We talk Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger. First of all, this episode is long! Over 1 hour and 45 minutes. We talk for about 23 minutes at the start and then do a commentary while watching the whole episode, so get your hands on the episode and watch with us.
Then we close it out with a long discussion about the finales of other shows including SMALLVILLE, CASTLE, BONES, HIMYM, ARCHER, COMMUNITY etc, and how those relate, or don't relate to CHUCK. We also speculate about what will happen in season 5 and talk about many other things. Unfortunately, this is NOT family friendly so the kiddies should stay away.
P.S. We forgot to rate the episode. Mine would have been an 85 out of 100, losing points for the "cliffhanger."
This episode has ADULT LANGUAGE. Do not listen if you are sensitive to harsh language.
Please RATE and review this podcast here. You can post anonymously.
Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking this link.
Tracks used in this episode, in order of appearance:
Everything Falls Apart - The One AM Radio
I Would Die 4 U - Prince
I Would Die 4 U - Prince
The more a read from the fans' comments the more i read about people's anger regarding morgan as the intersect. will the people in charge take note of this?
ReplyDeleteFantastic podcast.
ReplyDeleteI gave the finale a 90.
Here's to an awesome final season.
- Jess
this is 4 prezofbuymoria.
ReplyDeleteKristin Kreuk>>>>>>>>>>>>>Erica Durance.
Magnus, at one point in the podcast, you guys refer to the fact that Sarah needs to be pregnant in order to differentiate between Chuck and Sarah, e.g: Only having one strong main character.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, throughout Season 4 (Apart from Phase Three of course) it looked to me like Sarah was already much weaker than for example in Season 2, where she pretty much smashed anyone that got in her way. In the Coup d' Etat episode, she had an AK-47, which she used to smash that guard in the head with. Now, in Season 2 for example, she would've given him a swift punch to the temple, and he would go down. Not only didn't he go down, but he managed to grab her in a stranglehold, untill Chuck kicked him in the gut. This seemed to be a bit of a recurring theme in the season, with Sarah being more vulnerable then ever.
Now, I know I'm overthinking this hardcore, but to me, I'd be fine with the same "balance" as it were, not make Sarah even more vulnerable.
- aerox
I haven't had a chance to listen to all of the podcast. There was only so much time before getting to work. I hope to find time later.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone is curious about the final ratings, here goes:
Adults 18-49: 1.54 (13% increase over last week's 1.36)
Credit a significant increase in men watching for the increase compared to last week.
Men 18-49: 1.77 (26% increase vs last week)
Men 18-34: 1.32 (21% increase vs. last week)
Women 18-49: 1.31 (exactly the same as last week)
Seems like men got bored of DWTS. ;)
ReplyDeleteyou guys don't actually seem to like the show?
ReplyDeletei absoulutely love this show and i actually greatly dislike you talking about it like that, morgan will be AWESOME with the intersect. it's something i've wanted them to do since the beginning.
Are you an idiot?
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw how the male ratings went up, I sort of saw a parallel to how guys deal with real world weddings. They're not into all the planning and the events leading up to it, but they do manage to show up for the final event.
ReplyDeleteActually, though, all the shows at 8 o'clock had an increase in Men 18-49 ratings compared to the previous week.
DWTS was up 5%. HIMYM was up 29%. House was up 16%. I guess men like to skip the foreplay and watch finale shows without seeing the previous episodes.
I finally heard the podcast. It was a lot of fun. I liked hearing you all talk about the finales of other shows, too.
BTW--I think the reason the final ratings were not available anywhere was that all the people who usually run them and publish them are busy with the upfronts this week. It's not because Nielsen was late.
Lazy Nielsen! ;)
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous who likes the show and thinks Morgan will make an awesome intersect,
ReplyDeleteThere are people who do like the show who will disagree with you. Everyone watches for different reasons. I personally love seeing stuff with Sarah, Chuck, Casey, Awesome, Ellie, and Morgan. I had a friend, who LOVED the show, quit because there just wasn't enough Jeffster. Probably the beauty of our fandom comes from our whole rather than our parts. I'm getting way too philosophical over a tv show, but I wasn't pleased with the last ten minutes of the season 4 finale, it felt like a let-down to me. Now that a few days have gone by, I care more about the whole, and overall there was some pretty good stuff there. I'll try to have faith in the direction the show has taken, that it won't be as cringe-worthy as it is feeling right now. "I know Kung Fu, again" was 'cute' but it grated on me a little. "I know Kung Fu" from Morgan was an all out groan on my part. Interviews that I've read lead me to believe that the show runners want to delve deeper into the 'Morgan-as-intersect' plot than I would ever want to see, and that makes me nervous, but maybe I'm being punked. I enjoy the show because of its energy, and I will watch for that. But when they said they were going to get back to their S1/S2 roots, I wasn't thinking they meant the direction that they appear to have picked. I'm not certain how much 'Morgan! Stay in the Car!' stuff I can handle at this point. But obviously, I am not sharing a boat with everyone when it comes to that and that's okay.
~BarbaraM
You have to laugh at the nutjobness it takes to listen to that podcast and decide we don't like the show. We gushed about how much they delivered on the characters and our favorite moments... and criticized the show exactly where it deserves to be criticized. And for that... we don't like the show and someone is angry listening to us.
ReplyDeleteI thank the Gods every day that I am not insane.
And aerox, is English a second language for you or do you just not understand sarcasm?
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy the podcast and especially liked watching Chuck on mute while listening to you all. It only got a little weird when my husband walked in as you said: "Castle had wood" (or something to that effect). He paused, looked at me, and said "What the heck are you listening to?"
ReplyDelete~BarbaraM
LOL!
ReplyDeleteMagnus - are you going to ever talk about the stuff that was cut out of S4? I'm curious what things you liked didn't make it and what hotness was left out. Appreciate it
ReplyDeleteHT
I think there was one bit of dialogue you guys missed that I loved and that was when Chuck said we have a billion dollars that I can control (or something to that effect) and straight away Sarah looks at him and he changes his tune to us, us, us! lol! I love that kind of banter because it is so adorable and cute and it really shows a lot of growth in the characters. Anyhoo...great podcast.
ReplyDeleteOh and as for Vivian...I think she may just have been angry at Chuck for being the only female to cross his path in the last 4 years and not get some Chuck loving.....lol
ReplyDeleteYou brought up a good point about watching the show for the characters and not for the mythology or spy stories.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I watch it because I like the characters and what happens to them next.
Most of the characters are interesting and could be given spinoffs.
I think the writers have been more consistent with the intersect than the fans who complain about it give them credit for.
Since the end of season 2 they've given explainations as to why the intersect can be downloaded into people besides Chuck.
Those fans either don't remember the explaination or weren't paying close enough attention.
There's also a difference between not liking an explaination and the show not having one.
Chuck's been a lot better with storylines and consistency than a lot of other shows.
Yet I've seen some Chuck fans be overly negative towards the show.
That's definately true about some fans expecting things from this show that was never there.
Good points made in this podcast.
I definitely agree they generally treat the characters with a great amount of respect and care. The characters really are the reason to watch and love the show. And while I can't deny that the spy stuff is starting to compound my frustration a little, I can't imagine not watching the show until the end.
ReplyDeleteThe commentary was hilarious and interesting. Glad you guys decided to do that.
Don't remember how you put it, but what you said about some fan getting upset at the montage because they wanted to create it was hilarious! :)
ReplyDeleteOh great dispenser of wisdom,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your podcast immensely, because you were able to tell me why I haven't enjoyed Chuck as much now as I did in 2007. I'm one of those lame brains who thought---because of the great action in the pilot---that the show was more about the sci-fi Intersect element and adventure and didn't realize that it wasn't really that at all, but that was window dressing and it was really a character driven show. At the time, I didn't know one the shows creators had also done "The O.C." and "Gossip Girl." Now I can see that "Chuck" was a spy angst love story instead of a teenage love angst story and I just kept looking for it to be something it never was. (Although I do wonder if that's what Chris Fedak thought it was too.)
So, thank you so much for enlightening me. However I am disappointed that you didn't address the topic of the color change in the wedding. What happened to the socialist red and black?
KJ
Chris Fedak wanted it to be more of a spy show when he originally came up with it. Josh Schwartz changed the focus... which is why it will go five seasons instead of 13 episodes.
ReplyDeleteAs for the colors... you should probably watch the Wedding Planner episode again and this time pay attention.
The wedding was perfect. CS proved in the practise run that they could have gotten married anywhere and it would have been perfect because they are just so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteBut I thought the church wedding was great. Sweet, simple, romantic and nerdy.
Woo!
ReplyDeleteI loved that you went back to that early early format. I absolutely loved siskj´s episodes commentaries back in the day and I especially enjoyed when you joined. I still have them all saved. I have the files mixed with the episodes and I sometimes put all the eps including those commentary on random and I love when one of those comes on.
It was really really fun to listen to that one more time.
I am gonna listen to the rest now, but just wanted to throw my thanks out now.
Awesome podcast! Just wanted to say that I actually watched the episode during the commentary and everything was spot on. I love that you called out the portion of the viewership who don't seem to appreciate the character payoffs and the nuanace that these writers treat the main character arcs with. This is definitely something you don't see on other shows, and it's something that has (and will) keep me coming back to this show until the end. Thank you, thank you for being such beacons of sanity and taste!
ReplyDeleteAppreciated the random Bones commentary and totally agree with SisqJ that last weeks episode was amazing especially the part with Mr. Nigel Murray! One of my fav musical moments nex to this weeks Chuck, which I think personally
excelled in the musical cues.
-OPD
The above comment about BONES is a SPOILER for the finale episode that airs TOMORROW night in the U.S. ( it aired tonight in Canada ) That probably shouldn't be posted !!
ReplyDeleteSorry about that. I don't watch BONES so I wouldn't know.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch Bones either . But there are probably some people that post here who do :) and after the NBC debacle with chuck ...
ReplyDeletePodcast was awesome ! I love all the ones that are longer . Now thanks to Mike , I can't watch a chuck episode now without focusing on Zac's eyebrows lol
Who is siskj (I'm relatively new to Chuckgasmic, so have never heard the early podcasts) and why is she not a regular!?!? That was fantastic.
ReplyDeleteRandom thought of the day: Now that Sarah is no longer in the CIA, I assume she loses the Evora. However, the Bartowskis are now stinking rich and I have the strong impression that the younger Mrs. B. likes to drive fast. So, here's a proposal for her new car:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagani_Huayra
Sure, it's going to cost about 20 times as much as the Evora, but it's only money.
Jim
Jim, Siskj is an original member of the podcast. In fact, she named it back in the day. As I mentioned in the episode, she inspired the whole commentary thing which eventually became CYT. Unfortunately, her work schedule conflicted with our recording schedule this year and so she wasn't on for the whole season (well, until now).
ReplyDeletePrivately I have said that I started hating doing the podcast once she left it.
The Bones comment was NOT A SPOILER- that episode aired last week. That is why it was discussed on the podcast, because it ALREADY AIRED! You are a week behind!
ReplyDelete-OPD
Magnus – Great podcast! I really enjoyed you doing it ‘old school’. Hope you get to do it again. Also loved hearing siskj – didn’t realize how much I missed her on the podcast.
ReplyDeleteOne final thought about the conspiracy theory ending ~ Is it just me or did Clyde Decker in that ending of Chuck Vs Cliffhanger http://tinyurl.com/64zjz4y look like Max Headroom http://tinyurl.com/dllsh2?
Just sayin’…
Thanks for a great season & hope your do a S4 postmortem!
On second thought it might be a spoiler if my Tivo has suddenly been gifted the magical power of showing me episodes a week ahead of time. It is my birthday week and the worlds supposed to end on Saturday so maybe it was an early birthday gift from the universe!!!!
ReplyDelete-OPD
Wow. I can't believe I listened to the entire podcast in one sitting. I guess I just really like listening to a no-BS kind of podcast and not something where the casters sort of.. I dunno, suck up to the show they're talking about in a sense?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I really did like the live commentary and I watched with you guys as well. Was pretty fun.
Also liked your commenting on other season finales and glad to hear what you guys thought about the Smallville finale. I was so pumped for the SV finale because I'm also one of the fans that stuck with the show. I wasn't a huge fan throughout the whole thing (so much of it suuuuucked), but I felt that after 6-7 seasons.. why quit now? Just stick with it until the end, and even if the ending wasn't satisfying.. I am glad I stuck with it.. unlike a certain other person in regards to a certain show. *coughloucough* Thank you, by the way, for not talking about HIMYM's finale for too long. That crap just made me rage.
I'm stoked for a S5, even if we have to deal with Morgan the Intersect for a bit.. but I truly do see how they could twist this into a positive somehow, and I also agree that Chuck will probably get the intersect back. I actually hope he doesn't, because with it gone and him knowing that he has the girl in Sarah, and doesn't need it anyway.. I think he could be a more confident person. People who complain about 'more like S1/S2'.. really? You loved crazy, neurotic/notstayinginthecar Chuck? Shore. Whatever you say.
So yeah, thanks so much for all you've done this season Magnus, and for the entire show in general. I'm glad I found this site... I dunno when I found it. Start of S4? Part of last season? Hell if I remember.
Prez and "Siskj" also did awesome work. Take care, you guys!
Magnus I believe to remember an interview where he said he was asked to audition for the role of Thor though he felt since he is just to much on the tall lanky side of the spectrum he wouldn't fit to role physically and wouldn't therefor do the role justice ... so then he auditioned for the role of Fandral which I think I remember he got but had to back out of for the reasons you guys already mentioned on the podcast.
ReplyDeleteHope that helped.
Thanks for the info, DorkaliciousD.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading comments from lots of fans on different message boards it appears that the finale for the most part was well liked except for Mogan getting the intersect at the end.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz will take note of that.
I think it would be a bad direction to take the show in if Morgan keeps the intersect for the entire season and turns into a super spy.
Of course that's probably what they will do despite the fan objections.
I doubt they will do that. They will do something where Morgan tries to control it and then fails in some respects. Chuck has to help his buddy, or save him from himself etc etc blah blah. Making him a super spy just isn't how this show would ever be written... at least not until the series finale where they don't have to show it. Because Morgan as the super spy makes for a very boring show.
ReplyDeleteThis is what would make sense for Season 5:
ReplyDeleteTake the first 2 or 3 episodes to explore the Morgan thing, but have it play out the way Magnus said. Whether Chuck gets his Intersect working doesn't really matter to me, since the show could work either way, IMO.
Use the next six or seven episodes for standalones or near-standalones.
Since, I imagine 9 episodes will run in 4th Quarter and the last four will probably run early 2012, have the 9th episode set up an arc for the final four. Maybe Chuck needs the Intersect again for those final four, if he doesn't have it again already.
Personally, I wouldn't mind even more standalones, but I'm compromising because advertising "final season" just sounds like you'll have some storyline through it.
I'd love to see either Hannah, Jill, or Bryce show up in a standalone, as was discussed in the podcast.
Question: We know that the core team all lost their CIA jobs. What about Zondra and Carina?
Yes, I would think that Zondra and Carina both have been fired since they went against the CIA's wishes and helped Chuck.
ReplyDeleteCarina doesn´t work for the CIA, though, doesn´t she? I think if they ever came back, they will probably do whatever fits the story best in that regard.
ReplyDeleteSarah actually didn´t do anything to get fired, aside from not dying. ;)
But I guess as all the rule-breaking going on was for her sake, she was fired alongside the rest. Or she resigned, because the CIA was actively working to let her die.
Everyone who wasn't fired quit.
ReplyDeleteDidn't all of "Operation Bartowski" get fired for concealing their knowledge about the Agent X cover-up? I thought that's why Sarah was included. They were essentially all fired at the beginning of the episode with the "wash order" and Chuck's insubordination during the finale was just the icing on the cake.
ReplyDelete-OPD
Are you going to be doing a " thoughts on " season 4 wrap up podcast ? With maybe a few inside details that we don't know about that you can share , that would be pretty awesome ! Even more awesome if said podcast included Wendy :)
ReplyDeletecool beans
I have plans to do something like that but not sure who will be on it.
ReplyDeleteI have a few things in the works for the next few weeks (on the site and on the podcast). Plus, I am working on getting things together for the new site.
Enjoyed the podcast ! Though I was kind of disappointed that when all the Russians were paratrooping in and Casey says " Russians , so many Russians " that Morgan didn't get a chance to throw in a " Wolverines !! " somewhere in there lol . Probably wouldn't have fit , but that scene got me thinking of Red Dawn and laughed out loud to myself a little ;)
ReplyDeleteI totally thought of RED DAWN too.
ReplyDeleteThis maybe a question someone has already written but does anybody know the around about time chuck coming back for there final season? Is it going to be in the fall or sometime early next year?
ReplyDeleteRazorback quick questions 1 are you going to be doing podcast during the break and 2 are we going to watch and comment on twitter like in the long break we had during season 2, 3?
It returns on Fridays in the fall. Which means September.
ReplyDeleteThere will be many, many podcasts during the break.
I don't have much of an intention to organize a rewatch like we did between seasons 2 and 3. I HAVE thought about doing something leading up to season 5 but that will happen in late August most likely.
Some other answers for questions you might have in the future:
No, I do not intend on doing any more spoiler blogs. Two seasons of being constantly spoiled is enough. I want to watch this final season without knowing everything (or anything).
Yes, this blog will still be around but will function purely for my own unique style of brutality.
I will be focusing more on my new site.
CYT will probably end soon and the new podcast will take its place. We will still focus on CHUCK for this final season but will also talk about lots of other stuff.
That means the next few CYT episodes will be the last time I focus only on CHUCK in a podcast. There are way too many CHUCK podcasts and sites anyway.
I guess that the season 4 cliffhanger was one of the only two cliffhangers in the 2011 May sweeps season that I thought was halfway decent as long as it can be resolved well. The other one that I thought was decent was the Bones season finale cliffhanger.
ReplyDeleteAll of the other cliffhangers for the other shows I watched were either terrifying or sad. I did not like the cliffhangers for Fringe, Supernatural,Castle, and the Mentalist.
Well I haven't commented on the finale much at all. Still trying to get a firm handle on my feelings. There is so much I loved about this episode and in many ways it is my favorite finale but 2 items stick out to me that are putting a damper on my appreciation of it.
ReplyDelete1. Not enough Yvonne. My god will Fedak in particular ever get that a huge part of the fanbase watches this show because of her and the Sarah Walker fanbase? Why would you limit the screen time of who many feel is the most important character on the show in your finale? I know he sees this show through the eyes of Chuck but many of the fans see it through Sarah.
2. Now I understand why you called it a zero. It truly is. I have no interest in seeing an expanded role for Morgan Grimes in the final precious 13 episodes. I think they found a good niche for him in seasons 3.5 and 4 and that is where he should stay. To me the final 13 should be spent on Chuck and Sarah dealing with being a married couple in the freelance spy world, the original team B in their new roles, Sarah's backstory with her family and her new one.
I have never watched this show for Morgan Grimes and any expanded role that takes away screen time from Sarah, Casey and Ellie I am not interested in seeing in the least. I just hope they reset this asap and the final 13 focus on what made this show great, Chuck, Sarah, Chuck and Sarah, and Chuck, Sarah, and Casey.
"I have never watched this show for Morgan Grimes and any expanded role that takes away screen time from Sarah, Casey and Ellie I am not interested in seeing in the least. I just hope they reset this asap and the final 13 focus on what made this show great, Chuck, Sarah, Chuck and Sarah, and Chuck, Sarah, and Casey."
ReplyDeleteI concur!
It does not seem like a lot of people have faith that the CHUCK people can successfully balance all the elements of the show going into the final season. I think they have done a great job every season (and yes I especially mean season 3.0) of creating a compelling story that served all the characters well and at the same time kept Chuck as the defining factor when it mattered most. I do not see why some fans are losing faith that they cannot do that again? I mean it has already been said by Fedak that Chuck will be the team leader! and they do know that the shows name is Chuck! oh deary me....I look forward to this final arc...but not some of the fan response....
ReplyDeleteI only hope thst they end the final episode of the show with a happy fairytale ending with Chuck and Sarah happily retired from the spy life and settled down with kids on the way.
ReplyDeleteI wish that the show would NOT kill off the main characters even if the series is ending.
I say kill the man characters! Why not?!
ReplyDeleteAs much as I like morgan what I think would be cool is if at the last episode morgan gets shot during a mission and just before the credits starts you have casey looking all pissed off like I am going to get the bastard that did this. Then during the credits you see sarah, chuck and casey being badass and killing the guy that shot morgan. Then at the end of the credits they have a short clip of morgan waking up in the hospital and then sits up then the camera zooms in on his face and then he says something awesome and Jeffster plays music while morgan is saying whatever it's that sounds awesome.
ReplyDeleteCristal...um no. After following this show for 4 (5) years, I want a happy ending for my fav characters. Dark endings can work...but not for this show. So the why not is because it wouldn't fit a show like Chuck. They've already tried to make it more "family" friendly by cutting the sexytime (though they've kept the violence - go figure).
ReplyDeleteI'm seeing a lot of negativity surrounding 'Morgan the intersect' (and not just on this site) I wonder if that will make the writers re-think it...or try harder to prove to us all that they can make it good?