To continue watching you had to accept one slightly large and important fact: All spies--CIA, NSA, Ring, etc--are the dumbest people in the world. And by dumb, I'm talking stupid beyond belief, like FlashForward dumb. As we dive into the inner-workings of these so-called "intelligence agencies," the employees from the top all the way to the bottom, with exception of the main characters, are totally clueless.
I said this a while back and I think it's important to say again. If the writers ever hope to gain more viewers, they need to create more believable, coherent stories for new viewers. I, personally, pay close attention to plot when I'm watching a show for the first time, because the chemistry, jokes, and that sort of thing is tied directly into the intrinsic makeup of the show. There's no way to love a cast after one episode and catch all the dynamics going on. Plot is universal and the greatest weakness of Chuck. New viewers, who don't yet know the glory of the characters or the humor, surely would have been dismayed to see the contrived plot stemming from the idiocy of the intelligence community.
"Chuck Versus the Subway" and "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II" together were perhaps the most ambitious episodes of the series to date and were excellent for the most part. "Subway," the first episode of the night was wild, expansive, and the more fulfilling of the two while "Ring: Part II" was more of a traditional episode and resolved almost all plots and launching another storyline. Loaded in both episodes was a vast array of twists, turns, revelations, and death. I'm still not sure how all of it was packed into two hours.
The impetus for "Subway" is that Shaw is back--and in full confidence of the CIA. What?!?!?! OK...moving on, he manages to convince everyone Chuck is crazy, sending him on the run and Casey and Sarah into custody. Again, plot holes galore. In the middle of this, Ellie learns the truth about Chuck and they are a few needed candid discussions. At the end of the episode, Stephen and Chuck find a Ring base and the Intersect, but Shaw shows and kills Stephen and throws Chuck into the armored transport along with Sarah and Casey.
"Ring: Part II" was about the Ring's plan for world domination, headed by Shaw who is at a spy conference. The whole thing made no sense whatsoever and neither did the conclusion to the Ring. Chuck calls Shaw, who then sends a message to the "Five Elders" to get up and leave.
We're suppose to believe that the leaders of the Ring, under a single command from Shaw, would all get up together and with no security, go down an empty stairwell. That's how the great Ring ends, with a huge plot hole. Weren't these the guys who were on the verge of taking over the CIA and NSA?
The writers have never been great at actually making the mythology work, although they are great at hinting at a potentially great mythology (back of the Tron poster, Fulcrum being one part of the Ring). I've resigned myself not to expect more, but the show could be greatly improved by some coherence and an enemy that is both visible and viable as a threat.
Far more satisfying and slightly more plausible was Shaw coming back to the Buy More with revenge on his mind. He wires the store to blow and has a big Intersect fight with Chuck which Chuck wins. Morgan, in his thumb-broken state and general clumsiness, drops the detonator and the store blows up.
The Buy More story was really on the fringes of the episode and it never quite came together and still doesn't sit will with me. And now that the store is gone, what happens? Jeff and Lester are on the lam and Big Mike was in huge trouble with Moses.
There was some unnecessary rehashing of the fact that Chuck is special and retain images in his head. We'd already learned back in Season 1 that Chuck shows aptitude for remembering images, but the flashbacks did show that Stephen was fully aware of his son's ability.
I know the budget was cut for the show, but wow, those visual effects for the Buy More explosion looked like they belong in a Jeffster video.
It's been speculated since Papa Bartowski's arrival last season that Chuck's mother was once involved in the spy business and it is confirmed at the end of the episode. Everything Stephen did for the past 20 years was for Mary Elizabeth Bartowski. Will the writers take a page from Prison Break and make her a villain? From the tiny snippet we it, it sure looks like it.
We've reached the end of the third season and this time we know Chuck is coming back for a fourth season. I have high hopes for the new season and I'm sure everyone else does too.
Score: 9.5/10
Score: 8.9/10
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
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