Chuck Boss Teases Sarah's 'Epic' Backstory, Bruised Bromance, a Blown-Out Finale and More!
Since it is Fedak, you know he will add to fan delusions of grandeur and promise more than can ever be delivered. But I love this guy anyway!
Expect the comments below to get spoilery so don't post if you don't want to know anything.
Magnus,
ReplyDeleteHave you seen episode 5.3 yet? If so, how much is Fedak exaggerating about the fight between Casey and Gertrude?
X
I don't think you need to see the episode to know he is exaggerating. It's what show runners do.
ReplyDeletealso , here is an interview with Carrie Anne-Moss. of you may want to post it, there is some thing in it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.examiner.com/tv-insider-in-los-angeles/carrie-anne-moss-comes-to-chuck-to-take-down-carmichael-industries
As for Chris Fedak, yeah He a little overhyped almost everything.
But alos Magnus, once said a very very good, , honest and respectful thing that I ever heard, and it actualy true almost every Showrunners. It was something like, sorry if I not quoted correctly. it was that, He loves the show may be even more than the fans. but He also not see the ways the show, as the most fans, and tath is why some of He's idea should never leave the writer board or whatever :S.
I have my reservations especially, if when He use teh word EPIC EPICLAND.
:) We will see
Yeah... I think Fedak loves the show more than any fan. I really do. And I base that on what people who work for him tell me. He LOVES the show. He isn't one of those people who is doing it for a paycheck. I think he would write this show for free.
ReplyDeleteBut having said that... I think part of that love is what clouds him to its faults, or the faults in his story telling style. I think part of the problem for him now is that he had a team that started the show with him, of very solid story tellers. And the team he has now, outside of one person, are all people who joined him well into the ride. And so their experience with writing the show is from the point of departure for the core group.
ReplyDeleteI feel that seasons 4 and 5 are going to have a similar flatness in their overall story telling because there is no Ali Adler around to move the show in a certain direction. Ali, for a lot of fans, was the heart and soul of the heart and soul of the show. Is that belief accurate? I think it is, at least partially.
She just has a way about telling stories that have deep roots in family, love, and romance. Chris is more of a spy/tech guy.
And finally, let us not forget that the version of this show that he wanted to make wasn't much like this show at all. It was Schwartz who changed the direction of it, adding the family and romance elements. And when Ali Adler joined the team, you had the perfect note within that writers room. A strong willed female writer who has a distinct writing style.
I'm getting the sense from various teasers--I don't know enough to call them real spoilers--that this season is going to go through several mini-arcs in just 13 episodes. That seems to be another hallmark of Fedak's style too.
ReplyDeleteWe seem to have this Gertrude in the early part of the season, but, then, some other "big bad" comes in for the end. I sense the Morgan/Chuck thing comes to a climax in just three episodes.
In the end, I wonder what the lasting impression is going to be. Dizzying?
People tend to remember the things they disliked more than the things they liked. Unless, of course, the thing they liked met some major need they had for the show (hence why shippers think season 4 was so AWESOME even though it was the weakest).
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Magnus i think Ali Adler episodes are best written episodes for fans who enjoy the Chuck and Sarah relationship
ReplyDeleteI will even go as far as saying even the actors performances where better in those episodes
i read a lot of reviews back then and they all praised Zac and Yvonne for how they performed
So maybe Ali knew the actors better and she knew how to write for their acting style
As for season 5 from the dynamic we got to see in the first episode and the spoilers the best thing seems to be the Casey and Gertrude duo
Casey is to cool to be single : )) and i liked Carrie Anne Moss in Matrix so its nice to see her again especially paired up with Adam
I don't just mean Ali Adler's episodes. The writers don't sit in the room in silence as the season is broken. Ali would have been an integral part of the process.
ReplyDeleteI actually miss Matt Miller more as a writer. As much as I enjoyed Ali's ability to write Chuck/Sarah, I enjoyed Matt's take on the whole show more.
ReplyDeleteI know that but i heard in interviews that she was the one handling the romance part and i think in those seasons they found better ways to include the romance in the overall theme
ReplyDeleteAnd i think this is one of the things that are missing since the old writers left... the balance
Btw. Magnus u know how many writers left the show after season 3 ?
I don't remember off hand how many left.
ReplyDeleteI guess Gertrude keeps appearing throughout the season. Last week someone tweeted about seeing Carrie-Anne Moss with Yvonne S. at the studios, so that would have been like episode 5.09?
ReplyDeleteI always felt that I enjoyed the things that Chris Fedak loves the most about the show the least. And there might be something to it, that there is no strong presence to counterbalance him anymore.
ReplyDeleteI actually didn´t dislike the first episode at all, even though the Sarah/Morgan dance should have been played for laughs. Morgan can be really funny and I love him being paired up with Casey and Sarah. I actually think he works really well with Ellie and Awesome, too. And I loved Chuck without the intersect.
But I just can´t relate to the Chuck/Morgan dynamic at all. I actually enjoy them both less, if they are in a scene together.
So Fedak teasing us with “The Chuck/Morgan bromance is very much at the heart and center of the show,..." makes me not very excited for what is to come.
Well, we shall see how it all goes down in the next few episodes.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to the Casey and Gertrude Verbansky. That sounds like it could be a lot of fun. And maybe I will enjoy Chuck/Morgan more, if they do something different with them. At least I don´t have to be worried about them ruining that bromance, as I am not that invested in it. ;)
ReplyDeleteBut I do miss Ali Adler´s influence with the emotional side of the show. At least I think it could be her influence that´s missing for me. I think the comedy stuff is still working very well and the spy plotlines were never that strong.
And I think Ali Adler is wasted on Glee, because I can´t stand that show any more. That´s just my opinion, though. I hope she is happy and people are enjoying her work there.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletePlease do not copy and paste content from other sites. Post a link. I do not support plagiarizing like other sites do.
ReplyDeleteOh , Okey, sorry. then Just the links is okey?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.buddytv.com/articles/chuck/chuck-season-5-executive-produ-42476.aspx
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/11/02/chuck-scoop-chris-fedak/
You can discuss what is at those links but don't post the entire content. That is how sites steal hits from other sites and it isn't cool... or legal.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm looking forward to episode 4-5 , those sounds good.
ReplyDeleteSarah episode, well, that is a little different, I a little worry because, I feel , this is gonna be like : Well this is sound good, lets make it type episode.
Some times I really feel, that even the showrunners not always pay attention to thier work, I not mean exactly for Sarah story, but . In these Twitter, chit-chat or whatever , someone actualy Tweeted, that Chris said that some of their idea is come as they go, wich is prove your theory from earlier.
I don't know , right now, there are to little information.
But whatever i say, it not mean I don't love the show, I think I have a healty criticism, but if I go to far, just shut me down ;)
ReplyDeleteBut you know prepared for the worst and hope for the best.
sounds lame isn't? LOL
One thing I took after the premiere was that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". Even though I absolutely did not enjoy Morgan as the intersect storyline, I still enjoyed the rest of what the episode stood for. For whatever troubles they may have gone through in the writers room over the years, they could've done a lot worse. I do think that in general though, the character of Morgan has been handled unevenly which is probably why I feel like there's almost an overdose of Morgan. It seems like the latter of season 4 tried to overcompensate for his earlier lack of prominence. He used to be more enjoyable to watch because there was a more organic development of his character. For example, while I bought the whole Morgan/Anna relationship, I was never sold on Morgan/Alex. Anyways, hopefully we'll be pleasantly surprised by Fedak and co. this season.
ReplyDeleteHoping is a waste of effort.
ReplyDeleteI remember last year Chris Fedak said Push Mix was the greatest episode that they had ever done.
ReplyDeleteOf course he was exaggerating but Push Mix was still a pretty good episode.
The scene with Chuck and Volkoff in the cabin was one of my favorite scenes from the entire series.
Chris Fedak is most likely exaggerating here too but that doesn't mean that the episodes he's talking about won't be good.
The Chuck and Morgan bromance is my least favorite part of the show. So not good news from my POV.
ReplyDeleteDoes Josh Schwartz have anything do with this show anymore?
ReplyDeleteJosh Schwartz is still involved, I am sure... but is he there every day? No. I don't think he has ever been that guy anyway.
ReplyDeletePart of the job of a good showrunner is to be proud of your show and be enthusiastic about it. So, maybe he's more enthusiastic that you are, but is that really wrong?
ReplyDeleteBefore a show even gets greenlit, they have to go into network execs and sell their concept. So, there is a bit of "salesmanship" involved to the job, too. If he's exaggerating, he's either just doing his job or he actually believes it. Or both.
There's nothing wrong with either.
Alrighty....
ReplyDeleteWell this is a man who told Mo Ryan that he was very proud of the first 13 of season 3....So he can be delusional at times, but overall he has done good.
ReplyDeleteI liked many of the episodes in the first 13 of season 3. Even if a few were clunkers, why shouldn't he be proud of the whole?
ReplyDeleteFor so, so, so many reasons. Mo Ryan provided quite a few when she attacked him, deservedly so.
ReplyDeleteI swear the first half of season 3 is so underappreciated by people.
ReplyDeleteI don't get the hatred for episodes like First Class and First kill.
They weren't the greatest episodes but they were better than their reputation.
Again Chris Fedak is telling the story he wants to tell so why shouldn't he be proud of them.
Mo Ryan is the same as anybody else she has an opinion and you either agree with her or not.
Operation awesome, first class, beard, nacho sampler, other guy, tic tac....there are some great episodes for sure. I think it might just be that sense of desperation in those 13 episodes where they are fighting tooth and nail to avoid the inevitable that brings down those episodes a little. Once they were free.....the six that followed were fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI hated Shaw character and thought BR was crap, but i still liked most of first half of season 3, so for me some of the hate toward it seem over the top. And frankly i loved Final Exam and even liked Fake Name, the only ones i disliked were Mask (i also wasn't big fan of Pink Slip, American Hero).
ReplyDeleteTo not make this comment completely OT, i wonder if episode 8 will be completly self contained or it'll setup some stuff for her character in the last batch of episodes.
Siemon
Season 3 is my favorite. If I made a top 10 list, 5 episodes from season 3 would make it.
ReplyDeleteHoneymooners, subway, beard, tic tac, nacho sampler/operation awesome/first class? I think I am positive that the first 4 are correct, but I am not sure about your last one.
ReplyDeleteSeason 2 is best remembered for the home stretch. But yeah season 3 was good, at least the characters were moving forward. I think the train station scene does get a nasty turn...people forget that the characters were actually admitting something to themselves that they did not before.....sigh.
ReplyDeleteNot Nacho Sampler or First Class. The fifth would be Final Exam. Season 3 has THREE of my top 10 episodes... IN A ROW. They were on a creative high that month.
ReplyDeleteI do not get the hate for the first 13 episodes of season three.About the only thing that made me go huh? was the train station.Like someone said before that was the characters realizing what they truly wanted.Maybe if Chuck would have informed Sarah just a bit earlier, maybe the three weeks he had BEFORE he got to the train station, he might of not had to go thru the Shaw and Hannah thing, but I think that is the point.Chuck had to realize what he wanted and what was most important to him before he could pursue what he wanted. Sarah had to go thru being rejected, not trusting someone and closing up again. she had to learn to open up again, even if she does get hurt. THAT is why I have no problem with Fake Name OR Mask.S he had to start opening up again and Shaw was there, Chuck wasn't.Chuck first had to learn that you do not just fall out of love with someone and move on, no problem.Chuck was learning that he loved Sarah even more than being a spy and that he was losing her forever and that if he did not step up and try, he would lose her to Shaw and Chuck had to earn her trust again.
ReplyDeleteI do think that the last minute renewals did push the romance faster than they wanted and that pushed expectations for the romance to come together sooner for the fan base.But the writers had to finish the journey of Chuck and Sarah as individuals before they can be together as a couple. C'mon, who did not love the moment they finally got together in Other Guy?
Kelly
The only problem with Pink Slip is that Ali Adler did not write it, if she did then the train station scene would have been what Chuck said in the vault. As Magnus said, Ali knows how to write love.
ReplyDelete" The only problem with Pink Slip is that Ali Adler did not write it, if she did then the train station scene would have been what Chuck said in the vault. As Magnus said, Ali knows how to write love."
ReplyDeleteI don't think that's how it works. The writers are writing to a predetermined story arc, within which I imagine they have a certain amount of flexibility. Recall that Ali wrote Fake Name too, and didn't magically turn that into something other than what the show runners intended at that point in the narrative.
Jim
I do not know Jim, if you look at season 2 they had an episode that slowed down Chuck and Sarah and then comes along an Ali Adler episode next and they are back on, lol. Prime examples are they slow down in break up and then Ali puts in a very romantic ending in cougars. They slow down in third dimension then.. best friend...Ali...then suburbs...preditor chuck does not trust sarah...ali adler...broken heart and a romantic ending where he does trust her.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest Matt Miller did that a couple of times too, lol. Beefcake...then lethal weapon (great episode). First Kill then colonel, lol.
Looking at season 2 I just realised man that was an up and down emotional rollercoaster, lol. Fun but emotionally taxing and confusing.
Gina, individual writers don't get to decide on their own whether characters confess their love, or end up together etc in an episode. That kind of thing is always going to be decided by the group and given the go-ahead by the show runner(s).
ReplyDeleteWas the up and down nature of season 2's romance arcs a byproduct of lack of confidence in the spy stories/mythology?
ReplyDeleteIn a way if that is the case then that is not a bad thing, a shows strength is a strength. I mean community keeps getting rave reviews for the concept episodes, event though I adore all of them, fans do crap on the non concept ones for some lame reason or another.
It does amaze me that some critics have actually loved the heart and emotion of the show, I loved Mo Ryan's interview and this particular review: http://www.boomtron.com/2011/05/chuck-chuck-versus-the-cliffhanger-review/. It feels like they kind of let their heart think when writing or interviewing, lol.
"Was the up and down nature of season 2's romance arcs a byproduct of lack of confidence in the spy stories/mythology? "
ReplyDeleteNope. Just them mashing the romance angst button to elevate audience interest in the will-they-won't-they romance.
This season must be so interesting if we're rehashing S2 and S3 again.
ReplyDeleteOne of the funniest things I remember about terminator 3 (apart from being the weakest movie of the franchise) is when John Conner asks the terminator if he remembers the stuff he taught the other model. Characters on tv are kind of like that most of the time (especially network tv shows)...you can spend a whole season teaching them something then the next season resets them like the terminator was reset from the second to third movie, lol.
ReplyDeleteAll this is to say...entertainment as a visual medium is all about entertaining you in the here and now but come the next chapter? the lack of imagination can be quite depressing...rinse and repeat....if it aint broke do not try to fix it. Whatever people say about Chuck, they have tried to move their characters forward and that is a triumph...
I think one of the most frustrating resets was on the Mentalist...oh man did I want to throw my remote at my tv when they said Red John was still alive. They milked it all summer long that Red John was dead and then someone either at CBS or The WB chickened out..."we cannot lose Red John!", lol...what wussess
ReplyDeleteYeah, stuff like that happens a lot. I don't think CHUCK has had as much network intervention. Perhaps it should have...
ReplyDeleteI'm excited for what's coming up in season 5 only i haven't really heard much about it.
ReplyDeleteFrom what i have heard i want to see the story about Sarah's mother.
I wanna see Carrie Anne Moss and Casey's backstory.
I wanna know how Bo Derek is suppose to tie into everything.
Even though I know it will probably suck i wonder what the whole conspiracy Decker was talking about is.
I wanna see what Chris Fedak has in store for the final 12 episodes.
I want to see if Chris Fedak is going to come up with a satisfying series finale that people like or is it going to be terribly received like a lot of other series finales.
Expect the series finale to suck and you may be mildly surprised that it only sucks a little bit. ;)
ReplyDeleteI would be happy if Decker was just an idiot who holds a grudge against Chuck because Chuck bested him at the end of last season, lol. I mean Casey said that Decker was the guy who kills the guy who kills everyone else and so is a badass, the fact is whatever Decker threw at Chuck, Chuck took it on and still beat him. The best thing would be just him versus Chuck in the end. I could even take other storylines like Decker testing himself out against Chuck to prove he is the best or whatever. Maybe Decker is trying to prove that the only way to be a spy is to be cold and emotionless...which makes both Chuck and his accomplishments all the more scary for the CIA who as Michael Western from Burn Notice will tell you prefer there agents to be loners who like to be loners and like to be able to be cold and dead inside and easy to move on. Heck if Decker is having some sort of mid life crisis...that would give some emotional wieght to the story..a man who thought he had to be one thing to get the job done did not need to be because Chuck can do it and have it all. Simple is the best method I think.
ReplyDeleteIt will probably be something stupid that changes everything about the backstory and the mythology that we've learned in all the previous seasons.
ReplyDeleteYou just know that all the Chuck fanboys that are really into the mythology and the stuff about intersect will hate it with a passion.
They'll be very vocal about it too.
That's why if I were Chris Fedak i would come up with something else just to not have to hear them whine endlessly about it.
I think the smartest thing to do with any finale is to get the big mythology stuff out of the way in the penultimate episode. Then, do a whole finale episode about the characters. I thought LOST got it right. Don't waste time with mythology at the end. If you haven't answered it by the penultimate episode, then it will just feel rushed anyway.
ReplyDeleteBSG nearly got it right but they actually DID rush the ending to get us to the character moments. And I know, it is the cool thing to say that both those shows didn't deliver what "the fans" wanted but I call bullpoop on that. It is just the fans heavily invested in getting answers to everything.
And as I like to say, those people who need answers to everything are deeply insecure and project that insecurity into their favorite shows.
What's the over/under at regarding at some point this season that Decker has the intersect as well ?
ReplyDeletec'mon you just know it's going to happen :)
I think that season 3 was the best season and after that the show lost the Charah dynamic and now they are just a married couple. But we have the opportunity to exlore other characters like Morgan and Casey even more. I hope for a better execution from the writers whatever story they want to tell us because this is the problem for me.
ReplyDeletenenouca
Do you guys think NBC would order extended episodes for Chuck's final season? :(
ReplyDelete