"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 xs Coup d'Etat

The thing is I was really hoping Chuck had his couples trip, but it doesn't seem we are getting a Honeymooners revival any time soon, but well the episode is full of awesome quotes that are what the characters actually think with a comedy touch.

I always welcome Morgan's insights in Chuck&Sarah relationship, 1st because is funny and 2nd because shows how much he cares about his friend and most of the time he is right ,in the end he cares about Chuck relationship with Sarah, almost as much as Chuck does. I'm Looking forward to see how Chuck is gonna snoopy Morgan relationship with Alex.

Another awesome moment, is how cool is to see Morgan, Alex and Casey awkward scene, when Casey realizes his daughter has been talking to Morgan and how excited she is. Adore Casey's expression. Something we learned about Casey : don't leave the man handicapped cuz he will almost die of boredom and shot himself.

Big Mike plays a nice daddy figure given advices to Morgan, and as weird as it seems he was right and I believe all Chuck fans were happy with Morgan decision concerning Alex.

Another thing is that I love the Generalissimo, I think it is so funny the way Armand Asante plays his character, because he is initially presented as this strict dictator that is trying to make peace with the USA, but he plays the character in a lovable way ,a mix of funny with inadequate passion, specially when Ellie is around, it cracks me up.

What I think that makes the episode special is that we get to see more Awesome and Ellie outside their house/garden, cuz they seem to be always aside of what is actually going on (ok for obvious reason, but well), so I'm pretty sure everybody enjoys to see them interacting with more characters and with fancy clothes. Awesome as super daddy is just well, awesome, and Ellie is so straight forward with him about him overacting over baby concerns and all. Differently from Chuck&Sarah they are "communicators all stars" as Chuck says, for me it's nice the game the writers do with them, so we as viewers have always the comparisons between both couples and at the same time we see their dynamic from different perspectives.

Anyway Marble Awesome was just genius and proportionated some very funny scenes and lines ,like : "Way to go marble me".

Yept, Chuck&Sarah are crappy communicator, but Chuck used to be pretty good in that in the 1st 2 seasons, but then when Sarah got on board completely, things became harder to say, but I always enjoy watching Chuck trying to get more in touch with Sarah emotional side,even when is extremely awkward for both of them, but the nice outcome is that in the end she always listens, and we have a very sweet/delicate scene with her declaring her love for him while he sleeps, adding the Yes = I do.

But before I forget, the indirect conversation that solves Generalissimo problems with his wife via Chuck & Sarah it was very The Three Words style, but well taking out the cave bit, which I thought ,was a very comical addition to the speech.

Now let me be very girly and talk about clothes.Let's starts by saying that I loved to see Zach in a white suit (so charming and dapper)and the new haircut just adds to that. However somehow they always give more attention to Sarah Lancaster look when they need to dress her up then to Yvonne, might be because she is almost always in jeans+blouse, while we see Yvonne in those awesome dresses. Just wondering.

However who the hell chose those bikinis, seriously they were the ugliest bikinis I have ever seen in my life, Im sure the guys appreciated Yvonne in them, but seriously they were weird, but then again Im used to brazilian happy colorful patterns bikinis, so.

Anyway don't forget in a few minutes Chuck xs The Couch Lock, 8/7c on NBC.

Chuck xs The Anniversary

What I like the most in Chuck xs The Anniversary is that you can see how the relationships evolved since the first season, when we had Sarah and Casey suspecting of each other to depending and counting on each other, as to Casey hating to work with Chuck ,till it reaches a point that he actually misses Chuck on the mission and think of him as a great spy . For me when it comes to characters or plot, I know the plot is the construction ,but I always prefer when the characters are well explored, because at the end I stick to a series because I care for the characters journey rather then whats going on, and the good thing about Chuck is that the writers can really balance it well, making good plots with very good characters development. One example of the opposite is OTH nowadays, I still watch because of the characters but gotta confess that plot wise, is really weak and lacks in creativity it kinda repeats itself over and over.

The episode has a simple story line but sets up real well what this season is gonna be about, Chuck search for his mother and his spy team helping him, love the scene when he tells the truth to Sarah and Casey and they don't even think twice to answer yes.

Chuck & Sarah scenes are adorable, and incredibly funny/cute, the sexting was really well played in the episode,specially with Morgan being the one sending the sms's. I thought it is was cute that The Anniversary in question referred to their relationship 6/9 moths anniversary, and showed well how much they care for each other. So sweet after so much waiting.

Chuck & Morgan as a team , is really great their interaction is really nice to watch,and the map thing in Indiana Jones style, was so cute, and the Michael Carmichael was so them.

Linda Hamilton as Chuck's mother, appears very little in the episode but is the kind oaf character that with few words can really nail a scene, specially the final one " Marco: Pls, I have a family . Linda: So do I! " it was those kinda of impact scenes, cuz then she shows that she actually cared for her family, something that is new to Chuck's plot.

Anyway the episode was very good to start a season, nothing better that laying the ground properly,specially with General Beckman as the new Buy More manager, forcing Chuck to return to his old job = NerdHerd/Spy, as he refuses hello tunnel to Castel, which was AWESOME.

Ellie appeared very quickly but with the news everybody already knew ,her and Awesome are expecting a little awesome, what made Chuck not tell her the truth,kinda curious to see when she finds out about him being a spy again.

So Next Monday Chuck xs The Suitcase, don't forget to watch live if you are from USA on NBC, 8/7c.