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And all good things must come to an end…
When I sat down to watch a new show on a Monday night in September of 2007, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I’d just moved 3000 miles from home a few weeks earlier. I was starting over, and looking for some comfort and escapism. An hour later, I had found all that and more, and had embarked on a journey the likes of which I certainly never thought I’d take, all because of a television show. It was definitely with sadness that I sat down in front of my television last night to bid my favorite show goodbye. In addition to sadness, I was (am) also filled with gratitude that Chuck was able to finish on its own terms, rather than just not returning or ending well past its prime, as I’ve seen happen to other shows. This show will always hold a special place in my heart!
Chuck vs the Goodbye picked up two weeks after the events of Chuck vs Sarah. Quinn is aboard a private jet with another man, Edgar, who was slightly familiar as a Fulcrum agent (and very familiar as Jacob from [easyazon-link asin=”B0036EH3WU”]LOST[/easyazon-link]). Edgar has a piece of a device, the Key, that he got from Ted Roark. Quinn wants to buy it. Edgar tells Quinn that it’s useless without an Intersect and Quinn tells him that he has one, but it’s glitchy – it fries your brain or your memory – and he needs the Key to fix it. Edgar tells Quinn that it’s only one part and there are two other pieces needed to assemble the Key.
While they talk, Sarah is in the baggage compartment, unfolding herself from a large piece of luggage. Quinn sees her as she enters the cabin with a large gun and they have a stand-off. Hector hits an emergency button on his seat and the plane tilts dramatically, throwing Sarah off her feet and making her lose her weapon. Sarah blows out the cabin door with a grenade and all three hang on desperately as the plane depressurizes. Sarah is the first to lose her hold and hits her head hard on the side of the plane before being sucked out into thin air and plummeting unconscious towards the earth.
Back in Sarah and Chuck’s apartment, Chuck’s alarm goes off – 11 am. Clearly he’s settled back into his S3 moping over losing Sarah, only this time it’s sans facial hair and cheeseballs. He rolls over to find Morgan is in his bed next to him, watching him. It turns out that it’s intervention time. Ellie enters the room and opens the blinds. Devon and Clara also show up and they all tell him that it’s time that he get out of bed and fight to get Sarah back. Chuck thinks it’s hopeless – he’s not a spy, he’s lost his wife, and he’s right back where he was 5 years ago. They try to convince him that he’s come a long way in 5 years. Ellie tells him that if he can find Sarah, he might be able to get her to remember and fall in love with him again.
Ellie’s words motivate Chuck to get out of bed. He puts on his Nerd Herd uniform and gives himself a pep talk. He can do this after all – he took down the Ring and Fulcrum and is a “very impressive spy for hire”. For the first time in two weeks, he dares to think that maybe Sarah can fall in love with him again and that he can get her back.
Sarah, meanwhile, comes to her senses and pulls the ripcord on her parachute allowing her to safely land in the ocean. She walks out of the water wearing her catsuit/wetsuit, no doubt turning a few heads in the process.
In Washington D.C., Casey is in Beckman’s office and she has tasked him with taking out Quinn. She wants to make sure that he’s up to it, however. He assures her that he can be “old Casey” and then to prove it to himself, he ignores Alex when she calls.
Chuck, Ellie, Devon and Morgan try to come up with a plan for getting Sarah back. Morgan suggests that kissing her will bring back her memory – one single, magical kiss. Chuck, Ellie and Devon are a bit skeptical of this “plan”, however. At a loss as to how to find Sarah, Chuck enlists Jeff and Lester and their team of stalker-perverts. They find out that Sarah got into LAX and is headed towards Burbank. At a matter of fact, she is standing at the Nerd Herd desk right now!
Chuck goes to the desk, and there she is, looking almost exactly how she did in the pilot. She tells Chuck that she needs to use Castle. She knows that Quinn wants the device called the Key. There are three pieces and Quinn has the first and another agent, Renny Deutch, has the second and she needs Chuck’s help to find him. While Chuck uses his hacking skills (bottle of Chardonnay at his side) to find Deutch, Sarah wanders around Castle. Chuck soon finds the agent in Berlin. Sarah tells Chuck that her plan is go to Berlin, kill Quinn and then disappear forever. She only knows how to be a good spy, not be part of Chuck’s life. Chuck convinces her to let him and Morgan go along although she’s not entirely sure of his competence, especially when he tells her that he is well-versed with one of Casey’s big guns. The three of them head to Berlin.
In Berlin, Morgan and Chuck are in the back of a van. Chuck is trying to figure out what to do as he told Sarah that he could use this huge gun when he really can’t, plus there’s the whole issue that he doesn’t really shoot people. Morgan reminds him that Sarah fell in love with him for not shooting people and that he should not, under any circumstances, shoot someone. Sarah comes back to the van and her and Chuck leave.
Chuck and Sarah enter a Mexican restaurant where Deutch is having a meeting. The restaurant is very similar to the one that they went to during their first date in the pilot. Chuck tries to get Sarah to remember, but she tells him to stop talking and focus on the mission. Deutch has a change of plans and leaves the restaurant with Chuck and Sarah following.
They all end up at a fancy gala, with Chuck and Sarah in formal clothes. Sarah tells Chuck that she is going to find someone to dance with to get close to Renny. Chuck is offended and tells her that he can dance – she taught him. They dance closer and closer to Deutch but before they get to him, he gets a phone call that the meeting location has been changed again.
The final meeting location turns out to be the Berlin Weinerlicious! Sarah and Chuck infiltrate it dressed as employees. Sarah finds herself absent-mindedly cleaning and straightening up the counter. Chuck tries to trigger her memory but just then Quinn shows up and everyone draws their weapons. Quinn grabs the second part of the Key and shoots Deutch and his man. Quinn’s goons come into the Weinerlicious with Morgan in tow and Chuck and Sarah are forced to drop their weapons. Quinn is about to shoot Chuck when Sarah throws a corn dog stick and impales his hand. Chuck, Sarah and Morgan all start fighting Quinn and his men and in the melee, Quinn manages to escape. Chuck chases after him, with the big gun in his hand.
Meanwhile, Casey is also in Berlin (and still ignoring Alex’s calls). He’s in a chopper hovering above the Weinerlicious, waiting for his chance to take out Quinn. Chuck has a clean shot at Quinn out in the street, but refuses to take it, instead shooting a “warning shot” into the air. Unfortunately for both Chuck and Casey, the shot hits the fuselage of the helicopter, forcing it to land in the middle of the street. Needless to say, Quinn once again escapes and Casey is furious.
Back in Castle, Casey has arrested the whole team. Sarah and Chuck are in cells and he has handcuffed Morgan to a chair in the main room. Sarah can’t believe that Chuck screwed everything up and tells him so. He reminds her that she always liked that he wouldn’t shoot people and she encouraged him not to change. Back out in the main part of Castle, Morgan can’t believe that Casey would do this to them, and to Alex. He tells Casey off for ignoring Alex and shames him for abandoning the team. Casey tells him that he got soft, lost his edge. Morgan calls him an ass and tells him that he is just afraid that he isn’t the best anymore without his team. Casey considers this and seems not to care, but then he relents.
Casey removes Morgan’s handcuffs and they go to release Chuck and Sarah. When they get to Sarah’s cell, she’s in the middle of an escape attempt and Chuck is hurt that she’d do this without him. She tells them that she wasn’t thrilled with Morgan’s whole pep talk and thinks she would be better finding Quinn on her own. She walks off towards the entrance and Casey and Chuck tell her that she can’t leave…because Mama B is blocking the hallway and she has a gun.
As Mama B stands there with her gun pointed at Sarah, Ellie, Devon and Clara show up and Ellie and Devon admonish her for having a gun out where Clara can see it. Turns out Mama B has intel on the Key. It is used to program the Intersect and Roark, Papa B and Hartley (Volkoff) split it into 3 pieces so that no one could alter the Intersect without their agreement. Papa B gave his piece to someone in the government and it has one more upload on it. If Quinn gets the entire Key, he can do nearly anything with the Intersect, including adding new skills.
Ellie pulls Chuck aside and tells him that she thinks that they can use the Key to restore Sarah’s memories. They decide to try it. Casey calls and tells them that Quinn has been spotted at a symphony performance where Beckman is entertaining a foreign dignitary. Chuck realizes that Beckman must have the third part of the Key. He and Ellie leave the home theater room and we find out that Jeff and Lester were hiding behind the couch listening (of course!). They decide to also head to the performing arts center to see if they can help.
At the arts center, Beckman is engrossed in the music when Quinn sneaks up behind her and places his hand on her shoulder. He shows her the bomb under her seat. If she gets up, it will explode. He then takes one of the ribbons off her uniform. Inside it is the third part of the Key.
Chuck and the team arrive and Beckman shows them the bomb. They realize that the bomb will detonate when the music stops. Mama B sees Quinn heading up to the roof with the Intersect glasses on the security feed that she’s tapped into. He’s got a helicopter headed to pick him up. Chuck and Sarah go after Quinn as they need him to disarm the bomb and Chuck needs the Intersect glasses for Sarah.
While Casey and Morgan try to come up with a plan, Jeffster arrives and Morgan has an epiphany. On the rooftop, Quinn tells Chuck and Sarah that the bomb can’t be stopped and will explode when the music ends. Seconds later, they hear the last notes of the orchestra and then, before the hall goes entirely silent, a different kind of music starts playing – it’s Jeffster, performing [easyazon-link asin=”B001O7SVLI”]Take On Me[/easyazon-link], by A-ha. Quinn is frustrated that he keeps getting foiled by the Scooby gang and tells Chuck and Sarah that if he dies, they are going to die with him. He draws his gun, but before he can aim it, Sarah shoots him.
Chuck grabs the glasses from next to Quinn’s body. He tells Sarah that he had a plan to retrieve her memories using the Intersect glasses. However, there isn’t enough time and he needs the Intersect to disarm the bomb. He tells her that he can’t help her because he has to save everyone else and he puts on the glasses and uploads the Intersect. They run back down to the seating area, where Jeffster is still playing and the orchestra has joined in with some encouragement from Morgan.
Chuck flashes on the bomb and manages to unlock the control unit, but the laptop is old and could be tricky. Sarah suggests trying Irene Demova but doesn’t seem to appreciate the significance of this memory. Chuck finds the virus online and uploads it to the computer as Jeffster’s song reaches its climax. Just like it did in S1, the virus kills the computer, disarming the bomb. The audience, still oblivious to the danger they were in, gives Jeffster a standing ovation.
Back in Castle, Beckman congratulates the team for their work. She tells them to come find her if they ever want to save the world again and leaves. Casey follows behind her because he wants to avoid the weepy, emotional stuff. Chuck follows him, though, and Casey gives him a big hug (aww!) and shakes hands with Sarah before leaving.
Once they are alone, Chuck asks Sarah about Irene Demova, but she doesn’t know where she got the idea. She tells Chuck that she needs time to think, to be alone. Chuck starts to tell her about Morgan’s “magical kiss” theory, but stops and lets her go.
Upstairs in the Buy More, Jeff and Lester excitedly tell the whole story to Big Mike, emphasizing how they saved the day. Big Mike’s not buying it, though. He’s kind of preoccupied as the store has new owners – a giant Subway sign is being hoisted into place at the back of the store. He tells Jeff and Lester to get back to work, but before they can, they are approached by a German record producer, who wants to make them famous in Germany. They decide to go to Germany and try their luck.
At Morgan and Casey’s apartment, Alex and Morgan break the news to Casey that they are moving in together. He’s not surprised, though, because he’s still a spy. Casey tells them that the place is all theirs because he is leaving. Morgan assumes that he’s going to Gertrude and he confirms. Alex gives him her blessing.
Devon and Ellie are in the middle of packing to start their new life in Chicago while Mama B takes care of Clara. Ellie tells Chuck that she doesn’t know how to leave him, but he assures her that she’s taken care of him for too long already and that he’ll be okay. Devon asks him about Sarah and Chuck tells them that he doesn’t know.
Out in the courtyard, Morgan and Chuck sit on the fountain and talk about Sarah. Chuck tells Morgan that he has no idea where she is. Morgan tells him to look into his heart and ask himself where she is. Chuck thinks about it and has an idea.
We see Sarah sitting on the beach as the sun sets. Chuck arrives and sits down in the sand next to her. She knows the place is important, but doesn’t know why. Chuck tells her that on that very beach, 5 years ago, she told him that it would all be okay and to trust her. He assures her that he will always be there for her, no matter what. She asks him to tell her their story, and he starts at the beginning and we’re treated to flashbacks of their lives together interspersed with scenes of the two of them sitting on the beach, with Sarah smiling and laughing at Chuck. At the end, Chuck tells her that Morgan has a theory that one kiss will restore her memories. She looks at Chuck and asks him to kiss her.
And so it ended, like it began, with Chuck and Sarah (and the Intersect), sitting on the beach together, wondering what the future holds for them.
I thought this episode was a very fitting and beautiful end to a really unique show! Although I had my doubts about Quinn, I think the character was much more believable in these two final episodes and I liked the additional back story on the Intersect that Mama B provided, even if I’m still a bit confused by “Intersect lore”. It was very poignant that the Intersect, the very device that tore Chuck’s life apart repeatedly but also brought him Sarah and a sense of purpose, was the tool that he realized that he needed to restore her memory. However, on the rooftop, with everyone’s lives on the line in the performing arts center, Chuck made the very difficult choice of saving everyone even though it meant possibly losing Sarah forever. This choice reflects the true character of Chuck – his complete selflessness and devotion to his family, friends, and the common good.
From the live chat and comments posted online and on Twitter, I know that many fans were unhappy with the ending and some even felt “tortured” or “betrayed” because although the other characters all found some sort of closure, Chuck and Sarah remained in limbo. Admittedly, part of me would have liked the series to end with the two of them getting into bed together on their first night in their dream house, but the rest of me thinks that a storybook ending like that would have felt rushed and a little too tidy, potentially undercutting the gravity of their emotional struggles.
I’m satisfied with the ending because there’s not a doubt in my mind that Sarah will eventually regain both her memories and her love for Chuck (if it didn’t already happen on the beach) and their relationship will be all the stronger for it. Someday, when they are both ready, there will be a family as well. I don’t need to see this scene play out before me, I just know it will happen. There’s just no way the story could end otherwise, even if the last episode may have. How can I be so sure? Because Chuck, at its heart, has always been a story about a good guy with a great heart who overcame adversity and made a difference in the world – the nerd who really did get the girl!
Memorable Quotes
The Ring….amateurs! – Edgar, the Fulcrum agent
Saaaarraaaah, you’re upset, and I can tell – Quinn
Every impossible mission starts with what? James Bond taking that giant leap and getting out of bed! – Morgan
She may be the best spy in the world, but I’m Chuck Bartowski. It’s not like she’s out of my league. – Chuck
Five years in Burbank could turn a man to butter – Beckman
And yes, I’ve been watching a ton of Disney princess movies with baby Clara – Morgan
Unleash the perverts – Lester
I read your profile, and you’re good with computers? – Sarah
Yes, I’m small, but I’m worth 3 spies on a mission plus I’m a good listener – Morgan
You, your wife, and my little roommate are going to help me track down Quinn – Casey
What did we say about Baby Clara seeing firearms? – Devon
It’s a no-no, I’m sorry. – Mama B
Women and men will adore you! – German record producer
I’m a Casey, I don’t run, I stalk my prey – Casey
Call backs, shout outs and other awesomeness
The BEACH!
Chuck getting back the Intersect
The Weinerlicious
The Mexican restaurant (“I’ll be your baggage handler”)
Dancing
Morgan and Chuck heart-to-heart at the fountain
Flashbacks during Chuck’s story
Sarah’s outfit when she came to the Buy More to ask to use Castle
Sarah’s dress in Berlin
Sarah’s video journal
Irene Demova
I want to thank you all for letting me share my thoughts with you over the past year. It’s been great fun getting to know you all through the comments and during the Live Chats. All of you have been part of my Chuck experience and I can’t thank you all enough for sharing this journey with me!
Cay
Hi All,
Have been thinking about the end of vs Sarah – I thinkk Sarah left because she didn’t know how to deal with the emotions she was feeling as a result of being pre Burbank Sarah. Sarah did something similer at the begining of Season 3’s vs The Pink Slip – tryed to lock them away however Chuck managed to get to her on an emotional level.
Turning to the Mission Log for a second – the writers should have included Sarah’s Log from S 3’s vs The three little words. It would have been nice to see her reaction to Chuck pouring his heart out in the video she watched. Of course if “Evil” Sarah (as Morgan put it) saw that She probably would have ran!!
What do people think?
I have come to that conclusion too that the feelings are all the time there and that´s why the reactions because she don´t know how to deal them with no memory. We could she that she definetly isn´t really the pilot Sarah. because now she has so much going on with her mind that it´s the surface and maybe some bits of memory have stayed thare also all the time.
My view is that you can see all reactions earlier on the show and to that context they really tell that her feelings are there.
Quinn asking her to kill Chuck. – Hesitating at first like in vs. anniversary
Setting the bomb – She just doesn´t want to hurt Chuck
Kidnapping Ellie – Reaction to feel betrayed by Chuck
Telling it´s only a cover in dream house – Protecting coldness that he don´t get her real feelings like in vs three words
Remembering the names and finding out Quinn is bad – she really seemed to be for awhile herself
Watching the log, you can really see she realize her feelings and that Chuck is right about them
Telling Chuck she don´t feel it while we have seen she does – Like in vs. the truth she looks down first to get it belivable and lies to him, because she don´t know how they can be together when she isn´t the same what Chuck loves and the same at the castle
At mexican restaurant telling him to focus on mission is also familiar behavior from all missions. She just don´t want distraction, exspecially now that she don´t know how to handle her feelings and memory loss
When dancing there is also momentary slips to what she really is now when fixing his tie and asking to get her closer
In wienerlicous she really gets to the same mode than when working there and with fighting Quinn her real me also surface for a while
Then she gets angry at Chuck again and that´s why the escaping alone and also mixed feelings
At the concert hall they really start connect but then again she got afraid when remembering Irene Demova
The end in castle it is clear that she already think trusting Chuck and casey notice that too. But needs a little time to sort that out.
And the beach scene is really a homage to the pilots same but same time it clarifies that this really is a Phase three revised so if Sarah got then Chuck back with talking and kiss when he almost had a lobotomy. There´s no reason to believe Chuck couldn´t do the same for her.
So it really is a good ending and in the final moments when kissing each other they both are really there as they are now with all memories intact.
It takes me alot of time to get this conclusion and I have write many opposite opinions in a way but this is what I really think it was 🙂
Wow are we on the same page. I wrote a detailed review in the episode thread that is very similar to what you wrote, I even used vs. Phase Three as an example
Like you it took me along time to get to that conclusion as well. The whole episode was a throwback to the earlier seasons when we the viewer had to interpert every facial expression and body language of Yvonne to see what Sarah was really feeling.
I agree with your post, I watched the season 5 again, and Sarah from the last episodes, is pre-Baby Sarah i see in his face, as you mention it, she do not remember, do not knows how to treat those memories and feelings.
Remember the smile chuck sarah leaves before going in episode 5.12?
That smile is post burbank Sarah.
Thanks
Fernando: yes excatly. You can see all the feeling in that smile even when she have said otherwise to Chuck. And tha continuation with Quinn are the same. She really knows what she have lost when confronts him.
IceTear1
Exactly, I’m glad you’ve seen his face and smile too.
Definitely, she is saying one thing to Chuck, but she feels another, as you mentioned, as in Chuck vs. truth
Thanks
I couldn’t find the way to post a comment at “music” part of this web page so I would like to ask here.
Does somebody know which is the name of tune/music played in the last episode and also in the 3 season,episode 13 ,part about 3:30- 4:20 minutes when Chuck is entering that white-tiled building with tactical group to save Sarah?
Thanks
Is there ANY chance of Chuck being picked up by another network? ANY???
Maybe the fans can do something about this…
I loved the ending but I don’t want it to end!!!
Doesn’t anyone remember the kiss in season 3?
Where Sarah remembered that Chuck had always loved her?
And Chuck kissed her, and she just stood there doing nothing!
We where happy back then to!
And now, after the caracter building and the most hints and tips you have ever seen in an episode, nobody can believe in the love of these two caracters!
I wasn’t satisfied with the ending either, but know i am.
You’re all just sad it’s the end, cause you all know Chuck and Sarah will end up together and get babies!
No, I’m sad because I didn’t get to SEE Sarah fully regain her memories.
Exactly. We got to see Chuck recover after Phase Three [actually in no time at all], and Morgan soon after the “Morgansect” arc. But not Sarah, who has been much more critically affected.
I don’t think there will be a movie, I do think the writers could produce a book starting with the beach scene and giving Sara back her memories. I think the fans desrve at least this to give us the happy ending we deserve. Incidently, a book can have much more than a movie ever could.
Overall loved the episode like, many I wasn’t thrilled with the ending, I kept waiting for Sarah to get her memories back. Even thought that bang on the head flying out of the plane would cause her to wake up. Thought perhaps with the kiss on the beach would have been an intersect like flash of Sarah’s memories and then go dark. Alas it didn’t happen, not sure why.
Loved Chuck got the intersect back, would have also loved to see some talk about that fact in the end. Beckman doesn’t know or doesn’t care, Chuck has the only intersect in his head again. They sold the buymore, loved Subway taking a bow, but why sell the store from Chuck’s side,. Does Morgan stay as manager, is Chuck planning to stick around the Nerd Herd?? Some questions I would have liked answer.
I’ll choose to believe that Sarah gets her memories back, would perfer the magic kiss idea, (yes I watch disney movies also). But if not that, then Chuck is working on rebuilding the key to reconstruct an intersect device to restore Sarah’s memories.
I hope for a Chuck movie, but know chances are slim. So I will take Chuck for what it was, 91 hrs of fun, laughs, thrills. I hope it finds a good home in syndication like USA and be repeated to audience that was busy watching DAncing with the stars on monday nights.
A show that combines comedy, drama, action, spy and romance genres is hard to pull off, but the guys at Chuck did it better than anyone.
I know this is scant consolation but I just spotted something I missed the first few times. As Casey is leaving Castle for the last time after he hugs Chuck he goes to shake Sarah’s hand and as he does so he spots Sarah giving Chuck a very fleeting but longing look and he winks, he knows she’s fallen for Chuck again.
I know this isn’t what everyone is looking for but I thought it gave at least a subtle confirmation that Sarah really had fallen in love with Chuck again.
I Hope that might make someone who is upset feel a little better, I’m sorry it ended with so many people feeling empty and let down.
I think that is why Casey went to Sarah’s apartment with the disk. Just like Chuck vs the American Hero. Casey knew the disk would jump start Sarah’s feeling towards Chuck. Plus finding out that she actually feel in love with Chuck helped her realize that she could change from being a cold-hearted spy to someone who can change and have feelings.
Like I have said a long time I think that those feelings are never lost because feelings exspecially with your soul mate are something muck more than just memories.
But I noticed that Casey winks too. It just that he are sure that they fill sort everything out and be fine. Casey has always known Sarah´s feelings towards Chuck even before she knows it herself. First time also 🙂 And that´s one of the reasons I would have hoped Carina in the episode. Because she always noticed it even more accurate 🙂
I wanted to write an eloquent, comment, but this finale has left me drained. So, I tried rewatching previous episodes, and sure enough there was this line that is a good summation of how I’ve felt about this finale. Here are the wise words of Alexei Volkoff:
“We always expect the best from the ones we love, and rarely get it.”
Was it really important that Sarah got all of her memories back? This episode gave us so much to let us know how the end would be.
On her own, she remembered the carving, Irene Demova, and for me the most important, the beach.
Sarah said that after she killed Quinn she was going to disappear. Before she left the castle she said “I need to go find myself. I need some time to think. To be alone”. Before Chuck loaded the intersect, he told Sarah, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you get your memories back. I can’t get you back”. But Sarah never left Burbank. She, on her own she went to the beach, where “This is place is important”.
When Chuck said, “Sarah, I don’t want anything from you. I just need you to know that wherever you go, I will always be there to help you. Someone you can call whenever. Trust me Sarah. I’m here for you always.” Now it could of ended there, just like the pilot. But instead Sarah ask Chuck to tell her “Our Story”
When Sarah tells Chuck “Kiss Me”, I feel that in the end it wasn’t that Chuck needed to have Sarah get her memory back. But it was Sarah letting him know that she wasn’t leaving and that she wanted to build a life together from that point on.
As the song says, “RIVER AND ROADS, RIVERS TILL I REACH YOU..
Was it really important that Sarah got all of her memories back?
For me yes. Given the storyline and the way it went, it ended well. But I wanted to SEE it. Chuck has never been an ambiguous show. So for the finale to be that way, was disappointing for me. I’m not trying to change anyone’s opinions, nor would I want anyone to change mine, but I’d like to think we can all appreciate each other’s differences over this, no matter what they are.
Yes it´s important that she gets the most important memories back like their wedding, proposal etc…
And I really believe now that that´s the case because Chuck also got everything back in phase three and Morgan also remembers the most important ones.
Well, maybe the clues in the last 2 episodes just lead us to think that after he kissed her she just said: ” I’m sorry, I didn’t feel anything, it’s over”.
No way. You can see that she feels a lot.
At first I thought that too that maybe it´s just a test but with more watching it just starts to look different when you take notice of expressions etc. more closely.
II found the ending less than satisfying and ambiguous. For the better part of its five year run “Chuck” was a fun, positive and upbeat show. The last few episodes ran contrary to the show’s “heart” and was a big downer.
The loss of Sarah’s memories also represents a huge character regression for Sarah. Five years of personal growth down the drain.
I’m all for tugging at the heart strings but the big “kiss” with which we were teased with throughout the last episode was rather anticlimactic and didn’t provide a sufficient emotional payoff in the end after subjecting us to all that emotional angst.
You know, it would have taken only one additional line of dialog for a better ending. After the Chuck and Sarah kiss:
Sarah: ”I love you Chuck”.
I am one of those who wanted to see more of Sarah remembering what she had become, what she had gained, in her five years with Chuck. Even though I didn’t need to see them in the house with the white picket fence, the conclusion felt inadequate to me. After all the anguish of Chuck vs. Sarah I was hoping for some kind of cathartic reassurance of the integrity of Chuck and Sarah’s relationship. I will be open to another TV series by Schwartz and/or Fedak; I am not as angry as some. However, even though I didn’t find my catharsis in the finale, I think I may have found it on youtube. Check out “Hitler hears about the Chuck finale.” My reflections about the finale have left me inevitably teary-eyed all week long. Silly as it is, this video finally had my laughing about the finale.
Just noticed a one tidbit that also tells that they would be back together in the end as they were. They have same clothes in concert hall scene thank in season promo. Where they hold hands and buy more is blowing up. So maybe it´s the picture telling the end, all though buy more was sold not blowing up.
I think it’s kinda amazing to see, how they ruined the entire show within 1 Season, which had only 13 Episodes. Morgansect, Deckers blackmail though he knew about the agent x files, the Omen, shaws 3 appearance, and many other things that where against all logic. But to top it all they kill the Sarah we know in only a few minutes and don’t even have the decency to tell us, how everything works out. I really hate Chris Fedak right now, because I LOVE this show, and I just HATE how it ended. For me, season 4 was the last season.
I started watching Chuck in the beginning of the third season, after Chuck Versus the Three Words. I almost instantly fell in love with the show went back and watched seasons 1 and 2 over a two week span. I just wanna say that although I didn’t hate the last episode, I was supremely disappointed with it. This show seems to have always ended on a happy note, and when the show is actually set to end for good…..the give some ambiguous ending? I don’t understand the point. Why spend the whole season implying sarah and chuck were going to be together, get a house, have a child, just to have them almost have to start ALL OVER AGAIN. It’s like a sick joke to me. I mean, what was Fedak thinking? The ending montage was beautiful and touching, but I shouldn’t have to hope or believe the Sarah and Chuck are going to get back together, there should be some kind of definite proof. And this was something that just wasn’t given. I still love the series, don’t get me wrong, but the finale is always going to be such sour spot. This is the last time we will probably see these characters, and it’s just sad that we have to imagine what it will be like instead of actually seeing and knowing what will happen. Just unfair.
I think that the all telling about their future dreams are to give us a knowledge what happens after the show. Because when Sarah gets her memories back it´s definitively what they are doing next.
And Fedak even said in interview that her memory is not erased and some are still intact the whole finale and other memories comes back on the way.
“Fedak said …”
But it’s a bit like the Emperor’s New Clothes, isn’t it? I mean, “Can’t you see it? Isn’t it obvious?” is a bit of a cop-out to me. Because, no, actually, it’s not necessarily obvious. I’m a million times happier now to use my imagination to picture what happens next than I was a week ago, but as D has said, this is a show which has usually ended on a happy note. Actually a specifically happy note, not one I have had to divine from oh-so-clever-clever clues sown throughout the last episode.
But that was their point, Wilf, they wanted us to use our imaginations to come up with the ending we, individually, saw for Chuck and Sarah. They planted clues that they continued on together, gave them several options for how they would continue, and left them kissing on the beach.
Mel, I get it and accept it and have imagined the best outcome I can. But just because they wanted us to use our imaginations does not necessarily make that a fulfilling way of concluding the series, at least for some of us. Fulfilling for the writers? Sure. Fulfilling for me? Not really. I just felt I shouldn’t have to infer a happy ending from a few clues scattered through the finale. After all, I could imagine many unhappy endings, too, although I don’t want to contemplate those of course.
I think the problem is that we have to look for clues that chuck and sarah stayed together. All they had to do was put in a scene in there affirming her love for Chuck and it could have been so much better and still have the ambiguous ending of whether she would get her memories or not. Instead, we have to just hope they stayed together by looking for clues or looking at her facial expressions throughout the show.
I think that the point in finale was let us to do some spy work and feel excatly what characters feel. So when putting all clues together, you really get to see what it´s really about.
How the feeling is there all the time, she remembers all the time more and finally the kiss brings her back just like she once brought Chuck back. And I´m sure there are still many aspects I haven´t noticed yet because everytime watching I get more & more out of it.
The ending gives them the chance to rebuild their lives, and hints very strongly that Sarah is slowly (or magically quickly) coming back. Thus this is a quite happy ending, if the one watching believes in the characters enough to trust that they are going to make it.
Without such belief there can be no such thing as happy ending. Even if the ending consisted of us seeing them a few years later in their dream house with children, that too is a happy ending only if you believe it to be. In real life all too often love withers away, marriages break and people die. So if you want some pessimistic realism, after that ending it could for example happen that somewhere along the line Sarah realizes that she and Chuck actually do not have all that much common outside the spy business and leaves. And perhaps their child dies at a car crash 17 years old. Or maybe just grows up to be a total douche.
So in the end it is all about setting the characters in a place where they have a real chance of making it, and after that believing. The only ending that could give complete closure would be a “six feet under” type of ending, where they would flash-forward through the characters whole lives. Such an ending would have depressed at least me beyond belief, with the given ending I know that C&S will live forever somewhere out there.
I guess I get what the writers were trying to do, and I don’t need absolute certainty everything would turn out ok forever, just some kind of vindication of their relationship, other than a kiss that sarah asks for in the hope she will get her memories back. If you look at the other possible series finales in S3 and S4, there was never any absolute certainty of what the future would be like, but you knew chuck and sarah loved each other and were happy together. In the actual series finale, you have to hope or look for clues that she was falling for chuck, and would be happy together again, which is just kind of sad to me, something that I never considered Chuck to be. I wish I could take a more positive spin on the finale like others, but I just can’t help seeing the tragic side of this. To me, the type of finales in S3 and S4 would have been much more in the style of Chuck and provided more closure I think. The show is over now though, and obviously they can’t go back and change anything now. Even with my disappointment with the finale, I’ll still always love and support this show to anyone and am going to miss is.
This is how I figured out it should have ended:
http://youtu.be/iRtPGziEN5k
Better than the real ending. I still hate the way it ended. But still love the show.
Hi All,
I’ve been thinking that maybe Fedak & co were hoping for a repeat of Season 3 i.e. a back six. In those six they could have explored Sarah’s recovery, Chuck & Sarah’s progression to a “normal” life. Its a pitty we didn’t get a chance to see that….. What a lost oppertunity!
I just wanna go on one more rant before I try and let this go. I’ve been reading reviews, watching cast interviews, and clips of the last 5 episodes of the season. I really wish I could love the finale, but I think I’m just kind of angry now. If they wanted to take Sarah’s memory away along with most of her character growth for the sake of the story, I could be fine with that. They were two very good episodes. But AT LEAST give some actual reassurance that Chuck and Sarah were gonna be together, not just a kiss where she hopes to get her memory back. Even a “Chuck I love you” would have been good enough. That’s where the problem lies. People are saying they know Chuck and Sarah are going to end up together, because their Chuck and Sarah or there really is no other way for it to end. Or they point out how she was falling back in love with Chuck throughout the episode. But all I saw was her continually tell Chuck she couldn’t be with him. She told him this in the beginning of the episode in Castle, she was about to escape towards the end without him, and told him she had to be alone and think at the end. Sure, I can see the conflict in her face, but it seems to be someone who knows she really loved this man and desperately wants to remember, but can’t. Even the end, when he’s telling her their story and we’re treated to this montage, these are all things SHE DOESN’T REMEMBER. She doesn’t remember loving him, but she wants to and hopes to again I guess. After 5 years of this show being on and everything they’ve been through, to me, that is just tragic. Hopefully yes, but thoroughly tragic. When I read about Fedak saying this is a love letter to the fans, honestly I feel screwed over. For the last 2 years, every possible season finale, you at least knew went thing, Sarah and Chuck were in love and were going to make this work. And then in the FINAL episode, where we will most likely never see these characters again, Sarah doesn’t even remember the man she loved so deeply, and we have to “hope” or “believe” everything will be all right. To me, that’s an ending for the writers, not for the fans. I really feel they should of just stopped a episode 8. Where we had this great family moment, Morgan and Alex even got back together, and it ended with Chuck and Sarah deciding not to rejoin the CIA, but in love and hopefully getting that house they always dreamed one day. That would have been a true ending with real closure. I’m sorry for all the negativity, I really do think the last two episodes were good, but those last 5 minutes just ruined so much.
D, you’re not alone. So many have said “watch it again!” and I did today in hopes I’d feel better about the end, but the same two words came to mind. Tragic and depressing. I know many have talked themselves into a happy ending and I did notice a few more hints of “our” Sarah but not enough to change my feelings about the end.
You’re also right about previous “possible” finales. Season 2 ended with Sarah turning down Bryce to stay with Chuck. The first run of season 3 episodes ended with Chuck and Sarah officially getting together and when more episodes were added, season 3 ended with Chuck quitting spying and Sarah saying it didn’t matter because she “fell in love with a regular guy”. The first run of season 4 episodes ended with the proposal and the additional episodes, with the wedding. That’s probably why I was so shocked that we got hung out to dry this time. The actual series finale and they tell us to imagine our ending!!
Now they say preordering season 5 may help to get a movie, but unless they throw us a bone I can’t imagine buying that season knowing every time I rewatch the series THAT’S how it’ll end. I’d rather stick with my DVD’s of seasons 1 thru 4 and end it with their wedding. With the Sarah we know and her memories all still intact. The happy ending we were robbed of this season.
D: Think it this way that all flashbacks are Sarah´s memories returning. It really makes sense because you can see her expression change with every flashback.
Unfortunately that logic doesn’t work IceTear1. Because after the flashbacks Chuck and Sarah discuss whether the kiss will help her memories return. Clearly indicating that they hadn’t.
I have finally completed Season 5… I have found it hard the last couple of weeks or so not to visit this sight for fear of spoiling the ending.
I know that it sucks big time that Chuck has finished as a TV series and to finish a series that is as brilliant as this and keep the fans happy is going to be hard for any writer (lets face it no fan is going to be happy anyway)
I’m not going to dissect the ending but I must admit I was happy with the way it ended, at first I was confused and now after a few days I really understand why.
I think the series has been brilliantly left open ended, we have so much to speculate about, Sarah’s getting her memories back , Chuck getting the intersect back again (will he use it?) and although the other characters have closure they can be brought back to the story again very easily. I think the writers did a great job in keeping everything living on in our imaginations (even though the fools at NBC brought down the axe).A follow up movie or a series spin-off can easily be made to pick up from where Chuck vs the Goodbye finished. However, for now we are at the mercy of WB and NBC for anything to happen.
I will buy season 5 when it comes out in the UK as I have with the previous seasons and cross my fingers in the hope that WB gives us a movie or two for a show and an ever growing fan base that deserves it
I still would like to actually see the happy ending between Chuck and Sara because it would mean the house and kids. I still believe you could have said all that and still got them together happy everafter. That’s the only reason I watched the show to see them get together
I just watched Chuck versus the Honeymooners. I can’t help but feel sad when thinking about what the future holds for them….
Do what I did. I’ve been rewatching season 4 to get me to MY happy ending… the wedding! And ending the series there.
What’s the song playing in the video!?!?
What’s the name of the song playing during the montage of the video!?!?
Nate Highfield – Never Seen Nothing Like
Thank You!! I’ve been looking for it for a while. 🙂
Still missing Chuck. Although NBC let everyone know there would only be 13 eps in this final Season5, why did they not spread out the showing of the episodes?
The SuperBowl was a great way to advertise remaining episodes of Chuck.
Also agree with many that Season5 and the 5.13 were not as good as seasons 1-4. The focus was not always on Sarah,Chuck and the Intersect. Shaw returning in Season5 means the writers thought Season4 was going to be the last season and had sort of, run out of ideas. In that, during Seasons 1-4, no one knew if Chuck was going to be renewed or cancelled, and many story arcs were compressed and not as lengthy as they could have been. Made it super hard for the writers.
It seems in 5.12 and 5.13, they were trying to get some of the earlier seasons atmosphere back, and Sarah was cold to Chuck in earlier seasons as she was mostly in ep 5.13. Ep 5.13 was good in that there were all the references to previous seasons.
However Ellie/Awesome randomly moving?
Also think they could have ended the series with Sarah remembering more about her relationship and love with Chuck. as she did with other facts and events, rather than the 5.13 ending that was used.
There are all these outlets now, other networks, cable, movies, the web,
a future episode or movie still seems a possibility.