"Chuck vs The Cliffhanger"

ok so now that the buzz has passed and I watched, well I lost the count of how many times I watched "Chuck vs The Cliffhanger", writing time.

The thing is, writing a season finale without knowing if the series is going to get renewed must be quite tricky, specially if has a loyal fan base as Chuck has, you need to make an ending that if by unfortunate reasons you get canceled you won't leave the fans disappointed and if you are renewed you still give them something to cling till the series return in September.

Sure if you write for TV eventually, I imagine, this is a requirement and must get easier with time, but I still find quite challenging, and we do see many not so lucky series leaving our screens without a proper ending because whoever wrote had the good faith that they would probably last one more season or simply wouldn't be cancelled just yet, or writes a complete rushed pile of events that if the series hadn't been canceled we just know wouldn't happen that soon.

Thanks to NBC and Chuck fans campaigns this didn't happen to Chuck, I do think S4 finale would have worked pretty well if it was the series finale, ok I would be biting my nails cos I would be so mad that I didn't get to see how Morgan would deal with the Intersect and how Chuck would feel about it!! but lucky things happen to this little show and I won't have to imagine those things, but actually see them on the series 5th and final season. I know bittersweet, right?!!

(*if you don't need a recap, skip to the end of the big block bellow)

Now this is what happened… Sarah became Vivian Volkoff target = she was poisoned by the Norseman, Chuck does everything he can to save her even go against the CIA,but General Beckman does help a bit, Chuck kidnaps Volkoff from the CIA agent Clyde Decker that even makes Casey go pale, and we know Casey doesn't go pale easily, little problem with the plan was that he assumed he was kidnapping Volkoff, grrrrrr think again, you remember Volkoff was a personality intersect kinda of thing, which means when no intersect , he is back to his original self Hartley Winterbottom , awkward scientist, but that will do, they make an antidote that buys Sarah more time, so while Ellie,Devon and Morgan take care of her, Chuck, Mama B,Casey, Hartley are going to Moscow, but not just yet, they get captured and Chuck has the Intersect suppressed, Clyde ties to turn Casey, but no way he manages to escape and go behind Castle bullet proof doors to rescue the rest of his team and give blank identities to Chuck if everything works out,so he and Sarah can start a new life, Hartley and Chuck go to Moscow, but ex Volkoff not so confident as he used to be and bails on Chuck, which leaves him alone having to be plain honest to Vivian, while that Sarah is not doing so well and did I mention that Devon was just his awesome self and knocked a CIA agent before Morgan could choose between sweep the leg and magnet, anyway back to Moscow Chuck is pleading to Vivian when Hartley walks in, thanks to his extremely helpful employees, so Chuck and Hartley bargain with Vivian, then fly back to Burbank, Clyde not letting Chuck inside the hospital, CAT squad joins Mama B and Casey, to support Chuck, but Clyde focused on the wrong thing and doesn't see the Russians approaching, fight won, Chuck runs till Sarah's room and gives Ellie the new antidote. CUT. While all that happened we had flashbacks of Chuck and Sarah rehearsing their vows together, aren't they sweet but we just see Sarah's vows.CUT. wedding time, oh now wake, oh ho, wedding, tricky sign, a very quick but extremely sweet ceremony that had everybody tearing even Casey, and Chuck vows to Sarah a mix of emotional+funny,just perfect for our spy couple, busy Morgan as he is a sort of minister,best men, then driver, surprise Winterbottom call, awesome wedding gift.CUT. bummed Jeff and Lester, worried Big Mike, because the store was sold, dig deep and Chuck has a little screen encounter with Clyde giving a powerful speech, our unemployed 4 spies meet, Chuck and Sarah tell what they got as a wedding present from Hartley = Volkoff 's fortune, so hello private agency, Buy More as cover and oppssie someone forgot some cool spy shades alone, beard saw,beard used, beard fell and hey guys " I know Kong Fu", yes Morgan just got uploaded with the Intersect .CUT.

(recap finished here)

So basically a lot happened, and I was always of the opinion that I preferred the wedding to happen on the season 5 cos for me it felt rushed to have it on season 4, and by saying that, it doesn't mean I didn't like the wedding, come on it was completely adorable and sweet, just picture perfect for those two and way more conventional that I even expected a Chuck wedding to be, but we ended up with a very fast wedding, we got to see very little, and hey ain't a wedding crazy here, but once you watched those 2 during the entire series, you kinda want them to give that super moment more attention, and no flashbacks on top of the few wedding scenes we have. Point made. Best part of Chuck vows :"That our kids are gonna be like little super heroes ,with little capes and stuff like that"

Overall the episode was a great mix, not action packed but high stakes, run against time, funny moments, cool motorcycle, great lines, the value of friendship/family, which for me makes a great Chuck episode and very human, the guy is doing everything he possibly can to save the love of his life, even when he gets ,his best chance to save her, out of him (intersect) , and if you stop and think hey for the first time he was actually in a mission without the Intersect or a safety net and was extremely successful, Chuck became a spy on his own and I honestly hope to see more of that on season 5, and even if they put the intersect back on him, that he has the chance before that to show that he can be a spy just as good with or without the intersect, ok he might need some fight training without the intersect, but hey every spy gets that so is just fair for Chuck to finally get one, and hey its funny scenes guaranteed.

And if you ask me, my favorite scenes of Chuck vs The Cliffhanger = Chuck and Sarah vows rehearsal in PJ's, NightHawk , Russians, so many Russians, Chuck vows and Sarah's vows, she was so honest and open ;)

Things I missed: more General Beckman, I still can't believe she didn't get invited to the wedding, and I can't believe I'll say this but, I missed Jeff and Lester, they had such a big part on Ellie and Devon wedding and none on Chuck and Sarah.

hopefully I'll write soon!! ;)

Chuck

As every Chuck fan I am anxious about 2 things. First to finally read that Chuck is renewed for a 5th season, secondly to know whats gonna be Volkoff end game.

By the promo NBC showed this week for the next epi its quite promising and with have the return of Linda Hamilton and Timothy Dalton reprising their roles as Mama B and Volkoff.

I like stand alone episodes, cause usually they give the show more space for its lighter side, but every time we get back to the season arch the stakes are much higher and gives more opportunity for the characters to shine, and come on its Chuck so they always find a way to light it up, even when things in the episode are pretty tense.

The way things were left in the last episode, they are building up for a pretty interesting season finale, with Ellie finally getting into the family business through her fathers work, Devon having to lie to protect Ellie when he is not sure he is doing the right thing, and Chuck completely clueless of what is actually going on with them, on top of all let's not forget the wedding, that they dropped a bit the theme and its gonna be brought back soon enough, and Volkoff , Mama B and Vivian plot.

Im of the opinion that if we get a season 5, I would rather see the wedding there, but as the writers are writing in unsure waters its more likely we see Chuck & Sarah tying the knot this season, and as is Chuck Im prepared to be surprised.

Check out the promo for Monday April 11th, all new Chuck , 8/7 c on NBC.

The Giant Blonde She-Male = Sarah Walker

Well from the promos Im pretty sure everyone could tell this was going to be a super Sarah Walker epi and would be the Sarah version of Chuck xs The Other Guy, cuz then what if they kidnapped Chuck, what would Sarah do? and add the fact that Chuck couldn't flash...

My expectations for the episode were high and Im more than happy to say that they were fulfilled more than completely, the episode was even better than I had imagined, for sure if not the best of the series, one of the most memorable ones, it pretty much got the top of my favorite Chuck episodes list, it basically blows your mind.

Anyway the highlight/flashes of this episode go to Yvonne Strahovski, she did an outstanding performance of Sarah Walker, basically portrayed two extreme sides of our favorite CIA agent, one that was with Chuck just because of the intersect,which was completely in his mind, and one that was a complete ranging bull/Kill Bill emotional girlfriend with 200 ways to kill someone that got in her way of finding Chuck. Yvonne pulled it off,perfectly and don't even get me started on the kick asses fighting sequences, which were out of this world, those jumps and weird mortals, so mind blowing, and the fact that the thai fighter had to throw sand in her eyes to actually have a chance of winning was even better, too bad for him,he lost anyway \o/ and how funny was the nickname they gave to Sarah, the giant blonde she-male?!!!

Considering that Sarah is the one that's always a step back when it comes to her relationship with Chuck, at least thats completely ruled out for now, after this epi we know exactly where she stands, as Morgan said : she would do anything for you, seriously man anything. There were various scenes showing her extremely vulnerable and honest to her feelings, the shirt one was so not our usual Sarah, which was a very nice touch to it.

It was pretty cool to see another side of Sarah, and how not even she liked herself without Chuck, pretty big to admit " without you Im nobody,Im nothing but a spy".

But let's not forget that the team was in a mission again which means great Morgan and Casey moments, as well as very touching Morgan and Sarah scenes.

Casey and Sarah taking in consideration Morgans suggestion of no guns in the last fight and using him as a Magnet again, was genius,

our bearded man has a saying on their impromptus missions. But as is Morgan, we can't really expect him to keep a secret under not much pressure, and he reveals Chuck proposal plans to Sarah, which surprised me quite a bit the fact that Casey knew as well.

Anyway Morgan scenes with Sarah were very small but strong, powerful and true, I thought it was so clever to have Morgan saying what Chuck had in his head all the time, that Sarah was a big fish to Chuck, and having her with such an outraged reaction of guilt for makinf CHuck feel that way, and then at the end he reminding her to not be "Sarah Walker the spy but Sarah Walker the girlfriend", we knew how much Morgan knew Chuck, but

now we know,how well he knows Sarah too.

My favorite part of the episode was the double Sarah and Chuck scene close to the end, the one going on in his head and the one actually happening, two versions of the same, really loved how they played out, even loved that shattered glass effect when Chuck listens Sarah's voice.

Even with all that emotional tension the writers were able to insert some comedy in it, and I thought it was really different to have Devon in it, well the comedy is more the fact that he asks Jeff and Lester for help and end up examining every Buy More employee, I felt sorry for him, but it was nice, and even better that they were able to bring it back Ellie's daddy car into the story with its mysterious computer and all ( the reason why Devon called Jeffster), clearly the Nerd Herd without Chuck means 12 hours to crack a password and half a day to turn on a computer, tisc tisc ;)

I really liked the way they handled the dream sequences, and every time it seemed they were going to be like, it was all just a dream he actually was still dreaming,for me that was a huge relief , cuz had enough of the whole limbo kinda of thing, and I like waaaaay more when writers don't chose the easy way out, to solve an episode, it made the episode even more special.

Anyway if I go on with everything I liked in it, this commentary thing will became an essay, but I do have to mention how cool was that self rolling rug :" Welcome to American soil "!! and that the American government still wants Chuck as an asset with intersect or without it \o/. (but we actually knew that, didn't we?)

Believe when I say, I didn't cover everything I wanted in here,so quickie ones:

Sarah saying "Flash" as it was sth sexy, then Lester appearing in their bed.

Morgan has info that Beckman doesn't have about Chuck.

Sarah going Kill Bill, unpredictable and not wanting to drag Casey into it.

Morgan not releasing Casey till he accepted to take him on the mission.

Beckman asking Casey to keep an eyes on Sarah, and she passes by as she was going to kill someone.

Casey being recognized by the waitress in Thailand.

Sarah coming out of the water and not even doing much to scare the guards.

Buy More television sequence, everyone wants Chuck to flash.

Morgan "seriously ,Does no one care that there is a cobra there? ( I cared and I was very grateful that they didn't show the snakes for too long, cuz they freak me out)

Beckman asking Agent Walker if she was back to normal, and Sarah being completely over the moon.

Sarah to Chuck: more importantly u r home.

Chuck telling Sarah that he was full of magic for the new proposal plan and then turning to Morgan, and going I don't have anymore magic.

Check the promo for Chuck xs Phase Three, and if you didn't watch it yet, seriously what are you waiting for?:

and here the promo for next week epi Chuck xs The Leftovers