Third Season is Over

Well, we made it through Season 3 of Chuck and what a season it was.  Daniel Shaw comes it to 'mold' Chuck into a real spy but seems to do everything to keep him from it.  Then on top of that he steals Sara.  Then Shaw becomes a Ring agent.  Wow!  What more can one person do?

I didn't like the Shaw character.  I think everything could have been accomplished without the "wooden wonder".  I call him that because he always seemed to very mechanical in his acting and even in the emotional scenes, he played them impassively.  I was very glad when Chuck shot him but I was sure he wasn't dead.  

Shaw returns on the last night with the Ring's intersect in his head.  I thought the intersect would go only is certain people and there weren't very many of them. (Just Chuck in two seasons.)  At least Chuck got the better in the final fight.  I really enjoyed Chuck and Shaw fighting and Chuck won, without killing Shaw.  Even with Chuck's intersect 'short circuiting his brain, Chuck won.  Shaw tried to make Chuck kill him but Chuck didn't.  Sarah had the great line after that showing Chuck how much she cared for him.

The death of Orion (Chuck's Dad) was expected.  Advertisements and leaks from the production said someone would die.  I didn't think it would be any of the regulars so Mr. Bartowski was the obvious choice.  

What did surprise me was the flashback that Chuck had been exposed to an intersect when he was a child.  Will that have any effect on him later?  Season 4 may explain that.  That's right, we know we will have a Season 4 before the end of the season.  

Speaking of Season 4, how is Chuck going to react to his Dad's final report to him about being a freelance spy?  Who will he tell about that secret and will he follow in his Dad's footprints?  I think he will and he will tell Sarah and maybe Casey.  That would take us back to the beginning of the show with just those two knowing his "secret identity".


The other big questions are"

• What will Chuck's cover job be?
• What happens to the Buy More crowd?
• Is General Beckman coming back and how will she fit in

That's all I know to write now.  If I think or hear of any other Chuck stuff during the off-season, I will write again.  But for now, I sign off until next season.

Chuck vs. the Other Guy

Chuck and Sarah finally got together.  Last week Chuck told Sarah that he loved her and this week Sarah said "Yes" to Chuck's question, "Sarah, do you love me?" Shaw tried to make things difficult for this to happen but Chuck got her back.

Shaw took Sarah to "find the Ring's Intersect" in Paris.  Good ole Morgan watched the recording of the battle between Shaw and some Ring baddies and pointed out to Chuck that the fight was fake.  Chuck talked Casey into going with him to Paris (with Morgan shaming Casey into it).  Shaw took Sarah to the place where Sarah killed his wife in Sarah's first kill.

Then Shaw told Sarah that there was no way he could let her live for killing his wife.  Sarah was tranked (shot with a tranquilizer gun) that immobilized her so she could see what was happening.  Then the director of the Ring showed up, told Sarah that Shaw was his new agent.  As Shaw's first act as a Ring agent, he gave the Director plans of the Intersect so the Ring could get their Intersect up and running. 

As the Director left, Shaw told Sarah they were going to look at the river but Chuck was behind him with a gun.  He couldn't shoot so Shaw and Chuck got into a fight.  In the fight, a knife got into the mix and was headed for Sarah.  Chuck lost his Intersect knowledge.  (Sarah in trouble seems to be Chuck's Kriptonite.)  Shaw knew that and took Sarah to the bridge and told her that she wouldn't feel anything when drowning because of the paralysis.

Chuck shows up with his gun pointed at Shaw.  Shaw tells him Chuck couldn't shoot him and Chuck tries to talk Shaw into giving him Sarah.  Shaw raises his gun and Chuck shoot Shaw twice. As Shaw falls over the ledge of the bridge, he grabs Sarah's arm and tries to pull her in with him.  Chuck holds onto Sarah until Shaw can't hold on any more and he falls into the river.  I don't think Shaw is dead and he is going to show up again.

Next scene finds Sarah in this large bed, in Chuck's shirt, awaking from the drug.  Sarah doesn't remember things very well so Chuck tells her that he shot Shaw and was afraid Sarah would be upset with him.  She was happy that Chuck could do that for her.  They kiss as the camera goes to the Eifle Tower in the window.

Now this was a great episode with an awesome ending.  The action never stopped and there was some great comedic parts.  This episode was supposed to be the finale of the season but we now have 6 more episodes.  So we get to have two final episodes.  Awesome!  The only bad thing is that we have to wait 3 weeks until season 3.1 starts.  I can't wait.  Susan and I saw them getting ready to film a scene in Chuck vs. the Honeymooners.  I can't wait.  I have already seen the set on some previews.

As the little kid in The Incredibles said at the end when everything crashed at the end, "That was wicked!"

Chuck vs. the Final Test

This is one of those episodes that keeps 3 or 4 tops spinning at a time.

• First is obviously the Spy Final Test. 
• Then there is the Buy More situation between Casey and Jeffster. 
• Chuck is putting a full court press for Sarah. 
• Ending the episode is the Red Test, Chuck killing a person.

The Spy Final test was a good mix of action and comedy and romance. Chuck tries to seduced Sarah on the stakeout and is Chuck-blocked by Shaw. Then Chuck beats up the two Russians in the steam room and follows Anatole wearing just a towel which he loses just after he had finished his mission. (He's standing between two balconies when that happens.) A little skin for the ladies to watch.

I enjoyed Big Mike tutoring Casey and getting his a wardrobe to sooth his anger. AND it all happened at Subway - awesome! Too many funny things to discuss but using Subway's new slogan was a good touch to finish out the scene.

On the day after the Spy Test, Chuck goes to the Orange-Orange to ask Sarah out to dinner and she beats him to it. Looks promising until Shaw jumps in again. He tells Sarah she must tell Chuck that there is another mission and he must kill the mark. Sarah first refuses but Shaw tells her that the only way Chuck will kill anyone is if Sarah tells him to do it. Sarah tells him and Chuck tries to, only to have Casey shoot him with a gun Chuck had stolen from Castle and given to Casey earlier in the day. This destroys Sarah because she thinks Chuck is a killer. At the end Sarah tells Shaw she doesn't love Chuck anymore.

Isn't that what I said was one of Shaw's objectives when he came - break up Chuck and Sarah. He is such a douche bag. I still hate him no matter what he does in the next two episodes. I just hope by the end of episode Sarah & Chuck are back together and Shaw is gone. We will have to see. As Susan says, "They are the stars and they will get back together sometime, somehow.

Don't forget to watch next Monday, March 29 at 7:00 CDT to see if Chuck and Sarah get back together.

Bob

Chuck vs. the Fake Name

Hi everyone.  Another exciting episode of Chuck has happened and another week of wondering where this story will.  I haven’t been able to watch the episode again.  Many things came out in the episode that explain some things and bring up new questions.  Even though I haven’t been able to watch the episode completely again, I think this is going to be a pivotal point of the show when we look back at it.

Here’s what I mean:

Chuck – after telling Sarah he loved her, Sarah reacts by closing down.  So, Chuck decided to move on to Hannah.  It seemed that Sarah was more interested in Shaw. Chuck had a short, intense affair with Hannah but he realized it wasn’t the right thing for him.  Ellie helped him with that situation.

Another thing that seemed to happen was that Chuck seemed to make a big change in his attitude.  Sarah is his love and he is going to get her.  He doesn’t like what he is changing into.  The change in his personality is bothering him so I think he will be more “Chuckish” than “Caseyish”.  Chuck realizes he can be a good spy without changing his personality. Now how does he do it?

Sarah – the pressure of her feelings toward Chuck are getting to her.  That’s why she makes a play for Shaw.  He is there and they are similar.  I see her going through the motions but Chuck is going to bring it to a climax soon.  Sarah doesn’t like what Chuck is turning into.  She will see the change back and be convinced Chuck’s for her.

Oh, do we care Sarah’s real name is Sam?

Casey – we saw a chink in Casey’s armor.  Some of the previews show that we find out more.  That will be interesting.

I goin’ to ride the crest and try not to get to worried about the individual happenings on each episode.

Hail Buymoria!

I have been spending my time watching my new set of Chuck – Season 2 and replays of Season 3.  On top of all that Chuck viewing, I have been watching the Chuck blogs, especially Strahotski.com.  I added some comments, too. 

The last episode has been upsetting to many.  I must include myself in that group after my first viewing. But after watching the episode several more times, I think that it was a good episode and leads to many interesting paths.  I am not going to make too many guesses on where the story will lead but here are three I think will happen:

1. Shaw and Hannah are connected some how.  They are to test Sarah and Chuck. 
2. Shaw is using Team Bartowski to get revenge on the Ring.
3. Chuck and Sarah will really be together by the end of the season.

Over the next few episodes I am going to try not to let the “romantic quadrangle” to upset me too much.  The over arching theme in my mind is a major Charah (Chuck/Sarah) time.  I am still very suspicious of Shaw and know his demise will occur by the thirteenth episode.  (And I hope he really gets his.)  Hannah is just some eye candy and a spoon to stir many pots - Chuck & Sarah, Chuck & Morgan, Morgan & Ellie.

I have almost finished watching my Chuck Season 2 DVD and hope to finish before the Olympics are over.  I must admit I have become addicted to Curling.  It is as slow as watching grass grow but it has really grown on me.  I wish I knew why.

Until next time, I remain a faithful Chuck viewer and believe Sarah and Chuck will get together by the end of the season.

Chuck vs The Warner Brothers Studio

Susan and I took a vacation to the West Coast. We were able to go on the Warner Brother Studios tour. It was a unique experience even though we didn’t see any stars. I was hoping to see someone from Chuck but we did see two Chuck related sites.

First was an outdoors set they were preparing for filming a Chuck scene in the afternoon. It was for the episode Chuck versus the Honeymoon. It was a street scene in Europe with several stores and it appeared to be a hotel. There were a few cars and some extras sitting around. They said the call went out for “European looking men and women to serve as extras”. Nobody could put a finger on what you had to be to look “European”. :0)

Susan asked how one could become an extra. The tour guide said you just put in an "application" and wait. You need to have a lot of free time - be a waiter or retired. You can also register your car to be used in shows. They like white, silver, and black. They don't like bright colored cars.

The other set was Chuck’s apartment. JACKPOT! When we walked into the courtyard, it was exactly like on TV. Each of the apartments was there, the fountain, and all the greenery. It wouldn’t have surprised me of Chuck and Sarah to walk in to the courtyard for one of their ‘talks’ at the fountain. I tried to go into Chuck’s apartment but was stopped before I got too far into it. I did see the TV room, kitchen, and the hallway to the bedrooms.

The only bad thing was they locked up our cameras when we went to any of the sets. I did get some pictures of Zach’s real car and some of their dressing rooms (trailers). Maybe if we went on a later tour (we went on the 8:45 tour) we would have seen more, but the group would have been larger than ours (6). I think we got to go to more places because of the group’s small size.

Next time I’m going on the VIP tour. It’s a four-hour tour. You get to eat lunch in the commissary and get closer to the action. It would be worth the larger cost.

The First Three Episodes

I am two days out from episode 3 and have had time to watch all three episodes several times.  Every time I watch the first two episodes, I still get upset.  Why did the writers have to destroy the relationship between Chuck and Sarah?  Especially the way they did.  I understand why Chuck didn’t go and I understand why Sarah is so upset but this relationship is splintered.

They were never able to talk about it before, how are they going to resolve it now if Sarah won’t talk to Chuck.  Now that slap in epi one was real, look at the screen cap of the other side of Chuck’s face, and both she and Casey have said some hateful things about Chuck and his spy abilities.  So now you have Chuck in the lowest he can go with Morgan being his only help (which is no help in my mind). 

It’s a good thing that episode 3 came about as quickly as it did.  There is some hope now.  Chuck showed he had some skills and could use the Intersect to solve some problems in combat.

Carina saved Chuck on several fronts: got him back into the spy game, trusted him to get the weapon to the CIA, implanted the idea that Sarah really loved Chuck into Chuck’s and Sarah’s minds, and, most importantly, gave Sarah a copy of what Chuck said when he thought he was going to die in the room filling with gas.

I have gone on a little long but I have one more thing I would like to state, the good and bad from the first three episodes:

Good: 

1. Corina
2. Chuck told Sarah how he really feela about her
   
3. Chuck earned some respect from Casey
   
4. Big Mike is Manager of Buy More
   
5. Carina tells both Sarah and Chuck that they love each other

Bad:

1. Sarah’s hurt
2. Morgan is as obnoxious as ever
3. Chuck/Sarah relationship thrown back to square one
   
4. Chuck won’t fight for Sara
   
5. Chuck's not trying to learn
   
6. Too many secrets again
7. CIA is not giving Chuck time to learn his new skills
8. Chuck can’t fight with out the Intersect 

On top of all that, there doesn’t seem to be any hope for Chuck and Sarah.

That’s how I feel.  I saw one preview where Chuck hits Brandon Routh (his trainer) when he says something bad about Charah.  That gives me hope. 

Viva Chuck, Viva Sarah, Viva Casey!!!

Season Three Premier Night

Three cheers that Chuck, Sarah, and Casey are back! It was great to see the three of them again. In the second half Carina of the show reappeared. Those things made the two episodes great. But from almost the beginning I was agitated and aggravated with the storyline. The only thing that saved the night for me was the flash drive Carina gave to Sarah at the end that had a recording of what Chuck said to Sarah (that she didn’t hear) while he was trapped in the secret room.

I hate to say this but Carina came out being the good girl in this premier. She has figured out Sarah loves Chuck and told Chuck this. She also made sure Sarah heard what Chuck had been trying to tell her through the whole episode. Carina also made Morgan very happy.

The Chuck/Sarah relationship has gone back to zero, which is a big disappointment to me. I felt they were heading for a more intimate relationship. Now it looks like Sarah hates him and Chuck isn’t a spy. They have to work together and there is a lot of animosity between them.  The first half of the show was a good example of this,

Sarah really slapped Chuck hard at the nightclub. I saw a screen cap of the post slap and it wasn’t a fake. You can see Chuck’s face doing some unnatural things on the other side of the slap. I hope they didn’t have to film that too often.

At least Chuck’s feelings are out on the table and Sarah knows the reason he didn’t run off with her. Now let’s see how long it takes for Chuck to win Sarah back.