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THANK GOD FOR PREVIEWS.
Okay I just watched three hours of Chuck and seriously? I literally rushed to the computer to look up the preview for next week's episode. Damn they had me worried. DO NOT DO THAT TO ME AGAIN, SHOW. YOU ARE MY HAPPY SHOW AND I WON'T HAVE YOU TURNING INTO FARSCAPE OR 24. Phew!
After a rather painful, awkward start, I'm happy to report that my show is back in completely unironically speaking AWESOME form by 3x03.
1. First lemme say that I totally get now why they aired the first two episodes together. As awesome as last season's finale was, it really broke down the premise of the show (Chuck as the reluctant spy) and wrote Chuck and Sarah into a bit of a corner (both of them clearly love each other, but now he's a spy again.) The premiere served as a new pilot, basically, and like the first two episodes of S1 of Chuck, it had a lot of exposition to cover (with the Ring, the new Intersect, and Chuck and Sarah). As such a lot of the trademark *Chuck* humor was missing (much to my dismay). I'm glad that I didn't have to wait another week to find out how much of this new Chuck (the show) compared to the show I fell in love with.
2. Because how about that new tone, huh? The new villains definitely mean business and right out the bat, we got a taste of just how different this show would be if it wasn't a comedy. It's not completely un-Chuck like, since the way they are handling the glitchy New Intersect, putting the team back together again, and reinstalling Chuck, Morgan, and Big Mike back into Buy Moria was top notch. But killing off Emmett in cold blood? That is not my show.
I understand that shows need to grow and all, but the nature of Emmett's death makes it impossible to plumb any humor from it, and even an awesome Carina appearance couldn't quite bring it back to the light Chuck tone. The further we get from Emmett's murder in the opener, the less we feel it, and in the long run, I get why they did it. As the most recent episode proved, by killing Emmett, it raises the stakes as I was worried for both Carina and Awesome in their respective episodes. Hell, up until I jumped online to look for the previews, I was almost convinced that they had killed Awesome too. (Again, thank god for previews). However, I just hope they keep the violence and darkness to a minimum. 3x03 did a LOT to reassure me that this is still, in fact, my happy show, but I still remain wary. I have enough angst on Monday nights from 24, thanks.
3. I do like what they're doing with Awesome though. His inclusion into the Spy World is pretty epic and I like how Chuck is the veteran here. The strength of this show lies in Chuck's personal life and spy life colliding with each other, and this allows the writers to go back to that familiar ground with a new take on things. Yet another reason why 3x03 was MUCH better than 3x01 for me is that it had Ellie and Awesome in it in spades. I've been waiting for that Ellie/Sarah conversation since forever. Chuck is more than a spy show, and it should always stay that way.
4. Re: Chuck and Sarah. Although I'm not happy to see them back in the friends status, I'm happy to say that at least the reasons Chuck and Sarah have for not being in a relationship are in character. Part of me is angry that the show runners have decided to follow the stupid rule of pulling the leads apart, but if they *had* to do it, at least they stayed true to the characters and used their personality flaws to cause problems and misunderstandings between the two.
I'm mad at how much sense it makes that Sarah, after putting herself out there for the first time in forever only to be rejected, would be incredibly closed off and cold to Chuck. That scene with the bo? HOT and yet so hurty at the same time because the wedge between them is of their own making. I'm mad at how much sense it made for Chuck to turn her down, because she did change him, and Bryce's death and all that she said to him really made him think that he could make a difference and he was right to turn her down.
I can't even say that it's out of character for Sarah to default to running away and not realize that she basically asked him to give up Morgan, Ellie, Awesome, and his entire life for her. She has never had a real permanent family, and no amount of exposure to Chuck over only 3 years is enough to really let her see that without someone pointing it out. Same thing goes with how it's totally in character for Chuck to be unable to explain the IMPORTANT things to her until he's locked in a vault with gas coming out thinking he's going to die. They're still Chuck and Sarah, the screw-up and the emotionally stunted spy, and the the twist that each took big chances against their nature because of the other's influence only to have to backfire completely was a nice touch, since it shows how much more they still have to grow. The way I see it, no one's really the bad guy here, just two people with good intentions going about things in all the wrong ways, and then forced to deal with each other in the aftermath.
That said, they entirely broke my heart here in ways that I'm only now realizing. Sarah's little "this is real" bit pretty much killed me, and I was hitting pillows the entire time. I just want them to be good again and I hope that now that they're understanding each other a little bit better, they go back to kicking ass together a little bit more and start to rebuild their friendship along these new boundaries soon. Sarah and Chuck have never been just friends, so it's new territory for them and while I remain wary of third parties, I also remain hopeful that the writers will handle this correctly. Given the level of hurt that Sarah's feeling and how much adjustment Chuck needs, I think I'm okay with them being on a break and seeing new people in order to heal a little bit, so long as their Chuck/Sarah connection never wavers. (We all know what Chuck/Sarah is the end game, anyway).
As season openers go, despite the missteps, the first two eps do a decent job of setting up a new premise, considering how the season finale razed most of what we knew to the ground. It also hasn't suffered too much from its budget being cut in half, even though I will miss Anna Wu. I'm glad that they've already started to kick off the season arcs though, because 3x03 was the Chuck I know and love. I can't wait to see where they're gonna take this. (Next week- ANGIE HARMON. God, do I love fandom collisions.)
After a rather painful, awkward start, I'm happy to report that my show is back in completely unironically speaking AWESOME form by 3x03.
1. First lemme say that I totally get now why they aired the first two episodes together. As awesome as last season's finale was, it really broke down the premise of the show (Chuck as the reluctant spy) and wrote Chuck and Sarah into a bit of a corner (both of them clearly love each other, but now he's a spy again.) The premiere served as a new pilot, basically, and like the first two episodes of S1 of Chuck, it had a lot of exposition to cover (with the Ring, the new Intersect, and Chuck and Sarah). As such a lot of the trademark *Chuck* humor was missing (much to my dismay). I'm glad that I didn't have to wait another week to find out how much of this new Chuck (the show) compared to the show I fell in love with.
2. Because how about that new tone, huh? The new villains definitely mean business and right out the bat, we got a taste of just how different this show would be if it wasn't a comedy. It's not completely un-Chuck like, since the way they are handling the glitchy New Intersect, putting the team back together again, and reinstalling Chuck, Morgan, and Big Mike back into Buy Moria was top notch. But killing off Emmett in cold blood? That is not my show.
I understand that shows need to grow and all, but the nature of Emmett's death makes it impossible to plumb any humor from it, and even an awesome Carina appearance couldn't quite bring it back to the light Chuck tone. The further we get from Emmett's murder in the opener, the less we feel it, and in the long run, I get why they did it. As the most recent episode proved, by killing Emmett, it raises the stakes as I was worried for both Carina and Awesome in their respective episodes. Hell, up until I jumped online to look for the previews, I was almost convinced that they had killed Awesome too. (Again, thank god for previews). However, I just hope they keep the violence and darkness to a minimum. 3x03 did a LOT to reassure me that this is still, in fact, my happy show, but I still remain wary. I have enough angst on Monday nights from 24, thanks.
3. I do like what they're doing with Awesome though. His inclusion into the Spy World is pretty epic and I like how Chuck is the veteran here. The strength of this show lies in Chuck's personal life and spy life colliding with each other, and this allows the writers to go back to that familiar ground with a new take on things. Yet another reason why 3x03 was MUCH better than 3x01 for me is that it had Ellie and Awesome in it in spades. I've been waiting for that Ellie/Sarah conversation since forever. Chuck is more than a spy show, and it should always stay that way.
4. Re: Chuck and Sarah. Although I'm not happy to see them back in the friends status, I'm happy to say that at least the reasons Chuck and Sarah have for not being in a relationship are in character. Part of me is angry that the show runners have decided to follow the stupid rule of pulling the leads apart, but if they *had* to do it, at least they stayed true to the characters and used their personality flaws to cause problems and misunderstandings between the two.
I'm mad at how much sense it makes that Sarah, after putting herself out there for the first time in forever only to be rejected, would be incredibly closed off and cold to Chuck. That scene with the bo? HOT and yet so hurty at the same time because the wedge between them is of their own making. I'm mad at how much sense it made for Chuck to turn her down, because she did change him, and Bryce's death and all that she said to him really made him think that he could make a difference and he was right to turn her down.
I can't even say that it's out of character for Sarah to default to running away and not realize that she basically asked him to give up Morgan, Ellie, Awesome, and his entire life for her. She has never had a real permanent family, and no amount of exposure to Chuck over only 3 years is enough to really let her see that without someone pointing it out. Same thing goes with how it's totally in character for Chuck to be unable to explain the IMPORTANT things to her until he's locked in a vault with gas coming out thinking he's going to die. They're still Chuck and Sarah, the screw-up and the emotionally stunted spy, and the the twist that each took big chances against their nature because of the other's influence only to have to backfire completely was a nice touch, since it shows how much more they still have to grow. The way I see it, no one's really the bad guy here, just two people with good intentions going about things in all the wrong ways, and then forced to deal with each other in the aftermath.
That said, they entirely broke my heart here in ways that I'm only now realizing. Sarah's little "this is real" bit pretty much killed me, and I was hitting pillows the entire time. I just want them to be good again and I hope that now that they're understanding each other a little bit better, they go back to kicking ass together a little bit more and start to rebuild their friendship along these new boundaries soon. Sarah and Chuck have never been just friends, so it's new territory for them and while I remain wary of third parties, I also remain hopeful that the writers will handle this correctly. Given the level of hurt that Sarah's feeling and how much adjustment Chuck needs, I think I'm okay with them being on a break and seeing new people in order to heal a little bit, so long as their Chuck/Sarah connection never wavers. (We all know what Chuck/Sarah is the end game, anyway).
As season openers go, despite the missteps, the first two eps do a decent job of setting up a new premise, considering how the season finale razed most of what we knew to the ground. It also hasn't suffered too much from its budget being cut in half, even though I will miss Anna Wu. I'm glad that they've already started to kick off the season arcs though, because 3x03 was the Chuck I know and love. I can't wait to see where they're gonna take this. (Next week- ANGIE HARMON. God, do I love fandom collisions.)
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This picspam (http://hariboo-smirks.livejournal.com/141807.html) says it much better than I ever could. But basically it's Get Smart meets 24 with a shot of geekiness that rivals Sheldon and Leonard. Oh and he works at a
Best BuyBuy More. It's hilarious.Oh ALSO? 24 villains show up a lot. No joke, Fayed from S6 was in the premiere, and Marwan of S4 was a big villain in S2.
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But. I'm so excited that you can still rec Chuck, given that Adrienne had said the first couple were a little iffy and she wasn't entirely sold on the tonal shift. I'm that you're still hanging in there, although argh I'm disappointed on the Chuck/Sarah thing. I think I'm getting too old for "will they or won't they" or something. Ahem anyway! I'm really looking forward to those DVDs!
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I DID love Chuck vs the Angel of Death though. It features a lot of Casey, a lot of Awesome and Ellie and the Chuck/Sarah angst is at a minimum. Even 3x02 isn't too bad by itself. It's just that 3x01 was so drastically different that it's leaving echoes that harsh my squee.
Still, I can respect a show that changes in tone, so long as it doesn't change too much. The Chuck/Sarah angst I'm less receptive to, because I think the whole Moonlight curse is a sham that I won't get into here. For me, I'm choosing to approach it less on will they/won't they and more like, okay, clearly they aren't ready to be in a relationship. If/when they bring in new love interests, I'll be interested to see how they play it when Chuck and Sarah are clearly the endgame. Up until now, all third parties have been a joke, but now that Chuck has hurt Sarah (SO BADLY), a real relationship with someone else, at least on Sarah's part, is a real possibilty.
If they play it right, they can probably pull off the "relationship you have to make you realize that the OTHER relationship with all its hurt and flaws is the one you really want" angle, while deepening Chuck and Sarah's friendship/partnership at the same time. The love they have for each other has never been Chuck and Sarah's problem. It's that they're so different in how they approach solving problems (emotional or otherwise) that they need to work on that.
Maybe learning how to be friends first will be good for them so they can grow the fuck up and use their words properly. (They're 20 somethings, so I forgive them for that. We don't know what the hell we're doing at this age. I have less patience for characters in their 30's and beyond because you're supposed to be better at this by now.)
ETA- See how I'm choosing to ignore the 24 comment? Get thee behind me, Satan. I will not be spoiled after holding out for so long. Sorry to hear about your mom though.
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I agree with you on the Moonlighting curse. Damn show that ruined everything and wasn't even good for more than five minutes. But I'm going to try to go into S3 (when I get there) with your perspective and really give it a chance. It's a little easier for me with Chuck, because I do NOT ship him and Sarah harder than fedex, so I can back off and be a little more reasonable. I agree with you about the 20s, and how yeah maybe they need to branch out a little as individuals before they're ready to be a unit. I want them together, but not so much that I occasionally stop breathing or something. Not that I would um, do that. Ever. Ahem.
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I must confess btw, the "Shipping it harder than fedex" is totally not my line. It's something that started showing up in the Merlin fandom, and it's now become part of my fandom vocabulary. God, I love that fandom. I've never been in a fandom that was so simultaneously cracky and well-versed in gender, race, and power theory as that one. The show may be only an okay kid show, but the adorable cast and the amazing fandom keeps me coming back. (Sorry, random tangent).
Yeah, let me know how your shipper status on Chuck and Sarah changes or stays the same AFTER S2. Because 2x21? Not gonna lie. They make holding hands much hotter than it really should be. I'll keep you updated on S3 and let you know how it's going. I suspect the first two were painful because they were set up. From here on out though, it better not misstep or I'll be sorely disappointed.
Okay going to bed now, for real.
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i didn't saw the preview, so i just finished watching the episode being really sad.