Writers: Chris Fedak and Allison Adler
Grade: A
I enjoyed watching Sarah’s mini character arc in this episode. Clearly she initially hoped that Chuck would accept the analyst position—he’d be somewhat more her equal rather than her charge, listening to his advice and opinions wouldn’t have to be seen as going out on a limb, etc. She was definitely bummed that he didn’t want the job.
Yet despite how much she cares for Chuck, she didn’t even consider staying with him and turning down the Intersect job herself, at least not at first. Which is fine with me, because I’d rather she not have to give up her job to be with Chuck, although it seemed like that’s where her thinking was heading by the time the second wedding ceremony rolled around. I know this show is aimed at men, and thus may not have the greatest emphasis on feminism, but it would still be very welcome if Sarah doesn’t ultimately have to give up her career for a man.
I’m assuming that Chuck didn’t blow all of his back pay on redoing Ellie and Awesome’s wedding. I mean, I know they can run pretty high, but the wedding and reception didn’t look that fancy. Plus however much he got paid, I’m guessing it was more than the $9896 that was visible—seriously, if they paid him less than ten grand, they’re cheapskates. $98000+ seems more reasonable and would still allow him to have a lot of money left (because though I love Chuck’s selflessness and generosity, I hate the idea of him giving up all of his pay—they might as well just canonize him now!). Also, why could the CIA/NSA/whatever not pay him sooner? They couldn’t pay him until he was done being the Intersect?
And were the writers going for a fakeout, trying to make viewers think that Chuck with Orion’s arm computer gadget was the new direction of the show? If so, it worked on me, and the Intersect-on-steroids ending surprised me at least a little bit. I thought that storyline moved a little too quickly, though—I know they wanted to end the season with a bang, but he just got the first Intersect out in the previous episode, so I wouldn’t have minded if they’d saved Intersect 3.0 for next season.
I’m kind of torn on the Chuck-fu, as well. Some of it looked okay, and I’m sure Zach had a lot of fun filming it, but some of it also looked dorky and awkward. Which is in-character, but I’m still not sure how I feel about watching a whole season of it.
Finally, I know I’m probably the only person in the universe bitching about anything in this finale. I love Chuck, and I agree with the overwhelming critical praise and the fan enthusiasm, and I’m beyond thrilled that the Subway campaign was successful and NBC renewed it. But the show isn’t perfect. Every single episode makes me grin like a loony at least once (and usually multiple times), but unfortunately, I’m too anal to ignore the flaws. A couple of big ones are that they use a lot of formulaic story structures (particularly in the romance department) and that Chuck is kind of a male Mary Sue (though he’s also my favorite character on television, and a lot of other people feel the same, so obviously Levi and the writers are doing plenty of things right!). Overall, I’d say this season had a strong beginning, a weak but still mostly enjoyable middle, and a great conclusion. That’s more than a lot of shows can say about their sophomore season!
Best Quotes
-“Why are you letting Sam Kinison and an Indian lesbian wreck your wedding?”
-Chuck: “Oh God, someone shoot me now.” “Roark: “I can help you with that, Chuck. A real shotgun wedding. And just think, that terrible pun is the last thing you’ll ever hear.”
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