General TV News…Chuck, Harry’s Law, Parenthood, Criminal Minds

So a couple of news items have been released and for me personally, I am very excited about all of them!!

Chuck really is the little show that could.  Several sites are reporting the rumor that Chuck appears primed for a 13 episode pickup for 2011-2012.  It’s a bit surprising ( a great surprise) because he ratings have been horrible.  Any other network and Chuck would have been gone after season 1.  So thank God NBC sucks so bad that Chuck can make it for a 5th season!!!!

I have comes to terms with the idea that Chuck would run its final season this year.  I’m embarrassed to say that once can’t miss TV for me has now piled up on my DVR.  I have NINE episodes to watch!!   I love Chuck.  I love the cast and the characters.  But I was starting to feel as though the show had run its course.  Other years, I wasn’t ready to let go of Chuck but this year I was.   But I am beyond thrilled that it’s going to be back again!!!  Congrats to the cast and crew!!

Also on the rumor front is that Harry’s Law and Parenthood will be renewed for the 2011-2012 season.   I’m not sure how many episodes for Harry’s Law (my guess would be 13) but Parenthood looks more likely for a full 22 episode order.   Yeah!!!  Neither show is really a surprise to be renewed but I will be happy when they are both official!!!

Finally on the CBS front, Shemar Moore resigned for next season on Criminal Minds.   Yahoo!!!!!   Now we just need Thomas Gibson resigned because I cannot have Criminal Minds without Hotch!!!  The dream team is almost back together (please let Paget’s comedy fail!)   I know that’s mean but I want my Emily back!!!!

 

RECAP & REVIEW: Chuck “Chuck vs. the Push Mix” S4 E13

THE BEST EPISODE OF CHUCK EVER!!!!  Oh my goodness.   I cried, I laughed, I cried again, I cheered, I cried again.  It was awesome!!!!   I don’t know about you guys but it almost felt like a season finale type of episode since everything was wrapped up so nicely.  It makes sense considering Chuck’s had another year of adding more episodes after the season already began (13 was their original order) so I can understand why it felt that way.  I’m curious to see where the season goes from here.

Chuck/Sarah/Mama B/Volkoff/Morgan

We start off with Sarah and Mama B trying to infiltrate Volkoff’s office to find out where he downloaded the Hydra network.  The realize the network is now where the Contessa is.  Hydra was given to the Barefoot Contessa?  I bet Ina Garten could make a magnificent apple cranberry and pear cobbler with it.  Chuck is also frustrated with the idea of Sarah still being undercover inside his organization considering she has had to throw friends out of 10 story windows and such.  So he comes up with a plan, with Morgan’s help, to take down Volkoff and bring Sarah and Mama B home.  And the first step in that plan is to fool Volkoff into thinking Orion is still alive.

Chuck and Morgan kidnap the man who created the Hydra network for Volkoff.  Due to Sarah’s intel about the Contessa, C&M ask him about how Hydra was created, what it is, and who the Contessa is.  They get their information and find out that the Contessa is not Ina Garten, bummer, but a ship where Hydra was created.  C&M head over and board the Contessa.  At the same time, Volkoff has brought Mama B and Sarah with him and their plan is also to destroy the Hydra network.  Neither team knows the other party is there.  Until later that night, when the ship is at sea, that they are both looking for Hydra and bump into each other.  Mama B and Sarah aren’t too thrilled with them there and C&M convince them to work together to find Hydra.  They go into the lower levels of the ship to get to the server room but it is covered with security.  Mama B goes to shoot them but Chuck stops her and shoots them with a tranq gun.  “When we get back, we need to have a serious talk about the benefits of tranq guns”  Chuck says to his mom.  Love it!!!  Morgan lifts a key card from one of the guards and opens a door to a hallway that leads to another room.  He enters the hallway but then the door shuts and lethal lasers pop up that blocks the server door.  Luckily Morgan has been taking yoga and uses his poses to get through the maze.  Hilarious.  Completely unbelievable (both him doing yoga and him using yoga to get through the lasers) but I don’t care.  He somehow gets through and is able to open the server door and turn off the lasers.  As Mama B starts to transfer Hydra to a secure, off-shore, CIA server, Chuck inserts a flash drive into the mainframe.  His mom yells at him not to touch anything and Chuck backs off and removes the flash drive.  I find it humorous that a woman in her 60s is telling a man in his 30s not to touch anything.  He’s a little old for that don’t you think Mama B?  But the transfer isn’t working because it is voice controlled by Volkoff.  Just then, he and his goons enter and he is not happy with Mama B.  He activates Hydra to see what they were doing “Death is the solution to all problems.”  It’s Volkoff’s quote from his favorite poem by his favorite humanitarian, Joseph Stalin…ok that’s wrong on so many levels.  He tells Mama B that what happens next, is all her fault and he instructs his goons to kill Chuck, Sarah, and Morgan.  Mama B grabs his gun and turns it on him and tells C, S, & M to leave which they do while she stays behind.  Chuck is really upset that his mom was left behind and that this wasn’t part of his plan.

Mama B is still in the server room with Volkoff and his goons and one of the goons hits her over the head with his gun.   This doesn’t sit well with Volkoff and he shoots him dead.  “No one touches my Frost” he says.  This guy is a few burgers short of a happy meal!    He helps her up and shows her the screen that says, “Meet me at the Cabin.  Godspeed my love, Orion.”  Mama B is completely confused and Volkoff is pressing her for information about all the plotting she has been doing with her husband.  She honestly says, she has no idea what he is talking about but he doesn’t believe her.  He says he found hundreds of these messages on the server (guess we now know what Chuck was doing with the flash drive) and wants her to admit that she lied to him.  She tells does him one truth: “my husband, alive or dead will always be 10 times the man you are!  And every moment that I was with you, I was thinking of him!”  Oh where are my Kleenex????  You go Mama B!!!  Volkoff tells her he going to meet her husband and promises to bring him back in a body bag to her and then he kisses her.   Yuck!!!!  I hate Volkoff but Timothy Dalton is fantastic!!!!  Volkoff shows up at the cabin and enters alone to take care of Orion.  You see Orion in the chair and when Volkoff greets him, stands and comes into the light…it’s Chuck!!!  Now my husband really thought this was going to be Stephen, Chuck’s dad.  I think a part of him was really hoping he was still alive.  Me too if I’m being honest but this was always Chuck’s plan.  Volkoff is completely surprised and Chuck says hello and promptly punches him in the face…something Volkoff has coming to him for a while!!!

Chuck has Volkoff tied up and they do the typical back and forth repartee.  But then, creepy Volkoff comes out and tells Chuck that if he kills him, everyone he loves, will die and it will be his fault.  Then you see Mama B with guns pointed at her on the Contessa.  One of his goons entering the hospital.  Just then, Volkoff frees himself and punches Chuck and takes his gun.  He gives him credit for the plan to get him there, but then mocks him at how it failed, how he’s his father’s son, and how everyone he loves will not get out of this alive because of him.  Then you see Ellie and the goon coming with the pillow and I am freaking out and yelling at the TV!   But then it shows Casey’s face and instead of going after Ellie, he is going after Casey.   For a nano second I was relieved Ellie was ok but then I was freaking out again because Casey was being killed.   Then he stops struggling and his monitor flat lines.  I’m embarrassed to say but I burst into tears at this point!!!  Especially after all the Alex stuff in the episode which I will get to.  Then the goon says he is going after “the sister.”  Back at the cabin, Volkoff tells Chuck that his men were told if they don’t hear from him, they are to kill his mother.  And they won’t hear from him.  As Volkoff is about to shoot Chuck, Chuck tells him that he can’t believe he didn’t figure out the solution.  “What solution?”   “Gotcha!!!” Chuck says to him as Morgan tells him in his ear pierce that they have the pass code.   Then the walls open to reveal the computer linked to the Hydra network and Volkoff’s voice command unlocking it.  I guess Chuck was getting him to say each word that they needed to record to unlock Hydra.  Morgan must have been keeping track remotely and telling him in his ear what words he needed.    That is genius!!!  Chuck then tells Volkoff that the Orion communique weren’t messages but a virus that his father created that will download the entire Hydra network to his computer.   “Technically I guess you could say that in he end, it was Stephen J. Bartowski who took you down.”  More Kleenex please….STAT!!!!!  He continues: “My father taught me a lot of things.  Like looks could be deceiving”   (flash to Casey being alive and his monitor being unplugged to fake the flat line and bashing the goon’s head in with his Bonsai tree….Thank God!!!!) “fight for your family” (flash to alarms going off on Contessa and Sarah entering the room and killing some goons while Mama B helps her kick some major ass and escape) “and of course, never use a gun, unless you absolutely have to” (you see Volkoff shooting a blank gun!)  My husband and I are high fiving and I’m cheering at the top of my lungs!!!!  Volkoff tells Chuck he made one fatal mistake.  He has a crew of men outside ready to take him down if Volkoff doesn’t leave the cabin.  “You’re gonna need an army to get out of here alive.”  Just then, a knock on the door.  Chuck goes to open it and what is outside?   That would be General Beckman…with an entire army (literally) to take Volkoff in!!!   The cheers and high fives start all over again!!!!  General Beckman arrests Volkoff and tells Chuck that Sarah and Mama B are on their way home!  Just then Morgan comes in and tells Chuck that Ellie is in labor and they need to get to the hospital.  Chuck asks the General to borrow a van and he response triggers another round of tears: “Agent Bartowski, you just arrested Alexi Volkoff and obtained the Hydra network we have spent the last 20 years searching for.  Lieutenant, get this man a chopper.”  I love Beckman!!!

Ellie/Awesome/Baby Clara

While all the spy stuff is going on, a little Bartowski event known as Operation Baby Clara, is happening at the same time.  Ellie, who is usually the neurotic one, is perfectly calm and ready to go.  Awesome, usually the calm one, is an absolute mess.  He feels unorganized and unprepared but Ellie is there to settle him.   They get to the hospital and Ellie is politely telling the nurses what drugs she needs and what dosage to give her.  Awesome keeps rearranging the drawers full of clothes to occupy himself.  When it’s time, Ellie tells the nurse to get the doctor and she tells Awesome to go outside, give himself 5 minutes and pull himself together.  She needs him because he is all she has.  He heads to the nursery where he is still having a hard time coming to grips.  Casey rolls up and asks him why he isn’t with Ellie right now since he heard she was in labor.  ( I don’t know who told him that but we’re going with it.)  Awesome can’t even speak and Casey tells him how he missed Alex’s birth and childhood and there is not a day that goes by the he doesn’t regret it.  It gets through to Awesome and man’s up.  Casey tells him to get in there and Awesome nods appreciation and then power slaps him on his broken back!   Oops.  He goes back in, grabs Ellie’s hand and she starts to push….just when Jeffster takes over the loud-speaker system and sings Salt and Peppa’s “Push It.”   Ha!!!  Mama B, Sarah, Chuck and Morgan show up and meet Casey outside Ellie’s room.  Sarah goes right up to Casey to apologies and he stops her and tells her he’s glad she’s back and gives her an “it’s ok” smile.  She gives the “thank you and I’m so glad you are alright” smile back at him.  The nurse comes out and asks if they are all family and they all say yes!  Only person can go in so Chuck tells his mom to go first and tell Ellie that they are all out there for her.  When Mama B enters Ellie’s room and you see the happiness in her eyes that her mother is there, well you should know me well enough by now to know what I was doing.   I am going to need a Walgreens run after this damn show for more tissues!!!!   And by the way, it was so nice to see the birth of a baby without all the screaming, cursing, and ugliness from the mom!!!  I’m sure that’s more realistic but I liked it this way better.  And Clara is just about the most beautiful baby I have ever seen.  Ellie and Mama B are crying and when she hands her to Awesome, who is also crying, his response to his new baby girl is perfect…”Awesome!”    And just when you think you can’t possibly be any more moved (or in my case cry anymore) in this episode, the most perfect thing happens.  While waiting to see Ellie, Chuck and Sarah are sitting on chairs and he looks at her and gets up.  He faces her and pulls out THE ring box.  A janitor is power washing the floor so that is the only sound you hear.  The camera focuses on the power washer but in the distance you see Chuck get on one knee and after a few seconds, Sarah leans in to kiss him.   Best. Proposal. Ever!   None of the pomp and circumstance was necessary.  And when it came down to it, surrounded by family and friends on the day his niece his born, he asks Sarah to be part of it all.  What is more romantic than that?  Nothing!

Morgan/Alex/Casey

I really don’t want to belittle this but I need to start wrapping up the review part to get to the comments.  The main thing to take away from this is that with Casey hurt, Alex realizes how much she wants to be in her father’s life and how much she wants him in hers.  The have some really sweet moments ending with Alex promising never to go anywhere and Casey promising her the same.  I really like Alex and love her with Morgan.  I also like the unusual, dare I say, friendship that is developing between Morgan and Casey.   I think at this point, Morgan has proven himself to Casey so although Casey may not like Morgan yet, he does trust him.  Which coming from Casey, is probably the bigger compliment to Morgan.

Comments

I was blown away.   I think it’s fair to say that shows can hit a rut when they are on the air for a while.  The beginning of the season fell a little flat to me (especially with all the dumb C&S relationship crap they were going through.)   But it really started to pick up around E8 “Chuck vs. the Fear of Death.”  The payoffs have really come over the last few episodes and I was back to not being able to wait until the next episode was on to see what happens next.

If you do read my blog, you have learned how character driven I am as well as storyline.  But my characters come first.   Chuck has always been about the characters for me with the story making it more entertaining to get to know them.  This was Chuck at it’s best.  And because I have been invested in these guys for over 4 years now, I care what happens to them and it makes an episode like Chuck vs. the Push Mix, a real treat for the loyal Chuck fans who have fallen in love with these characters.

I’m anxious to see where they go next.  It must be brutal for Josh Schwartz because the last 2 season, he gets a 13 episode order only to have it increased after the season starts.   So last season we got the beginning of the Mama B/Volkoff storyline which ended this week.  Now, we will possibly set up for next season over the last few weeks of this season with the same roller coaster to happen again next year.   So instead of it happening over the course of one season, it’s a half of two.  Not that I am complaining.  As long as I get Chuck and this quality Chuck, I will watch every week!   I hope they get a season 5, they deserve it.  But where do they go now?  Other than the obvious of C&S’s impending wedding, Casey continuing to grow his relationship with Alex, Alex and Morgan getting closer, and Ellie and Awesome learning to become parents, it’s up in the air.  Does Mama B become a recurring character?  I hope so.  I don’t think she needs to be a regular but I don’t want her to go away either.  I just wish there was someway we could bring Stephen back.  After all they went through, they deserved to be together!    But I’m looking forward to new missions, possibly a new Big Bad, and the continuing saga that is Chuck.

Sound off people.  What did you think?

 

REVIEW: Chuck “Chuck vs. the Balcony” S4 E11

Almost caught up on all my shows!  I feel like I haven’t watched Chuck in a year, it’s been off the air for so long!  But I was happy to see it back in full force.  The 2 stories I am going to home in on is the engagement between Chuck and Sarah and Sarah’s new mission that was thrown at us at the end of the episode.

The whole episode’s “side mission” was Chuck trying to find the perfect time to propose to Sarah.  It starts with him in the restaurant and had Morgan bringing balloons and roses, champagne was chilling, a quartet of violinists, and a horse and carriage ride were all set to romance Sarah.   Then she tells him the story how her father did this elaborate engagement for her mother and all these things went wrong and they ended up think it was a bad omen for their marriage since it fell apart.  So Chuck decides to call off the dogs and not do the proposal in this manner.  They get a mission in France so the proposal is completely scrapped for the time being.  However, once they get to France, Morgan is helping Chuck to think of a time or place in France to propose to Sarah.  Something mission related always seems to get in the way so Chuck thinks that maybe this is a bad idea.  He keeps going back and forth but Morgan keeps reminding him that he can do this, make it romantic, and Sarah will love it.  It doesn’t work out but not all is lost.  When they get back to castle, Beckman gives them another mission and they are going back to France.  Meanwhile, Sarah knows Chuck is trying to propose and gets in touch with Morgan.  She is taking over the side mission and will help him help Chuck propose to her.  Awesome!  After the mission is complete, Chuck asks Sarah to meet him on the balcony where she really liked the view and have a glass of wine together.  She agrees.  Morgan, now joined by Casey at castle, are watching them on the security feed and Morgan can see how nervous Sarah is.  To calm her nerves, he gets on her earpiece and talks her through it and in a really sweet moment, gives her permission to marry Chuck.  It was a great scene and since you know how much Chuck means to Morgan, it was perfectly acceptable for him to do that.  It was great and it was just what she needed to hear!  So Chuck is finally going to do it except for one probably, he dropped the ring on the ground and doesn’t know it.  Casey notices this and tells Sarah.  She able to distract Chuck to the point that she gets the ring back in his pocket.  The moment has come and Chuck is about to pop the question!!!!   As he gets on one knee and Sarah is beaming, CIA security comes barreling onto the scene to arrest Sarah for treason to the surprise of everyone watching.   WHAT?????   What the hell just happened?  Sarah?  Treason?  No freaking way!!!  Something must be up here because there is no way Sarah is a traitor.

Before the first mission to France, Sarah stays behind after everyone is dismissed to tell the General that she will do anything to help bring down Volkoff and get Chuck’s mom out from under Volkoff’s hold on her.  General says her request is noted.  After Casey, Sarah, and Chuck return from the first mission, the General gives them the 2nd mission to go back as rogue agents and drop this tracking chip to Pierre.  When they all leave, the General has Sarah stay behind.  She tells her that she wants her to be the one to make the drop.  I thought this was odd but went with it.  They go to France, Sarah makes the drop and goes to meet Chuck.  As the proposal is happening everyone looks so happy (Chuck, Sarah, Morgan and Casey) and I just know something is coming.  I thought it was going to be that Chuck realizes since all this proposal stuff isn’t going and Sarah is already weirded-out by the idea of marriage, that he was going to commit to her but not propose to her out of respect for her wishes.  What happened instead I had no idea was coming.  CIA agents descend on them and arrest Sarah for treason.  As happy as everyone looked 5 seconds ago, those same people look equally stunned over what just happened.  Back at castle, Chuck is going crazy over Sarah’s arrest.  He tells Casey he was going to propose because he had no idea Casey was watching them on the security footage!  Casey tells him how he once proposed to Kathleen and the best part of it was not the location or the mood or the atmosphere, it was the look on her face.  “All you need is the girl” he tells Chuck.  So Chuck leaves to see Sarah in her cell.  When he gets there, General Beckman is in the cell with Sarah and immediately leaves.  Again I find this very strange.  Chuck goes in to see Sarah and gets ready to propose, again.  She stops him and says she’s leaving.  She tells him this was all part of the plan to have her go deep under cover as a double agent to Volkoff.  Chuck is devastated because this is what happened to his mother.  He doesn’t want her to do this but she says she is doing this to save his mom and bring her back to her family.  She is doing it for them.  He understands but it is breaking his heart (and mine I might add.)  Sarah gets taken away in shackles to her new mission.

WOW!!!!  I had no idea that was coming but I think it’s going to be awesome!!!!  Do you think Sarah knew even before she went to France that this was happening?  She looked to be surprised and upset by the news when she was telling Chuck but was she upset because she knew Chuck would be upset or because she didn’t know what the CIA had in mind for her?  I’m not sure.  I think this is a great storyline and I can’t wait to see how this plays out the rest of the season.  Chuck came out of the box a little slow this year but this episode reminds me of why I love it so much…intrigue, action, romance, tender moments, humor, and Jeffster!  It had everything that makes Chuck great.  Can’t wait for tomorrow night!

 

QUICK RECAP: Chuck “Chuck vs. the Leftovers” S4 E10

Chuck has certainly been better these last few weeks.  Especially last week’s episode (Chuck vs. Phase Three) was the best of the year.  This one brought back Volkoff and Mama Bartowski and had the Bartowski’s celebrating Thanksgiving together.

The short version of what happened this week, Volkoff realizes that Chuck is still alive.   Mama B goes back to warn Chuck but in doing so, Volkoff thinks he has kidnapped her.  Volkoff heads to Burbank to not only get Mama B back but to take care of Chuck.

Chuck “returns” his mother to Volkoff and in doing so Volkoff wants to kill him as a “romantic” gesture towards Mama B.   As he is about to shoot, Mama B stops him and tells him not to because he is her son.   Oh boy.  Don’t know if that was a good or bad move.  Then Volkoff, recognizing Bartowski as Ellie’s last name, asks him if he has a sister.  It is confirmed when Ellie calls Chuck about coming over for Thanksgiving dinner.   Volkoff then decides to invite himself over to meet the family.

Everyone shows up at Ellie’s and Volkoff threatens Chuck and Sarah that if they try to do anything, he will kill everyone they know and love.  After dinner a game of charades breaks out.  As Volkoff’s turn is up, Chuck tells Awesome what is going on and that he needs his help since he is a civilian and no one would be the wiser.   Awesome fakes needing some sugar at Chuck’s place and he goes to get it.  At Chuck’s place, he gets a gun and activates the CIA distress call.  He goes back with the “sugar” and gives it (the gun) to Sarah.  He pretends to answer a call from the hospital and tells Ellie they need to go.   They leave and Volkoff realizes what is going on and points his gun at Chuck and Sarah.  This doesn’t sit well with Mama B and she tells Volkoff that if he hurts Chuck or Ellie or any of their friends, she will take him down.   Volkoff loves her feistiness and tells Chuck “that’s how you make a threat.”    They leave and Chuck thanks his mom and tells her that he does trust her again.  See I still don’t.  I know she keeps proving herself but she still hasn’t proven herself to me.  I don’t trust her yet.

Awesome has a conversation with Chuck in the courtyard of Casa Bartowski and tells him how pissed his was that Chuck is spying again and brought it around Ellie and their home.  I know I have mentioned my huge crush on Awesome but before I will say it again…I LOVE AWESOME!!!  I love that he has a strong enough relationship with Chuck that he can go after him like that but still be respectful about it.   And Chuck also respects that Awesome is just looking out for his sister and he can appreciate that as well.  I think it’s great that Awesome is so protective of Ellie that he will do anything to make sure she is happy and safe.   As he should.   As a result of protecting Ellie, he gives Chuck the laptop that was in his dad’s car and Chuck brings it to Castle to investigate.   Turns out it is another form of the intersect redownloaded into Chuck’s brain and Chuck once again has the intersect.

Ok does anyone else find it strange that there are all these copies of intersect downloads and intersect erasers out there?   Seriously, how many copies of each can these people have.   Not to mention, you would think that everything that has been done to Chuck’s brain in the last 5 years, the man would have to be in a mental hospital.   How is this not effecting his brain?  If I were Sarah, I would have him checked out constantly!

What are your thoughts?   Are you happy Chuck is intersect 3.0 again?   Do you trust Mama B?   And any bets on when Ellie finally has Awesome Jr?

 

RECAP: Chuck “Chuck vs. the Aisle of Terror” S4 E6

FINALLY, Chuck is getting back to Chuck.   I’ll admit, I was very worried about one of my favorite shows early on in the season but the last 2 episodes have been MUCH better.    I was so tired of every week there is a Sarah/Chuck relationship catastrophe.   She doesn’t want to unpack her stuff and he wants to know why.   She doesn’t want to get married and have kids, he does.  He doesn’t think they communicate and wants to work on it, she doesn’t get it.   Ugh.   Enough already.   Just let them be normal and have fun and at some point if you want to interject a REAL problem, ok.   But starting with last eppy (Chuck vs. the Couch Lock) the writers got away from that angle and just did Chuck/Sarah/Casey as spies and added the surrounding characters in for support stories.   Yeah!!!!

This week was a pretty good episode.  The main case was Freddy Krueger possessing a potential dangerous bio-toxin that messes with people’s minds.  After he tests it and states it’s ready for release, a woman says she has a buyer in LA.   Guess who that woman was?   That’s right….Mama Bartowski!   Mama B calls Chuck on his phone and says she wants to meet with him in the park alone.  Chuck at this point is wondering what the hell is going on.   He has been searching tirelessly for his mom and now she just calls him on the phone and asks for a rendezvous in the park.  Ok.

Chuck goes to the park (and Sarah is with him watching his back) and Chuck receives another phone call.   He knew it was too good to be true, his mother showing up.  But she tells him to look at 3:00 and there she is.   She tells him to go towards the playground and includes Sarah in this bit of intel.  When Sarah moves over to the park area, a gun is then raised to her head.    Sarah quickly turns and aims her gun at one Mama Bartowski.    Great introduction of mom and the girlfriend right?  “I don’t know how to say this but please don’t kill one another.”  Isn’t that always the first thing a guy says when introducing his girlfriend to his mom for the first time!   Ha!  Once Chuck explains who each party is, the guns are lowered and the women seem to ease up, a little bit.   Chuck then starts having a weird let’s-tell-mom-every-moment-she-has-ever-missed-in-my-life moment and Mama B quickly puts an end to it.    She doesn’t want to know anything about Chuck or Ellie.  Harsh much?  But then she explains that she is deep undercover in the Volkoff Organization and doesn’t want them to find out she has a family and use it torture information out of her or worse, go after them.    Sarah asks her why she doesn’t have a CIA file if she is undercover and Mama B explains that it was expunged to make sure she wasn’t found out.   She then tells C&S that she is there to ask Chuck to pose as a buyer for the toxin so it will get into the hands of the CIA.   Sarah asks why Chuck and Mama B says, because she knows she can trust him.   Really?  You can trust the child you abandoned 20+ years ago?   Does that make sense?   Nope.  She’s up to something.   But she leaves to set up the meeting between Chuck and Freddy Krueger.

Back at CIA Buy More, Chuck admits he has a soft spot for anything related to his mother and asks Sarah if he should help her.   She agrees but you can tell she wants to be cautiously optimistic about Mama B.  General Beckman meets with the team and Chuck explains the plan to her based on some intelligence he received.   She agrees with the plan and they are set to meet Freddy Krueger.   Casey thinks something is up and Chuck explains that he found his mom and she is the one that gave him the intel.   Casey isn’t buying this and I usually trust Casey’s instincts.

The meet takes place at an outdoor cafe where Sarah is undercover as the hostess so she can keep an eye on Chuck and Casey is nearby in the van keeping watch on the scene.  Mr. Carmichael is seated and when Freddy Krueger shows up, he sits down and they discuss business.  As the transaction is moving forward, guess who shows up?    That’s right kids, Mama B is there.  She tells Freddy Krueger not to sell the toxin because Chuck is CIA.   The look on Chuck’s face is one of confusion and betrayal and then pain because Mama B pulls out a gun and shoots Chuck in the chest!   The scene isn’t too upsetting because you see black chalk fly instead of blood so you know Chuck is wearing a vest.   Freddy Krueger and Mama B escape during the shootout and Chuck is left to lay there after his own mother shot him.

At Castle, Chuck tells Sarah that his “heart hurts.”   She understands why considering his mother just betrayed him.   “No she shot me in the heart!”   Ha!!  Love Chuck.  Casey, Morgan and Sarah think Chuck should go home and get some rest and he reluctantly agrees.  As he is leaving Buy More, a mysterious car shows up.  Guess who it is again?   Mama B tells Chuck to get in the car and he wants no part of this because she just shot him.   She threatens to shoot him again if he doesn’t get in.   Mothers can be demanding!  He gets in the car and activates his emergency tracking device on his iPhone.    While driving to whereabouts unknown, Mary explains to Chuck that she was deep undercover in Volkoff for the CIA under case name Project Isis.   Unfortunately she got in too deep and the CIA had to drop the project and erase her former life.   She tells Chuck that she knew he was wearing a Kevlar vest and that is why she shot him.  She knew Volkoff was watching, it would look like Charles Carmichael was dead, and he and Ellie would be safe.    “I knew she was going to say that!” my  husband exclaims.   Sure you did sweetie!!   Mama B also tells Chuck that if she could do over again, she would have never left her family.  I guess I have to believe her here but I’m still not so sure.  They end up at rail car depot and she instructs Chuck to follow her.   She takes him to a container where Freddy Krueger is mixing more toxin so he can take him in.   They hear sirens.   Chuck tells her he had to activate his tracking device in his phone so Sarah and Casey could find him.   “Good boy” she says.   She goes to leave and Chuck asks her to see Ellie before she goes.  She tells him she can’t and she goes to leave again.  “Ellie is pregnant!”  This stops her in her tracks and Chuck asks her one more time to please see Ellie.   When he turns away and sees Sarah and crew approaching, he turns back to see his mother is gone.   The CIA sees Chuck with Freddy Krueger and asks how he got there.  “My mom gave me a ride.”   Ha!

Back at Castle, Casey tells Sarah he doesn’t trust Mama B.   Well if Casey doesn’t trust her, neither do I!  Sarah tells him there is no way to investigate her because all her files were erased.  He says he has a friend who is an expert in finding such files.   Of course he does!!!   We flip over the Ellie and Devon who are baby shopping for clothes and toys.  Honey, Awesome’s mom, has been staying with them and she is going to be helping Ellie out with the baby.  Ellie wants a stuffed bear for the baby but Honey thinks it’s a dumb gift because the baby can’t learn anything from it and goes off to find a baby dictionary.  Honey can be a little much but at least she is there for Ellie.  “That’s more than I can say for my own mother.”   Again, guess who is in ear shot of that comment?   How did she find them by the way?  Did she follow them from home?  Was she picking an item for her friend’s daughter who is pregnant and just so happen to be in the same story as Ellie?    I guess since she is a super spy it isn’t THAT far-fetched.   But when Ellie walks away, she goes and picks up the bear that her daughter wanted.   Chuck gets a text message from his mom, she wants to see Ellie.   When Chuck arrives back at Casa Bartowski, Ellie is in the courtyard reading the book Honey got for the baby.   She tells Chuck how much she appreciates Honey being there for her but it would be nice if her own mother were around for support and be there to talk to.   Chuck then smiles and asks if she is busy later that night.

I am going to skip through the toxin being released part and everyone being ok to Casey finding out the intel on Mama B that he wanted.   Two random cars pull up in a remote area and Casey and Sarah each get out of their respective cars.  Sarah wants to know what this is about and Casey tells her it’s about Chuck’s mom.   He didn’t want Chuck or Morgan to hear this and he only wants Sarah to know about this right now.  His buddy was able to pull the information on Project Isis and discover that the project was discontinued over 20 years ago!   Mama B has been lying to Chuck.   Uh oh!   In the meantime, Ellie and Chuck are at a restaurant waiting for their mom.   Ellie looks like the 12-year-old girl who was abandoned all those years ago in anticipation of her mother’s arrival.  And it’s really sweet.   Chuck thinks she may have gotten lost because she is running a bit late, so he goes to look outside for her.   He sees her approaching the restaurant and she had Ellie’s bear in her hands!   Just then, a van skids behind her and hooded men jump out to grab her.   Chuck rushes to her rescue but they get her inside very quickly.   Chuck grabs one of the hooded men and pulls his hood off only to reveal that the hooded man is actually a hooded woman.   It’s Sarah!!!!  She quickly tells him that Mama B has been lying to him and  that she isn’t the person she claims to be.  Sarah jumps in the van and the van speeds away from Chuck who is left in the street dumbfounded.    He returns to the restaurant to tell Ellie that mom is coming.   And you can see that Ellie is crushed.  I seriously almost started to cry for her!    “Why does she keep doing this?”  Ellie asks.   “Because she is a spy” Chuck replies.   Ellie looks shocked.  I don’t know why at this point.   Her father and brother were all spies, why not her mother!

This could be a major turning point in the season for Chuck and Sarah.   Obviously sides are determined.  Casey and Sarah don’t believe Mama B and Chuck will be torn between believing in his mother and his allegiance to his partners.  At this point I have no idea if Mary is bad or not.  The show is leading you to believe that she is, which means she probably isn’t.  I am hoping she’s a baddie and I’ll tell you why.  You can’t always have everyone be the good guy.    These shows work when there is an element of surprise and when a pseudo major character is the bad guy.   Papa B ended up being a good guy.   I think it would be really interesting story telling to have Mary be the Irina Derevko (aka Sydney Bristow’s mom) of Chuck.  It would be fascinating to see how that impacts Chuck’s relationship personally and professionally with her and how Sarah and Casey would handle her and Chuck.   So I am rooting for a bad Mama B.   How about you?

 

RECAP: Chuck “Chuck vs. the Suitcase” S4 E2

Classic Chuck episode and there was a lot going on Monday night!  The underlying theme in “Chuck vs the Suitcase” is that Chuck is a little concerned that Sarah refuses to unpack her suitcase after living together all this time and starts to question if she is really happy living with him.  She tells him not to worry, she just always likes to stay packed because at any moment she can be off on another mission.  Speaking of mission, the case this week: Volkoff has created a smart bullet that is able to track down the target with a built-in GPS and kill it.  “Something a good spy would never need” says Casey….love him!   Their mission is to steal the weapon from Volkoff’s weapons dealer, Sophia Stephanova (played by Karolina Kurkova) whose cover is a real stretch, a runway supermodel.  I love that even though Sarah is this tough girl, kiss ass spy, she also gets jealous and miffed when her boyfriend starts drooling over another woman.  The look she gives Chuck in the situation room, down right chilly!   Chuck and Sarah are off to Milan for fashion week where the intersect can intercept (try saying that 3 times fast) the weapon transaction between Sophia and the buyer.  When they spot her, Chuck goes to grab her purse and inadvertently grabs her cheeks.  In typical Chuck fashion instead of removing his hand  quickly and tries to talk his way out of why he just grabbed her ass and leaves his hand there during the explanation.  When he says “don’t worry I’m with someone” and he turns to point at Sarah but instead points at Balki from Perfect Strangers!  Sophia then says no biggie and walks away.  She leaves her purse with the bartender and when he goes to return it, Sarah and Chuck intercede and take her purse.  Instead of the smart bullets, they find a bomb.  As Sarah quickly tries to disarm it, Chuck professes how much Sarah having never unpacked suitcase in their closet is ok with him after all and that he still loves her.  Sarah dismantled the bomb and gives him another look and cries “you STILL love me?”  Oopsie!

Sarah and Chuck decide to break into Sophia’s suite thinking she must have the weapon in her room somewhere.    The first place they look, the closet where Sophia is fully unpacked!  Chuck makes the comment about how she, as a spy, has no problem settling herself in and this starts to get under Sarah’s skin.  They notice a safe where they begin to break into it when Sophia comes back to her room with the Incredible Hulk as her bodyguard.  If you are going to have a bodyguard, it might as well be the Hulk right?  They hide in her clothes and Sophia proceeds to strip down and jump into the shower, which is fully visible from the closet.  When Chuck asks if she can see anything she replies “ARE YOU SERIOUS?”  Chuck says, “who do you think I am, if you can’t see anything, she probably can’t either.”  This is one of the reasons I love Chuck so much, you take the most unrealistic situation and incorporate elements that the every man can relate to, such as a jealous girlfriend and a couple having some trust issues.  When they go to leave after finally getting the weapon, Chuck is caught by Sophia as he is trying to leave.   She, dressed in her birthday suit, asks Chuck to give her the weapon and look at her so he can see the gun and how serious she is.   Chuck, trying to be a gentleman, is avoiding looking at her and asks her to get dressed, when Sarah comes back in and she grabs Chuck.  “Is she naked” Sarah asks.  “Who” Chuck responds…ha!  She rescues Chuck and they escape via zip lines with the weapon in hand.

Back at Spy More, they realize the weapon isn’t working because the microchips aren’t in there.   When Chuck and Sarah get back home, Sarah starts to unpack but Chuck tells her not to.  He only wants her to do that if she wants to, not because she feels he wants her to.  That’s when it hits them, with all of Sophia’s clothes unpacked, she packed the sequence dress only in her suitcase and they noticed she has worn it more than once.  Why would a supermodel wear the same outfit more than once when she has a closet full of clothes?  Because the microchips are sewn into the dress…of course!  Back to Milan they go to get the dress.   Chuck is able to subdue 2 large security guards with tranquilizer gloves and enter the changing area of the models.   They find the dress and Sarah takes off her coat to reveal that she is wearing close to nothing.  She puts on the dress and they go to leave.    But they can’t…they haven’t had their girl cat fight scene yet!   And here it comes.  Sarah kicks her ass and they have the dress with the weapons.   The world is safe again!   When back home, again, Sarah does unpack, for good this time.  She explains to Chuck that she has never really had a home before so this is something new for her that she needs to get used to.   But no matter what, where ever Chuck is, he is her home.  And here come the tears!

The side stories were good this week.  Morgan is telling Beckman you can’t have a Spy More filled with hot, ripped guys like the Old Spice man (although I’m not complaining) if you expect it to be a cover.  So Morgan gets all the old crackpots from the Buy More, including Jeff and Lester, to make the cover more believable.   As long as Old Spice man stays, I can live with seeing Jeffster again.  I have to say though, with the season premiere and the first part of E2, I didn’t miss Jeffster or Big Mike at all.  I’d rather see more Ellie and Awesome than them.   Which leads me to the Awesomes.  Devon is fawning all over Ellie to make sure she is ok with the pregnancy and she asks why he is being so crazy.  “Is this because of my mom” she asks.  Devon agrees and Ellie reminds him that she didn’t need her  mom at all the other important events in her life and she doesn’t need her now.  Devon and Chuck are her family!   But when Ellie gets up in the middle of the night to look at family photos, especially of her and her mom, we realize she was more trying to convince herself more than Captain Awesome.  I also think Devon realizes Chuck is back in the spy life.  He may say he believes Chuck but I don’t think he does.  Should be an interesting SL throughout the season.

 

RECAP: Chuck “Chuck vs. The Anniversary” S4 E1

Chuck is one of my favorite shows on TV.  I love a show that can balance humor, action, romance, drama, and semi-strong character plots so effortlessly.  That is Chuck for me….a fantastic writing staff and excellent cast that make me root for them every week.   And I like that Chuck is the “little show that could.”   Every time people think this show is dead, it rises up.  In the words of Captain Awesome…Awesome!   (I told you that you were going to need a frosty beverage, probably lots of them, while I get my groove on in this blog!)

So last season Chuck decided he wasn’t going to be a spy anymore so that Ellie wouldn’t worry about him and get a real job and focus on his relationship with Sarah.   Yeah, we all knew that was going to last until the end of the episode.  This isn’t “Chuck” unless he is the bumbling intersect!   But he was also going to search for his mother who he recently discovered was still alive.  And with all his connections in the spy world, the world-class spies he lives next door to, and the world-class spy he lives with, he chooses none other than his BFF, Morgan, to travel across the globe in search for Mama Bartowski.  Really Chuck?  I love Morgan but, really?   They come up empty-handed, save for a little chinese food menu with an odd dragon symbol on the front.   The same symbol Chuck notices on Sarah’s case that she recovered from Ivan Drago before he jumped off a building.  On a side note, I have no idea of Dolph Lundgren’s character’s name in the episode, but it doesn’t matter because he will always be Ivan Drago to me.   And you will never break Rocky, Drago!!  Sorry, the Philadelphian in me just came out.   So Sarah and Casey head out for their mission and Chuck and Morgan continue to search for Mama Bartowski, using the dragon symbol as a lead.  And wouldn’t you know it, they end up in Moscow together.  As Sarah tries to contact Chuck via text to let him know she and Casey are there, Morgan intercepts the phone and thinks Sarah is trying to “sext” Chuck.  Of course Morgan being Morgan, he jumps right in on this!  This leads to a pretty funny back and forth but Morgan finally realizes they are in trouble.  Chuck and he leave the file on Chuck’s mom he is downloading and get to Sarah and Casey in time to save them.  However they are still trapped in the building and need to use the EMP to get them out of there which destroys the downloaded info on Chuck’s mom.    After their escape, we see Sarah Connor, I mean Mary Elizabeth Bartowski, with Ivan Drago and his crew.  At this point, I’m not sure if she’s a baddie or a goodie, but she Chuck Norris kicks her way out of the building and she is off and on the run again.  In the end, Chuck realizes he needs to go back into the spy world and wants to tell Ellie so he won’t have to lie to her.  In the courtyard of Casa Bartowskis, Chuck tries to tell Ellie, but she tells him how blissfully happy she is and drops the big news on him…Ellie is pregnant!   So Chuck decides to keep the spy world to himself again.

I’m really anxious to see where this storyline is going.   But it better not end like Papa Bartowski ended last season.  I don’t think Chuck and Ellie (cough, cough, me) can take losing another parent to the spy life.  I think Linda Hamilton is going to be a great addition to the cast and I am glad to see that General Beckman is now a series regular.