(no subject)
You know, I initially picked up Chuck as my fun happy weekly giggles show, and now somehow it has turned into "that show where I sit curled up in front of the TV in a giant anxious jittery ball of nerves wondering what the hell is going on with all my characters arrrrghhhhh" (which, between this and Robin Hood, I have noticed is starting to become something of a pattern with me. WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF?)
Wow, I am ambivalent as hell on this episode. On the one hand, THANKS FOR PUTTING ME THROUGH THOSE FIRST THIRTY MINUTES OR SO OF PURE TORTURE IN THE FORM OF TEAM DIVISION. UGH. GOD. On the other -- ohhhhh man the ending. Caseyyyy. Seriously. I'm really really nervous at the idea of the show being canceled, but even if it isn't? SUMMER HIATUS WITH NO ADAM BALDWIN IS TOO LONG. I think he sold both the cold-heartless-bastard of the front half and gracious-sorta-friendly-partner in the back half, but I'm still not sure how I feel about them both working together... I don't know, it's a lot of character arc to go through in one episode; and, knowing now how Casey sticks up for Chuck and Sarah in the end (because, sorry, I did have my doubts! I HAVE BEEN HURT TOO MUCH BY TELEVISION SHOWS BEFORE), I feel like that might cast his earlier actions in a different light, so basically I'm just trying to come up with an excuse to watch the whole episode again before making any concrete decisions about how I feel about it all. :P
But, you know, I'm kind of glad I made that Robin Hood angst comparison upfront, because I feel like I started going through that same season-two-finale-Guy horrible gut-wrenching drama -- I mean, Casey sells out those closest to him for a promotion? And finally seems able to carry through previously abhorred kill orders? And flat-out says, "I don't care," when faced with other people's problems? I mean, geez, didn't we START the season with Casey's emotional ambiguities? So why are we going back to, like, the series opener? THIS IS NEGATIVE CHARACTER GROWTH, PEOPLE. And then the big moment I was hoping for -- "Never betray my team!" from the promo -- was in fact just as mean and cranky in context. GRRRREAT. SHOW. YOU ARE KILLING ME HERE. Seriously, epic Robin Hood flashbacks -- he might as well have done Guy's douchey "Feel betrayed?" smirk.
(Okay. Uh. I think I might need a time-out here because this post is going nowhere at the moment and I am getting supremely bogged down by RH comparisons... why is it that every time I get angsty about TV I have to bring up the FINALE OF DOOM over and over again? That show seriously ruined my brain! Geez! And it also skewed my horizon of expectations for other things, as I'm sure is becoming evident in my reaction to Chuck. Um. Back to things.)
So, anyway... I get that the show had to take Casey down a certain path to foment conflict, but -- possibly just due to my own residual issues with... things... -- I don't know whether some of it went a bit much for the scope of a single episode, especially considering the recent closeness between Chuck/Casey/Sarah. I mean, I wasn't so upset about Casey's decision to follow orders at the end of last week. First, they're orders! Of course Casey's going to be uptight about them. But secondly, so long as the order was to get Chuck underground, it was technically still about looking out for his best interests. No, being stuck in government lockdown indefinitely is not anybody's idea of a great time, but at least Chuck would be safe. But this week's "dead or alive" mission? I... uhhhh?? I really hate to believe that Casey would have really killed either Chuck or Sarah, but they did a good job of selling it. Sigh. I guess I'm just still a bit uncomfortable in trying to figure out how much of it was just supposed to be Casey blustering Chuck/Sarah (and the audience) for dramatic effect versus how much he was actually prepared to carry out.
BUT. THEN. STUFF I ACTUALLY REALLY REALLY LIKED -- oh, God, Casey, you are just a snugglebunny and a half if all of that is just because you were hurt at being left out. :/ Again, I sort of want to just go and watch the whole thing over again, but once the episode started getting into, "I didn't betray you, you betrayed me! Don't ever forget that!" -- Casey really does have cranky hurt feelings, and they are causing me so much paaaain. Once he swore to protect Chuck's dad, and indeed almost melted off his own hand to do so, I was pretty much sold on the episode again. AND THEN. HIS POUTY RAGE AT NOT BEING ASKED TO JOIN THE PARTY. JOHN CASEY I SWEAR TO CHRIST IF YOU MADE ME GO THROUGH ALL THAT DRAMA BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO MUCH OF A PAIN IN THE ASS TO JUST COME OUT AND SAY THAT YOU NEEDED FRIENDSHIP VALIDATION -- ARRRRGHHHHHH I DON'T EVEN KNOW. I do love, though, that the episode tackled head-on the recent tendency to split team Chuck into CHUCK AND SARAHHHH and then Casey in terms of who Chuck trusts the most ("I only trust you, Sarah!" "I'll only work with Sarah!"), which is not exactly conducive to a healthy team dynamic. Yeah, yeah, we need the romance, whateverrr; but Chuck/Sarah romance and Team Chuck are not mutually exclusive! So, err, points for working out the repercussions of that this week.
Moving past my epic freak-out, then (sorry, I had a lot of conflicting emotions to work through!), back to my usual list of excellent things:
- Jeff and Lester thinking Casey is just really really obsessed with Chuck. Ahaaaaaa, PURE GOLD. Seriously, though, again -- I do like that this episode brought to the forefront what an awkward position Casey sometimes has to take up in this whole cover. His concerns for Chuck -- professional or otherwise -- don't have the same relationship justification as Sarah's do. Sarah can be over at Chuck's all the time and nobody blinks an eye, but Casey is his coworker and next door neighbor and yet it's still extremely awkward to find reasons to be around. Rewatching old episodes, I'm a little bummed that Casey's relationships with Ellie and Awesome from the first season were mostly dropped, because I think it'd be more fun if they thought of John as a real friend rather than a random creeper... I don't know. Theme of the episode: CASEY NEEDS MORE FRIENDS. And possibly more hugs.
-Much as I hated seeing Casey solo, I do like that it gave us a chance to see his individual strengths as an agent. I mean, geez, it took him about five minutes to get the upper hand every time he ran up against another roadblock.
-Buuuut even better was the reunion of Team Chuck. Casey's Three Things were awesome: the first two because, again, even when he's being a total crank bitch he's always on top of his game; and the third because, seriously, All Chuck and Sarah had to do was ask! AND CHUCK WANTED TO HAVE A GROUP HUG. GUHHHH.
-Which, okay -- I know I'm sometimes a bit light on the Chuck love, but I really really do enjoy how weirdly sweet and forgiving Chuck is when it comes to Casey. Back in 2.09 he's completely understanding and supportive while Casey is spewing death threats in his face, and Chuck even goes out of his way at the end to make sure that Casey considers him a friend; and then this week, I mean, man talk about a fast turnaround from prey to partner. And, oh gosh, the end -- inviting Casey to hang out with his family as a friend! I get sad whenever Casey is left out of group functions (yeah, I'm still mopey over Thanksgiving), so yaaaaay they're all friends again.
-And, obviously -- CASEY COVERING SARAH'S ASS LIKE WHOA. AND CHUCK JUMPING IN, TOO. UM UM UM I AM ALL AFLAIL.
-ETA: How could I forget? Casey being slyly supportive of Chuck/Sarah at the end -- "I'll go warm up the Vic," and he butts right out and lets them have their moment. See, guys? It isn't necessary to ditch and/or betray Casey just to squeeze in a little romance.
Okay, I have apparently done a complete emotional 180° during the course of writing this. Well, like I said, I think a lot of my issues while watching the episode were more related to negative experiences with past shows where it's like, "Oh, we have some problems to work through? LET'S JUST KILL EACH OTHER!!!" whereas Chuck goes the route of, "Oh, we have some problems to work through? Let's just ACT LIKE WE'RE GOING TO KILL EACH OTHER but when faced with the prospect instead suggest that we all just hug it out. No, really. Group hugs. I'm serious."
It's kind of weird because Casey-centric episodes have always been my favourite, and of course in retrospect this was totally a Casey episode, so... hm. It'll be interesting to look at it in light of his past mega character episodes (meaning that, yes, I am totally rewatching this in the morning).
Oh, and Chuck and Sarah almost had sex! Probably deserves a mention... I love that they were stymied by safe sex, though, ahaha. Good on you, writers, for sending a healthy lifestyle message to your viewers.
NEXT WEEK: BRYCE. A++++++++++
Wow, I am ambivalent as hell on this episode. On the one hand, THANKS FOR PUTTING ME THROUGH THOSE FIRST THIRTY MINUTES OR SO OF PURE TORTURE IN THE FORM OF TEAM DIVISION. UGH. GOD. On the other -- ohhhhh man the ending. Caseyyyy. Seriously. I'm really really nervous at the idea of the show being canceled, but even if it isn't? SUMMER HIATUS WITH NO ADAM BALDWIN IS TOO LONG. I think he sold both the cold-heartless-bastard of the front half and gracious-sorta-friendly-partner in the back half, but I'm still not sure how I feel about them both working together... I don't know, it's a lot of character arc to go through in one episode; and, knowing now how Casey sticks up for Chuck and Sarah in the end (because, sorry, I did have my doubts! I HAVE BEEN HURT TOO MUCH BY TELEVISION SHOWS BEFORE), I feel like that might cast his earlier actions in a different light, so basically I'm just trying to come up with an excuse to watch the whole episode again before making any concrete decisions about how I feel about it all. :P
But, you know, I'm kind of glad I made that Robin Hood angst comparison upfront, because I feel like I started going through that same season-two-finale-Guy horrible gut-wrenching drama -- I mean, Casey sells out those closest to him for a promotion? And finally seems able to carry through previously abhorred kill orders? And flat-out says, "I don't care," when faced with other people's problems? I mean, geez, didn't we START the season with Casey's emotional ambiguities? So why are we going back to, like, the series opener? THIS IS NEGATIVE CHARACTER GROWTH, PEOPLE. And then the big moment I was hoping for -- "Never betray my team!" from the promo -- was in fact just as mean and cranky in context. GRRRREAT. SHOW. YOU ARE KILLING ME HERE. Seriously, epic Robin Hood flashbacks -- he might as well have done Guy's douchey "Feel betrayed?" smirk.
(Okay. Uh. I think I might need a time-out here because this post is going nowhere at the moment and I am getting supremely bogged down by RH comparisons... why is it that every time I get angsty about TV I have to bring up the FINALE OF DOOM over and over again? That show seriously ruined my brain! Geez! And it also skewed my horizon of expectations for other things, as I'm sure is becoming evident in my reaction to Chuck. Um. Back to things.)
So, anyway... I get that the show had to take Casey down a certain path to foment conflict, but -- possibly just due to my own residual issues with... things... -- I don't know whether some of it went a bit much for the scope of a single episode, especially considering the recent closeness between Chuck/Casey/Sarah. I mean, I wasn't so upset about Casey's decision to follow orders at the end of last week. First, they're orders! Of course Casey's going to be uptight about them. But secondly, so long as the order was to get Chuck underground, it was technically still about looking out for his best interests. No, being stuck in government lockdown indefinitely is not anybody's idea of a great time, but at least Chuck would be safe. But this week's "dead or alive" mission? I... uhhhh?? I really hate to believe that Casey would have really killed either Chuck or Sarah, but they did a good job of selling it. Sigh. I guess I'm just still a bit uncomfortable in trying to figure out how much of it was just supposed to be Casey blustering Chuck/Sarah (and the audience) for dramatic effect versus how much he was actually prepared to carry out.
BUT. THEN. STUFF I ACTUALLY REALLY REALLY LIKED -- oh, God, Casey, you are just a snugglebunny and a half if all of that is just because you were hurt at being left out. :/ Again, I sort of want to just go and watch the whole thing over again, but once the episode started getting into, "I didn't betray you, you betrayed me! Don't ever forget that!" -- Casey really does have cranky hurt feelings, and they are causing me so much paaaain. Once he swore to protect Chuck's dad, and indeed almost melted off his own hand to do so, I was pretty much sold on the episode again. AND THEN. HIS POUTY RAGE AT NOT BEING ASKED TO JOIN THE PARTY. JOHN CASEY I SWEAR TO CHRIST IF YOU MADE ME GO THROUGH ALL THAT DRAMA BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO MUCH OF A PAIN IN THE ASS TO JUST COME OUT AND SAY THAT YOU NEEDED FRIENDSHIP VALIDATION -- ARRRRGHHHHHH I DON'T EVEN KNOW. I do love, though, that the episode tackled head-on the recent tendency to split team Chuck into CHUCK AND SARAHHHH and then Casey in terms of who Chuck trusts the most ("I only trust you, Sarah!" "I'll only work with Sarah!"), which is not exactly conducive to a healthy team dynamic. Yeah, yeah, we need the romance, whateverrr; but Chuck/Sarah romance and Team Chuck are not mutually exclusive! So, err, points for working out the repercussions of that this week.
Moving past my epic freak-out, then (sorry, I had a lot of conflicting emotions to work through!), back to my usual list of excellent things:
- Jeff and Lester thinking Casey is just really really obsessed with Chuck. Ahaaaaaa, PURE GOLD. Seriously, though, again -- I do like that this episode brought to the forefront what an awkward position Casey sometimes has to take up in this whole cover. His concerns for Chuck -- professional or otherwise -- don't have the same relationship justification as Sarah's do. Sarah can be over at Chuck's all the time and nobody blinks an eye, but Casey is his coworker and next door neighbor and yet it's still extremely awkward to find reasons to be around. Rewatching old episodes, I'm a little bummed that Casey's relationships with Ellie and Awesome from the first season were mostly dropped, because I think it'd be more fun if they thought of John as a real friend rather than a random creeper... I don't know. Theme of the episode: CASEY NEEDS MORE FRIENDS. And possibly more hugs.
-Much as I hated seeing Casey solo, I do like that it gave us a chance to see his individual strengths as an agent. I mean, geez, it took him about five minutes to get the upper hand every time he ran up against another roadblock.
-Buuuut even better was the reunion of Team Chuck. Casey's Three Things were awesome: the first two because, again, even when he's being a total crank bitch he's always on top of his game; and the third because, seriously, All Chuck and Sarah had to do was ask! AND CHUCK WANTED TO HAVE A GROUP HUG. GUHHHH.
-Which, okay -- I know I'm sometimes a bit light on the Chuck love, but I really really do enjoy how weirdly sweet and forgiving Chuck is when it comes to Casey. Back in 2.09 he's completely understanding and supportive while Casey is spewing death threats in his face, and Chuck even goes out of his way at the end to make sure that Casey considers him a friend; and then this week, I mean, man talk about a fast turnaround from prey to partner. And, oh gosh, the end -- inviting Casey to hang out with his family as a friend! I get sad whenever Casey is left out of group functions (yeah, I'm still mopey over Thanksgiving), so yaaaaay they're all friends again.
-And, obviously -- CASEY COVERING SARAH'S ASS LIKE WHOA. AND CHUCK JUMPING IN, TOO. UM UM UM I AM ALL AFLAIL.
-ETA: How could I forget? Casey being slyly supportive of Chuck/Sarah at the end -- "I'll go warm up the Vic," and he butts right out and lets them have their moment. See, guys? It isn't necessary to ditch and/or betray Casey just to squeeze in a little romance.
Okay, I have apparently done a complete emotional 180° during the course of writing this. Well, like I said, I think a lot of my issues while watching the episode were more related to negative experiences with past shows where it's like, "Oh, we have some problems to work through? LET'S JUST KILL EACH OTHER!!!" whereas Chuck goes the route of, "Oh, we have some problems to work through? Let's just ACT LIKE WE'RE GOING TO KILL EACH OTHER but when faced with the prospect instead suggest that we all just hug it out. No, really. Group hugs. I'm serious."
It's kind of weird because Casey-centric episodes have always been my favourite, and of course in retrospect this was totally a Casey episode, so... hm. It'll be interesting to look at it in light of his past mega character episodes (meaning that, yes, I am totally rewatching this in the morning).
Oh, and Chuck and Sarah almost had sex! Probably deserves a mention... I love that they were stymied by safe sex, though, ahaha. Good on you, writers, for sending a healthy lifestyle message to your viewers.
NEXT WEEK: BRYCE. A++++++++++