Writers: Allison Adler, Phil Klemmer, and Matt Miller
Director: Matt Shakman
Episode Title: Chuck vs. the Ring: Part II
Writers: Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak
Director: Robert Duncan McNeill
Originally Aired: 05/24/2010
Grade: A-
There were a lot of things to enjoy in this finale, and since I’m apparently in a list-making mood today, here are a few of them:
-Methinks Morgan’s been smoking crack if he believes be-stubbled Captain Awesome is less hot, because damn, that was hot.
-Ellie was actually somewhat useful in helping Chuck and Stephen work against Shaw, and in rescuing Chuck, Sarah, and Casey. I’m not sure how she lost the transportation vehicle in broad daylight on a road with no other cars, but at least she tried!
-Jeffster’s video for their Bon Jovi cover didn’t work as well as last year’s “Mr. Roboto” wedding sequence, but it was still amusing. Their callback to “pineapple” was also a nice touch.
-I’m so glad they brought Casey’s daughter back—I knew she wasn’t a throwaway character! The writers seem to have made an effort to render her useful to the team, what with the criminal law degree and the martial arts training, so I hope she’s a recurring character next season, if not a regular.
-Chuck quitting the CIA doesn’t have to mean going back to the Buy More, because they blew the damn thing up, which could move the show in a new direction. I hope the writers do justice to that potential.
-Band of Horses has been growing on me, so the use of at least three of their songs helped make up for my annoyance at this season’s egregious overuse of Frightened Rabbit.
There were also a few things I have mixed feelings about:
-I wish that Chuck’s Intersect-related mental deterioration had been introduced at the beginning of the season, because the storyline was introduced rather abruptly and wound up feeling rushed. I think I can overlook it, though, because I understand that the back six order came as a surprise. They knew the third season finale would be either a series finale or a segue into the fourth season, so they needed a storyline that wouldn’t be completely meaningless. On such short notice, they didn’t do a bad job.
-Chuck recognized Shaw at the farmer’s market through the Intersect’s voice recognition capability. Chuck later tried to fool Shaw with a physical disguise, even though Shaw also has an Intersect and thus a voice recognition feature. (Chuck tried to disguise his voice, but I don’t think that would fool the Intersect.) It was never explicitly stated that Shaw made Chuck using voice recognition, so I was left unsure of whether the writers made a cringe-worthy mistake, or whether they deliberately wrote Chuck a bit dense and left it up to viewers to put the pieces together.
-I’m a little worried about the fate of Jeff and Lester. On the one hand, they still crack me up and I would miss them, but on the other hand, without the Buy More, I feel like their presence would feel even more shoe-horned in than it already sometimes does.
And unfortunately, as much as I liked this finale, quite a few things grated:
-First and foremost, I really could have done without the return of Shaw (and this also goes for the previous episodes that bonked us over the head with his inevitable return). That close-up of his face after he careened through the plate glass window? Made me want to throw things at my TV. He was always odious to me, and bringing him back to be deliberately odious didn’t help. And he’s not even dead, so the writers can bring him back yet again next season. Ugh.
-The writers need to learn the difference between foretelling and foreshadowing. This is a spy show. It should be full of intrigue and plot twists that aren’t telegraphed from ten miles away. I didn’t shed a single tear over Papa Bartowski’s murder because I saw it coming the moment he told Ellie it was the last time he’d ever walk away from her. Same goes for the reappearance of Mama Bartowski—between the flashback in which wee Chuck broke mom’s favorite necklace and Ellie reminding viewers that their mom left them rather than died, her return was clearly imminent. I’m not sure this show has ever truly surprised me, and it’s just sad when The Vampire Diaries has more exciting twists and turns than a spy show.
-I could have done without the slo-mo and the music overlaying Papa Bartowski’s death. I mean really, the guy was dying. Levi and Bakula are skilled enough to carry the emotion of that scene on their own, without assistance from the whiny emo song of the moment, so it felt insulting to both the characters and the actors. I've felt the same way about other scenes on the show—sometimes they really overdo it with the music.
-And speaking of his death, what was up with Chuck and Ellie just leaving their dad’s body in the tunnel and apparently never going back for it or calling 911? I know this isn’t the sort of show that dwells on that kind of detail, but considering that he died shortly after he and Chuck found the cellular regeneration chamber where the Ring revived Shaw, having Papa Bartowski’s body apparently just disappear from the narrative kind of raises a red flag. Maybe the writers just forgot all about something as realistic as Chuck and Ellie’s father’s corpse, or maybe this is yet another example of their tendency to telegraph their twists, but either way, it’s not great writing.
-I may have been glad that Ellie made herself useful for once, but I was back to wanting to strangle her when she told Chuck to quit the CIA because she couldn’t protect him from it. As hurt and shocked as she feels that Chuck kept his secret life from her, he’s been neck deep in it for the past three years, and he’s lived through it all without her protection. I could handle her saying that they’ve been through a lot and she really wants to talk to him about this stuff when they get a chance, because she’s feeling overwhelmed and worried for his safety. But outright telling him to quit was going too far. I understand that she raised him, and I understand that she’d just seen their father murdered due to the same spy world Chuck is mixed up in, but Chuck is an adult. A goofy and childlike adult, perhaps, but an adult nonetheless. He doesn’t need her protection; he needs her to support his life choices.
Despite the flaws, the two-part finale was quite enjoyable, and I think these back six episodes washed the bad taste of the initial thirteen out of my mouth, for the most part. Still, I feel like the longer I watch it, the more the show’s flaws annoy me. Most episodes leave me more annoyed than pleased, and writing about the show has begun to feel like a chore. Unless the premiere blows me away, I don't think I'll be covering Chuck next season, aside from perhaps a couple of standout episodes.
Other Stuff
-I’m a little fuzzy on why Chuck had to run away to protect Sarah. I don’t think he actually gave a coherent reason, so it came off like, “Duh, because that’s the theme of the episode. Also, because my dad said so.”
-The exterior building they used for the secret CIA base looks like the same one that’s used for the L.A. FBI office on FlashForward. Mixing two fictional TV universes like that kind of pulled me out of the show!
-The actress who plays Casey’s ex-fiancé was listed in the opening credits but never appeared in the episode, so I assume there’s at least one deleted scene for the DVD.
Quotes
Lester (to Awesome): “I can’t believe that your missus is taking on new customers.”
Jeff: “It’s my dream come true—Ellie is exactly like Chuck, but with lady parts.”
Ellie: “I don’t want a soothing brain bath, Morgan—I want answers!”
Casey: “Why do you have my daughter’s phone number?”
Morgan: “Alex gave that to me of her own free will. As friends.”
Casey: “Friends?”
Morgan: “Yeah…”
Casey: “Or something more? *begins choking Morgan* Your heart’s racing. Pupils dilated. Skin’s flushed. … You like her.”
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