Chuck 4.24 "vs the Cliffhanger"

[emeraldstag]

It's been three months since I last did a formal Chuck review but I thought with the recent batch of highly entertaining episodes that I would cover the season finale and gauge how I feel about a now confirmed season 5.

I never cared for the Vivianne Volkoff being a villain storyline. Especially when it seems like it all is a result from the mishaps of Team Bartowski that turned her to the darkside. For the most part of the season Timothy Dalton as Alexei Volkoff was the shining star and when it was revealed that he was Agent X I was really excited for the idea of a teamup with Chuck to take down Volkoff Industries and save Vivianne. So when that didn't happen and instead they spring upon us this new CIA asshole who removes the Agent X aspect of the character, all that was left was this timid guy that brought little to the table during such a tense finale and it was just disappointing.

How bad was that cliffhanger with Sarah in the previous episode? Did anyone think she was actually in any danger? It didn't help that NBC was still advertising the wedding before the finale but there was no way she was going to die. How ridiculous was it that the first time the gun is used on a regular cast member it doesn't immediately kill the person this time. If they had truly killed her off that would have blown my mind in a sad way but I didn't believe it for a second.

When the Agent X plot started up and had Ellie and Awesome involved, I was getting excited that they might have a crucial role in the final episodes but that really petered out. I mean sure, the show actually had them being doctors again for like the first time this season? But I was really hoping for some twist to involve them (like maybe that Awesome was Agent X and he had originally entered into Medical school to befriend Ellie and protect her and Chuck, the kids of Orion, but then he fell in love and gave up the spy game).

The one thing I really enjoyed in this episode was the heroic sacrifice moment Chuck went through. I always call that moments where the hero goes into a no-win situation knowing they are most likely not going to survive but do so anyway to protect/save others. I knew Chuck wasn't going to be any real danger but I did get into the moment and let it tug on the heartstrings. Hard not to get emotional with hopelessness.

With the cliffhanger involving Morgan, I'm not surprised one bit. Actually in reviews earlier this season I would keep commenting how Morgan had become the Chuck of S1 where he was on the team but reduced to being told to stay behind in the safe/no risk areas much like Chuck back then ("Stay in the car!"). And now Chuck has become a more than capable agent, Casey said as much in the episode so transitioning the intersect to Morgan makes it possible to have him be a more productive member of the team.

What would I like to see in the final season? Less domestic or BuyMore storylines for Awesome & Ellie. More Casey family time and less Morgan/Alex. I don't care anything for the new CIA speedbump that was introduced and honestly I expect the show to somehow find a way to get Team Bartowski back in the fold after what they did at the beginning of S4 after Chuck had supposedly "quit" the CIA and tried to go on his own.

ETA: I had written this really nice review and then stupid dreamwidth didn't autosave after i stupidly backspaced and the page changed. So I hope I remember everything but who knows.