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How was that for a twisty, intense mid-season finale? Thank goodness we got some answers before the holiday hiatus. Chuck returns with the first of 14 (!) new episodes on January 17, 2011. The reason for such a long hiatus is two-fold: first, the networks always take a break for the holidays; second, NBC is relaunching Monday nights on January 17 with new series The Cape and Harry’s Law following Chuck.
Too long without Chuck? Don’t fret, we’ll be hosting a season 4 rewatching party every Monday night, beginning December 6. Stay tuned for details!
AWESOME!! I have it on my calendar! Well, see ya’ll soon!
Thanks Mel!! You’re the best. Keep Chuck alive.
Fantastic. Probably the second best episode after Phase 3. Timothty Dalton was great..”Kid’s love me!” Major Kudos to Zac for directing another action packed and revealing episode. He seems to be so good at that. Loved the Die Hard references! So glad that Papa B. had a failsafe plan for Chuck. I sure wish Papa B. wasn’t really dead…he was killed in the same building where they kept the cell regenerator they used to revive Shaw…well, probably not but one can hope. Six-weeks w/o a new episode…reminds me of the Chuckless days of summer again. Definitely be re-watching favorite episodes from all 4 seasons during the hiatus and tuning into the podcasts.
Dalton was great but the story was weak. Everything wrapped up too nicely, without explanation — inconsistent with the rest of the season.
i agree. Though I’m glad that Chuck has an intersect that won’t cause him to go insane, I felt the ending was a little let down. I really wanted Sarah to get shot and Chuck to flash, beating up Volkov and saving Sarah’s life.
Just remember, they were probably filming this episode while still thinking they only had a 13 episode season.
On another note, I want to see Lindsey Wagner as Sarah’s long lost Mom that is in the CIA. She let Sarah’s dad raise here while still keeping tabs to make sure Sarah/Sam was okay. You could flashback and show scenes of Sarah’s mom in the background at various points in her life. And I think it would be nice showed up while Sarah was planning the wedding, or rather Ellie was planning Sarah’s wedding because I can’t see Sarah getting that into it.
On pins and needles until Jan 17th
You wanted Sarah to get shot for Chuck to flash!?
No. No. No. The last thing the show needs is to go back down that ‘helpless Sarah needing Super-Chuck to save her’ route that ruined most of season 3.
I was writing a different response but remembered instances in S3 when she was helpless but the stakes were different and the angst was different. It wouldn’t be so that Chuck could prove his love, but so that the direct question of Chuck’s ability with the intersect be linked with Sarah. Shaw’s character affected S3, not a helpless Sarah. Sarah’s had more of a backseat in this season than any other.
I in no means want Sarah permanently injured or anything. It would just put Chuck in such an emotional corner, he would have to believe in himself that he could flash to save her and he would flash. In the end, it doesn’t matter anyway because that’s not how the writer’s wrote it.
I think more about Sarah’s past would be definitely interesting, and her mom has not been brought up at all. Would be interesting paralleling it, but too many coincidences and it might make me go “really?” a little too much.
As for Sarah getting shot and Chuck having to do whatever it takes to save her… it feels too much like how Chuck finally shot (and thought he killed) Shaw for her. At least a little too soon, in my own opinion!
Oh man, nearly 2 months of no Chuck. I’m going to shoot myself.
By chance does anyone know where I can access episode 401? My husband accidently deleted it from my DVR. Hopefully itunes will realease part of the season during this break.
You can buy them from Amazon.com ($1.99 per episode, I think?).
“Chuck returns with the first of 14 (!) new episodes on January 17, 2011.”
Wait, what? What about 11 to 13? Unless 11 will be shown on December 27, in which case that makes sense.
That quoted statement is correct – they are referring to episodes 11 to 24.
Heh, I miscounted. Thanks!
I think this was one of the weaker episodes and felt rushed. When the new password came up, I was so afraid they’d leave it on another cliffhanger at the very last second as in the previous episode. Instead, they waited till the last second, explained it, and that was that.
The build up just didn’t make sense. As one review I read, this felt like a ton of leftovers… a lot of repetition.
Also, the episode wrapped things up a little too neatly. These guys broke in and hacked into a CIA Substation, that used to have tons of agents swarming it, pretty easily. And Casey barely got any awesome moments!
I REALLY hope some things get explained further down the line linking certain things that have been just glossed over. Did the First Intersect Young Chuck downloaded have any residual effects aside from saving his ass at the end of the last season? What about The Phase Three? Wasn’t he so very close to being brain-dead or having a ton of things wiped? Will they explain what Mom Bartowski said as he showed Chuck the Handheld Device (“Your father never wanted you to see this … Now I know he was wrong…”). Her explanation to Sarah in this episode? “Tt was meant to stop him from following me.” Really? What Mom said sounds way more pregnant with meaning when she was De-Intersecting Chuck. Even the box she found that device in had a name that had a meaning to it (Yes, I geeked out, no, I don’t recall what it was but it made me expect much more!)
Is this a newer Intersect or just the same old? I really hope there are some new upgrades or else this just felt like a waste of time kind of. It almost sounds lazy that the writers just planted the laptop 3 episodes ago that is basically a reset button but made us expect so much more.
And a ton of this just seemed way too convenient. It’s like Dad knew that Mom was going to use that device to disable the Intersect, so he programmed it into a laptop and left it with Ellie because he knows she’s a doctor that happens to know about neuroscience to fix this memory issue and would give it back to her brother (assuming that Dad knew they either knew about each other or it would be okay between them)? There are some holes here. Dad never found Mom (or at least that’s what we’re led to believe). We don’t even know if he ever knew the truth about her (or hell, do WE even know it yet?). That could be really interesting though.
A ton of geeks watch this show and there’s nothing geeks like better than attention to detail especially involving the history of our characters and keeping things consistent (Hey, Joss!). It just feels like they could be doing so much more with this! Maybe this is a new Intersect that has all of the stuff in Orion’s Base. Maybe it’ll have more abilities he can call on at will (This seems to be happening more and more as he has confidence, but nothing seems to be on par with when Papa B. tells Chuck that he can flash if he wants to in that episode many seasons ago to crack an electronic keypad. I think he did something similar since, but still).
And if Mom and Dad DID actually keep in touch, did know everything that was going to happen more or less… then maybe what Mom did to Chuck didn’t just disable it but was a needed step Chuck needed to get whatever this new Intersect refresh gave him? That’d be a little creepy having them experiment on their kid, but that would be a lot more awesome.
I love Chuck like crazy and think with the material the writers have, they’ve done incredible things. I remember watching last season and when they did the episode when Chuck and Sarah finally get together (not realizing at the time that it was supposed to be the original season finale before they ordered more), I thought that was it. And they took it to the next level. I know it’s hard to keep up that sort of brilliance, but I hope they bring it when they come back! I don’t know if any of the writers will read this thing, but figure out some answers to these older questions! Sounds like you could do SO MUCH with it!
Whew!
Agreed, I felt like the episode was building and building until all of a sudden everything was resolved like THAT. Not to say it didn’t have it’s moments, but this episode fell considerably short of my expectations
Yeah, I mean I didn’t mean to sound so harsh. There were some great parts. I loved Morgan’s moment at the end and Timothy Dalton playing charades. And Awesome kind of manning up to Chuck at the end to tell him what gives.
It still feels like there were so many missed opportunities in this one.
I felt last season’s The Ring plot line was a bit weak for most of it because you saw less of the “inner-workings” of them compared to Fulcrum and then they just captured these evil people in one fell swoop. I worry that things are getting weaker as we go on.
Volkoff is definitely more interesting but the only thing more interesting about him than previous baddies is his relationship to Mom. And what of all of the boxes we saw in the season finale showing boxes of different identities Orion had and other groups of bad guys (or so I’m assuming)? So much room here.
Maybe Mom was (is?) working for Dad (remember, he’s basically running his own organization. Maybe Mary was HIS agent.) Papa says also at the end that he did it all for her. If it goes beyond just finding her (and if he didn’t keep in touch, how does she even know about The Intersect and of course, the conveniences of these recent episodes… the device to disable it and that there’s a backup?) and he was trying to take Volkoff down with her. She was only “Missing” because she had to go off-grid perhaps.
Just spitballing. But come on guys, step it up!
Just wondering…how many different writers are there? Are there too many cooks in the kitchen?
I was wondering if that was the problem. It would make sense. Maybe they should round everyone up and sync back up! Or maybe the head writers want to keep the big reveals to themselves and the gaps are too far apart?
I don’t think Papa B. knew that Mama B. would suppress Chuck’s intersect. I think Papa B. just wanted Ellie to fix the problem with the electric currents so that there was no possibility of Chuck going insane if he lost the Governor.
You bring up a lot of interesting points though. I hope this new intersect will have more abilities. It’s SciFi, gradually turning Chuck into a caped superhero would be fun.
I think NBC has not been helping the storyline with their 13 episodes, oh, let’s order more mid-way through the season. I’m thrilled Chuck is coming back with 14 episodes in the spring, but it must hamper the progression of the storyline somewhat. Chuck losing the intersect only to get it back is getting old though. Let him keep the intersect-just add to it.
That’s a good point about having Ellie solve the problem that the Governor was supposed to be a hack of a fix for. But it doesn’t fit with how they played it out. I worry that this is just the same old Intersect because the end of this episode would be a perfect way to give a glimpse into it, and we got “I know kung-fu … again.” Like, the last word comes off a little more unfortunate than funny as it was trying to be. It was like he was admitting to the viewers like “Oh yeah, this again…”
And the ordering more episodes must cramp their style. But again, mid-last season… it was like getting two season finales (which I guess it was SUPPOSED to be) in ONE. Not that I want to keep putting them in a corner so THEY can “flash” something awesome… but I think in a mean way, buying episodes later on forces them to keep bringing up more story versus if they knew they had 24 episodes, they can delay things as long as possible. Which is what I felt with the laptop bit… They introduce it and make it look super mysterious and cool, not mention it for an entire episode (I think?), show a password in another one and solve it and just ending the episode before we knew what was up, then just solving it and getting the Intersect back?
Yeah, I think we should see more of Chuck’s inventive side, and go back into his history. It’d make the whole story more richer as we learned when we first met Orion!
Amen! I felt the same way. I could not have said it better myself!
F.Y.I., NBC will be airing repeats of CHUCK to help us through the break on Monday, December 20th and Monday, December 27th at 10pm according to Sitcomsonline.com…
🙂
The ending (“Guys, I know Kung Fu…..again”) leading into the holiday hiatus gave it the feel of a season-ender. But I had to remind myself that there are three more episodes of the original 13-ep story arc to play out. If memory serves, the next is “Chuck vs. the Balcony”?
6 weeks without new Chuck episodes? I think I cant touch my TV for a while… If Chuck doesnt have a season 5 I think I should just sell my TV xD
Im glad Chuck has the intersect back, but this mid-season finale is kind of a pain. I hate waiting for new Chuck episodes.
Did everyone see Lopez Tonight on TBS last night? Zac was on as a guest, and George Lopez had promised him the next time he returned, he would give Zac a pimped out golf cart to ride around the WB lot.
Lopez not only delivered on the promise, but he had Yvonne drive it out on to the stage.
Here’s the link.
http://www.lopeztonight.com/episode_recaps_and_highlights/zachary_levis_new_ride.php#content
Just posted the full interview here: https://chucktv.net/?p=7811
Hey Guys.
I´m from Austria and i never posted something at this homepage. This is my first try so please be gentle with me and especially with my english-knowledges.
I like this show. I really have to say that I have never seen something funnier than this.
So now to the last episode: I really liked it. Especially the end because now he has another intersect in his head and he is capable of “Kung-Fu”. However I hate it to wait for such a long time for new episodes of Chuck.
I really hope the show will get a 5th season.
I liked the episode. Not a cliffhanger but like most leftovers, will keep you full until the next great family feast.
ON VOLKOFF:
As another poster said when Timothy Dalton’s character said “Children Love Me!” I couldn’t contain myself. Was funny as hell. Especially his chicken dance while entertaining. Great stuff. Damn he can be dark too. Threatening dropping the explosive device for Frost. Yeah… Volkoff’s a real bad ass. Mama B. has her hands full.
LOOSE ENDS:
(Beware of final scene spoilers from Chuck Vs. The Leftovers from here out…)
I too felt things wrapped up a little too neatly. Leaving me wonder what the back half of Season 4 will provide since the intersect is again working, Momma B. spilled the beans that she has children to Volkoff, and the only thing really left unresolved is how will Chuck propose to Sarah and when does Ellie find out Chuck is back to getting himself and others into trouble on a weekly basis.
INTERSECT:
Since Chuck’s Dad created the intersect and is deceased, the writers have somewhat written themselves into a corner for introducing “new” intersect tech for Chuck or logically fixing the intersect when things go wrong since his dad was the true expert on it. They can’t pull out the ‘laptop under the seat’ every time now so I’m hoping that the latest intersect upgrade or program has to do with his work on the tech itself to help Chuck access ways in the intersect to continue his fathers work in creating intersect influenced tech. Flashes perhaps that contain information on building one since he retains information out of the flashes? Maybe to create something new? Spider-man built his own web shooters to fight crime. Chuck hasn’t yet shown us things he can create to go with the intersect.
ELLIE:
Perhaps finally find a way to get Ellie involved with her neurology background by having the NSA/CIA hire or employ her outside of those agencies to work on the intersect project without her knowing it. To conduct research on an “unnamed” person (agent) employing the technology. Then create stories that parallel issues with intersect problems that week and her providing solutions unbeknown to her that it’s Chuck. All the while slowly putting the pieces together of who it is and building to an arc with a payoff that Ellie is protecting Chuck. I finally enjoyed seeing her used in an intelligent way this week. The family B. are smart people. That’s why they make great spies, scientists and doctors. Mama B. back in their lives playing mother hen and protecting Chuck makes it so Ellie needs some other way to come forward as a character to help her brother.
THOUGHTS:
– Chuck without the intersect is entertaining. Reminded me of Season 1-2 where he needs Sarah and/or Casey to handle confrontations with the baddies.
– Pole Dancing – I can’t scrub the image of Chuck and Morgan on a pole together out of my head…
– Why is it if this is an NSA/CIA base, that there usually just our main characters are hanging out when trouble begins? We’ll see a dozen or more agents during the day. Where do they go? Are they all working for Volkoff? 😉 — How about a scene where trouble happens, and a room full of agents close in quickly to contain it.
– 1 or 11 … my 13 year old daughter suggested Aces. She was pretty close to breaking that password. 😉 lol
On your Intersect idea, that would be totally cool! Chuck would get more and more independent with the technology. I mean, we saw a bit of his ingenuity with his gloves!
Also (sorry to throw more stuff into the mix!) the idea that Papa B. was able to do all of this stuff with Intersect tech but gets stuck on a biology issue. I mean, he’s created several versions and they’ve worked just fine. The only thing (IMHO) that would make this okay is if there were upgrades to it, a problem even Orion couldn’t solve to add more juice/features/etc.
I’m scared as hell with the Ellie angle. I mean, how far can they milk that? I think the series may have overdone the keeping the secret from those closest angle far too much. I know it’s part of the show, but they’re really putting a huge focus on it. And having her work in a capacity seems totally out of her character of wanting Chuck out. Plus, she’s pretty smart. She’d probably figure out it was spy stuff sooner rather than later.
I did love the Aces, Charles reference too and your idea about all of these agents popping up reminds of that episode in Season 1 (I think?) when they were at Stanford and all of the undercover students show up. That was so awesome.
Also, also, Greta! We need an explanation! Or is this some ubergeek reference I haven’t caught yet?
This will be such a treat for the end of my exams!! Bring on CHUCK!! 🙂 but 6weeks is to long!!
I always like the Chuck episodes but this one had some suspense building up to “pop” not a “BANG”. I couldn’t figure out how Morgan could stick the gun on his back in a way he couldn’t reach it. Only Morgan can do that. Also Roark’s intersect covered most of his business campus but Papa B had it all in a laptop. I guess we know who the better engineer was. Sarah kept her clothes on *darn*. It was still worth watching and gave me many small chuckles. I can’t wait until January.
will the UK take a break too cus we coming up to the fear of death on Living tv huge chuck fan have series 1-3 on dvd loving series 4 at the moment
I am not wild about long breaks but this was probably an excellent storyline to leave us with. I really wanted the Intersect back- and we got it-Taping the gun to Morgan’s back and watching his entry with the bloody foot was great fun- –Morgan was super good but then I enjoyed all the Die Hard movies–Interesting that Sarah seemed to understand Mom B’s motivation/position and tried to explain it to Chuck. Too bad Chuck and Sarah were initially attacked in front of the jewelry store, just when Chuck seemed to start to say something about marriage/engagement. January 17 is a long time to wait but I think it will be worth it–I do apprecdiate the network giving us some extra episodes–hopefully we can get a season 5 and have a big bump in viewers.
WHAT A BIRTHDAY PRESENT! 🙂 I love chuck
Would love the writers to find a way to bring Papa B back into the fold. Bryce Larkin and Shaw were both killed off once later to come back from the dead. I see no reason why they cannot bring back Papa B.
A great way to wrap up the series would have the entire Bartowski family together again (and not in a flashback). Learning that Papa B was worried that different groups would stop at nothing to try to find him (like recruiting Ellie to help find him without her knowledge), he faked his death (or at least knew to wear protective gear underneath since he had a good feeling they walked into a trap), and once people (including Chuck) thought he was dead, it would be safe for him to go underground until things calmed down. While underground, he keeps sending messages “from the grave” to keep the illusion he is still dead, but still watching over his family.
Just an idea. I respect Scott Bakula as an actor and thought he was a great addition to this show as Papa B. Would love to see him come back alive and well.
we need to stop talking the character lines literary in the story,
for example, when mama b says “ur father was wrong about…but i noe he was wrong…” when she pulls the intersect out of him. or when papa b said “i did it all for her”.
they just say stuff like this to stall, they dont even pay attention to the consistency of the story line, and we read toooo deep into what they are tying to say.