ChuckTV.net The CHUCK archive
Written by Craig DiGregorio
Directed by Milan Cheylon
‘In media res‘ beginnings to an episode used to be all the vogue back in the day as they say. Check out spy show Alias for textbook examples. Nothing niftier than opening an episode with an intense action sequence that stops with a decisive moment only to fade to black. A cliffhanger to start things off! What a great way to lure a viewer in! Cool, right?
Not really. The problem with such a story telling device is that it starts an episode with something that is all furious motion with no context. In media res story starts are a gimmick that should make a viewer wary because they either start or end with a disclaimer that a whole bunch of story needs to happen before the context and payoff for the opening scene is realized. In Chuck Vs The Gobbler the fight between Sarah and Casey ends with a fade to black and a title card telling us we are jumping back to two days earlier.(Which over the course of the episode raises eyebrows about the amount of shuttling back and forth from Russia, Sarah is able to do in a two day period.)
When in media res is used it is a lock that after the time jump a lot of setup is about to be dumped on the viewer. If written and paced well we are shown as much as possible the events that lead up to that sneek peek scene. More often than not in media res is used because there is too much setup to show and the viewer has to wade through a lot of exposition before the show gains any traction. So it is no surprise when all the scenes up to Sarah’s arrival at Volkoff’s headquarters just before the title cards are about bringing the viewer up to speed.
So instead of being shown anything about Sarah building up on her cover as a rogue CIA agent we are told by Morgan and Casey. We are also told about Chuck’s mental state and the fears he has about how Sarah being a double agent is placing her in danger. Quite a leap in the lead couple’s mental and emotional mind sets since the end of the previous episode where Chuck and Sarah were in total proposal mode. So the info dump start of the Gobbler makes it cumbersome for the viewer to make the jump and connect emotionally with the current situation. As much as I enjoyed the previous episode, Chuck Vs The Balcony, it may have been advisable to use the back half of that episode to set up the Sarah Double Agent story for the Gobbler. This would have kept the viewers in synch with the story being told in the Gobbler.
The other burden the Gobbler carries is that the reasons why Mama B has been on a twenty year mission desparately need to be addressed – not to mention all the other dangling story line threads such as the PSP and laptop – in a plausible way. Does the Gobbler do that? Mileages will vary but not by a long shot in my book. With one episode left in the Volkoff/Mama B arc, the Mauser Mop – which first appeared in Season Two to brush aside Chuck’s issues about Sarah gunning down an unarmed opponent – looms large to make an unwelcome reappearance to once again sweep under the rug all the unresolved tangled storylines of Season Four. Gobbler offers up some possibilities of some answers only. The Hydra database could be the start but there are many more questions to be answered. Will Chuck Vs The Push Mix be up to that task? We will find out next Monday.
Episode Flashes: Add your own in the comments.
- Morgan work shopping his tough guy voice
- Evil Sarah!
- Volkoff into poetry, painting – puppy dog!, and the art of massage
- Sarah applies for a job with Volkoff. Volkoff telling Sarah she is so much fun!
- Volkoff telling MamaB he likes to control and manipulate people while looking at Sarah
- Volkoff’s, Me Too! toast to Sarah’s, ‘I love a good suicide mission.’
- Alex in Morgan’s previously unopened collector’s Back to the Future t-shirt
- Ellie wanting to call their baby Grunka!
- Casey grilling Morgan about Alex
- Hello boys!
- Morgan loves sour dough bread
- Yuri the Gobbler is Hydra!
- A disappointed Volkoff is not someone to trifle with
- Morgan’s ‘text message peeking while looking like I’m not peeking’ look
- Volkoff manipulating Sarah, Casey, and Chuck
- ‘Let’s make it exciting. Have some fun with it!’
- Where did Casey go to get tested to determine how far he could safely fall?
- Clara Woodcombe!
Season arc story telling issues aside there is still much to like here. The welcome return of Timothy Dalton as Valkoff is much like Heath Ledger’s turn as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Dalton clearly is having so much fun and is so much fun to watch. His candid revelation that he enjoys controlling and manipulating people is the cause for Chuck’s concerns at the end of the episode. This maybe being misread by some viewers because of the show repeatedly having characters doubt one another and failing to return messages. Such is not the case here. Chuck is not doubting Sarah. He is deathly concerned for her.
The whole cast gets a turn in this episode including the most welcome return of Casey’s daughter, and Morgan’s new love, Alex. Her appearance in a previously pristine Back to the Future T-shirt from Morgan nerdily captures how far their relationship has come. Too bad Alex was not around more so that her appearance at Casey’s bedside at the hospital would have carried more emotional heft. Mama B’s intentions are clearer, but still not satisfactorily solidified. Still she has some great moments with Volkoff plus some touching ones with Sarah. Yvonne Strahovski, as usual, does stellar work here harkening back to those pre-couple days where she was restrained to expressing herself solely through facial and body language cues. Morgan and Casey have some great moments together and the Ellie/Devon baby naming conflict – Grunka! – was an exercise in skillful manipulation of Devon by Ellie.
Chuck sadly is still stuck in react mode this episode. Josh Schwartz has trumpeted that the final ten minutes of Chuck Vs The Push Mix are the best the show has ever done. A ‘Take Charge Chuck’ in those final ten minutes would be a most welcome sight to see indeed.
I don’t know whether you liked it or not. So I can’t agree or not. I liked this episode far more than what seemed to be everyone’s favorite S4E9. Sarah did a far more subtle dance here between the killer super agent and the woman who has finally found love and family. I think you worry too much about what the viewers can and can’t do. I never watched Alias but I can tell you the beginning did work and so did the whole episode. My vote for best of the season so far. Unfortunately, that ain’t saying much.
When is Chuck going to ‘man up’ — or perhaps in his cas “Chuck up” and start being Chuck again. I’m tired to watching Morgan boss Chuck around into dumb moves. Tired of watching even Casey follwing Morgan. And tired of watching Sarah getting all weepy. There’s a way she catch show real affection for Chuck without going all meltdown girly on us.
Its starting to feel like they’ve jumped the shark, but are using a three episode arc to jump the shark. Much more of this and I may just bail for the rest of the season and catch it all on DVD when it comes to Netflix. Maybe it will work better all in one sitting – – because as it is, this is getting too painful to watch, sitting through 45 minutes of “huh?” for 15 minutes of “cool, its about time.”
The highlight show was Ellie and Awesome. At least they know who they are and are true to those characters. Go Grunta!
I must be the only viewer that didn’t care for the “naming the baby” segment of the episode. For me, it was just a waste of airtime.
Just listened to the CNN.Thank you for your interesting netcast. I like your analyse in the review. Too many questions about Mama B storyline. The prison breaking makes me rolling my eyes. But after rewatch, I still enjoy the episode, Sarah and Chuck missing each other, Casey and Morgan, Morgan and Alex, Ellie and the baby name. A lot of great moments.Great acting from the cast.
I liked your review Lou and agreed with it mostly. The show as a whole was enjoyable but a little depressing at the end to be sure. Prison break scene was just silly. I agree with your concern about key issues being swept under the rug, like in S2. I never heard the term “Mauser Mop” before, but I knew exactly what you were referring to. I like the interpretation that Chuck’s doubts at the end were not that Sarah has really turned (as another reviewier elsewhere speculated) but that he was really worried more her and what Volkoff is capable of. Although I found the line Chuck utterred in the hospital room “How could Sarah do this?” to be adverse to this theory. The ep wasn’t one of my favorites of this season but it had a lot of great moments b/w Morgan and Casey as well as b/w Sarah and Mary–love seeing those two team up. I’m skeptical about the whole “greatest 10 minutes of Chuck ever” claim for next week, I can think of a lot of pretty awesome last 10 minutes of Chuck over the years. As always though, looking forward to seeing what’s next for my favorite characters.
My Episode Flash: While Mary and Sarah where in the one square meter of Volkoff’s compound that’s not under surveillance, they were under surveillance.
I think an opening similar to Fear of Death for Sarah might have served this episode better than the flashback. Use the screen time of the flashback to show Sarah taking rogue missions in Europe. Now instead of having Casey tell Morgan about Sarah taking rogue missions in Europe, use that screen time to show Chuck moping & watching The View at home before putting on the cheery facade at work (include the Risk game on the table in a shot). Now I’m set up as a viewer for what’s to come in the rest of the episode.
I didn’t see anything in the episode that led me to believe that Chuck doubted Sarah because of the fight. His reaction could have equally been either flat out shock or playing along to protect her cover. Anyway, that’s the way I took it.
I think if they spent less time with a couply, pointless stuff, and more with creating Sarah´s “double agent” stuff, it would be more believeable.
I really, really hope that Chuck can be a hero and that they finally let him be an agent he should be.
I am worried about “the best yet” because it never goes as well. I am curious more than excited, which is wrong when I think that I was excited about every new episode few months back 🙁
casey survives the fall cus he used to be an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) and i reckon he can fall from 100ft without being killed also didnt Miranda lawson say i love a good suicide mission
Holy crap yes! I only just recognised this reference. Thanks for pointing it out! 🙂
The “Evil Sarah” look could have been enhanced further by cherry-red lipstick. Just sayin’.
I feel the whole schtick should ideally have been stretched out across two episodes, but I gather that a 13-episode season was already in motion before learning about the back 11. So it’s rushed, and the episodes suffers for it, but I’m forgiving it.
Anyway… “Okay, but you’d better be fine or I will really kill you” was a hilarious line in an otherwise tense scene.
That’s exactly how I feel. Too much story packed into too little time. All of it felt rushed, but at some point, we all have to accept that only Season 2 offered TPTB the knowledge up front of how many episodes they had to tell their story. Aside from “the Mauser Mop,” I think S2 has always been the best paced season, period. It’s been obvious, for S3 and S4, that the late back order pick-ups have hurt the pace of the season long story arcs. I don’t like that there are occasional episodes that just don’t work very well because of it, but I am willing to realistically cut them some slack. The only part of the episode I didn’t understand, was Sarah reverting back to trying to distance herself from Chuck, by not picking up his encoded message in the final scene. I thought her character had moved past the point of thinking that distance between her and the man she loves is ever a good thing. I know that Mama B told her that, but I still expected Sarah to know better than to follow that advice. – jwr
I would agree except for one thing. They knew they had 13 episodes to tell this story arc. Use as many of the 13 as needed to do the MamaB/Volkoff story.
I could understand a rushed nature better if after shooting started, NBC CUT the season order from 22 to 13. But not the other way around.
Poor Casey. I hope he’ll be alright. Yeaahh, I know he’s a fictional character, but all the same, I hope he’s ok.
In other news….
Grunka? Really?
Jeff & Lester=LOL
It’s Impossible! Sarah got HOTTER!!! <3 (heart)
See y'all next week!
I think this was a good episode. I laughed so hard I almost fall off the chair when I heard that Ellie wanted to name the baby grunka. Grunka is slang for gadget in Swedish. 😛
I have not yet listened to CNN podcast that’s next when time permits. I think CF mentioned that laptop/Ellie are issues examine more in back 11. I also got the impression that Mary became so compromised in her attempt to what ever it takes to succeed in the mission she felt no way out without putting her family in danger. which makes me think Stephen was involved with Mary a lot more closely than has been shown. Like you hoping more additional insight into 20 years is given
Good review and nice point Thanks for sharing
I loved how Chuck helped Ellie with getting Devon to pick a name. I do believe Chuck was in on the Grunka setup and like a good brother helped his sister out. By letting us know the dialogue between Sarah and Casey, it held the wolves at bay. Had they just shown Sarah telling Casey she was to kill him, then showing Casey flying out the window, we could have empathized more with Chuck and believed that evil sarah existed. I want their airplane, I would like the ability to go from LA to Moscow back to LA in an afternoon.
Not sure what the Mauser “Mop” is. If the word was supposed to be “Mope” then it makes some sense, seeing as Chuck did mope quite a bit after Sarah executed Mauser and then lied to him about it (sort of like how Sarah moped after Casey shot the mole at the railyard and thought Chuck was lying when he said he didn’t do it). I will concede to the choppiness of the “Gobbler†story line, but I liked the feel of the show because it blended comedy and warmth so well into the action, romance and angst in a way that once was the norm for this show. Setting up a scale where “Chuck vs. the Honeymooners” is an A and (pick your least favourite TV show) is an F, “the Gobbler” still gets a B+. Using a Chuck-only scale where “Sandworm” or “Tom Sawyer” is the F, I’d give it a C.
I think “Mauser Mop” refers to how the show tellers pretty much just swept aside the emotional issues Chuck had after watching Sarah kill an unarmed man. That emotional issue was resolved in a couple of minutes/sentences, never to be broached again.
I suspect the term “Mauser Broom” could also be used.
As for Tom Sawyer, I would never give that ep an F. For me, it’s an A. I like to go back are rewatch it over and over.
“I suspect the term “Mauser Broom†could also be used.”
Correct.
Tom Sawyer was the one with the Missile Command Game correct? I agree, that was a fantastic episode! If my least favorite TV show is an F, I don’t think I could give any Chuck episode less than a B+. They have all merited re-watches, and there are very few shows (and none currently on) where I will record and watch multiple times.
Yes, Tom Sawyer is the one with Missile Command game.
I would have to disagree with all Chuck episodes being B or B+ compared to any other TV show that ranks at F.
There were a few in Season 1 & 2 that I don’t particularily like, and have not watched again.
Unfortunately, there were a lot in Season 3 I didn’t like. I haven’t watched any episode on Disc 2 from Season 3, and never, ever expect to.
By the way, if anyone is interested in ordering some Grunka utensils from IKEA, here’s the link.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30083334?filterBean=se.ikea.ms.search.beans.IrwSearchFilterBean%402c7c399d&SEARCH_FILTER_0=eNqVU8Fu00AQHQwtoAahhooKcaNSLyBbQr3llKYqCgpQ1T0lp40zpFtsr9ldJw0HxI07Ehc%252BAC5wQOLMIf4xxrt2Gie0UdeS48x783Zn3uz0Z%252FYL1pSEpwpd%252Fg6ZGylXIZPBqdtHFiu3Lce%252B%252BX%252FIQ41yn4LZJ3o%252BnzWnX6a%252Fsx8OPO7C5luDNgPNR9gSoZBdqM%252FHXuMYlV4gHkkeYBe2qzExSAN9MkkIeWCRA65YP8RBIbxVjZbSC%252BRC%252FNFidE5%252B21ZaYs2%252BSHWbmtCFh1VkP1U8RqWWgJaPcmT22aoChyzi4YQOVQ23B8hIpV6NvhT9ZWkqSx0LES0BRQmqB%252BtB3hClwet1FHq5f16kPEv3jH%252FezL92HKO0JjY6cM%252B2pXXKEvrR4F5XYKMQyE%252Bgod45YyPmhSweer6WPB4SpWYp1p%252F38BFuztKMOUVoswzNnCmAYoB8DDHQduMCKSbGp61pqyM25DHTXMRVRT%252Ftt5jGoZCTHHAIGEqRJracY1RpqDXsra78xWJWXpw0X6ol0phU7tsGpJqH3iuWNM4TKNcNemil0tq04prNd3l3PP0zzv4Opt8%252BOABWku7qs%252BuIiOz7YGcv%252B7pTc8Dpwjozt6wDayMWprbTJKwB8s%252BNS18qf9%252B1JDrC85VHWOpZ2Q0HbvWgFtHg5LaSaTS%252Fu%252F%252BbX9PLC9rJm0aed4AJkzrCWF%252BZd0EzebcjuqicxhCeXJpiGYZ%252BJ%252FInSmN0Nd9QiH%252BemPUP7lHWmw%253D%253D
I’m glad that I’m not the only one who feels that there have been too many loose threads in season 4. Fedak and Schwartz and their team of writers have had to work with initial shorter seasons both last year and this year and should have been able to keep the storyline tighter. While I’ve enjoyed the growth of the characters as a family, it would have been really unsatisfying if episode 13 had been the end even with the promised epic nature of next week’s original finale.
As for Gobbler I enjoyed the pained look on Sarah’s face as she punched Casey through the window. Clearly she has feelings for her partners that goes beyond spy loyalty. It will be interesting to see how that impacts her effectiveness as a spy in the future.
Anything short of Chuck stepping up and taking charge in Push-Mix will be disappointing. I’m looking forward to our hero taking it to a whole different level.
It was brought up in the CNN podcast that the prison scene was pointless. However, using Chuck logic, the purpose of the prison break-out was to show us Casey and Morgan singing Happy Birthday to distract the prison guards! Just the writers reminding us (again) that this is primarily a comedy. However, I certainly wouldn’t mind them tying up some of the dangling plot threads (like the whole PSP device, and Orion’s laptop) in the next few episodes. Loved the episode.
I haven’t had time to listen to the latest CNN, but I actually loved this episode. Mainly because I was really disappointed in Chuck Versus the Leftovers and all of the dangling threads.
Aside from things being possibly a little too fast paced, I guess I’ve been feeling like the previous episodes have been kind of slower. Again, this is probably just because I’m only praying that they resolve some missed opportunities (I commented about length in the Leftovers post… apologies 🙂 ).
I think the Sarah as Double Agent thing is a great great device their using. I love that we see more of Morgan and Alex’s relationship deepening. Timothy Dalton has been absolutely incredible in his character.
Mostly though, the callback to Hydra I loved. This makes me feel like all of the Orion stuff is starting to come back (for those of you who don’t recall, “Hydra” was one of the boxes in Orion’s base we see when we are first introduced to it). I have a feeling we’ll be getting more of that soon. Hearing someone else’s comment here saying Fedak would be addressing the laptop issues (and hopefully the portable device) thing in the back 11 makes me endlessly happy and hopes that the device+laptop are a setup for something much much bigger.
Maybe the big payoff is his Papa B knew exactly what was going on, and put him in the base with all of these clues after he died to help Chuck finish extracting Mama B. And maybe whatever Mama B did to him with the device coupled with the Ellie-improved Intersect from Laptop is going to help with the final step. Maybe something that will end this season, the next evolution? Mama B’s line about Dad not wanting Chuck to see it was because he didn’t think he was ready… and now Mom think he’s just fine.
Of course, I’m taking shots in the dark. But I’m absolutely loving this, storytelling flaws and all.
” Gobbler ” wasn’t one of my favorite eps. The ” rogue agent ” plot line is older than George
Washingtons grandmother. Why didn’t Sarah just shoot Volkov when she had the chance?
Problem solved.
The reason sarah didn’t kill volkoff on the spot is that in ep 4.10 “Chuck vs the leftovers” mamma b said that the mission is to take down the network not the man
If you takeout the master mind of the organization the whole thing will fall apart.
You don’t have to chop a snake into tiny bits to kill it. You just havve to cut off it’s head.
Obviously Volkoff is alike a terrrorist type organisation and that all the parts (cells) operate independantly and dont know about what they do in the grand plan but if you get rid of the boss all that does is let somone else become the boss. Also wasnt the Hydra the mythical beast that when you cut a head off it was replaced with three more, therefore you have to kill the bidy first not the head.
Also re the ide of Sarah leaving chuck halfway through the eipsode, how would that have been dramatic as it would have been addressd straight after, all the dramatic parts of every tv show happens at the end. That way you are left thinking about it for a week, why do you think that they leave cliffhangers at the end of shows not halfway through so it just would not have worked. Plus they have spent time redeeming Sarahs character it would have damagewd that showing the missions that she would have had to underttake.
Also in the CNN podcast Lou you say that it would have been better if Volkoff bought Sarah in to manipulate her but that is what happened she did missions to get his attention and she was bought in by three of his men. Then he manipulates her into doing something but clearly is not trusting her so.
I also cant understand coments re prison scene as I did not see anything wrong with it are you expecting that they should have gone in shooting Prison Guards rather than a funny diversion. A good solid fight from Zac the first time that he has won against a Giant so far.
No you just get rivals trying to take over the organisation so it might stop for a while but it comes back. If you have weeds in a garden you dont chop the head off you get the roots.
After reading several forums and reviews about The Gobbler, I was beginning to think I was a minority of one who enjoyed this episode, downer ending and all. As comments on this review indicate, I am certainly not alone.
Granted, a lot depends on how Push Mix plays out, but Gobbler has the potential of being one of my top favorites of the season. I agree with many of the flaws pointed out by Lew and others, but flaws have never stopped me from enjoying Chuck… at least not so far.
As for the reason behind Frost’s mission taking 20 years… I have a theory that perhaps she stayed voluntarily to thwart some of Volkoff’s more dastardly schemes, while looking for Hydra — Volkoff’s method of coordinating all of his operations.
Sure, she (and later Sarah) could have put a bullet in his head, but the various offshoots of the Volkoff empire would still be alive and operating… and it is certainly a lot harder to take down hundreds of organizations one at a time. Better to destroy the empire all at once, and now that it appears Chuck’s team has access to Hydra, that can happen.
Just my theory, and I hope a succinct explanation is forthcoming in Push Mix.
Speaking for myself that would be a big No.
If you only want positive reviews, then write your own.
Just wanted to say a couple of things about this episode. I think I may be in the minority here, but I really liked this episode. I understand all the issues people are having with the episode, but if you would just look past all that and enjoy the show for what it is – entertainment! It’s just a great entertaining show in a sea of garbage on TV. Come on, suspend your critical thinking for 40 minutes and go back and watch it again. Don’t try and over think everything you’re seeing – just enjoy it. There is not one show on TV that is like this show!
One other thing, I haven’t seen anyone mention all the references in this episode to the movie GI Joe, the Rise of Cobra. I’ll just mention a few here. The female lead (Baroness) in GI Joe is Sienna Miller, a blonde who dyes her hair black for the part and wears a black leather cat suit and boots. In the opening scene of GI Joe, the Baroness steps out of a helicopter with two guys with guns behind her and sort of takes off her sunglasses and looks around – similar to Sara’s entrance to Volkoff’s office. Later in the movie, the Baroness makes a grand entrance, looks around and says, “Hello boys†just like Sarah’s entrance into Castle. There are others, but one other thing I’ll point out is that one of the bad guys (Zartan) in GI Joe was played by Arnold Vosloo. Vosloo played the bad guy Vincent from season two in Chuck vs the Predator, vs the Dream Job and vs the Colonel.