Chris Fedak has Brass Balls and I Like It!

So the final episode of Chuck’s second season aired this week and it ended with the most optimistic line ever… “To Be Continued…” God bless Chris and Josh and those guys and girls down at Chuck HQ. However one little side note, I’m fairly sure that Gilligan, Shiban and Spotnitz ended The Lone Gunmen with the exact same optimism… I honestly have everything crossed for you that history doesn’t repeat itself.

It was none other than Bryce Larkin himself who said “It’s 1999, the next millennium belongs to the geek.” and its been too long since we’ve had a geeky hero on our screens and that’s Chuck! Since the death of the three nerds Byers, Frohike and Langley (played by Dean Haglund who i once had the pleasure of working with.) The nerd community at large have been without their representative in the TV world. But last year along came Zach Levi and changed all that. Long live Chuck!

So, the finale, Sarah and Bryce are reunited, John gets to rejoin his old marine unit and Chuck finally quits the Buy More… Oh and Ted Roark shows up and ruins Ellie’s wedding day!

So the episode opens with Chuck and Casey quitting the Buy More and the last scene for Tony Hale since it now seems improbable that the Buy More will feature in anyway in a new series should the show be picked up again.

(Sidenote: It could be that the produces are attempting to make the show more appealing to networks by cutting some of the expenses. Certainly the Buy More is the biggest set on the show and it also represents over 50% of the show’s cast. If the Buy More is cut the show is easier to pick up without taking on the entire cast. As it stands the cast of Chuck has 10 cast members on its season credits, cutting the Buy More, even if you keep Morgan cuts that to 6 and if you take Ellie and Devon out of it as they are now happily married and say, have moved to the suburbs, you can cut it to 4. Certainly not a prospect I relish and this is only a theory but if it means Chuck gets picked up… We can always have guest stars…)

So, Chuck bids Emmett goodbye and walks away for the last time, as Emmett calls after him, “What do you think you’re going to do for the rest of your life?” And that Mr. Hale is the question that this episode poses really isn’t it? Not only what does Chuck plan to do but what new direction is the series heading in?

With the Buy More out of the way, Chuck returns to Castle where Beckman offers him a job on the new intersect project. Chuck turns it down, claiming he’s not a hero, he’s just Chuck. However, to be honest, what does Chuck have to go to that is better than what he is being offered. His sister is getting married, his best friend is leaving and if he doesn’t stay in spy world he’ll lose Sarah too. This however seems to be a thought that hadn’t occurred to Chuck. Having declined the offer Casey give Chuck his pay packet and his own personal number for emergencies.

Meanwhile Sarah is informed she will be heading up the new intersect project with Bryce as the new Human Intersect. Its odd but throughout this episode you can see it in Sarah’s face that she doesn’t want to take this new job, least ways not without Chuck, so why does she agree to it? Is it the comfort of the devil you know, as opposed to heading into the unknown, trying to make a go of it with Chuck?

And so we come to the wedding day and Chuck takes Sarah aside and asks her to go on vacation with him and Sarah breaks his heart, not only by refusing but by doing it to be with Bryce. Chuck leaves to drown his sorrows which is when Roark falls upon him, demanding the new intersect cube. Seriously though, I’m not the only one who is fed up of this chase for the intersect and the whole human intersect project right? Seriously have the US Government not heard the proverb “Don’t put all your eggs in the same basket.” Roark threatens to kill Ellie should Chuck fail to bring him the cube.

Chuck gets Morgan to stall while he recruits Bryce and calls Casey. Which naturally leads to a shoot out in the reception room, set to the backdrop of Jeffster (Jeff and Lester’s band) warming up the wedding crowd. Roark is taken down but the reception is ruined, to which Casey replies accusingly “You called!”

To top it all off Jeff ignites a pair of pryos and sets off the sprinklers. Leading to a mass exodus and the rather forced line from Sarah Lancaster “Wedding Cancelled”. Agonising over ruining the happiest day of his sister’s life whilst trying to do the right thing Chuck uses his settlement money to give her the wedding day she really wanted.

As Ellie and Awesome tie the knot Bryce asks Sarah one last time if she is coming with him and tearfully she declines. That’s enough for Bryce and he walks away. Unfortunately the men who are going to download the intersect into him are traitors who have already neutralised Casey. Luckily Orion, who had experimented on himself with the intersect during his youth, flashes in time to warn Chuck and Sarah. They collect a battered and bemused Casey and head after Bryce.

The new non-fulcrum group use Bryce to access the vault with the intersect, where security is exceptionally lax I might add, before shooting him. Bryce topples inside and locks the door behind him. Chuck enters the vault through the roof echoing the opening of the series as Bryce broke into the intersect room in the same way. Bryce breathes his last telling Chuck to take care of Sarah and thrusting the device to destroy the intersect into Chuck’s trembling hands.

Finally faced with the decision of accepting his destiny or destroying it forever Chuck hesitates only moments before uploading the new intersect. The pictures flash and as soon as he has his wits about him once more Chuck uses the device, which although kinda cool looking lacked the explosiveness of Bryce’s last intersect destroying tool.

The door opens and Miles, new evil spy, brings in Sarah and Casey. Realising Chuck has downloaded the new intersect Miles and his cronies surround Chuck, Chuck however didn’t just download the computer this time, but he got service packs one, two and three as well and the mild mannered Nerd Herder deftly disarms the six or so trained assassins that surround him before brutally knocking them into the middle of next week. “Chuck me!” Casey breathes… “Guys…” Chuck murmurs, “I know Kung Fu!”

So i was right. Last week i predicted that Chuck would voluntarily download the intersect, however i did not predict that it would be Bryce’s death that would spark his decision. Although in terms of storytelling it makes sense, it was Bryce’s “death” that gave Chuck the intersect in the first place, against his will and finally when Chuck was able to forgive his friend on his deathbed it would be his death that would cause Chuck to become the hero, to take on the mantle of Bryce Larkin, a real spy.

So we can see a reassembly of Team Chuck, after all Casey’s team is all dead as is Sarah’s (although already in my own household there is debate that Bryce is not really dead and if he isn’t then he too is an intersect…as his eyes were open during the download!) but what about the members of Team Chuck? Big Mike, Jeff and Lester will be hard to shoehorn into a new series without the Buy More. As the only civilian to know Chuck’s identity Devon seems to be an idea candidate to come back next season, that and the fact that Chris and Josh know just how much the fans love him… And, well, how can you not bring Sarah Lancaster back…

But what about Morgan? Chuck cannot exist without Morgan, he is Chewie to Chuck’s Solo, except less effective in a fight. Perhaps Morgan and Anna are doomed to break up and so Morgan returns to become Chuck’s roommate after Devon and Ellie move into their own little love nest?

But of course, this is all speculation… Chuck deserves another season, another chance to win our hearts but for now all is done. So too is NBC’s other hit Monday night show Heroes (expect a blog on that soon.), in a weeks time the doors of Sacred Heart close for the final time as Scrubs finishes its eighth and final season, with Dollhouse finishing that week too and with Fringe, Lost and the Unit finishing the week after, all that will be left is Reaper, which really leaves one question… What DVD do i buy next?

This has been Chuck and that was My Two Cents… Come back soon :)

That’s All Folk’s… Or Is It?

So it looks like Chuck is wrapping itself up, in fact it almost screams “Cancel Me!” with this weeks episode Chuck vs. the Colonel.

I watched Chuck vs. the First Kill and vs. the Colonel back to back last night, which, as they are practically two parts of the same episode, worked out rather nicely. Nearly every loose end was wrapped up across these two episodes leaving the show in a good place if it is to be cancelled, however, there is still one episode left this season and knowing Chuck, it’s going to take this weeks nicely balled up string and run amok with it, leaving the show so tangled that it just has to come back! *Fingers Crossed*

Ok, so since the start of the second season I’ve had a couple of predictions about the direction the show would take. One was that Sarah and Chuck had to get it on and the second was that Morgan would find out about Chuck’s secret life, however EP and writer Matt Miller had different plans.

Chuck vs. the Colonel opens with Chuck and Sarah on the run after General Beckman decides that project Bartowski is over. They arrive at Black Rock, the secret Fulcrum base, that doesn’t exist, where Chuck’s father Orion is being held. Now it may just be me but if i were looking for a secret base I would assume it would be hidden, say, under the ground! But not Chuck and Sarah. Instead they check into a local motel, getting a room with only one bed! Is Chuck really looking for his father, or is he just enjoying being on the lamb with Sarah? Hmmm…

So back at Castle General Beckman promotes Casey to Colonel and then sets him loose on Chuck and Sarah with a kill or capture order. However in his hurry Casey accidentally alerts Devon “Capt. Awesome” and sets the ball rolling for this weeks big shakeup.

Back at the Motel Chuck and Sarah get ready for bed and Chuck makes some noise about sleeping on the floor… He protests too much me thinks… (we’ve all been there Chucky, we know what you’re upto.") However a seemingly clueless Sarah mutters those immortal words we all want to hear “No it’s ok… the floor is gross and I’m not going to make you sleep on it.” and as they lay there together Sarah confesses why she is helping Chuck in a classic touching moment that we have come to expect from these two.

And so they fall asleep and when they wake up they fall into a passionate embrace that has Chuck running to the bathroom to check his wallet, only to find a note from his old buddy Morgan “I owe you one condom” Brilliant!

Casey discovers Chuck and Sarah but so too do Fulcrum and a brilliant fight ensues with a radiator and some exceptional comedy from Adam Baldwin and Zack Levi “You can’t kill me with that radiator, it is far too confined in this car for you to get the appropriate torque.”

Back at the Buy More Morgan is dealing with his bad decision to help Emmett that led to Big Mike getting fired. Devon turns up to ask about Chuck and Casey and so Jeff and Lester show him the contents of John’s locker. Shocked and appalled and just a little scared about his soon-to-be brother-in-law Capt. Awesome makes a house call at Casey’s apartment. The well meaning Captain fails to figure out the truth but accidentally triggers Casey’s burglar alarm, locking himself in Casey’s living room.

Chuck and Sarah are now safely back at Castle, locked in a holding cell when the alarm goes off and Casey goes home. Moments later, as act of defiance to the new management Jeff and Lester blow the power for the entire block, knocking out Castle’s defences and allowing Chuck and Sarah to escape. Meanwhile Casey returns home and is about kill the beloved Dr. Woodcomb and a small part of me thought they might just do it!

Back when I first watched season 1 I couldn’t help but dislike Awesome, I couldn’t see any reason why Ellie liked him or why Chuck was so happy to have him as a brother in law, however now, Ryan McPartlin is so very very charismatic that you can’t help but fall in love with Awesome.

Anyway… Sarah shows up just in the nick of time followed by Chuck, who, so glad to finally have the opportunity to share his burden spills all to the Captain before Sarah or Casey can stop him. After that Chuck and Sarah tie up Casey and flee, heading back to Black Rock to save to Orion, leaving Devon to cover with Ellie. Devon looks himself in the mirror as he wrestles with the news that Chuck is a spy. What an Awesome scene this was, the Captain looked like he would explode he was that conflicted. Brilliant, very funny.

Back at Black Rock Casey catches up with Chuck and warns him that Beckman has ordered an airstrike against the secret Fulcrum base. John points out the three flaws in Chuck’s plan to rescue his father. “You didn’t realise you were being trailed for the last half hour, you didn’t bring nearly enough firepower and you didn’t ask me to join!” Adam is great at delivering lines like this, it’s what made us fall in love with Jayne back on the firefly Serenity and its what makes agent Casey so special. It’d be a shame for Adam to loose another show, after all he hasn’t done a show yet that has lasted three seasons after he joined the cast!

So the three of them end up getting caught and made to watch as Ted Roark puts the intersect to use training a Fulcrum army. Except that, of course, Orion reprogrammed the intersect to wipe Chuck instead. Beckman’s airstrike arrives and the whole group manage to escape with Orion to return home in time for Awesome and Ellie’s wedding (next week), where we have a really nice bonding moment between Casey and Chuck and then Chuck and Sarah.

Back at the Buy More Morgan leaves in order to protect his honour, taking Anna with him as he goes off to pursue his dreams.

Rising from the ashes Ted Roark thumbs a lift, muttering menacingly “Got a wedding to go to…”

So then… everything but the wedding is all wrapped up. Chuck no longer has the intersect in his head (but we don’t know if he still has the Fulcrum intersect in there.) and he and Sarah very-nearly-almost got it on. And someone did find out about Chuck, but it wasn’t Morgan and when i found out it was Devon, i couldn’t honestly think of anyone less likely but at the same time better, a real stroke of genius.

So if the show gets another series, where does it go from here? What will happen when Ted shows up at the wedding? Will Chuck’s cover be blown? Will it be revenge time? Will Ted kill Orion or possibly Ellie or Awesome? Clearly something truly diabolical must be coming because Chuck has to feel the need for revenge otherwise he wouldn’t ask for the intersect to be put back in his head… because lets face it, he’s going to ask for it back. Or maybe next season takes a new direction, maybe Chuck decides to join the CIA and become an Agent. That would lead to a whole different feel to the show and enable them to get away from “The Intersect” driven plotlines for a little while.

And what about the Buy More crew, with Morgan and Anna gone and Chuck finally able to move on with his life will we be saying goodbye to Emmett, Big Mike, Jeff and Lester?

All these questions and more will be answered, but only if NBC (or CW) pick up Chuck for a new season… Please, please, please do! Can’t wait ‘til next week to find out what will happen when Ellie Bartowski becomes Ellie Awesome but until then, this has been My Two Cents.

Chuckles

Before tomorrow’s episode airs i just wanted to take this opportunity to say, this week’s Chuck was the best episode ever written.

Series creator Chris Fedak was back holding the reins this week as the writer on this episode “Chuck vs. the Predator”. Since the hiatus the show has been a little ‘Floppy’. Although it is consistently good in terms of action and comedy the stories have been a little “use once and throw away”. To give an example;

The second half of this season opened with Chuck in 3-d, a gimmick that wouldn’t be repeated and a story that really had no effect on the over arching mythology of the show. Other episodes this season such as Chuck vs. the Beefcake, ended with an awesome, series changing cliff-hanger, that Chuck and Sarah were moving in together because Chuck may have been compromised, only for the situation to be resolved within the teaser of the following episode.

This kind of inconsequential storytelling permeates Chuck because at the end of the day it is more of a sitcom than it is a drama despite its 40 minute running time and as we all know in all good sitcoms the situation is the one thing that stays the same week in and week out. However it is really frustrating when the writers suggest a new direction for the show that is all exciting only to not follow up on it.

So this week was a nice change of pace. Chuck finally discovers that he can get the intersect out of his head so he finally have a normal life, Sarah betrays Chuck again, Casey defends Chuck and Sarah and the Buy More boys get to play.

I think what I really like about this episode is the way Chris Fedak manages to incorporate the entire cast. Something that is not always easy to in this show, without it seeming forced. All of the Buy More players com e out in force including Big Mike and Emmett (Who i have a new found respect after watching the entire first season of Arrested Development.) to wreak havoc in a rival store in a series of hilarious gags.

This is played against a backdrop of serious spy stuff as Chuck tries to circumvent General Beckman so that he can meet up with Orion, the scientist who may be able to remove the intersect from Chuck’s head. It is this element of seriousness underwritten with either subtle or overt comedy that really makes this episode shine.

Anyway, that was my short Two Cents, just a little shout out to the crew of Chuck to keep up the good work, making Monday that little bit sweeter.

Best episode ever? Honestly go watch it!