Chuck -3x07 -"Chuck vs. the Mask"-Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS>

[firehawk12]

I hate Shippers. They're the worst part of fandom, without a doubt.
And I say that as a dude who has two Jedi making out as his avatar.

Boop - Schwartz linked to an NPR article about fan entitlement:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/02/the_doubleedged_sword_of_devot.html

And an interview with Schwartz and Fedak about the "controversy":
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2010/02/chuck-schwartz-and-fedak-vs-controversy.html

 

[intrinsical]

I might be totally mistaken about this... Does the Ring mastermind right at the end of the episode sound like William Shatner?

 

[Sheep]

People who think the show is somehow ruined because Chuck and Sarah seem to be moving in different directions AT THE END OF ONE EPISODE are truly sad individuals. Reading through some of the comments in the links posted above, I can't imagine my life would ever become so pathetic that my happiness hinges on what happens to two fictional characters and that I think the writers of a television show should cater to me. Good lord.

I consider myself a shipper (who was grinning like a fool during the penultimate episode of season 2), but the Chuck/Hannah and Sarah/Shaw pairings mean absolutely nothing until we see how it plays out.

That said, I gave this one an "average" because the pacing seemed a bit off and Sarah/Shaw came about a little too conveniently. I get what the writers were trying to do but I would have liked to have seen it unfold over a few more episodes, but I assume NBC's budget cuts (which really seem to affect the cast in each episode--no Awesome, Big Mike or Jeffster this week) have effectively prevented that from happening.

 

[BigFoot]

^ Yeah I'm a Chuck/Sarah shipper as well, and I totally agree with you. Getting all worked up over a mid-season pairing is just crazy.

 

[Cap.T]

I noticed Robert Duncan McNeil's name in the beginning credits. He was Tom Paris from Voyager, right?

Yes, he's been a regular director for this series, and other series as well.

He's actually gone through the ranks on Chuck. On the first season he was a producer, the second a supervising-producer and this season he made it to co-executive producer. Since Chuck is on he hasn't directed other shows, because of that.

 

[RoJoHen]

I actually really liked this episode, and a part of me kind of hopes that Chuck and Sarah find happiness with other people, at least for the time being. It's a lot better than them pining over each other over and over again without actually moving anywhere.

That said, I want Morgan to be happy, dammit! Why did Anna leave him?!

 

[Caliburn24]

Anna will be back, someday.

 

[Siem]

Frankly i think it's setup, Sarah trying to get Shaw in false sense of security and trying to establish what are his true intentions. There was not any hints of romance in earlier episodes ,Shaw advances seemed really forced and Sarah weren't comfortable with them.

And then suddenly she just says it's ok he behaves like that and frankly that whole conversation didn't feel all that honest on Sarah part. If i'm wrong, than this episode will be big dissapointment for me, but if i'm right than it's imo completly in character for Sarah who as experienced spy knows something fishy is happening and will try to get to the bottom of this + since next episode will probably be Sarah focused i think i'm not far from truth.

Also about Chuck/Hannah, with this omg Hannah is so cute and so perfect for Chuck reaction. Yes she is this cute little brunette like Lou + she is a nerd that knows about computers like Jill at the start was presented, so she is really like oh so perfect girl for nerd dream, but frankly it's just way too perfect to be even remotely true + how she is really into Chuck, considering he does not treated her all that well, again big red herring.

So my opinion on this episode can't be really formulated until we see how it plays out (pity we have to wait 3 weeks) .

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

Ugh, the more I watch this show, the less I want Sarah to waste her time with Chuck. He's a douche. He always has been, but for occassional bouts of funny or awesome. If the writers can't actually think of how to close the deal here without losing the "drama" and "tension", after 3 seasons, I strongly suspect they've never actually had a long-term relationship.

Yeah, Sarah's just leading Shaw on to figure out his angle or whatever, and Hannah will be off the show in a couple eps for some stupid reason and they'll go back to angsting, but I just don't care anymore.

Dropping the whole action-comedy thing with Casey, Morgan, Ellie, Awesome, Jeffster, etc. backstopping Chuck/Sarah/Casey action-romance-buddy stuff for Casey sitting in the van, Sarah constantly being a victim and Chuck being "badass", was a huge blunder.

Season 1 - Awesome
Season 2 - Wobbling A Bit
Season 3 - Coming off the Rails
Season 4 - Trainwreck (if there even is a 4th)

I'll give them some more eps because I like watching Yvonne and the secondaries are amusing at times, but damn, do something interesting. Please!

(And get rid of Routh. That wasn't a boobytrap sucking the air out of the room - it was Routh's acting.)

 

[BigFoot]

^ I'm curious to know why you think Chuck is a douche.

 

[cylkoth]

That said, I gave this one an "average" because the pacing seemed a bit off and Sarah/Shaw came about a little too conveniently. I get what the writers were trying to do but I would have liked to have seen it unfold over a few more episodes, but I assume NBC's budget cuts (which really seem to affect the cast in each episode--no Awesome, Big Mike or Jeffster this week) have effectively prevented that from happening.

As Fedak and Schwartz point out in the Alan Sepinweall blog interview, the original order was for 13 eps, so moving at a fast clip was necessary. More taste, less filler! And I wish I'D NEVER HEARD about the budget cuts, cuz it's really turning out to be irritating to jump to the negative conclusion that if so and so wasn't in the episode, there's some imaginary harm done to the story. Not every ep needs every ancillary character to appear each week, and if we never heard about the budget matters, we probably wouldn't have given a missing character a passing thought (beyond noting they weren't there).

 

[BigFoot]

Well personally I'm just glad the show as still on the air. So if that means no Jeffster, or Ellie, or Awesome in a few episodes, I can deal with it.

 

[Goji]

I think it was a mistake to show Sarah reacting so negatively to Shaw's advances in the first half of the episode. It makes it a little harder to buy her change of heart in the second half, which is my biggest problem with the episode. I don't think it would have felt as rushed if she'd gone from neutral to attraction rather than repulsion to attraction. Still, given everything else the show is doing right, it's ultimately a minor complaint. The controversy that has erupted over supposed out of character writing is way overblown.

 

[Rowan Sjet]

I don't think it was repulsion, more like overreaction. Sarah didn't think it was a good idea to get involved with Shaw (very understandable given her history), but the fact that she liked his advances despite this made her push him away even harder.

 

[RoJoHen]

^Agreed. I think her reactions made perfect sense.

 

[Starbreaker]

Well... we all know they can't afford to keep Routh and Kreuk around all season...

 

[RoJoHen]

Well... we all know they can't afford to keep Routh and Kreuk around all season...

No, but I refuse to be spoiled about when/why/how they will depart.

 

[Skywalker]

Well... we all know they can't afford to keep Routh and Kreuk around all season...

You know, I'm still trying to figure out how Routh managed to score a "special guest star" credit. Sure, he played Superman, but that was in a movie that was considered to be kind of a disappointment, and he hasn't really had a huge starring role since. Kristin Kreuk makes sense, since she was the star of a long-running genre TV show for many years.

 

[Sheep]

Well... we all know they can't afford to keep Routh and Kreuk around all season...

No, but I refuse to be spoiled about when/why/how they will depart.

Well, you see...NBC wanted more star power to draw higher ratings so they're killing off both Chuck and Sarah at the end of this arc and making Shaw and Hannah the new leads. No word on whether they're going to rename the show yet, though.

 

[RoJoHen]

Well... we all know they can't afford to keep Routh and Kreuk around all season...

No, but I refuse to be spoiled about when/why/how they will depart.

Well, you see...NBC wanted more star power to draw higher ratings so they're killing off both Chuck and Sarah at the end of this arc and making Shaw and Hannah the new leads. No word on whether they're going to rename the show yet, though.

I will murder NBC.