she was tired of how much the life sucked. Which was basically Ryker's reasoning too.

Frea: All right, but I have a counterpoint to that.

mxpw: Be my guest.

Frea: Not about Ryker specifically because I really am refreshed, but just the fact that five years later, he's still looking for this kid.

Frea: Why wouldn't the next in line for the huge fortune have just declared the kid dead?

Frea: I mean, Sarah mowed down a table full of 10 or 12 people, it's not too much of a leap in logic that the kid might have been killed, too. You can get somebody legally declared dead under those circumstances, can't you?

mxpw: It's possible there were no surviving relatives and the money was in some kind of trust.

Frea: So then where would the money go?

mxpw: I think after a few years, you can have somebody legally declared dead, yes.

mxpw: Um, I have no idea. If nobody declared her dead, then the fortune would just be...floating around, I guess. I'm sure one of our readers could answer this question later in the comments.

Frea: My fingers are crossed that this is the case!

mxpw: This is funny because my father does estate law.

mxpw: I wish he was still here, I would have asked him.

Frea: Ah well. Maybe one of our intrepid readers will have an answer for us. Anyway, that bugged me during the episode.

mxpw: You know what bugged me most?

Frea: Oh, wait, he was trying to kill the baby. Never mind.

mxpw: Besides that. Haha.

mxpw: So when Sarah is confessing to Chuck that Molly is at her mother's, she says that she put Molly with her mother because nobody knew who she was or where she was.

mxpw: Yet as soon as Ryker hears that the baby is with Sarah's mom, he knows exactly where to go.

Frea: Yeah, that was a pretty glaring hole for me

mxpw: That was a big plot hole for me.

mxpw: But I still liked Ryker. Tim DeKay did a great job, I thought. He does menacing pretty well.

Frea: I thought it was ironic.

Frea: They bring in Tim DeKay in the episode where they essentially scrub Bryce Larkin from the mythology completely.

mxpw: Haha, I know, that was pretty hilarious.

mxpw: Okay, second-half episode time! The much stronger half, I thought.

Frea: Wait, wait, wait.

mxpw: Yes?

Frea: Got something I want to say about something that happened in the first half.

Frea: I would like to start a slow clap.

mxpw: *slow clap*

Frea: Because as much as I hated Sarah's going off by herself and turning Casey and Chuck on some seemingly-innocent waiter, I did not see the twist coming that the waiter was actually one of Ryker's men. So here's to you, LeJudkins. You earned this slow clap. Also, the parts where Chuck and Casey are having language difficulties made me giggle endlessly.

mxpw: "It's Europe! She's not busy!"

Frea: Okay! Second half!

mxpw: Sarah redeemed herself in this half, at least with me.

mxpw: Despite the facepalm nature of her even having to learn the lesson in the first place, I loved, loved, that she told Chuck everything. That they *gasp* actually communicated in an open, even-keeled, honest, loving way. I was like "Holy crap, what show am I watching!?"

mxpw: I loved that Chuck stood up for himself and told her she was wrong, too. That was almost as shocking as anything else in the episode. Haha.

Frea: Yeah, I was a little confused about what I was watching, too. Thought the fact that they communicated was great, but man, kind of unfair to Chuck, but that has more to do with the fact that Sarah and Chuck are both plot boomerangs and I can't expect them to learn anything unless it's, like I said before, a Very Special Afterschool Episode.

mxpw: Yeah, that's so true. But I was willing to overlook it because I just loved that scene so much.

mxpw: It was my favorite Chuck/Sarah moment of the season, I think. Until the end.

mxpw: And I have to say, after the last two episodes doing a number on Chuck's character, I really liked him in this episode.

Frea: I really am the cynic of our duo, I think. Because I don't care at all about their house or them having kids or anything.

mxpw: *blows a raspberry in your direction*

mxpw: :P

Frea: :)

mxpw: Yeah, yeah, I know. I may be a sap, but I loved the end. But I wanna talk about that later.

Frea: Okay. What do you want to talk about now?

mxpw: Awesome fight scene in the house?

mxpw: That was really intense. And brutal.

mxpw: Kind of a bit much for this series.

Frea: Oh yeah. That. That was intense and brutal and awesome. Glad she won.

mxpw: Haha

mxpw: And then Sarah gets to meet her little sister. It's gonna be kind of awkward explaining to Molly about her family when she gets older.

Frea: "So Big Sister Sarah killed everybody you would have grown up with and then kidnapped you..."

mxpw: Well, to be fair, her parents were dead. Though, yes, not seeing if she had any living relatives was kind of...a questionable moment.

mxpw: I thought it was a nice moment. And as long as I pretend that Sarah's mom wasn't a very good mom, then her reunion with Sarah was also nice. And it was nice to see Chuck and Emma talk.

mxpw: And Yvonne acted the hell out of all those scenes, especially the one flashback on the porch. That was awesome stuff.

Frea: I'm still holding to my theory that she's a reformed coke addict.

mxpw: I think it's a better explanation than the one they gave us on the show.

Frea: They didn't give us an explanation on the show.

mxpw: I know. Hence why I said it was better. Haha.

Frea: Their explanation was literally, "We know the story we want to tell makes no sense with everything we've implied in the past. But we're just going to ignore that because if you're still around, it means you should just be used to plotholes and having to fanwank everything in order for it to make sense anyway. Hey, look over here, it's Sarah Walker doing stunty things! Isn't she pretty? Focus on the pretty!"

mxpw: Wow, you just basically summed up my whole approach to the show.

mxpw: Maybe that's why I'm usually the optimist.

mxpw: I'm always distracted by the pretty.

Frea: I know you well. Look, I know I should be used to this by now. But this episode, as awesome as it was, was just damned lazy.

mxpw: I can't argue with that. And Sarah was really pretty. That dress she wore in the last sequence...

mxpw: Awesome.

Frea: 95% of it probably wasn't an actual retcon, but that's because they've deliberately played vague in the past and don't have the integrity to commit to a single idea with any sense of truth at all.

Frea: However, there was a very big retcon in it and that makes me sad.

mxpw: You are talking about Graham giving Sarah Chuck's folder?

Frea: Yes.

mxpw: Yeah, that was pretty blatantly obvious.

mxpw: See, but that's one of the reasons why I love this show. They remember that Sarah drives a Porsche in the flashbacks, but forget the ending to Nacho Sampler.

Frea: They retconned one of the very few episodes I can stand in early season three, and then they retconned my second-favorite episode of the series, and I dislike that.

mxpw: Yes, but the retcon of Nacho Sampler makes sense.

mxpw: Because nothing in Season 3 actually happened.

mxpw: The characters have all forgotten it.

Frea: Hahaha, that aside, I thought their retconning Nacho Sampler was idiotic for one reason:

Frea: Let's face it, people. Have we seen the ratings? Anybody left is a nerd for this show and knows the mythology in and out. They never had to show us what was in the folder. They could have just showed us the destroyed Intersect device that Bryce used in the Pilot and then, boom-badda-bing, Nacho Sampler STILL MAKES SENSE.

mxpw: Hahaha

mxpw: Yes, but, they had to be sure we knew what was going on.

mxpw: They had to, Frea.

Frea: Just because they ARE the lowest common denominator doesn't mean they have to write for the lowest common denominator.

mxpw: Oh snap again.

mxpw: Okay, so should we actually talk about the B story? I mean, do you want to?

Frea: Alex is the only person on the planet with realistic expectations about dating and everything and I'm sorry she got re-assimilated back into the cult.

mxpw: Haha, yeah, I said basically the same thing on twitter.

mxpw: She's the only one who seems to react realistically to relationship issues and then they kind of swept that under the rug.

mxpw: But she held out for like five episodes. On this show, that's practically an eternity.

Frea: I thought Ellie and Awesome were funny but I just hate everybody for pressuring Alex like that

mxpw: I know! I couldn't believe that Ellie, of all people, was talking up Morgan so much.

Frea: Like the part where Awesome grabbed her arm?

Frea: I wanted her to FLIP HIM DOWN THE STAIRS.

Frea: Because she is the SPAWN OF CASEY.

mxpw: Heeee

mxpw: That would have been hilarious.

Frea: That was a real "OH NO HE DIDN'T" moment for me.

mxpw: Devon would have probably thought it was awesome.

Frea: But I do think that LeJudkins are fans of the Bloggess, as they have introduced the literal concept of "douchecanoe."

mxpw: Haha

When Morgan started talking about being a douche with the Intersect, it made me think of you.

Frea: The Douchersect!

mxpw: And the Douchersect.

mxpw: Okay, so the last scene.

mxpw: You don't have to comment, but I want to say how much I liked it.

Frea: No, wait, not done.

mxpw: Okay.

Frea: I'm also not a fan of the whole "A lady sees a man playing cutely with a small child and all is forgiven" plots as I find them tired and unoriginal.

mxpw: I think it was just supposed to show that Morgan was still Morgan more than anything else. Though I agree that was a cliche way to solve things.

Though I have to say I kind of cracked up when I saw that Alex was drinking Grape soda. It was a nice touch in an otherwise relatively unsubtle episode.

Frea: Excellent point.

mxpw: Now the last scene?

Frea: Okay, we can move on now

mxpw: Sweet.

mxpw: I loved the last scene. I really did. I rolled my eyes at Sarah saying that cutting herself off from all her friends and family was the best thing for her in the early part of her life (because really, how is that healthy for ANYBODY?) so that she could be a spy, despite all evidence to the contrary over the last five seasons, the events that happened in this episode included.

mxpw: But despite that line, I thought that was a wonderful scene between Chuck and Sarah and I'm so happy that Sarah finally decided what she wants her future to be. While she didn't say she no longer wanted to be a spy explicitly, it's obvious she's on that path now with her rejection of the CIA's offer.

Frea: Yeah, that's a nice touch.

mxpw: And I don't know, I just really liked their talk, with the Chuck/Sarah theme playing in the background (I missed it, okay? Don't judge), and then her basically acknowledging she'd like to have kids some day with her speech about the house and their relationship. I thought it was awesome.

mxpw: My favorite scene between them this season. LeJudkins are pretty much the only writers who I feel get them right most of the time and this episode was a good example of why.

Frea: Same for me, but swap "LeJudkins" with "Newman" and we're golden. :)

mxpw: That's not the same at all! :P

Frea: It's how I feel, though. LeJudkins are great because they can make me laugh and I've resigned myself that they really are going to go for the 2.5 kids, white picket fence, and golden retriever ending.

mxpw: Haha. I'm not sure that has anything to do with LeJudkins specifically, though.

mxpw: But that's been kind of obvious since Zoom (which was a Fedak episode, I should point out).

mxpw: Final thoughts?

Frea: Oh, okay. Fine. Final thoughts. Right. Let's see...

Frea: Most of the problems I had with this episode weren't actually problems with this episode specifically. Max is a lot more forgiving than I am on everything but Sarah Walker, which is completely fine. This show built up a lot of goodwill with me in the first few episodes and then salted the earth with Curse and Santa Suit and this episode, though it was much better than most of the season so far, ended up suffering in comparison. I thought this episode was lazy storytelling and I had a lot of issues with it, but it made me laugh and I am now warm with the knowledge that Sarah once had a stuffed dog named Bunny, so I guess I have to say, good episode. Thanks for not sucking as much as last week's and the week before that. All good.

mxpw: It's true, I am a lot more forgiving. And even Sarah, who annoyed me for the first half of the episode, I ended up forgiving by the end. Because she just became awesome again. I loved the two big Chuck/Sarah scenes, Chuck was a freaking revelation this week in comparison to the last two, Ellie and Devon were pretty damn funny, and even Casey had a good moment with the waiter. Yeah, Sarah did a lot of stupid stuff this episode, but the rest of the episode was just good enough to overcome it. And really, Yvonne was amazing. I feel like I don't say that enough, but it's true. She made this episode overcome many of its failings. I'm so glad she's Sarah Walker.

mxpw: Ratings?

Frea: 8 out of 10 Castle Slides

mxpw: *blinks* What?

Frea: It was 7 but I said something at some point in the review about my rating going up a point.

mxpw: When I mentioned that Ryker had normal reasons for being a bad guy.

Frea: "Don't hate the episode, just hate the show."

mxpw: Still, damn. I didn't expect that.

mxpw: No real SWP to remark on here, so Four Sarahs kicking ass out of Five.

Frea: I'm more inclined to give it a higher rating because it didn't completely abuse me like the Shaw suckfest last weekend.

mxpw: Works for me!

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What'd you think? Surprised by our ratings?  So was Maximus.