So Long, Chuck

Well, after five seasons, Chuck aired its series finale this past weekend.

Personally, I found it a little...lacking. I mean, it had its moments. As convoluted as getting Jeff and Lester to the concert hall was, when I realized where they were going with that, I certainly gave a hearty laugh. Their rendition of "Take On Me" was pretty fantastic. Also disturbing. But mostly fantastic. In true Jeffster fashion, really.

As far as the whole "Sarah's memory loss due to the Intersect" plot, it was really just all kind of meh, honestly. If I'm being truthful, I found the entire last season to just be increasingly ridiculous, and not the traditional fun Chuck brand of ridiculous. There were some genuinely wonderful character moments throughout the season, and even in the finale. Ellie and Awesome's swan song was one I particularly enjoyed. Because it felt like something those two characters had been building to over the course of the series in general and the season in particular. Even Casey and Morgan got nice sendoffs showing their growth as characters and as a result of the events of the series.

But Chuck and Sarah? They got totally shafted. This whole season they had been building to retirement from the spy life, going legit, buying a home to be a grownup couple in, and starting a family. That would have been a natural, wonderful, well-deserved ending for them. We didn't even need Sarah to be pregnant--just end with them making the down payment on their house and it would have been perfect. I think what the writers were trying to give them with this ending was a fresh start. Sometimes that is the right way to end a series. In this case, I would argue that it was exactly the wrong ending though. These two didn't need a fresh start. Their relationship, amazingly enough, was actually pretty solid and healthy (especially when we're talking television romance).

The whole thing was just jarring and it felt like a letdown to me. It would be forgivable had this been an unexpected series finale. But it wasn't. Everyone knew going into this season that it was the last. They had plenty of time to wrap up loose ends and craft a solid ending. Which is not what I felt we got. Instead they spent the season introducing all sorts of new concepts and craziness and it all felt disjointed. It's like instead of trying to craft an organic close to the series with the episodes they had left, they just decided to go full tilt and pull out every crazy idea they had left on the drawing board. Nothing really got room to breathe and grow and develop like it should have. So in the end we're just left with a big mess. It's kind of sad, because I fear that is how I am going to forever remember the show, as a big old mess. Which is a shame, because I remember there was a time when I used to truly enjoy and look forward to this show. Now, I'm really not that bothered that it's gone.

Chuck is definitely a show whose time had come. So, so long, Chuck. So long, Sarah and Morgan. Casey and Ellie and Awesome...I hope you all find happiness in that television heaven that is "happily ever after." Thank you NBC for a show that was at least entertaining for a while, and thank you for finally closing the chapter on it once it could no longer sustain itself.

On the bright side, my Friday evening DVR schedule just got a little less complicated. Dear NBC, can you please move Grimm to the seven p.m. slot so I can watch it live and still watch Fringe live too? That would be awesome. Oh man, Fringe. There's a show that I fear is also coming to its close, and this one I'm not ready to see go. Oh well, it's been a bubble show since it first came on the air. Maybe the universe will surprise us and we'll get lucky for one more season. I mean, yeah, it's Fox. But hey, who knows, right?

Chuck, I Am Giving You A Reprieve

Remember a while back when I said that I wouldn't be too disappointed if Chuck ended up not getting renewed for another season? Yeah, wow, I am so glad that didn't happen.

This season has definitely been a roller-coaster of quality, and I have been fighting the urge to just stop watching completely. Honestly the only reason I didn't is because it doesn't really conflict with anything else I watch. No, the Monday night glut of television shows comes in the 9 p.m. CST slot--why the heck does everything come on at 9 p.m. on Mondays? Upon hearing that the next season will be both shortened and the final season of the show, however, I figured I could probably just stick it out. 

After this week's season finale, I am really glad that I did. I am actually looking forward to the next/last season! 

I don't want to get into spoilers, but I will say that the season ended with a bang, and in a way that I really wasn't expecting. It made me care about Chuck and Sarah as a couple again, it reminded me why I love a lot of the ancillary characters, it made me laugh. I remember when this show used to make me laugh a lot. I loved it for the  smart goofiness it started off with. When the smart turned to clichéd and the goofy turned to schmaltzy slapstick (yes, it may be a fine line, but there is a difference), it started to lose its appeal to me. But the season finale managed to restore my faith in the series.

Even if a few of the big shakeups that occurred at the very end of the episode (and if you've seen it, you know in particular which one I am referring to, I am sure) get reversed right off the bat, I expect we can get at least one highly entertaining episode out of the new premise. The other changes that occurred set the stage for a change in the formula that seems natural, a believable outcome of the story and events so far. I look forward to finding out where things go from here.

Add to this the fact that it is a shorter season--something which I have been starting to feel is a key element to keeping a story-driven series well-executed--and the fact that everyone goes into this knowing it is the final season. Well. I think that means we are going to have a chance to see a real conclusion, one that is well done, that grows organically out of everything that has come before, and one that feels right. I also think it will give them a chance to take some risks, be they emotional or action oriented, that we would not otherwise  have a chance to explore. I think we're gonna see some magic here, folks, I won't lie.

Plus, NBC has been kind enough to move Chuck to Fridays for the fall. Maybe come September my Monday nights (and subsequent Tuesday DVR catchups) won't be so crazy! Of course, I still have to get through the summer, where a certain programmer has decided to move all of their shows I have any interest in to Monday nights, opposite my long-standing summer Monday night television date. Grr. 

But, Chuck, woohoo! Here's hoping that it gets the swan song it deserves, eh?

The Encroaching Meh

Man, I didn't notice it happening, I really didn't, but at some point during last night's episode of Chuck I found myself overwhelmed by a sense of meh. I have watched and enjoyed this show from the beginning. Despite some questionable plot lines and oft continued rehashing of supposedly resolved stories, I have never found the show anything less than entertaining.

But last night, as Sarah was on the phone with Ellie failing to get excited about her wedding plans, I realized that I had barely been paying attention, and really wasn't that worried that I might have missed something. Sigh.

Possibly the frequently ever-more negative reviews of the show over at Pink Raygun are getting to me, though I like to think that isn't it. Though maybe it is just that they are pointing out things that I am also seeing. While I may not disagree with those aspects of the show with the same vehemence as the reviewer, they are starting to wear on me nonetheless. Heck, I don't think io9 is even covering the show any more, other than in their spoilers section. I can't remember a review of the show at all this season, which seems to indicate none of their writers are watching it anymore (or at least none feel like reviewing it).

I think, for me, it boils down to two things:

Everything that was shiny and new and original about the show has given way to cliches about geeks and spies. It has stopped being a tongue-in-cheek send up the spy genre with loving fun-poking at the nerd culture. Now it is just caricatures and buffoonery, and while that can be amusing from time to time, the writers do not have the kind of handle on it to make those the show's primary features.

Holy crap there is way, way, way, way too much focus on Chuck and Sarah's relationship. Look, I was routing for those kids, I am happy they got together. It is nice that they are gonna get married. But good lord, the way the writers have them acting, struggling over every single step forward they take in their relationship, I am amazed that they are together at all. I frankly find it impossible to believe that they are, in fact, a well-adjusted happy couple. If my husband and I, back when we were dating, had found these many issues coming up every single day, especially once we had started planning our wedding, well, I am pretty sure said wedding would have been called off and we would have gone our separate ways. I know, I know, drama is key to any story, but the relationship drama is the easy out. It is boring and grating. Chuck and Sarah's relationship should be the one solid foundation in their lives, with the drama centered around the actual spy missions. That drama shouldn't be about their relationship getting in the way of missions either (with maybe a once a season, extremely well done exception, twice tops). The drama should be focusing on Chuck's efforts to continue to grow as a spy, reconciling that with his desire not to kill anyone, and how he manages to still get the job done and appease his conscience at the same time. That is the show I want to be watching.

I think it is frustrating to me because now the show is a few seasons in, and instead of looking for new and interesting stories to tell with these characters, the writers have just given up and are coasting on the fumes of the earlier seasons. Sure, they make it seem that the characters are all growing as people--with marriages, and babies, and roommates moving out to strike out on their own for once (don't even get me started at how ridiculous it was that Chuck and Morgan were so reluctant at this stage in their lives to no longer be doing the roommate thing--it was completely unbelievable and I wanted to throw things at my television--it isn't as if anything was changing except that they would be sleeping under different roofs, and as grown men, that's really a good thing). But those changes are superficial. None of the characters have actually grown at all it seems. In fact, they all actually seem to be regressing. What the heezy, people?

So...I'm kind of at a loss with this show right now. I will probably keep watching the season, in hopes that it gets better. But, and I hate to say this, I don't think I'll be all that sad if it doesn't get renewed again. Chuck may have run its course. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the next episode will totally surprise me with awesomeness. I can only hope. If not, well, likely I've got a new candidate to weed out come next season.

Today's Word is Enthusiasm

Well, I am officially on vacation.  So far, so good. 

Last night's show was completely awesome.  I didn't realize that it was actually a fundraiser to benefit the Make A Wish Foundation.  That totally made up for all of the sorority girls.  Actually, they weren't that bad, I just get grumpy looking at all of those mini-skirts and high-heels.  For some reason they make me unaccountably angry.  But, um, that's probably a foray into my psyche best left unexplored, I am sure. 

ANYWAY.  The show.  Yes.  It was spectacular.  And I don't say that just because my husband was playing bass for two of the three bands.  Calhoun was in fine form.  It's been a while since I've seen them, and I had forgotten how much I truly miss going to see live shows.  That used to be such a big part of my life before I became a hermit.  Also, I really need to get an iPod adapter for my car so I can listen to my ridiculously huge library of music more.  As I was enjoying my absolute favorite Calhoun song, Dead Days, it struck me that it would be absolutely perfect for one of the end of episode music montages on Stargate Universe.  So would Welcome Mat, for that matter.  The music montages have been one of the more controversial changes to the the Stargate format ushered in by SGU, but I could totally be on board with either of those songs putting in an appearance.  They fit the mood of the show, I think, and I could see either of them being appropriate to wrap up any number of things that could happen on the Destiny.  (Fun fact:  Calhoun did actually have a song appear on a season two episode of Chuck.  It was The Earth Has Lost Its Hold.)

The Frontier Brothers were also pretty spectacular.  I only remember seeing them once before, and I had completely forgotten how freaking enthusiastic they are.  Folks, have you ever seen a performer live that, however talented, just didn't suck you in because he or she seemed completely bored with what was happening?  Okay, this was the exact opposite of that.  It is so clear that these guys are having an absolute ball up there on stage.  They were just so stoked to be playing for us, and that in turn made their already pretty awesome songs about a hundred times better.  They are relocating from Austin to New York early next year, these guys are dedicated to doing the rock star thing (which is another important trait for any aspiring artist).  So if you are in Texas, you really should catch them while they're still here, and if you're out east, well, you've got a real treat headed your way.  My only disappointment in their set was that they didn't play The Robot Song.  But my husband informs me that has long since been retired.  I guess that's okay though, because all of the songs they did play were pretty awesome-sauce.

As it is Friday, don't forget to check out the new Gronk.  I'm not gonna lie to you, folks.  If you are a cat owner, and sometimes wonder why, today's strip explains exactly what's going on there.  Go.  Enjoy.  Give Katie Cook lots of love because she is awesome.

On a slightly more serious note, speaking of girls in the realm of Star Wars, this mom's blog made it's way around the interwebs yesterday.   It seems her daughter, in the first grade, recently was bullied by some boys in her class for carrying a a Star Wars water bottle to school, because Star Wars is "for boys."  Well, we all know that's nonsense, of course.  Thankfully, there is a happy update to the blog.  The female Star Wars fans have been commenting on the blog in droves in support of the little girl, Katie, and telling her that she is not alone and to be proud of who she is.  Her mom has been sharing the comments with her and they have been a big boost to her self-esteem and to her Star Wars pride.  If you've got a few minutes, and you're a female Star Wars fan, can I ask that you go leave a supportive comment for Katie?  As a girl who has always leaned toward the tomboy side of the spectrum, I feel for this little girl.  If we can help her be proud of who she is just by sharing our love of Star Wars with her, then I am all for that. 

In another serious topic, Brit Mandelo over on Tor.com shared a link to Hal Duncan's It Gets Better Video, which takes a more realistic approach at trying to reach LGBT teens who are feeling isolated, and in all probability, angry, about the treatment they receive simply for being who they are.  Be warned, the language is pretty strong, but it's worth a watch, check it out here.  The circumstances that led to the creation of the It Gets Better Project sadden and anger me greatly.  But the fact that it does exist now is a good, good thing. 

Now, back to happier thoughts.  My husband and I are off to see the new Harry Potter movie in a couple of hours.  I can't wait!  Hopefully I'll have a review up for you on Monday.  Now, go forth and have a fantabulous weekend!

I'll take it, 'cuz it feels like a win. 

Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, Anakin and Padme...

Can I just say how happy I am that Chuck is back?  Back and nerdier than ever, from the looks of things.  I am loving it.

Anyhoo, I will close out this Monday with links to a few awesome things I stumbled across today.  Enjoy.
 
The U.N.  doesn't seem to think alien contact is likely any time soon.  (Which is a shame, I'd have to say.)

Irrefutable proof that Wil Wheaton is awesome.   (As if we needed any more.)

And that is all folks.  Onward toward Tuesday!