Archive for Shaw
Most ‘Chuck’ fans know that last night’s episode, ‘Chuck Versus The Other Guy,’ was originally designed to be the third season finale. That was, of course, before NBC surprised Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak with an order for six more episodes, bringing the total to 19.
Don’t get me wrong; ‘Chuck Versus The Other Guy’ was one of my favorite episodes this season. So many stories advanced and got tied together, it made for a very satisfying hour.
But that’s because the stories were supposed to be wrapped up. For all Fedak and Schwartz knew, this was going to be the last episode they ever did. So, did things wrap up a little too neatly last night, leaving the last six episodes as some sort of long, energy-free epilogue? I’m not sure.
Let’s see where we are at this point: Chuck’s a full-fledged spy who finally had to kill someone, but out of necessity. Shaw’s finally dead, leaving that artificial impediment out of the way of Chuck and Sarah’s romantic aspirations. Sarah finally admitted she’s loved Chuck all along, even before he saved her from certain death multiple times over the last few weeks.
The director of The Ring has been captured, and their plans to construct their own Intersect have been scuttled. Casey has been reinstated. And Morgan is now part of “Team Bartkowski.” The episode ends with Chuck and Sarah having a romantic moment in Paris, the city Chuck has been wanting to visit for his entire life
If the season or the show ended there, it would have been perfect. But in the next six episodes, we get to see the aftermath of this seemingly tidy conclusion: Morgan bumbling through his training while straining to not blow his cover, Chuck and Sarah fighting what’s left over of The Ring while trying to negotiate their new relationship, and the Buy More dealing with the new normal. And we found out last night that not only will Scott Bakula return as Chuck’s dad (something we knew already), but Julia Ling is coming back as Anna in order to complicate Morgan’s life.
I have faith in Fedak, Schwartz, and their writing staff to create fun new adventures for ‘Team Bartowski’ as well as try to integrate the weird goings-on at the Buy More into those adventures. And there’s always the chance to explore more of Chuck’s complicated relationship with both his dad and his sister Ellie — will Chuck or Awesome finally crack and tell her he’s a spy, for instance.
There is potential for the show to go down a lot of new avenues, or explore old ones that we haven’t seen in a while — I miss Chuck helping capture the bad guys with his wits instead of his Intersect-provided kung fu skills.
But at what point does this all start feeling repetitive? And are we going to see Chuck and Sarah driven apart yet again in one of those infuriating will they/won’t they dances we’ve seen on TV since ‘Cheers?’
Let’s hope that the real ‘Team Bartowski’ (the ones scarfing Doritos in the writing room) have a lot of big plans in store for the back six. Otherwise, it’s going to feel like a big ol’ letdown after this week.
The lies and lies have finally reached critical mass for some of the people in Chuck’s life. Last week, Hannah vamoosed because of Chuck’s duplicity. Awesome has been completely off his game. And this episode, the beard had had enough. If you wonder who the beard is, you probably don’t watch much. However, if you do and want to know how Iwo Jima was homaged in Burbank, keep reading after the jump.
The team was forced to face the fact that the Intersect has problems. That means Chuck, and he’s as unreliable as a Toyota accelerator pedal these days. The fact that Casey, Sarah and Shaw would go on a mission without someone more reliable than faulty Agent Carmichael was a major hole in the plot, but why quibble? It created the perfect situation for some significant story line development.
You might have suspected that when faced with real danger, Morgan would crumble. Not so. He was actually like a commercial for the Marines, ready to die for the Buy More … and America. It was good to see Chuck in a situation where no earpiece with instructions from the CIA could bail him out, as if they would know what to say to get through to Morgan anyway.
When Morgan finally learned the truth, his reaction was perfect. He was proud of his best friend. He even rehired him as his best friend. Morgan was able to see through all of Chuck’s defensiveness about Sarah and help him connect to his emotions. Once Chuck was able to accept that Sarah owns his heart, Chuck’s Intersect rebooted. A little obvious, you know A + B = C, but something had to give so that Chuck could move forward as a spy and a potential love interest for Sarah. Although Shaw is still in the way.
The Buy More story actually was connected to the spy story in a real way. Since Shaw was identified in a previous episode — at the museum — the Ring was able to infiltrate Castle by finding the way through Buy More. The Buymoria nation was moved to fight, because even if Jeff and Lester and Big Mike hate their jobs, it’s all they got. Jeffster’s song was the sound of liberty for sure. A little out of left field, but so what.
Now what? Shaw was right about putting Morgan in Witness Protection. Morgan’s not the type to put it in the vault and throw away the key. Heck, even Awesome has struggled to keep Chuck’s secret. So, is Chuck safe or has he put himself in an even more dangerous situation? The latter, most likely, because that’s what the show is all about.
Watch ‘Chuck Versus the Beard’ Episode Online
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Zachary Levi pulled a double duty for the March 8 episode of “Chuck“. The actor took the director’s seat for “Chuck Versus the Beard” which sees his character having some trouble with the Intersect inside his head.
Chuck feels like his life is falling apart when he can’t flash and gets left behind for a mission. While Shaw, Sarah and Casey go on without him, Chuck finds himself in a sticky situation back at the base.
“I had reservations about it until it was signed off by the powers that be,” Levi said about his directing duty. “I can’t believe they let me do this episode.” The episode is said to have the entire cast involved and could have major repercussion on future story lines.
On another news, Levi and co-star Joshua Gomez recently participated in a press conference to talk about the remaining half of season 3. “Back to the Future” actor Christopher Lloyd will guest star in episode 16. “Now I just need a hoverboard and my life would be complete,” Levi joked. Scott Bakula will also reprise his role as Chuck’s father in the last three episodes of the season.
The long wait for “Chuck” to return has been relieved by a sneak peek to its March episodes. When the show comes back from its Winter Olympics hiatus on March 1, Chuck asks Sarah the ultimate question: “Sarah, do you love me?”.
Also in the episode which is titled “Chuck Versus the Fake Name”, Chuck promises to cook dinner for Hannah, Ellie and Awesome but must first assume the identity of the world’s most dangerous assassin for his latest mission. Meanwhile, Sarah is determined to keep her relationship with Shaw strictly professional.
Zachary Levi who plays Chuck will direct the next one which is called “Chuck Versus the Beard” and airs on March 8. Chuck feels like his life is falling apart when he can’t flash and gets left behind for a mission. While Shaw, Sarah and Casey go on without him, Chuck finds himself in a sticky situation back at the base.
Episode 3.08 – CHUCK VERSUS THE FAKE NAME
Monday, March 01, 2010
Chuck (Zachary Levi) promises to cook dinner for Hannah (guest star Kristin Kreuk), Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Awesome (Ryan McPartlin) but must first assume the identity of the world’s most dangerous assassin for his latest mission. Meanwhile, Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) is determined to keep her relationship with Shaw (guest star Brandon Routh) strictly professional. Adam Baldwin, Scott Krinsky, Vik Sahay and Mark Christopher Lawrence also star.
While other viewers welcomed the new pairing mix-up, most Chuck fans were definitely not pleased after seeing Sarah with Shaw and Chuck with Hannah in the episode “Chuck Versus the Mask,” which aired Monday. Some even questioned the direction of the NBC spy series, feeling betrayed and puzzled as to why Sarah and Chuck have not gotten together when Sarah already found out what Chuck said to her in the vault in “Chuck vs. the Three Words.”
To address frustrated Chuck fans, series co-creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak explain why the love trapezoid had to happen and what’s preventing the Sarah-Chuck romance from happening.
“From our perspective, this is a necessary part of the season,” Chris Fedak tells The Star-Ledger’s Alan Sepinwall. “It’s like the middle chapters of a book. For the season to play out, we have to tell this story. Not only the romantic side of things, but also on the spy side of the story, feeding into the mythology of it all.”
Still, the big question remains: Why haven’t Chuck and Sarah gotten together, considering what has been said and done in the past? Schwartz says that when Sarah allowed herself to become vulnerable with Chuck, she got her heart broken. And now, she’s learned from that mistake. Chuck’s decision to become a full-pledged spy also doesn’t help because it only propels Sarah to question if he’s still the man she fell for last season.
Unfortunately, the producers’ explanations so far have not addressed why Sarah can be with Shaw and not Chuck. But Schwartz asserts that Sarah is “still there to protect Chuck. The bodyguard component of that professional relationship remains intact. Shaw is an equal – her boss in fact – and the same issue of Sarah’s feelings for Chuck compromising her ability to do the job in the most cold-blooded way possible remains.”
Fedak adds, “There’s also the part, too, that Shaw and Sarah share so much in common. They’re spies, they speak the same language, have gone through the same spy school. This is the type of guy that Sarah, in any other spy show, would fall in love with.”
What a great episode! Forgive me if I gush, but this was — for me — the best Chuck of the third season. And I think it may well be a game-changer for Chuck Bartowski, fledgling spy and man with the Intersect in his brain. For the first time, Chuck really achieved altitude, which may coincide with the plot that had Chuck, as the title suggested, taking flight.
I approve wholeheartedly of Shaw’s decision to put Chuck into the field and let him fly solo. After all the training in Prague, not to mention all the missions with Casey and Sarah, Chuck should be able to handle himself in most situations. And in this instance, he had contact with Shaw and Sarah to lend more than a little assistance. Getting Sarah to take over the controls of the 747 was a perfect way for the CIA to help Chuck while still letting him do the work.
Chuck didn’t get to use the nunchucks, but he was pretty good with the sword play. What I liked about this episode is that it broke out of the formula. There was no party to infiltrate. No girl on girl fight between Sarah and some evil operative. No predictable commentary from the General to set up or wrap up the show. There was more time for character development with Shaw questioning Sarah’s feelings for Chuck and revealing how he lost his wife, Evelyn, a spy like them. It was a cautionary tale, but Sarah may be too in love with Chuck to simply turn off her feelings.
One of the best things in the show was Kristin Kreuk as Hannah, the nice girl from first class. I don’t know her from Smallville, but I thought she was great here. And, fortunately, Chuck did not flash when he met her. She didn’t trigger any connection to evil, so I’m hoping that Hannah will be something Chuck hasn’t had for a long time — an attainable woman. The fact that she turned up at the Burbank Buy More at the close was very promising.
The Buy More subplot picked up where we left off before, with Lester hating Morgan for being management and the rest of the staff following his lead. With Chuck missing in action — out on the longest install in Buy More history? — Morgan turned to Casey. Kind of reminded me of My Bodyguard. Anyway, Casey’s brainwashing technique was pure Manchurian Candidate. The perfect capper was when Lester said, “Morgan Grimes is the kindest, warmest, most understanding man I’ve ever known.”
Watch “Chuck Versus First Class” Episode Online
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