Thus far in its run, Grimm has had many modes in which to slip in and out of. There's the funny, slightly campy Grimm that brings levity to an episode; there's the creepy Grimm that layers on the supernatural elements and horror movie homages; there's the expository Grimm, heavy on police work and general mythology that provides the foundation for basically every installment. Though the show has leaned too heavily toward each of these at one point or another, resulting in a good-but-off-balance episode, it's been getting the hang of it in recent times, including last week's creative pinnacle "Organ Grinder". Once you feel like you've mastered something, it's only natural to want to move on to another endeavor and for Grimm, it looks to be emotion.

Emotion and genre shows tends to be a balancing act of its own. You want to be able to bring the humanity to an otherwise otherworldly situation, but if there's too much trudging through emotion and feelings, you risk alienating a certain portion of your audience. Luckily, Grimm managed to bring a haunting sadness to "Tarantella" that admittedly stayed with me more than I expected. In the last couple of minutes of the episode, Lena Marcinko (Amy Acker), spinnatod and soccer mom, was thwarted from feeding on the third young man she had lured into her (metaphorical) web; after being taken in by the police, there's a shot of her, framed by a spider web, having aged what looks to be 50 years, all gray hair and wrinkles. Lena didn't want to kill nor did she really have a choice, considering the fact that she had to prevent herself from rapidly aging, which is what made "Tarantella" such an emotionally intriguing episode of television. Thus far in Grimm, most of the Wesen that Nick has come across have killed/harmed people for the sake of it and looked to be enjoying every scream, every cry, every heart finally stopping, so the prospect of someone having been born into this world and not enjoying her abilities was a nice wrinkle in what could have been a fairly routine episode of Grimm. You had to at least somewhat feel for Lena and that type of gray morality (not all bad guys are 100% bad, not all good guys are 100% good) can elevate Grimm to the next level; of course, killing is wrong and she should have been punished, but she never really had a chance to have a life. It made you think about just how much culpability she really had in the matter, with the biological gun to her head, and there's a certain sadness in having something assigned to you from birth that you can't change.

Plus, she passed the same fate along to her daughter Sally, as shown in a quick shot before she went to her grandma's, so Sally will have to endure the same type of pain and unfortunate consequences of her heritage as her mother did in order to survive.

It wasn't all unusually touching endings and not-so-evil evil villains on "Tarantella", though, as there was some nicely serial elements that were woven in. Aside from a cute callback to the pilot courtesy of Monroe, Nick came face-to-face with the Wesen that have been coming by his house and scaring Juliette. You may remember that a refrigerator repair man from several episodes back recognized Nick and started spreading the fact that a Grimm is around to any creature that would listen; "Tarantella" found a pair of young eisbibers egging Nick's house, now that the proverbial "monster under the bed" had been discovered, leading to Nick confronting the two men responsible for his new reputation. Although I've been using these reviews to poke and prod at Grimm to become more heavily serialized, I have to admit that they're kind of pulling off the right mix of serial and procedural right now. There's been a sort of slow burn for the last couple of episodes, with Nick's actions from the beginning of the season finally making enough noise to alert the rest of the Wesen world and the implications that that has on his safety. Prior to this, he had the freedom to do his job, take out the appropriate creature, and go home without having to worry, but there's not that type of freedom anymore and without it, Nick's safety may be in danger. He's already been beat up and Monroe's already been beat up, but this is merely the beginning and the noose can only keep tightening from here on out. "Tarantella" had a few moments of "hey, remember when...", but it wasn't enough to confuse anybody and served more as a solid B-story than overshadowing the case, one of the better the show had unfolded.

I mean, even if your exposition dump (in this case, old lady spinatod Charlotte) turns out to be a really cool addition to an episode, you know you've done a good job.

I think the main reason I liked the serial elements of "Tarantella" is that it hinted at a bigger world than Grimm has portrayed. Take, for example, the Japanese Grimm that Aunt Marie had encountered in some of her many travels, as read about by Nick. We've been pretty entrenched in Portland since day one, with only a brief encounter with someone from outside the bubble, and it really makes you wonder about the world outside of the Pacific Northwest. How many Grimms are there currently in the world? Are there any near Portland that Nick could team up with/get help from? Will we be getting to meet any other Grimms? Even if it's only minor appearances and random documents, I'd love to know more intricacies about the Grimm world; obviously, it's not like Buffy the Vampire Slayer with only one slayer at a time, so finding out the mechanics and how things worked could help flesh out the world around Nick and Monroe. And the retirement home from creatures, where Charlotte currently resides, hinted that there are others like Monroe that have turned their back on their birth status in order to live a quieter, more "human" life. Expanding the type of creatures that we come into contact with gives a little more complexity to the cases Nick handles and makes the Wesen world more of a world, as there's more to any world that criminals, anarchists, and masochists.

Grimm had another very strong episode in "Tarantella", combining a sexy, dangerous cold open with a case that balanced reality and the supernatural and enough serial elements to please even the most ardent TV fan.  It was a little scary and a little sad, though the bubbling tension between the Wesen world and Nick may be ready to spill over at any given moment. Going forward, Nick may have to leave the bravado he started to pick up last week in his back pocket, as his reputation may have put a target on his back and Monroe's back; we've seen many creatures thus far in Grimm and a majority of them would be brave enough to take a shot at taking out the latest Grimm, a real trophy that could buy some serious respect among their peers. After wavering for a little bit, Grimm has seemed to found its way and I'm looking forward to seeing the depths of the Wesen world, Nick's continued growth as a Grimm, and just how dark the show is willing to go.

Thoughts, Quotes, & Observations:
-"Here I was trying to be abstract, but I guess I wound up being pretty simple."
-"You want to pick it up again or you want me to give you the finger?"
-"I didn't know how else to prove...you have a lovely wife."
-"I don't know, have you searched the web? So to speak..."
-"Any other body parts you want to see?"
-Monroe speaks a little German, apparently. He's a total Renaissance blutbad, no?
-The fake out when Lena's husband Robert was introduced was good stuff. Also really cool, Lena's finger growing back after having been bitten off in the cold open.
-Here's a little bit about desiccation and fauvism, if you'e interested.
-Am I trippin' or was the "previously, on Grimm..." opener used for the first time tonight?
-There's a former True Blood star coming to the show in the near future and their appearance involves a character we've already met.
-Grimm is off (again) next week, this time in favor of the NAACP Image Awards, and there's been no episode description released for its return.

Grimm 1.11 "Tarantella" Review

30 Rock season 6 makes a declaration of love with the sixth and seventh episodes of season 6 with "Hey Baby, What's Wrong?," where Liz and Criss must purchase a table for Valentine's day and Jack visits with his mother-in-law Charlotte (Mary Steenburgen) .  Tonight 30 Rock experiments with an hour-long format for it's Valentine's day outing, and however sweet carries a few mixed results.

I’m very interested in what’s been going on with 30 Rock’s season ordering this year, as the show was first pushed back into mid-season to accommodate Tina Fey’s pregnancy, and has since been rather out of sorts.  First , the second and third episodes of the season made more or less a two-part episode, but separated by a week as 30 Rock has been airing multiple episodes on Thursday nights, whether catching up to other comedies or filling holes in the schedule.  This week’s “Hey Baby, What’s Wrong” wasn’t a two-parter in the traditional sense, but more akin to an hour-long episode that doesn’t break through the midpoint, something I’m not sure the show has attempted before.  “Hey Baby, What’s Wrong” isn’t a failed experiment by any means, but it can be difficult for typically half-hour shows to break out of formats to which they’re so accustomed.

So of course, Valentine’s day draws near, and there wasn’t any way 30 Rock could leave that topic alone even as Liz Lemon so vehemently eschews the concept of the holiday.  And with Valentine’s day we must all confront our lack of significant others and reflect on loves past.  If you’re happily taken, go fly a kite!  But in any case, most couples know all-too-well the dangers of furniture shopping in relationships, and the endless void of a trip to IKEA, with its presentation so elaborately designed as a long voyage rather than a simple grab & run.  Mutual shopping has a way of bringing differences to the forefront, and the returning Criss (James Marsden) certainly doesn’t seem the type to stick around Liz Lemon’s life for long.

Of course, 30 Rock has covered Valentine's Day multiple times in the last six years (and in case you forgot, here’s a montage of the show’s better years!), so there’s a rather predictable direction a tale of Liz Lemon worried she’ll lose her boyfriend could take, and fight it as they may Liz and Criss of course make a slow boil into argument.  It doesn’t quite end the way you’d expect, with both Liz and Criss being savvy enough to know that a small fight over furniture isn’t enough to destroy a solid relationship, so I liked that 30 Rock could at least plausibly extend its conclusions without feeling repetitive.  A skilled comedic actor though he may be, I’m still not entirely buying James Marsden as a good fit for Liz or 30 Rock, but the results are agreeable enough.

Faring somewhat less well this week is Jack, who in the continued absence of Avery finds himself mentally and sexually frustrated, even turning to his mother-in-law Charlotte Jessup (Mary Steenburgen) to vent some frustrations as they try to return Avery from North Korea.  You could tell from practically their first scene that the episode was pitching toward Jack bedding his own mother-in-law, but I remained largely uncertain 30 Rock could ever justify such an insane twist.  Clearly Elizabeth Banks would never come aboard 30 Rock as a full-time cast member, so I wondered if the show had written itself into a corner by marrying and tying down Jack with a child.  Hooking up with Charlotte would have likely been too icky to justify, so I imagine the writers want to have their cake and eat it too by giving Jack new female presences to bounce off of.  It’s not like 30 Rock seems to be approaching any resolution with Avery, so it seems likely we’ll see Charlotte again at least once more.

And speaking of new female presences, Kristen Schaal returns as equally doe-eyed page Hazel, though her storyline of trying to fit in at 30 Rock doesn’t necessarily veer into the territory you’d think either.  Being a Valentine’s Day episode, I presumed she might share some chemistry with Kenneth, before her disgust at their behavior evolved into Single-White-Female style adoration.  Be it adorable enthusiasm or homicidal rage, Kristen Schaal stills nails the role, and I’ll be sad to see her go in a few episodes.

Likely the least entertaining subplots this week would have to go to the Pete / Jenna pairing and Lutz’s search for love aided by Tracy Jordan and Frank.  It’s not that the stories don’t make for a few laughs now and again (particularly in how Lutz manages to fail every one of his mentors’ hilariously pathetic set-ups), but they don’t feel particularly connected to any overarching theme.  It might feel different were the stories to be set up over the usual half-hour, but that extra time stretches the jokes a little thin.

I love 30 Rock, I do, so perhaps I’m just Liz Lemon bitter as we approach Valentine’s day, and thoughts turn to the one that got away.  By that, I of course mean Community.

And Another Thing…

• Probably would have known this if I’d seen Enchanted, but that James Marsden has a nice singing voice.

• I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  Good gravy that Mary Steenburgen has aged well.

• With Pete and Jenna so desperate to get out of the “late-night ghetto” of TGS, I wonder if some  career movements could be a setup for a 30 Rock endgame of sorts…

• Caught you, 30 Rock on your unrealistic Manhattan geography!  During Liz’s cell phone conversation with Jack, The Molly Wee Pub (30th and 8^th) is visible in the background, and she’s still on the phone with him when she reaches her apartment on the Upper West Side (160 Riverside)!  Liz Lemon would never walk that far!

What did YOU think?

30 Rock 6.06 / 6.07 "Hey Baby, What's Wrong?" Review

Every Tuesday night, you can usually find me thumbing through my notes on the latest episode of Parenthood, scowling and trying to brainstorm. Though I enjoy Parenthood and consider it one of the best broadcast dramas out there, it can be a little hard to write about, for reasons other than the obvious. Yes, there are usually several storylines ramshackled together with bubblegum and indie pop, but the main reason I often get stuck on Parenthood reviews is the show's naturalistic style. It may be earthy and refreshingly honest, but it can also lead to me not knowing whether my feelings on an episode stem from character or plot. Parenthood has done such an exquisite job establishing the Braverman family, in all its iterations, that writing about it can feel like writing about your family members; you have to separate your personal, visceral reactions to what's going on and try to look at the bones of an episode for what they are, nothing more or less.

"Politics", Parenthood's first episode after a two week break, hit that problem right on the nose for me, in that critically I leaned one way and emotionally I leaned another. Most notably, with Sarah and Mark's ultimate decision to pass over climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and writing in Morocco for the prospect of having a baby, like, right now. I've been a big proponent of Mark and Sarah from the beginning, as their interactions feel so easy and earned, but what joy I got from them moving on to the next phase of their life together was quashed by taking another look at their dilemma. Sarah's a (very impulsive) lady of a certain age, but didn't she consider having her eggs frozen until she and Mark were truly ready? Or perhaps adopting a child and forgoing any type of concern about her age affecting a child's health? The talk about a baby for them has always had me a little worried, considering how heavy season 3 has been on the topic, and I'm not a fan of the direction it's going. Sarah and Mark aren't trying to have a baby because they're ready; they're trying to have a baby because she's insecure and he's head-over-heels enough to go along with her. Sarah finding love and getting her life together away from her children has been one of my favorite stories this season, but flirting with the possibility of another child feels like a regression as opposed to progression. There's so much beautiful material to be mined from single mom getting her children raised and looking ahead to the next phase of her life, finally able to live for herself and put her needs more toward the top of the list. There are other shades of parenthood aside from "perpetually with child" and I wish that Parenthood would explore them through Sarah.

Also causing problems is Amber's plot, as she and Bob finally consummated their obvious tension through a kiss at work. Up front, I'll say that I really enjoy them together, but I have a feeling that it'll be nothing but trouble from here on out for the two. As touching as it was to hear Bob verbalize all the things about Amber that are truly beautiful that we've learned over the past 3 seasons, it's one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't situations. Amber either goes with her heart and embraces one of the few people that truly gets her, ultimately losing out on a promising job, or she rejects Bob, keeping her career but losing a companion. You want Amber to have the job and the man because of how much she's struggled to get here, but it can't be like that, not in the world of politics and not with Bob Little. There's a certain sadness about Amber's story that's appealing, but my only hope is that Parenthood doesn't take the easy way out and make this into a scandalous plotline. For me, it'd be best for it not to leak and if it has to end, end quietly and cordially; it'd hit a lot harder (and be closer to Parenthood's identity) to watch the internal struggle play out intimately, as opposed to on press conferences and newspaper headlines. It'd be painful to watch two good people with promising futures have their lives and careers ruined, especially considering the progress Amber has made from this time last season.

Parenthood 3.15 "Politics" Review

Smash pulls the curtain up on its series premiere on NBC tonight, starring American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee as one of two aspiring starlets looking to nab the lead role in a Broadway musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe.  For all its surrounding buzz, there's certainly a lot of promise for this bold new series, whose pilot alone should be enough to separate it from those unfair Glee comparisons it gets.

Once upon a time, I was a New York City actor myself, looking to make my mark on the great white way and just as full of hope as the two young starlets vying for the role of Marilyn Monroe in NBC’s Smash.  I know what you’re thinking.  You didn’t come here for a LOST-style flashback of my life back in the 1940’s past, you came here to talk about the pitfalls and the promise of NBC’s latest pilot, and that’s what you want to hear about!

Well, too bad.  Smash brought back some very familiar sentiments, from the heartbreak of rejection to the inevitable awkwardness and judgement of that little hallway right outside the studio doors where prospective auditionees await their chances in turn, making smalltalk that borders on subtle manipulation.  Acting in any arena isn’t a pleasant field to make your way in, and certainly not something you can easily explain to people as a career choice.  I remember feeling woefully unprepared to walk into those rooms, hand out a headshot, sing a little number, and do my best to see through the forced smiles of the auditioners for any glimmer of interest on my way out the door, and you’d never know when, if at all that damn cell phone would ring with good news.

You see, for me, Smash is the first show that gave me pause to sit back and realize “well…shit.  I wouldn’t have hired me either.”

Of course for some people putting on shows and making TV is simply a paycheck, but every now and again you find the people truly interested in bringing characters and stories to life, and doing them the justice of casting just the right people.  Seeing a Marilyn Monroe musical from behind the casting desk with people who represent the interests of the character, is an entirely new experience.  We’ve seen the backstage types of shows before, from 30 Rock to Studio 60, but it’s interesting to see these productions created from the ground up.  In those instances casting is everything, and talented though starving actors might be, we along want to see the right people for the right roles.  And that’s essentially what Smash allows us to do, live vicariously from all sides and be involved in the creative process.

Now, I might not be the right person to talk about Smash.  My days of theatre are behind me, and the closest I’ve ever been to the world of Broadway in recent years has been a random indulgement of Wicked I saw last week.  Yet even then, it turned out on a whim that the actress in the role of Elphaba was someone I’d interacted with years ago on another theatre job, which while inconsequential reminded me that theatre can be a very small world, and you’ll never know how meeting the right people or making random choices can influence people in unseen, and behind closed-doors moments, and I like that Smash gives people a window into that world.  It could be a video posted to YouTube on a whim, a demo recorded as a favor to a friend, or just a girl watching Marilyn Monroe movies to perfect her mannerisms, but a million and one things need to go right in creating these projects, and I’m excited to take that journey with them.

I can’t say I’ll readily volunteer to the boys at the bar that I watch the show about struggling Broadway actresses working with theatre elite to create a Marilyn Monroe musical, but we all have our quirks.

The same could be said for Glee, and yes, I know, you’re sick to death of hearing about Smash’s comparison to FOX’s high school musical phenomenon, but I guarantee you someone mentioned the G-word in Smash’s initial pitch to NBC, so let’s take it in stride.  I nearly vomited during the last Glee episode for how inconsequential plot progression had become to gimmick, and I’m extraordinarily grateful to discover that Smash and Glee are nothing alike.  There’s some usage of diegetic and non-diegetic performance alike, but Smash is very much rooted in the reality that Glee so well, gleefully eschews.  Surely the marketing strategies will take on similar paths, the inevitable Smash CD’s to hit iTunes, but beyond that they’re worlds apart, so lets hear no more of these comparisons.

If anything, Smash feels closer to the 2003 adaptation of Chicago, where clear lines are draw between the real-world events unfolding, and a heightened, imagined reality of the glitz and glamor of Broadway.  I'm assuming by now most people are familiar with the basic plot of Smash, with writers Julia Houston (Debra Messing) and  Tom Levitt (Christian Borle), director Derek Wills (Jack Davenport) and divorcing producer Eileen Rand (Anjelica Huston) staging a shaky original musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe, their choice for the lead role narrowed down to relative newcomer Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee) and experienced chorus girl Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty), so I won’t bother going through all the basic beats.

Suffice to say, I’m most impressed with the characterization of Smash, with most everyone’s role so effortlessly set up as the narratives weave in and out of the forces putting together the musical.  I especially like that where Megan Hilty hasn’t gotten much face-time in the promotion, her character turns out not to be the more villainous role I expected.  Neither Karen nor Ivy seem wrong for the role, so keeping characters on an even keel should make for compelling ride over the course of the first season.  I don’t imagine it’ll be long before the story makes an active decision about how to incorporate both women into the show, but for now Smash’s pilot has a lot of rich material and characterization to play around with.

Smash might not be for everyone, but if it can impress a hardened sci-fi cynic such as myself, maybe you could spare an hour for the next musical phenomenon undoubtedly cluttering your iTunes.

And Another Thing…

• Interesting willingness to make such frequent pop-culture references with real names, stars and shows, but it makes sense in the context of the world these people inhabit.  That is to say…ours.

• Am I the only one who thought Megan Hilty’s mouth movements were almost CG during her peformance?  Like...screaming monkeys in the Planet of the Apes remake CG?

• Okay, one last Glee comparison, but Smash certainly allows for a little more raunchiness given its 10:00pm time slot, compared with Glee’s 8:00pm portrayal of high-schoolers.

• Of course, I’m no Broadway casting director (that you know of), but If it were me, I’d have completely ignored Karen for auditioning with a song that has zero relevance to Marilyn Monroe.  Talented, sure, but what about her audition allowed them to see her in the role?  Or perhaps…they saw a young Marilyn herself rather than a character imitating the icon?  I’m getting ahead of myself.

• I’ll be curious to see what direction this, and future seasons take.  Presumably the show (within the show) will get on its feet, so…would a new show/process ever need to be introduced?

What did YOU think?

Smash 1.01 "Pilot" Series Premiere Review - A Second Opinion

Earlier this week, NBC effectively pulled the plug on The Firm, its low rated adaptation of the John Grisham novel of the same name. In its place, the network slotted in Awake, one of the most anticipated shows of the season that had previously faced a production delay in order to figure out the direction it would be taking. The longer it sat on the bench, the more concern grew that maybe Awake was too ambitious or cerebral to even make it to broadcast TV, so even getting a premiere date in the first place was a victory in itself.

Now that we know when to expect Awake, videos have been coming out of extra footage to stoke the anticipation that much more. The most recent preview highlights the central premise of the series: Detective Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs) is stuck in two realities and doesn't know which, if either, is real. Following a car crash, he wakes up not sure what to believe; either his wife (Laura Allen) survived the crash and his young son (Dylan Minnette) didn't, or vice versa. Michael has to navigate the two realities that he moves freely between, figure out the significance of the links between the two (the number 611, particularly), and somehow, some way try and keep both of his loved ones alive. To help him along the way, he has two therapists, one in the "wife" reality (B.D. Wong) and one in the "son" reality (Cherry Jones), to help him work through the grief and confusion he's currently going through.

Awake also features Steve Harris and Wilmer Valderama as Michael's partners and Michaela McManus as a woman Michael becomes attracted to in the "son" reality. Do you think Michael can figure out what's real and  possibly get his normal life back? Would he even want to do that, considering he'd lose one or the other of his loved ones?

Awake premieres Thursday, March 1st at 10:00 on NBC.

Awake: Season 1 Extended Preview Released

One of the main problems that I've had with Grimm's opening nine episodes is that the cases of the week tended to be very hit-or-miss. I don't know if it's where I'm not used to the feel of a procedural or what, but more often than not, I've not been that drawn in by the plethora of missing children and women in peril. The supernatural elements that the show has been playing around with in said cases, from fairy tale-esque settings to different creature interactions and brutal imagery, have masked that fact until this point, but there has to be some other pull to get me interested in a routine police investigation. I like seeing what kind of new creatures or impressive lighting schemes Grimm can come up with, but at some point, the cases need to start having a bit more meaning, a bit more resonance with the main characters.

"Organ Grinder" was a step in the right direction in that regard, as it allowed the three main folks we keep in touch with (Nick, Monroe, and, to a lesser extent, Juliette) to stretch their wings a little bit. Most notably, it was a fantastic episode for Nick, a likable enough "good guy" that has been treading pretty lightly here lately. Granted, after you find out you're a descendant of a long line of creature hunters, you might become a little closed off for a while, since your entire identity is up in the air, but this is the first episode (perhaps ever?) that Nick really stood out in the madness. He's gained a noticeable amount of confidence in his role as hunter in his time with Monroe and it was especially gratifying to see him intimidate one of the geier working at the corrupt clinic and the gallenblase salesman. The Nick Burkhardt in the pilot wouldn't have been able to handle himself that well with two "bad guys", so as much as this is a supernatural procedural, it's also the story of a man growing to accept himself and Nick's growth in his "other life" only bodes well going forward. I like watching him catch on and figure out how to navigate the creature world, but it feels like the training period has ended and Nick Burkhardt, Professional Hunter is ready to step on the scene.

But if you think Nick was all muscle and aggression, you're wrong, as "Organ Grinder" was careful to keep his humanity front and center. His interactions with Monroe have been a series highlight, but they were taken to another level with the Buffy-esque scenes tonight that highlighted their bond in bright yellow highlighter. In the beginning, there was this tension to their conversations as the two felt one another out, but by this point, Nick and Monroe are at the old married couple state of their friendship, the occasional dust-up (this time over the fact that they only talk about Grimm stuff) with an undercurrent of deep affection from shared experience. It's deep personal relationships like this that keep Nick from becoming too much of an enigma and sinking too far down the Grimm rabbit hole; also accomplishing that is the seemingly small feat of asking homeless siblings (and jewelry merchants) Gracie and Hanson to dinner and overpaying for some of their product. As much as I like Nick/Monroe and Nick/Juliette, he doesn't really have a lot of personal connections outside of those two and if it was kept that way, Grimm could turn into something a little suffocating and redundant. By showing Nick feeling for their situation, Grimm let down a wall that its leading man had up since the pilot and seeing him soften a bit makes the aggression he showed later that much more impressive.

Nick's been able to keep the core of who he was pre-Grimm in tact while adding on traits that he's learned from his time exploring the underworld with Monroe.

Grimm 1.10 "Organ Grinder" Review

30 Rock season 6 crowns the fifth episode of season 6 with "Today You Are A Man," where Liz re-negotiates her TGS contract with Jack, while Tracy and Jenna perform at a bar mitzvah, and Kenneth questions his future as a page .  It's always interesting when 30 Rock experiments with a little character development, and while it cuts down the laughs "Today You Are A Man" seems very promising for the aged series.

Well, it finally happened last night.  Either I’ve completely lost my mind, or Liz Lemon has started talking to me through the television.  I’m talking of course of one of 30 Rock’s many meta moments last night during “Today You Are A Man," as Liz directly addresses the camera to assure viewers that after six years, there are still depths to be mined within the friendship of Jack Donaghy and Liz Lemon.  It’s a boldly assertive statement to be sure, given that most critics watching 30 Rock these days inevitably ask themselves how much more life 30 Rock can have after six years, but at the very least we should appreciate that the 30 Rock staff isn’t ignorant of our doubts.  Both NBC and the principal cast seem on board with future seasons of 30 Rock, though I doubt if even the better episodes of 30 Rock can put to bed concerns of staleness in advancing age.

Growth and status quo have always been something of a mixed effort for 30 Rock, as many times over the years we’ve seen potential changes come and go before we’ve had a chance to acclimate to the idea of Kenneth working at CBS, or Liz Lemon leaving behind the single life.  I’m optimistic  that an episode like “Today You Are A Man” can raise questions of this nature again while still feeling fresh, but can we really expect the needle to remain threaded in matters of this nature?

It made for an interesting realization to have Jack discover his emotional ties’ benefit as a weapon rather than weakness, while Tracy and Jenna always do well with a bit of (however short-lived) self-awareness, but most of all I remain interested in seeing if anything comes of Kenneth’s desire to outgrow the page program.  Jack’s wonderfully elitist line “he’s a white male with hair, Lemon.  The sky’s the limit” echoed of a similar Jack sentiment in earlier seasons that “in five years we’ll either all be working for him, or dead by his hand,” and I don’t believe it would damage 30 Rock at all to find a new role for Kenneth, much as we love his gentle subservience.

“Today You Are A Man” gives just about everyone in the cast the ability to confront some of their inadequacies and make changes for the better, and while not as laugh-out-loud funny as some of the other 30 Rock episodes this season I appreciate more tightly constructed plots that dovetail around a central idea.  I’d go as far as to say that Liz’s attempt to re-negotiate her contract by embodying Jack’s business strategies represents the weakest turn this week, given how Jack Donaghy figuratively (and literally) takes over for her in a “Jack-Off,” but it still makes for an effective half-hour setting up new ideas for the season.

Most of all, it’s a fantastic reminder of how 30 Rock could never do without Alec Baldwin, who takes such manic delight in switching characters rapidly and playing off himself.  I could complain about how it seems so many 30 Rock stories of late either deliberately or otherwise call back to past plotlines (Kenneth having left the page program before, Liz having tried to broker a better job, Tracy and Jenna becoming problem solvers) , but provided things build to some actual alteration to the status quo, or at the very least a little welcomely-acknowledged nostalgia before the end, there’s still plenty of room for growth in this six year relationship.

So, Jenna and Tracy will be more expressive of their feelings rather than outburst like children, Jack took back a little bit of his own, and Kenneth might finally look for other opportunities at NBC.  I’m on board, but does anyone think it will really last?

And Another Thing…

• “Gina Gershon, my nemesis!”

• Great guest turn for the vocally recognizable Kristen Schaal filling in for Kenneth as page, who remains contracted for at least a few more episodes.

• Hopefully not offending any female readers, but between 30 Rock and The Office what stage of post-pregnancy Tina Fey and Jenna Fischer are?  More and more I’ve been noticing a little age or heft on the actors’ parts, mostly Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan.  Jack seems to be getting better-looking as Alec Baldwin continues slimming down, but you know something’s wrong when the immortal Kenneth even seems a little older!

• “Playing with myself.  It’s a Jack-off!”

What did YOU think?

30 Rock 6.05 "Today You Are A Man" Review

Chuck season 5 and the series itself comes to a close with its ultimate thirteenth entry in tonight’s "Chuck Vs. The Goodbye," as Team Bartowski races to retrieve the final Intersect from Nicholas Quinn (Angus Macfadyen), and restore Sarah's lost memories of the last five years.  "Chuck Vs. The Goodbye" closes the series on a high note, balancing both the sweet with the bittersweet in the manner the show has come to employ so very well over the last few years.

Wow.  Thus endeth Chuck.  I don’t often have a lot to say when it comes to TV finales, and it’s been a good long while since a series I actually cared about managed to wrap things up on its own terms, but this one got to me.  I actually saw both "Chuck Vs. Sarah" and "Chuck Vs. The Goodbye” a few nights ago when NBC decided to release the screeners, and since watching I’ve likely listened to The Head and the Heart’s “Rivers and Roads” about forty times, if only to relive such wonderful sentiment that caps off five years of sweet memories.

I first started watching Chuck about midway through its second season, powering through old episodes as often as I could, though I don’t quite remember what turned me on to the series in the first place.  Mostly what I remember was the warmth, lying there on my door room bed dreaming of that wonderful world where nerdery and dead-end jobs could end up the adventure of a lifetime, provided you never lose the heart that made you yearn for them in the first place.  Even after Chuck’s second season finished, and NBC listened enough to Subway sandwich purchases to grant the series a budget-reduced season 3, it never lost that sense of childish wonderment and enthusiastic glee.  We love Chuck, because we are Chuck.  Chuck Bartowski consistently surprised everyone around him with his intelligence, his heart, and his willingness to risk anything for those he loved, and so too did Chuck as a series keep on braving insurmountable odds to come back year after year.

To be honest, I’m not even sure how I’d go about putting into words a goodbye to Chuck, let alone an in-depth response to “Chuck Vs. The Goodbye,” but I’ll do my best.

In a way, "Chuck Vs. The Goodbye" is all about bringing everyone back to the beginning.  I wish I’d had a chance to go back and watch the series again from its very first episode in time for tonight’s finale, but writing about TV can be a harsh mistress.  Instead, “The Goodbye” does most of the work for us, with Sarah’s memory erasure bringing her in line her badass 2007 self, Chuck an unremarkable layabout with a girl on his mind and no supercomputer powers to speak of, and Casey a career military man trying to eschew any emotional ties.  In that way we get to re-live Chuck all over again, discovering how Chuck’s heart and Sarah’s skill make them the perfect team, and Casey’s emotional entanglements actually made him a better agent in the end.  By going back to Chuck’s roots, we learn along with the character that after five years,  life isn’t so much about how things have changed, but why they’ve changed, and how to take those lessons into the future.

Still, Chuck wouldn’t be Chuck without it’s nostalgia.  And that’s why all of “Chuck Vs. The Goodbye’s” many, many callbacks feel like enthusiastic celebrations rather than rehashes.  Whether it’s one last epic Jeffster performance, an unceremonious reappearance from an old Fulcrum agent (Mark Pellegrino) or Chuck and Sarah re-living the most memorable of their early missions (Wienerlicious outfit alert!) in succession, everything about Chuck’s finale feels as thrilling as it does familiar.  In truth, I practically jumped out of my chair cheering once I realized that a Jeffster performance was on the way to keep Nicholas Quinn’s bomb from killing our heroes.  And if you’re not at least on the edge of tears when Chuck and Sarah once again meet on the beach to discuss their future, flashing through five years laughter and love, then your Intersect must be broken.

Really, most of the little things don’t even matter.  Chuck does re-Intersect-ize himself (and presumably keeps it) by the end of the hour, but the Intersect only serves a base role in unraveling the final threat.  In the end, it’s Sarah’s fleeting memory of Chuck’s past ingenuity that saves the day with a welcome, if surprising callback to the “Irena Demova Virus.”  Nor does the villainy of Angus Macfadyen’s four-episode turn as Nicholas Quinn really amount to anything, considering Sarah just kind of, well…shoots him.  Chuck’s climax lies in bringing together its players to do what they do best by working together; Chuck as the brains, Sarah and Casey the muscle, Morgan the plucky support, and Jeffster the soundtrack.

The climax actually reminded me a bit of similarly heartful series Futurama’s "ending" “The Devil’s Hands are Idle Playthings,” not merely for the operatic climax, but rather that it and Chuck were both wonderful series that never quite found their niche.  They shared a relatively generous run, all things considered, and ended on a beautifully sweet note  with just a hint of ambiguity.  Unless Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz want to out-right tell us, we’ll always cherish that fairy-tale ending of the magical kiss that may, or may not have rescued true love from the depth of Sarah’s memory.  Either way, they’ll figure it out.  We all will.

And no matter what, we’ve gotten a decent amount of closure to all our beloved characters; Morgan and Alex will move forward with their relationship, Casey will find Gertrude again, Ellie, Devon and Clara will move on to Chicago with Mama Bartowski (Linda Hamilton) in tow, and even Jeff and Lester ride off into the sunset toward the inevitable German superstardom of Jeffster.  Hell, even Subway sandwiches have a  happily ever after!

So, to Chuck I say goodnight, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.  Who knows when we’ll see another series as nerd-celebratory, or full of heart as the Buy More boy who met a girl and became a secret agent?    However Chuck goes down in history,  I can’t wait for the day when I can share it’s effortless charm and soul with a leggy blonde of my very own.

And Another Thing…

• After five long years, all the Buy More extras finally get lines!  Really, really creepy lines!

• If Chuck WEREN’T ending, I imagine Sarah hiring out Team Bartowski for missions might’ve been a new dynamic to explore in another season.

• Sheesh, are Desert Eagles really that big?

• There really wasn’t any need for Linda Hamilton to reprise her role as Mary Bartowski, but hey, a friendly famous face is a friendly famous face.

• "I'm a Casey.  I don't run, I stalk my prey."  Well, technically you're a Coburn.

• Did anyone catch any fun easter eggs I failed to mention?

• Sigh.  Goodbye, Chuck.  Aces.

What did YOU think?  Give us your best Chuck memories in the comments below!

Chuck 5.13 "Chuck Vs. The Goodbye" Series Finale Review

Chuck season 5 intersects its ultimate end with its penultimate twelfth entry in this week’s "Chuck Vs. Sarah," as Sarah returns harboring a dark secret from Nicholas Quinn (Angus Mcfadyen) while Team Bartowski searches for the final Intersect.  "Chuck Vs. Sarah" has a mostly thankless role to play in the Friday night two-part finale, but still serves up one of the darkest, most memorable hours yet.

Obviously “Chuck Vs. Sarah” isn’t the highlight of our Friday night, given that NBC decided to air both “Sarah” and “Chuck Vs. The Goodbye” back to back as one two hour-long series finale, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t treate the two separately and offer up a few quick thoughts on the penultimate Chuck episode.

After all, Chuck has been a joy to watch, discuss and write about for five years now, and I just wouldn’t be a fan (or a capitalist) if I didn’t take every opportunity to talk about this much-beloved series.

“Chuck Vs. Sarah” faces something of an awkward role in its position as the penultimate Chuck episode, serving both as a stand-alone episode and the bridge to the series finale itself.  With Sarah’s memories of the last five years totally erased, we’re essentially back to the basics of season one in the awkwardness between her and Chuck, serving as a sort of nostalgic reminder of just how far the two have evolved in five seasons.

At the same time, “Chuck Vs. Sarah” works on hammering home the idea that we’ve indeed come upon the end, sometimes haphazardly  positioning us toward “the future,” whether in Morgan’s meta-reference or Devon and Ellie’s sudden invitation to co-manage a hospital in Chicago.  Transition episodes are never easy, but here Chuck manages to pack just enough emotion and action into an hour that nothing feels too amiss.

Watching Chuck has always been bittersweet given its uncertain future and limited budget, but perhaps never more-so with an idea as rich as pitting Sarah against her husband and former teammates.  The idea of an “evil Sarah” was mostly played for laughs in season four, but here seems genuinely frightening given the character’s well-established proficiency, and the emotional devastation created in her wake.  I imagine that another series (maybe Alias) might have had room to play something like this over the course of a full season, but we’ll have to make due with these two episodes.  Perhaps it’s best left as a short arc, given how the concepts of Sarah's memory and identity raise larger philosophic questions that even shows like Dollhouse weren’t big enough to tackle, let alone Chuck.

The best part, however, of “Chuck Vs. Sarah” very much comes from Zachary Levi, who gives his most emotional Chuck performance to date in desperately trying to win back his wife from her memory-loss.  Sometimes it isn’t about how cleverly the series can choreograph its battles, but rather the emotion behind them, and Chuck has never been more heartbreaking than the knock-down, drag-out fight through the barely-dressed halls of their once dream home.  “Chuck Vs. Sarah” essentially capitalizes on the title character’s greatest fear since the first season, the idea that the beautiful woman can only see the nerdy guy as a mission rather than a man.

I’m thrilled that we got to explore one last, last, last mission with Team Bartowski before the end.  That perfect balance of fun (Morgan’s amusement at the DARPA invisibility cloak), nostalgia and heartache are what made the series so sweetly poignant to begin with.

And Another Thing…

• Sorry, still not buying Nicholas Quinn as a villain.  Maybe we could have chosen someone a little younger, maybe in better shape to resonate as a physical threat to both Chuck and Sarah?

• I wondered in the beginning why Sarah wouldn’t ask Quinn for additional log entries to confirm his story, but I’m glad we got to see Casey be the one to show her, in a wonderful two-sided performance for Yvonne Strahovski.

• Not to get all philosophical, but could Chuck really destroy the Intersect?  Like Iron Man, isn’t a certain level of scientific advancement inevitable, no matter who has the first breakthrough?

• I wrote “BE ALL THE BADASS!” in Sarah’s one-woman guard smashing scene.

• I guess it would have been a little convoluted to explain, but it amuses me that both Chuck and Sarah separately refer their first kiss after attempting to defuse a bomb, but neglect to mention it turned out to be Bryce Larkin in stasis.

• Finale time!  Watch, watch, watch!

What did YOU think?

Chuck 5.12 "Chuck Vs. Sarah" Review

30 Rock season 6 serves up the second of two new episodes with with its overall fourth episode "The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell," where Liz and Jenna question their friendship in the wake of her newfound stardom, and Jack cuts the NBC page program.  "The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell" mostly covers familiar territory, but still makes for a consistent and less concept-heavy half-hour.

As I mentioned with my review of tonight’s other 30 Rock offering “Idiots Are People Three!”, I’d be interested to know what occasioned the double dose of Liz, Jenna Tracy and Jack tonight, particularly given that the first offering served as the second half of a two-part arc begun last week.  Obviously 30 Rock wouldn’t want to kill their momentum so early in the season by sitting out the second week, but I can’t help feeling like there was a missed opportunity in not airing both episodes on a night when the show pulls a double-header.  At the very least, I’d have thought The Office to provide a repeat for whatever reason it sat out this week, but we’re probably better served burning off an episode like “The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell” if it means a slight ratings boost for 30 Rock.

“The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell” ignores just about everything before it, with no mention of Liz’s by-now established boyfriend Criss (Jason Marsden), Jack’s looming presence in her life, or any of the supporting stories, likely another reason NBC decided to quietly usher in the episode tonight.  Unforunately, in ignoring previous plot threads the episode reached something of a “Simpsons did it” territory in (perhaps unintentionally) reusing many of the plots it's explored before.  For instance, we’ve covered the vanity dissolution of Liz and Jenna’s friendship a number of times, Jack dissolving the page program and facing emasculation at the hands of the other male employees, and of course Tracy taking a minor quibble to its absurdist extreme.

For its age and pace, it’d be impossible for 30 Rock not to retread old ground now and again, and we can at least appreciate that “The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell” doesn’t necessarily result in the same conclusions that similar conflicts created before.  I for one liked the idea of Jenna finally achieving some real measure of notoriety (thanks to a good-spirited take on the celebrity over-population of holiday movies in “Martin Luther King Day”), or Rachel Dratch’s welcome return in voicing the “Not Kenneth” computer that replaces the page program.

There’s plenty to laugh at in 30 Rock’s second offering of the night, it’s just that most of it ends up feeling inconsequential or ill-timed.  Beyond anyone’s control of course, but I have to imagine the writers putting palm to face when “The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell” features Tracy questioning his mortality or references to Demi Moore’s health tips given both recent health scares.  And by the time you realize you’re watching a scene between the “Charlie Bit My Finger” boy, wrestling legend Mankind, and a knock-off Kardashian, you’re begging for the satirically cheesy resolutions of the main characaters, if only to end the episode.

Oh, and then Steve Earle sings about Kenneth.  What?

And Another Thing…

• Aside from Emma Stone, Nick Cannon and Andy Samberg, I’d be interested to know if any of the “Martin Luther King Day” celebrity clips were filmed specifically for the episode.

• Great meta-reference to the rising star of Maulik Pancholy, who departed his role as 30 Rock’s Jonathan for Whitney.

• Specifically Simpsons-wise, Tracy’s invitation mix-up seemed to be a riff on Lionel Hutz’s classic “No, Money Down!” business cards.

• I want a vodka vaporizer!  And a depressed thoughts CD!

• Thank goodness 30 Rock still films on the streets of New York City now and again.  I love recognizing old haunts like the Outback of 23^rd street and 6^th avenue.

• Nice use of Ken Howard as Hank Hooper too, who gets to show a few more colors than usual.

• Interesting, if unstated use of the Sex and the City analogue characters.

What did YOU think?

30 Rock 6.04 "The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell" Review

30 Rock season 6 concludes its two-parter with its third episode "Idiots Are People Three!," as Jack continues laying judgement on Liz's new boyfriend (Jason Marsden) while Liz deals with Tracy's idiot movement.  "Idiots Are People Three" satisfactorily wraps up this unevenly split story, but still feels somewhat hollow by the end.

Perhaps I’m not up on my 30 Rock the way I used to be, but the series doesn’t often drift into two-parters in the manner that “Idiots Are People Three” manages to conclude here tonight.  It would seem even stranger of the series to air two episodes in one night, the first of which as the closer to a narrative two-part run, with the second as a stand-alone.  Not to mention, I can’t find anything all that tangible that would have required “Idiots Are People” to be written as two episodes, but writers’ rooms and NBC scheduling can be funny like that, particularly with the manner 30 Rock’s sixth season wound up shoehorned into the mid-season lineup anyway.

In any case, “Idiots Are People Three!” largely picks up the story of Jack bestowing his judgement on Liz Lemon’s new boyfriend Criss (James Marsden), for all his unrealized success and entrepreneurial dreams, while questioning the influence Jack and Liz have over one another.  On any other sitcom, this would likely blossom into a Jack and Liz love story in and of itself, but 30 Rock has always stayed strictly platonic with the two for the exact reason of subverting that kind of expectation.  That said, the idea  of Jack’s presence and opinion resonating so largely within Liz’s mind can’t help but suggest that the relationship between the two has grown beyond friendship, or even “subordifriends,” leaving us to wonder how the two might move forward in their lives.  Even with 30 Rock’s future somewhat cloudy beyond another season, I don’t imagine much foresight goes into their current relationship.

Although nice to have him back, muddling that point is the return of Will Arnett’s Devon Banks, which largely serves to separate Jack from the Liz storyline.  Devon and Jack have always had wonderful chemistry, though the point feels somewhat muted by the cap put on their rivalry from last season’s Plan B,” and of course Banks’ regular commitment to NBC’s Up All Night.  That said, Jack accepting his daughter Liddy in a less-than-prestigious school also feels tonally similar to ground already covered by her Canadian-American birth in “Double-Edged Sword,” but the main thrust of the narrative lies in getting Jack to see that both excellence and stupidity can come from anywhere, and in turn bestow his acceptance on Criss.  Liz’s relationships never last anyway, so I expect there’s a meta-bit of truth in Jack’s “you have three months.”

More fun to watch is Liz’s side of the story, which still has to clean-up after her comments apologizing for Tracy Jordan’s homophobic rant created “Idiots Are People Too”,” or more aptly the National Association for Zero Intolerance (N.A.Z.I.).  Mostly the storyline just serves as a writer playground to call out more despised aspects of pop culture (an Entourage movie, or even lacking universal healthcare) with impunity, which makes for more than a few quick laughs.  Even then, it dovetails back with the main thread that her interest in Criss doesn’t have to be entirely rational, something Liz reaches a little more organically than on Jack’s side of things.

I should probably also mention that somewhere in there Kelsey Grammer puts on a spontaneous one-man show of Abraham Lincoln as a distraction to Jenna and Kenneth knocking out Pete last week, but when the episode disregards the story’s significance this often and even Kenneth jokes that “none of this was necessary,” I’m inclined to put in the same amount of effort in writing about it.

And Another Thing…

• Probably more laughs around the writers’ room, but I enjoyed all the college name-dropping like Wesleyan, Northwestern and SUNY Oneonta.  Especially since I went to one of those schools that no one’s ever heard of and that I…don’t feel inclined to mention right now…

• “I played a nucular psychiatrist in a James Bonk movie.”

• I couldn’t’ help but feel just a wee bit of preaching in condescension in the way 30 Rock addressed all the “idiots” out there…

• Subtle, but I like that Liz’s apology to idiots everywhere was covered by Yahoo, Fox News, Today, Spike and Cinemax.

What did YOU think?

30 Rock 6.03 "Idiots Are People Three!" Review

Chuck season 5 speeds along toward the end with its ante penultimate eleventh entry in this week’s "Chuck Vs. The Bullet Train," as a newly Intersect-ed Sarah and Casey look to rescue Chuck from Nicholas Quinn (Angus Macfadyen) aboard a Japanese bullet train.  "Chuck Vs.The Bullet Train" marks the beginning of the end for Chuck, and proves a strong start before next week's two-hour series finale.

Well, that was certainly something, wasn’t it?

As the ante penultimate episode of Chuck, “Chuck Vs. The Bullet Train” had a lot of ground to cover in setting the stage for next week’s two-part finale, something the hour absolutely delivered in terms of scale.  Not only did “Bullet Train” do an excellent job of creating an altogether exciting story for Team Bartowski, but managed to raise stakes in a palpable way.  From the moment the title crawl unfolds along the bullet-trains track like a big-screen Chuck movie we’ll never see, it became apparent that we’d be in for a treat with these final three hours, lovingly crafted to keep us invested in the present while reminding us of years past.

As I brought up with last week’s “Chuck Vs. Bo,” it feels good for the series to return to its roots by finally bringing the Intersect back into the equation as a plot device.  After all, the Intersect and the players governing it were what set the series in motion in the first place, and even with all the progress the characters have made beyond the device it’d feel disrespectful to simply cast aside something so crucial to the show’s mythology.  Not only that, but the Intersect as a literal and figurative device provides a means of tying all of Chuck’s lead and supporting characters together in one narrative, especially now that the show has evolved beyond any hang-ups about having Devon, Ellie, Morgan and Alex coordinate with Chuck, Sarah and Casey for missions.  It’s a real accomplishment how full-circle things have come for Chuck to see everyone working together on what drove the show’s conflict in the first place

I’d be interested to know if providing Sarah with the Intersect ever arose as a possibility during  the more formative years of Chuck, given how quckly the development unfolds across “Chuck Vs. The Bullet Train.”  Morgan had at least three episodes before his behavioral shifts became apparent, whereas Sarah’s excessive (and righteously enthusiastic) use of the device pushes her from flippy spin-kicking super-spy to amnesiac mental case within the course of a single episode.  It does offer up a compelling bit of tragedy to have Sarah’s entire memory of the last five years undone, a development mostly unanticipated by the hour spent trying to extract the device from her head.

I’m ordinarily not a fan of memory loss stories (especially this late in the game) given they provide little more than quick excuse to pit characters against one another before hitting a reset button, but in Chuck’s case it does give us a chance to mine conflicts we haven’t seen before.  Not only that, but Sarah having no memory of her time in Burbank opens a welcome window for Chuck and the others to remind both her (and us) of what we enjoyed so much about the last five seasons.

In a way, the drama of Chuck’s series finale needs to come from Chuck vs. Sarah and the role others have to play, given how Chuck never truly built up any lasting villain to anchor its end around.  Angus Macfadyen still does his best with the limited material given to him as Nicholas Quinn, but I have a hard time investing in the character given how little time we’ve spent with him, or how unimposing he seems as a villain.  His brawl with Chuck across the Japanese bullet train made for a thrilling action set piece to be sure, but whatever training he rattled off beforehand wasn’t convincing enough to believe that the elder, more portly Macfadyen should be any real threat to someone as athletic or trained as Zachary Levi’s Chuck.  It’d be one thing if Fedak and Schwartz wanted us to invest in Quinn’s villainy from an intellectual standpoint, but we simply don’t know enough about the character to understand why he so desperately craves the Intersect, or what he would even accomplish with it.  When all is said and done it leaves a rather weak premise to build in to Chuck’s final episodes, but hopefully Chuck can succeed in spinning its meager materials into something greater as in season finale’s past.

Along the same lines of last-minute plotting it seems odd that Chuck would essentially scrap what could have served as Jeff and Lester’s swan song last week, by overturning its stance of keeping Jeffster out of the spy world.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the honesty wrought from Jeff and Lester finally learning the truth and especially that “Chuck Vs. The Bullet Train” could bring them to a place of taking out armed goons with flamethrowers and a mini-gun, it just seems bizarrely repetitive to have them fall into an alternate outcome of the same plot within two episodes.  “Bullet Train” also gave some great material for Adam Baldwin in the lengths we see Casey go to protect his daughter, including betraying his team and trusting Jeffster, though now poor Big Mike seems to be the only one left out in the cold.

For me, Chuck has always struck an odd balance of teetering on the precipice of greatness and forgivable in its failures, but I’ll be very sad to see things draw to a close next week.  Its second season filled me with a tremendous amount of glee (particularly this), and while the ensuing three seasons never quite hit that sentimental high, Chuck deserved more love than it got.

So…would a comic-book continuation be out of the question?  Just sayin’.

And Another Thing…

• I don’t suppose staging the action on a Japanese bullet-train really added anything to the precedings, but somehow I imagine Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz envisioned this as their last chance to set a Chuck episode in the technological haven of Japan.

• Just like last week’s missed opportunity for “and my swingin’ cod!,” I find myself disappointed at a lack of Firefly references for Adam Baldwin on a moving train.

• I really have to hand it to the show’s inventiveness for staging Sarah in a hybrid lap-dance brawl.  And of course, one last chance to put Yvonne Strahovski in a skimpy outfit.

• Did anyone else think that at least in the episode, Erin Cahill (Quinn’s female agent) was a dead ringer for Eliza Dushku in voice and appearance, or at least a sibling?

• For those following Chuck press as we go into the final episodes, Yvonne Strahovski implied some kind of Sarah “tragedy” in the final episodes, but memory-loss aside I’m still hoping for a death or two.

• Also, try re-watching Chuck, Sarah and Ellie discussing Sarah’s repeated “flashing,” without cracking up at the Girls Gone Wild implications.

• The Crown Vic!  Now can we please have one more Jeffster performance for nostalgia’s sake?

• I nearly screamed “PLEASE BE BRYCE LARKIN!” at my TV when we saw Sarah waking up in her old hotel room, with a knock at the door…

What did YOU think?

Chuck 5.11 "Chuck Vs. The Bullet Train" Review

How much is too much serialization when it comes to a procedural? The whole point of having a series be more episodic in nature is that it allows casual viewers to drop in without feeling overwhelmed at complex mythology, but allow things to become too routine and you risk making your entire fan base "casual fans". Having certain serial elements and character growth in a procedural, especially one with supernatural elements like Grimm, hooks in other types of viewers and can allow your series room to grow. However, those moments tend to have to be earned, not so obvious as to disrupt an episode's flow but impactful enough to actually mean something going forward.

Grimm has been walking that tricky tightrope since episode one, leaning heavier on the familiar cop elements but sprinkling in moments that hinted at something bigger than police work and perp wrangling. In "Of Mouse and Man", it finally reversed course and buried its head in the serial bowl like a hungry 2nd grader, which made for some extra tense moments and interesting set-up going forward. Most notably, we had the creature community sending a strong message to Monroe about his continued involvement with Nick Burkhardt, card carrying creature killer. Instead of a one-off run-in with some punks, it seems like tension is growing in Portland, with Nick's reputation preceding him in many aspects. I don't expect a full-out war between the two mostly peaceful men and every critter in the Pacific northwest, but stoking the fires between the two camps gives some of the more routine cases additional stakes (will this one try to take them out, is that one connected to anyone powerful, when will they strike again) and makes the supernatural aspects of Grimm a little fuller. Until now, we've only gotten bits and pieces of clues about the way that one species interacts with another and the attitude they all have toward Grimms, which tonight's episode hinted at and all but promised to expand upon in future weeks.

One of the true bits of serialization that Grimm has toyed with has been Nick's true identity and when to reveal that to Juliette, who has been growing more suspicious with each passing week. There have been strange men in her home acting petrified of her boyfriend and an intruder that injured said boyfriend pretty badly, but tonight amped things up even more, as Juliette spotted people spying on her home. After tracking them down, one of the people that had been in the truck locked eyes with her, ushering her children in the house out of fear. Presumably, they think she's a Grimm like Nick is, or at least skilled enough to take anybody out, but all the encounter did was freak Juliette out even more. It's puzzling how her faith in Nick has never wavered ("At least I know who you are.") with how much he's been involved in their recent string of unusual encounters, but maybe she's just doubling down on what she knows? Obviously, one doesn't assume their loved one comes from a long line of creature hunters dating back several centuries, so I can see her trying to rationalize this as "job hazards" from Nick's detective work and hoping it all goes away soon.

I've mentioned before that I'm all for Juliette finding out Nick's identity; their arrangement could use a little shaking up and once she comes around, her medical acumen (and sarcastic tongue) would be an asset to the team of Nick and Monroe. As much as I like the chemistry between the stoic policeman and his loyal sidekick, I can see how that arrangement could use some zhushing after a while. Who knows, with a three-man team, they could take on bigger and badder bad guys.

Grimm 1.09 "Of Mouse and Man" Review

30 Rock season 6 continues rolling with its second episode "Idiots Are People Two!," introducing a new love interest for Liz Lemon with James Marsden, and putting Tracy in a difficult spot after an offensive rant of his goes public.  "Idiots Are People Two" consistently keeps the laughs rolling, even as part one of a two-part installment, but might unnerve viewers reading into its meta-references.

After last week’s "Dance Like Nobody’s Watching," I started thinking about the way 30 Rock tends to approach Liz’s ever-changing relationships with men, namely the cycle they typically follow.  Many of Liz’s love interests come from celebrity guest stars, who naturally can’t commit to appearing for more than a few episode.

The same rings true of all TV series with perpetually single leads, but it’s of interest to note the work-arounds TV employs to keep relationships going, like how even after Elizabeth Banks’ extended guest presence Avery remains a regular point of discussion, despite her captivity in North Korea.

After a long cycle of stop-starts to Liz Lemon’s relationships, I assumed Matt Damon’s Carol would follow a similar path in that contextual reasons like his piloting career could keep the character in play without NBC necessarily plunking down on an A-list celebrity week after week. Carol offed a nice change of pace to Liz’s usual relationship flame-outs, though predictably had to fall by the wayside as well.  Like most shows might ask of themselves after five seasons, we have to wonder just how much more we can invest in the lead character’s search for true love.

Of course, the natural solution from any higher-up’s perspective would be to fold things in on themselves and push Jack together with Liz, gross as it may seem.  Long has 30 Rock revolved around the friendship between the pair, and even joked about the idea of putting them together, usually remaining firm in their platonic nature.  Were 30 Rock to last only one more season, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised or even outraged if the writing began to insinuate an extraordinarily awkward, but honest love connection between the two; provided we didn’t have to actually watch said squick.

Yet, “Idiots are People Two!” still pushes a great deal toward the idea that Liz’s relationship with Jack tends to overshadow her more romantic connections, quite literally in this case, as we see that Liz can’t get Jack’s voice out of her head when it comes to evaluating her new man Criss (James Marsden)’s lesser qualities.  Early promos for 30 Rock’s new season suggested that Liz might have found something genuine with her new romantic interest (and recognizable though he may be, I wouldn’t think James Marsden to be too busy to stay on in a semi-regular capacity), but now within one episode Liz Lemon’s latest clearly won’t stick.  In a way, it’s telling of 30 Rock that we’re not even privy to the beginning of their courtship, as if after 6 seasons Liz’s relationships eschew significance so often we don’t even need the build-up anymore.

I liked “Idiots are People Two!”, even though I’m not fond of episodes that arbitrarily open on a shocking sequence of events for the purpose jumping back in time to explain them.  Lord knows we’ve all had our fair share of Kelsey Grammer unexpectedly bursting through our doors in a tuxedo, but I believe that playing with time perspectives in screenwriting should serve a concretely justified purpose beyond shock value.   Granted “Idiots are People Two!” acts as the first in a two-parter, something I probably should have known beforehand, so there may yet be more story explaining why we needed to know about Pete’s predicament before anything else.

As I said, I liked tonight’s offering, which had me consistently giggling throughout.  Sometimes I feel like even the thinnest of 30 Rock plots could squeak by on charisma and non-sequiturs, but “Idiots are People Two!” kept a strong balance of Liz, Tracy and Jenna plots even without its second half next week.  And while I’m not always keen to invest in Jenna plots given the character’s proclivity for malice, Kenneth’s role in the antics helped make up for his rapture story getting shortchanged last week.  There’s always been an odd sort of bond between the two, and I’m interested to see how their selfish pilfering of fluorescent lights plays out next week particularly with Kelsey Grammer now on board.

Now, the other component to “Idiots are People Two” strikes something of an unusual note with 30 Rock’s meta-addressing of Tracy Morgan’s homophobic rant last summer.  To be honest, I hadn’t remembered much of the real-life incident until it came up in the episode, and that absent-mindedness likely proved one of the only ways to enjoy the storyline.  Tracy once being again brought down for his outrageousness, to the point where he’d organize a counter-protest for Liz’s defamation of idiots spearheaded by Denise Richards make for good fun, and I imagine the writers had a great deal of fun in coming up with all the sub-sections of the idiot group to portray.

Then, I refreshed myself on the real Tracy Morgan’s rant.  Yeesh.  Time, public apologies and 30 Rock’s good humor not withstanding, they probably should have left this one alone.  I don’t believe the real Tracy Morgan to be a truly bigoted person by any means, but I also don’t believe that kind of ugliness deserves to be spun into light-hearted sitcom fodder, particularly when the 30 Rock version so sheepishly tones down the real offensiveness of Tracy’s words.

But…hey.  We’re all here to have fun, and for all we know, next week’s continuation might leave us with a more intelligent resolution to the story.

Or at the very least, more reasons to laugh at Denise Richards.

And Another Thing…

• Like the already-parodied “celebrities die in threes” rule, it would seem 30 Rock has its own pattern of celebrity guest stars in threes, here with James Marsden, Denise Richards and Kelsey Grammer.

• I especially enjoyed Jenna’s B-list name-dropping of Teri Polo and Ving Rhames.  Mean, but fair.

• As much as I like putting Kenneth in the spotlight after last week, it is a little jarring that there wouldn’t be any further fallout from Kenneth’s religious episode.

• I know that Maulik Pancholy has a commitment to Whitney now, but it seemed jarring to see another receptionist outside of Jack’s office.  I forget, has Jonathan’s absence been addressed yet?

• Considering how popular Frasier was during my youth, I find it odd that the public opinion of Kelsey Grammer following his various scandals and his role in Boss has shifted toward masculinity rather than refinement, well exemplified by his James Bond-style closer.

What did YOU think?

30 Rock 6.02 "Idiots Are People Two!" Review

From the outside looking in, the Braverman family looks to be pretty darn perfectly imperfect. While they can all be a bunch of know-it-all busybodies that think they have domain over other people's life decisions, they're also one of the most loyal, caring, tight-knit group of people on television, a unit that can weather any storm that comes their way. I think that's why Parenthood has gelled so well at the end of each of the last two seasons; once all 532 members of the Bravermans are dealing with each of their own personal crises at the same time, it's almost superhero-esque how they all spring to help one another get over life's many hurdles.

In a season built on change (romantic, familial, personal, and professional), "It Is What It Is" feels like the family reaching near the end of its rope before it's time for things to start shifting to their next logical phase. With only four episodes remaining in the season, everybody has to get to where they need to go sometime or another, but before that can happen, they have to take the baby steps necessary to be able to fulfill themselves.

The family may not have been together tonight like they were in "Road Trip", but the plague of newness was spreading rapidly in Parenthood Land, with each of the night's storylines raking Team Braverman just a little more for good measure. Perhaps scariest of all was Zeek's medical scare, as the ol' warhorse was officially diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (abnormal heartbeat); granted, it's treatable with medication and lifestyle changes, but it noticeably shook him up for the duration of "It Is What It Is". What struck me was the irony, in that Zeek has been the most vocal about wanting to keep the status quo in midst of all these shifts from his children and yet now he's being forced to alter his life. He didn't want Julia to adopt, he wanted Adam to continue giving poor punishments to Max, and he was upset at Sarah helping out Seth, all in the name of keeping things as they were, but this episode kind of opened his eyes to the fact that "buddy, sometimes change isn't only necessary; it's pivotal for you to live". It was a little perturbing to see him jump at the chance to gorge on pizza with Sarah after his earlier diagnosis, even striking me as hypocritical due to how heavily he stresses family/togetherness, but considering how bullheaded the man is, it seemed par for the course.

Also par for the course was the reaction of two Braverman siblings to their children and their college choices. Incidentally, they both invoked earlier storylines this season to great effect, with Drew's deepening relationship with Amy and Haddie's jealousy/resentment toward Max coming up again. Even though we already went through the college bump and grind with Amber last season, I've enjoyed what we've gotten from exploring the older kids and their desire to get the heck out of dodge, mostly due to what it stirs up in those around them. (Drew's growing independence from Sarah, including tonight's brush-off at UC Davis, may be my favorite story of the season, if only for the evolution their relationship has taken from the premiere to now.) The only false note that rang from either story, matter-of-fact, was that Adam told Haddie she could go to Cornell, despite the exorbitant toll it would take on his family's finances. I couldn't quite feel sorry for Haddie not being able to go to a 60,000/year school, not because she didn't make a (scathingly good) point about coming in second to Max a lot, but because it felt realistic. Parenthood may luxuriate in its pool of upper-middle class, but this was the type of timely, pointed story that could bring it back down to earth a bit.

Parenthood 3.14 "It Is What It Is" Review

The moment that you get to see tangible evidence of character bonds in a new series can be something else. If a show is lucky enough to get a full first season to explore itself and what it can do (which Grimm has and is doing each week), there's a time when you notice the progress and how the wayward figures you met in the pilot months ago now have some semblance of kinship, of trust. Of course, it can take some shows a little longer to hit that creative sweet spot, but regardless of whether it's done in episode 2 or 22, when it happens, you can't help but get a little excited.

It took Grimm eight episodes to evolve its core bromance, a pairing that came about in the pilot due to circumstance rather than choice. Nick and Monroe have always had friendly banter between them, thanks in part to the fact that each filled needs in the other's life; Nick needs a toe-hold in the creature world and ever-loyal Monroe hasn't been shy about teaching him anything, while Monroe's loneliness subsides by feeling useful and human through interaction with Nick. However, as mutually beneficial as their partnership is, it didn't completely gel until "Game Ogre", when Nick let Monroe go into his trailer unaccompanied to get the elephant gun and Siegbaiste Gift to take down the vengeful Stark. Even though there wasn't a whole lot more that Nick could do in order to save Hank from imminent doom, it takes a certain level of trust to allow someone to bear witness to things about yourself that you haven't showed others. Monroe could have easily given in to his blutbad impulses and betrayed Nick now that he had full access to enough weaponry to become King of the Blutbaden, but there's enough respect there to outweigh any temptation and keep the bromance alive.

The two have my favorite chemistry in the show, with their experiences mirroring one another, and having them move to the next level and strengthen what they have can only make future episodes strive for that much more. Tonight's episode was an example of the show altering the formula a little bit and trying something new, thanks to Stark sending Nick to a hospital bed and keeping him from putting him away once and for all. You'd think that having the main character out of commission would have made for a snooze of an episode, but Grimm going to the "experimental" well early will make it easier to get more creative later. Had they gotten stuck in the typical episode formula, it'd be much harder to break out of it later on, so getting viewers a little used to slight tweaks may allow them to expand even more in the future.

Grimm may be a procedural, but you can be a procedural with a pulse and a little ambition, so I liked seeing that they're not content to just one way of making an episode.

However, I don't like the fact that we had a second straight "Hank is haunted by an old case" episode. Despite the fact that I'm all for the supporting cast getting some shading and whatnot, it felt too similar to "Let Your Hair Down" in that regard; the tones were different, with "Hair" being a slightly sadder episode and "Ogre" based more on fear/anger, but it all comes down to the same basic (slightly cliche) premise. Aside from the fact that the "cop carrying a case with him" trope is a little overused, it just made "Game Ogre" a little bit of a let down, in terms of personality. Sure, we had some cool fight sequences, even cooler gore (the gavel in the judge's mouth was a nice touch), and Monroe taking down another creature with a triple-barreled rifle, but "Ogre" felt more like a filler episode with its too similar storyline. I got onto Grimm earlier this season for replicating cases; I don't mind if two episodes are similar, but if you air them close enough to one another, it can look a little sloppy and thin, like you're out of ideas and it's only a third of the way through your season. I don't think any of those things about Grimm, but it's a troubling trend to watch from here on out in hopes of witnessing a turnaround.

One thing I did like "Game Ogre" incorporating is that we finally get to see Nick's Grimm life bleeding over into his home life. Starks came into his house and attacked him trying to get information on Hank's location when Juliette came home and tried to help Nick fend him off. He had done a pretty fair job of keeping the two lives separate and even though Juliette doesn't suspect anything but a random home attack, it feels like another piece of the wall between Nick's lives came crumbling down. Juliette's been a little removed from the action thus far, almost a parallel to Nick keeping his distance from her emotionally, and having her in the fold a little more could bring another dimension to Grimm. I don't know how the show would adapt to having more people in the know of Nick's proclivities, but more events like this (and Monroe almost spilling the beans to Hank) and we're about to find out.

"Game Ogre" was an episodes where the whole wasn't greater than the sum of its parts. Though I liked certain aspects of it a lot, it felt a little too serious in tone to get a lot of enjoyment out of. Part of the fun of Grimm is that it's a supernatural procedural and if you negate the supernatural too much, we're left with a fairly standard-ops crime drama that, while fairly entertaining, doesn't stand out as much as it could. I do think that Grimm, as a whole, is moving in the right direction and developing its characters and situation, but the transition from promising new drama to new drama that fulfilled said promise has been a little bit of a bumpy road. A siegbaiste may be able to be taken down by a calcifying agent that eats at their bones, but Grimm's "silver bullet" may be not being able to decide what voice to use to tell its stories.

Thoughts, Quotes, & Observations:
-"I get it. Be cool, wear pants."
-"This watch is destroyed. I wanna weep."
-"These guys, they carry grudges to the grave. And usually it's your grave."
-"Okay...he said, somewhat tenuously."
-The detail that Stark set the watch he left on Chilton's hand to the time he was convicted was nifty, no?
-I like how we got to see Monroe's expertise on time pieces come through.
-Poor stuffed monkey.
-Even though I didn't like the connection, having Hank "lose the tape" was an intriguing move toward moral ambiguity that I didn't expect. Perhaps he'll have more questionable moments in the future?
-If you guys missed my article of Grimm spoilers, check it out here.
-Next week on Grimm: Nick deals with a mild-mannered killer with a dark childhood and Monroe is sent a message by the creature community that causes him to question his true allegiance.

Grimm 1.08 "Game Ogre" Review

Chuck season 5 emerges with its tightly-coiled tenth entry in this week’s "Chuck Vs. Bo" Morgan's past with the Intersect drags Chuck and Team Bartowski on one last mission in Vail to meet with superstar Bo Derek as herself, and uncover a new villain.  Things are really starting to move along in Chuck's final episodes, and thankfully "Bo" manages to keep a good balance of its many plot lines toward one of the more fun episodes of the season.

Well, there’s three episodes left.  That should be enough time to give Casey the Intersect too, right?  Maybe Big Mike, or one of the Buy More extras?

All kidding aside, “Chuck Vs. Bo” left us with a lot to digest, particularly in those last few minutes as Casey and Sarah seemed pinned down by a barrage of gunfire, their only hope for Sarah to Intersect-ize herself and superhumanly take down the goons enforcing our final Chuck villain.  It’s hard to believe something as monumental as that development arrives in the same episode where Jeff and Lester (repeatedly) discover Team Bartowski’s secrets, Morgan deals with his and Alex’s breakup indiscretions, the gang bounces back and forth between California and Colorado to retrieve another Intersect device, Bo Derek seduces Morgan as a spy herself, AND introduce a new Chuck villain tied to our hero’s very origins.

Suffice to say, it was a busy hour.

Before I go on, I’d like to take a minute to think about the ultimate Chuck villain Nicholas Quinn (Braveheart’s Angus MacFadyen), and what his arrival says for the next three episodes and the series at large.  Now Chuck has never had an overarching threat that lasted longer than a single season, aside from Shaw, but the series put that thread to bed a few weeks ago.  And even then, Shaw didn’t represent anything crucial to Chuck as a person or a series, acting more as a dark mirror hellbent on avenging his wife’s murder through various twirls of an invisible mustache.

As Chuck’s final act, it’s natural for creators Joshua Schwartz and Chris Fedak to want to return to the roots of the series in crafting a natural ending to their story, and to that end I appreciate the effort to tie Quinn to past Chuck foes like Fulcrum, The Ring and Volkoff, while simultaneously asserting that Bryce Larkin stole the original Intersect as Quinn was about to receive it.  It begs the question of what the Intersect itself represents to Chuck as a person and to the series at large, namely what happens to ordinary people gifted with extraordinary powers, and how they evolve with or without them.  Quinn could be an excellent Chuck villain, but the sad reality lies in the fact that we have to be told about his connection to Chuck rather than shown, meaning the character’s history has to be awkwardly shoe-horned into the already-convoluted mythology. 

Chuck’s fifth season has faced this problem a few times now, cramming additional backstory into the past, like the way "Chuck Vs. The Baby" ignored Sarah’s past with Bryce, or even here as Morgan somehow went on a world-saving mission to recover another Intersect in between the events of “Chuck Vs. The Frosted Tips.”  I’d like to think that given how far in advance the creators knew of Chuck’s 13-episode order for season five, there could have been a better way to introduce Nicholas Quinn than in the last four episodes.

But like it or not, Nicholas Quinn is who we’ve got, and I for one look very much forward to where this road leads.  Sarah receiving the Intersect makes for an interesting twist in this final fight, and provided we take a little time to flesh out Quinn beyond his tantrums and glossed-over backstory, we should be in for a great final run of episodes.

That aside, “Chuck Vs. Bo” definitely made for a strong episode of Chuck even with its dizzying flurry of plots.  I’m impressed with how well “Bo” (and Joshua Gomez in particular) managed to juggle so many plots coherently, with Morgan having to deal with the guilt of “Chuck Vs. The Frosted Tips,” remember details of his last mission, fret over Alex (Mekenna Melvin)’s breakup fling with another man, AND deal with Jeff and Lester’s repeated efforts to uncover the truth.  And even then, I can’t recall the last time I giggled so consistently over the course of a single episode, between Chuck and Morgan’s fawning over Bo Derek, or more subtle gags like Lester wearing the same “dreadlocked” ski had as Morgan during his frosted tip days, the Vail Buy More doppelgangers occupying a re-dressed set, or the irony of Adam Baldwin muttering “I hate Twitter.”  Plus, if the last few Chuck episodes carry anything like the tension of that final scene with Casey and Sarah, all bets are off for what might happen.

It’s in that way“Chuck Vs. Bo” keeps a delicate balance of good and bad Chuck, with a push-and-pull between stories willing to change the status quo and those that tacitly remain the same.  For instance, at this late point in the series it doesn’t seem practical to keep toying with the idea of Lester and Jeff uncovering the truth, particularly in one episode, but there’s enough thought given to the idea of how Chuck, Sarah, Morgan and Casey will move on from their current paths that Chuck does seem finally willing to let the chips and character development fall as they may.

As far as Jeff and Lester, the Buy More really has always been the “creepy cousin” of Chuck, the way its C-stories felt increasingly tangential over the years as Chuck got deeper into the spy game, but their resolution feels true to life.  We shouldn’t want Jeff, Lester or Big Mike getting in on the gunfights any more than their characters would naturally want to.  We loved their charm, depravity and light heart, and the ultimate reset of sending the three blissfully ignorant employees off into the sunset, Subway sandwiches and all, feels like more appropriate closure than we ever could have asked for.

All in all, I’m glad that Chuck managed to re-introduce the Intersect into the series without necessarily forcing Chuck to rely on its power to save the day.  Given the origin of the series itself, Schwartz and Fedak have done the right thing by once more posing the question of how this power affects the lives of those it comes in contact with, and giving us a different angle with which to see its endgame.

Bring it on, Inter-Sarah.

And Another Thing…

• Boy, that X-13 memory-erasing gas seems like it would have come in hand…about 647 other times before it was so casually introduced in this episode.  And kudos for the subtle Memento references in the way both Jeff and Morgan write details on themselves to remember the past.

• I’m not going to delve into how incurably dirty I found all the “rainbow” sex metaphors to be.

• Once again, I’m doing my best to ignore logic gaps like why after placing them in the Vegas clothes and car once more, Casey wouldn’t wipe any notes off Jeff’s arm.  And what was Alex doing in the Buy More before her ex showed up to talk to Morgan?

• I guess I should give up on the Manoosh return, but Quinn’s motivation for hating Chuck does seem surprisingly similar to the burned asset of season 3, which no one ever spoke of again.

• I like how Chuck knew that saying “last mission” was a jinx, but couldn’t resist the “I guess it wasn’t a jinx after all.”  Boom!

•  I honestly expected Casey to finish his line “one mag left” with “and my swingin’ cod!”  #Firefly

What did YOU think?

Chuck 5.10 "Chuck Vs. Bo" Review

Parenthood did something unusual by choosing to air a (basically) standalone episode last week after being off the air since November. Granted, it was a pretty exceptional episode that had the entire cast interacting within the same limited confines, but essentially delaying the start to the last run of episodes in season three when you're a heavily serialized show wasn't the most expected play to run right now. It makes sense looking back, as airing a standalone first could hook in new viewers for the final bit of the season, but to solidify any new eyes, the episode after had to be on point.

Luckily, "Just Smile" wasn't that much of a qualitative step down from "Road Trip" and smoothed out some of the rougher feelings I had about certain plot points during the fall run. Not everything ended up gleaning to perfection, of course, but this felt like everything that had happened up until this episode had finally started to coalesce into something that could begin to touch the greatness of season two.

Part of that move upwards on the Ladder of Good TV Shows came from the inclusion of Amber's storyline about her new job. She's kind of been on the fringes this season, mostly being used as an oracle of adult issues for Drew, so it felt nice to spend time with Amber again and in a plot that does her justice. As much as Amber has matured during the course of the series, she's still not quite there yet and you got a taste of that in her hectic first days working on a local political campaign. Particularly when she had lunch with all the interns who had extensive educations, you could almost hear her thinking about how she didn't belong here and that she's in over her head with these type of people, but if there's one thing I know about Amber Braverman, it's that she constantly underestimates herself. Sure, she may not have degrees falling out of her mouth every time she speaks, but it's that rawness, that intellect that hasn't been shaped by countless professors that makes this job something she could feasibly rock. (Notice that it was her normalcy and honesty that caught Bobby's eye.) Amber's a smart girl that hasn't even begun to tap into her potential and watching her grow into the woman she's always been destined to be can only raise Parenthood's game from here on out.

While Amber's new digs made for a fun watch, it felt good to catch back up with the four siblings in some of the plots we've been following since the premiere. I enjoy Parenthood the most when they have to interact (or are at least tied to) one another and while the fearsome foursome didn't all get in a room and talk over one another, they had some interesting ways of bouncing off one another in "Just Smile". Adam and Crosby explored their brotherly dynamic, thanks to a cover story about Crosby and the Luncheonette turned into something about Adam's career change and financial woes. The two have never been on the best of terms in the series, thanks to older brother constantly looking down on little brother and little brother feeling like he had to prove himself time and time again, and this episode was no different, eventually dissolving into a revealing argument that helped patch things up. For now.

The thing about Parenthood is that it's not afraid to show who these people are, warts and all, and issues like this become a lot more two-sided in the process. (No one's ever fully right or ever fully wrong in the Parenthood-verse, which makes fights that much more intriguing to watch and decipher.) Just as we got another look at Crosby's inferiority complex and Adam's quest to get his kids to notice him, we also got to see Sarah's desire to be closer with Mark, whether it be through a baby or having him become a regular at the guys' monthly poker game. Though she may be sarcastic and smiley more often than not, there's a loneliness to Sarah that has only been exacerbated in recent episodes; like Crosby, all she wants is to be accepted by her siblings, but like Adam, she feels distance from her children that will only grow until they mature a little. (See: Amber moving out and getting her own place and Drew coming out of his shell) Sarah's never really had to stop and look at herself to ask what she wanted out of life, as she's always been a working mom, so now that her professional life is okay, it's time to see where she personally sees herself. And that's with Mark (and a baby!), apparently, which appeals to the romantic in me but otherwise makes me nervous for her.

Of course, Sarah Braverman has always went against the norm (see: her writing career and move home), but how much of this desire is her being swept up in the moment and how much of it is genuine and well thought out?

Parenthood 3.13 "Just Smile" Review

Chuck season 5 trots out its prize-winning ninth entry with this week’s "Chuck Vs. The Kept Man" as Casey faces challenges to his own masculinity as Gertrude Verbanski (Carrie-Anne Moss) and her aggressive affections return with a new mission for Carmichael Industries. Last week's "Chuck Vs. The Baby" did a good job of wrapping up most things Chuck, but "Kept Man" still manages to add some tender resolutions to our favorite characters.

I’m proud to say that I enjoyed tonight’s “Chuck Vs. The Kept Man,” more than I enjoyed any other episode of Chuck this season, and not simply because “Kept Man” represents the first new Chuck in weeks that NBC didn’t unabashedly burn off during the holiday season.  Perhaps the imminent ending of the series makes everything feel that much more gripping, or the writers themselves have finally dropped the pretense of stretching conflicts further than they’ll go.

“Kept Man” embodies everything I fell in love with about the series in the first place; its quirky charm, offbeat action mix, and willingness to avoid stagnation.  Sure we’ll always have certain heightened realities that temper the effectiveness of the scenes they occupy, like Chuck and Sarah’s pre-rescue baby arguments or Jeff and Lester’s pursuit of Devon, but by now most Chuck viewers know what they’ve signed up for.  Just because Jeff presents a massive conspiracy bulletin board a la the back of Chuck’s TRON poster or (as others point out) Homeland’s Carrie Matheson, it doesn’t mean anyone will end up in any real danger by the hour’s end.  I’ll still roll my eyes now and again, but that indelible sweetness will wash over you no matter what.

Part of what allows “Kept Man” to succeed where others like “Chuck Vs. The Curse” failed is that “Kept Man” allows its characters the courtesy of appreciating the dangers around them.  In comparison I look at the torture scenes between Devon, Chuck and Robyn Cunnings (Rebecca Romijn), and tonight’s arbitrary first-scene villain.  A few weeks ago Chuck asked us to buy into the tension of potential torture it never delivered, with our characters seemingly sharing the dread, but in this case Chuck throws Spider-Man-esque quips at his would-be torturer, fully in on the audience’s knowledge that he regularly survives such cliché predicaments.  When Chuck has fun with its premise, so do we, and that’s what made the series so unique in the first place.  Chuck walks a fine line between escalating its seriousness, and keeping the wry perspective its audience relates to, something “Kept Man” treads better than usual.

As the danger level ramps up with three episodes to go, so too does Chuck’s seeming resolution of its leads, last week with Sarah’s confrontation of her missing childhood, and here with Casey’s always hyper-active masculinity.  As one of the better supporting characters in Chuck’s history, the returning Gertrude Verbanski (Carrie-Anne Moss) brings out a side to Casey we don’t often get to see; where the brutish ex-NSA man suddenly doesn’t have the biggest stick in the room.  Casey’s character has long mined its humor in playing Chuck’s more mellow nerdery against Adam Baldwin’s natural intimidation, but Gertrude brings out different colors to the hardened agent.

Much like Sarah has now learned to put the spy life behind her in favor of a husband and family, so too does Casey more or less find his peace with strong female presences in his life, both daughter Alex and now Gertrude, when he’s not being shot at somewhere in an icy landscape.  One wonders at this point how much is left for Chuck to put a cap on, with major villains like Shaw seemingly already taken care of, but one never knows how it’s all going to end.

To that end, there feels like less to discuss with this week’s episode, all neatly tied up and no major complaints, but special attention should be drawn to our bi-weekly Buy More plot, if only for having the stones to finally clue Jeff and Lester in on the truth of their CIA friends.  I remember talking with Vic Sahay once where he expressed his hope that the character never learns the truth behind the Buy More, if only to keep his comedic ignorance, but we can’t blame Chuck from pulling out all the stops with only three episodes remaining.  In truth , the better Buy More B-stories usually tie into Chuck’s adventure in some capacity, but Jeff’s incredibly systematic uncovering of the truth paired with Morgan’s clever use of Devon as a distraction in Jeff and Lester’s disturbingly costume-filled pursuit prove too entertaining to bemoan the interchangeability of plot threads.  Presumably neither would brush off what they remember before being tranquilized, but it’ll be interesting to see how the next episode picks up this relatively drastic thread.

And I can kick and scream all I like, the Chuck creators are going to throw in a Sarah pregnancy storyline somewhere within the last three episodes, so at the very least we’ll have the stock pregnancy-scare of “Chuck Vs. The Kept Man” to set up the idea more organically.  That is of course, unless Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz have any real curveballs they want to throw our way before the end.  I have my own theories.

At this point, Chuck doesn’t have many burdens, and the final episodes are free to play with the free-spirited action adventure we’ve loved since 2007.  And if they want to throw in Yvonne Strahovski’s endless bikini wardrobe at least once more…groovy.

And Another Thing…

• Sure, I keep it on my mind more than I’d like to admit, but I have to think those radiation containers seen in Chuck’s opening scene rescue referenced similar looking plutonium cannisters from the first Back to the Future.

• Carrie-Anne Moss really does create amazing chemistry with Adam Baldwin, or any man in her other work.  Something about that incredibly soft bedroom voice…

• I’d love to know if any eagle-eyed freeze framers caught any fun details on Jeff’s conspiracy board.

• A great episode for Yvonne Strahovski with her meta-rant about the constant skimpy costumes, and the reaction to walking in on Casey and Verbanski.

• I appreciate the attention to quieter moments like the exchange between Casey and Sarah before parting ways for the Verbanski rescue mission, which carried a very real tension in spite of the cop-out plot device of the Aegis gun protecting them from gunfire.  Additionally, we still haven’t had much mention of the Intersect, strange considering how important it was to the show’s premise.

• Now, call me crazy, but I’m wondering if the show might have the guts to actually kill off Sarah as a climax, given some of the tragedy mile-markers they’ve already thrown in.  If you’ve read Y: The Last Man and followed Chuck’s connection to the comic, you’ll understand why that’s relevant.

• I’m still glad they got caught, but it would seem like in the time Morgan must have taken to elaborately paint, age and detail a concrete wall pattern onto their fake set, they could have…actually.built…a wall whose wet paint wouldn’t clue in Jeff and Lester.

What did YOU think?

Chuck 5.09 "Chuck Vs. The Kept Man" Review

Shows with a large supporting cast and no central figure (like Parenthood) tend to break their players into smaller, isolated groups more often than not. It may be practical, both from a financial and structural sense, but it can also lead to not much time being spent with the ensemble as a whole. Not many extended, blended families in the year 2012 are tethered together during all non-working hours, but it seems that bringing all types of subplots and heightening dynamics together to crash in on one another tends to result in some primo episodes of television.

In Parenthood's return from hiatus, titled "Road Trip", the Bravermans are doing just that, as it's Grandma Blanche's 86th birthday and that means it's time to go on a, you guessed it, road trip to see her. It's the first time in the show's 40+ episodes that the entire Braverman clan has been crammed together for an entire episode and that worked really well in its favor; of course, there were still subplots going on, from Drew walking in on some sexytime betweeen Sarah and Mr. Cyr to Adam's quest to get Haddie to engage with him, but having this many people focusing on the same goal made the episode feel more cohesive than typical. There's never a truly disjointed episode of Parenthood (there have been awful plots in it, though), but shifting the subplots toward the back and allowing "Road Trip" to laser in on Grandma Blanche made it feel simpler. More streamlined, even, at least from a storytelling perspective.  In a good way, of course, as it avoided the sometimes overpowering dialogue that Parenthood can possess in favor of quieter moments and interesting character choices.

While the first two thirds was beautifully dysfunctional and some of the most enjoyable material that the show has given us this season, "Road Trip" stumbled a bit in the last 20 minutes or so, letting both Max and Zeek off for pretty bad behavior all in the name of "togetherness". Having Kristina finally follow through on a punishment after countless empty threats was welcome and Monica Potter did such a good job portraying the inner turmoil of a mom wanting to do the best thing for her son (while aching for him missing the trip), so much so that I was genuinely disappointed when she caved in. Max may have understood what he did was wrong, but if he doesn't realize there are consequences to his actions/words, how is he supposed to make it in the world when he gets older? Kristina has been devastated by how Max hasn't been able to socially adapt to public school, but he's being done no favors by being taught that you can say/do whatever you want to people as long as you know what you're doing is wrong.

Zeek may have finally got stood up to for how selfish and controlling he can be, but like Max, he didn't have to face any consequences for his behavior. After having a (touching) talk with Haddie that put his father's obnoxiousness about the birthday in another perspective, he leads the Bravermans to Blanche's house to surprise Zeek. I was genuinely impressed that the show went against the grain and had the siblings start on their way home following a blow-up with their father, but it's not even that they changed their mind that's the problem. It's that when they got back, they're too busy tongue-bathing Zeek to hold him accountable for how much of a blowhard he is. He doesn't apologize, he doesn't regret anything, he simply tells Adam that he's a good son and boom, problem solved? I know some people have a hard time expressing their feelings and exposing their vulnerabilities, but it felt like more of a band aid solution than something real and tangible. This isn't the first time that Zeek has acted controlling and immature toward his children and if they don't do anything about it, he's going to continue to be the same way. On a serialized show, change is often incremental and more readily noticeable when looking at a block of episodes, but the characters have to change some and Zeek's getting a little static.

Parenthood 3.12 "Road Trip" Review

Chuck season 5 swaddles up its eighth entry with this week’s "Chuck Vs. The Baby" as Chuck and Sarah delve into the past by confronting her rogue former CIA handler (Tim DeKay) over a missing child involved with one of her last missions. After some strong weeks "Baby" may offer up a bit of tonal whiplash in its contrasting plot lines, but ultimately comes together for a solid look into Sarah's mysterious past.

Sigh. With another holiday week gone by, NBC dumps yet another Chuck episode to the no-man’s-land of Friday, New Years’ Eve Eve. With most still on vacation or at the very least enjoying a Friday night social life, how little must NBC’s regard for Chuck have dissolved to burn off yet a second important episode during a time least likely to be watched?

Unlike last week’s "Chuck Vs. The Santa Suit," I had actually been aware of this episode airing ahead of time, but still managed to forget until returning home from a late night viewing of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which may or may not have colored how I react to more light-heated espionage.

But, I digress.

As a critic, one of the toughest aspects of responding to something as unevenly balanced as "Chuck Vs the Baby" lies in splitting the difference between what works, and what doesn’t to see things not only in the context of an hour, but in the series’ continuity at large. I wanted to like “Baby,” I really did, and both Sarah and Yvonne Strahovski were long overdue for some attention in season five.

Toward that end, I spent much of the first half hour of “Chuck Vs. The Baby” in increasing annoyance of yet another pre-Chuck story shoe-horned into an already delicate continuity, a problem only exacerbated by an inherently superfluous and sugary B-story, until I was struck with a concession of acknowledged detail that nearly made up for it. Longtime and over-analytical Chuck fans know that its supporting spy characters maintain dubious histories at best, with Chuck flashing back over the years to multiple self-contained backstories that don’t always seem to gel with one another.

For instance, we’ve now seen Sarah’s past to include a con-artist and high school history with her father, a partnership with Bryce Larkin, time spent on the “CAT Squad,” and now as an agent handled by Kieran Ryker (White Collar’s Tim DeKay*) and keeping close ties to her mother, all immediately before moving to Burbank as Chuck’s handler. “Chuck Vs. The Baby” ultimately offers up passable explanation for why Sarah’s kept information about her mother so close to the chest all these years, but that doesn’t quite eliminate the feeling of stagnation that develops from writers clearly squeezing in afterthought backstories.

(*) As most TV viewers and critics would be quick to note, Tim DeKay currently stars on USA’s White Collar opposite none other than Matthew Bomer, best known as Chuck’s Bryce Larkin. DeKay’s availability would suggest that Bomer himself might be free for a pre-finale Chuck appearance (despite his character’s death), but even if that winds up the case, Chuck has managed to keep some of its better cameos under wraps, a few weeks ago with Yvette Nicole Brown and here with Tony Todd.

For the record, I’d like to point out that Bryce had something of a comic-book death in that we last saw his actual body being nefariously dragged away, despite the “ashes” Sarah later carried. Not only has Bryce been “dead” before, but Shaw was revived from near of the exact same wounds fatally inflicted on Bryce. Just sayin’.

On the other hand, my feelings on “Chuck Vs. The Baby” did, however briefly, flip at the thoughtful inclusion of Tony Todd reprising his role as CIA Director Graham from the first season, and the rather tangential B-story being woven into the saccharine happy family sequences at episode’s end that Chuck does so well. It reminded me that Chuck as a series will always provide that relationship we fondly remember in later years; too unique to truly last and packing plenty of flaws, but sweet enough that most of them will fall by the wayside when viewed in the light of aging wisdom. To that end, I’ll put aside my irk for the more questionable aspects of Chuck’s chronology and logic, and put the darkness of Stieg Larsson and David Fincher out of mind before judging any further.

As I mentioned earlier, Chuck season 5 had been somewhat in need of more Sarah-centric stories, to the point where my readers even pointed out that the character received few-to-little mentions in episode write-ups. To that end, “Chuck Vs. The Baby” proves a relatively strong outing for both Sarah and Yvonne Strahovski, who deftly handles switching between a maternally inexperienced yet remorseless killer, and the Sarah we know today inching ever closer toward domestic bliss with her husband. I don’t know that any further Sarah backstory adds much to the overall mythology of the show , especially with most threads seemingly resolved and only five episodes of Chuck to go, but bless the writers for finding ways to remind us that Strahovski and Sarah offer up more than a pretty face aiming down the barrel of a big gun.

It is interesting to consider where Chuck will go for its final five episodes, considering the “CIA conspiracy” and Shaw** behind it have most definitely fallen by the wayside, but we can remain confident that series co-creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak made the most of their thirteen episode order, with very little to stand in the way of crafting complete andsuccessful arcs.

Whether or not it winds up affecting the story’s climax, Sarah’s arc has remained clear throughout the series as a woman denied childhood and a life of her own, who slowly comes to accept a world outside of espionage, and “Baby” puts a nice focal point on that with Sarah’s young “sister” Molly.

(**) Less of a complaint and more of a question, but did anyone pick up on what exactly tied Shaw to Ryker or the baby plot? We know that Shaw only first met Sarah and turned rogue in season 3, so how did he manage to uncover Sarah’s history with the baby, when Ryker apparently couldn’t?

Last week’s “Chuck Vs. The Santa Suit” also carried the added bonus of integrating its B-plots into the narrative better, as this week cutting between a tense, history-filled mission and the supporting characters playing board games in a militarized installation felt rather jarring. Awesome and Ellie have certainly received their due this season in co-habitating in Chuck’s world, but I can’t help feeling like the uneven tone did damage by making “Baby,” aim high and low simultaneously. Yes, there’s cuteness to seeing Awesome and Ellie continue utilizing Chuck's spy lifestyle for some romantic roleplay, and we knew something would have to shove Morgan and Alex (Mekenna Melvin) back together eventually, but we’ve seen these parallel threads woven together much more carefully in the past.

By the same token, cynics and diabetics might not be able to stomach the overly saccharine last act of “Chuck Vs. The Baby,” with its gratuitous O.C.-style montages, Alex and Morgan’s reconciliation, Awesome and Ellie’s flowers, and the sweet Chuck and Sarah moments dreaming of their future, but Chuck was bound to stock up on sugar in its final run. There’s still plenty of room to surprise us before the end.

And Another Thing…

• I loved the darker, more ominous tone of the brutal Sarah flashbacks, complete with sweeping, color-desaturated, rain-soaked imagery. That kind of atmosphere we never saw near of enough on Chuck.

• Thankfully Chuck never carried on long enough to the point of asking us to accept a pregnant, and or child-carrying Sarah taking on the bad-guys, but I had to laugh at how the writers still managed to work that visual in before the series’ end. Then again, judging by the “next time” preview…ugh.

• Tim DeKay manages to exude such convincing moral authority on White Collar, I find myself disappointed that we didn’t have time to learn what brought Ryker from a trusted CIA handler to a rogue baby-killer.

• Stupid Spy Behavior of the Week: Once again, Sarah. Sure, baby’s cries and the flood of emotions might have clouded her judgement, but I’d like to think that Sarah would remember that after five years, the girl would no longer be making a baby’s cries, and that she pulled that exact trick on Ryker.

• So…Sarah couldn’t hide the baby at the CIA given that Ryker could theoretically use his resources to uncover its whereabouts, yet in five years he never so much as checked in on Sarah to learn she in fact had a high-profile working team, and even a husband?

• “Hey, Alex. So you know, I had a billion-dollar computer in my mind that literally gave me brain damage and forced me to treat you badly. I think it’s time you cut me a break on that one.” CONVERSATION OVER.

• Boy, if I had a dollar for every time I flat out told my girlfriend she was wrong, and she agreed.

• How nice of Sarah’s mother to design her kitchen around fight scenes, with such open space, prevalent glass and break-away walls.

• It is somewhat bizarre that no one so much as mentions Bryce Larkin’s name, especially since Director Graham first showing her Chuck’s file would mean that her former partner / lover was very recently presumed dead. Then again, we can assume that beat wouldn’t have added anything to “Baby,” and might have been a part of their conversation taking place shortly after that flashback.

What did YOU think?

Chuck 5.08 "Chuck Vs. The Baby" Review

The first seven episodes of Grimm came and went at the tail end of fall with a lot of promise. The show has yet to make the leap from good to pretty good or even great, but there's so much raw material there that you have to watch to see if it all comes together. Make no mistake, I enjoy Grimm, but I enjoy it while understanding that its ceiling is pretty high, considering the talent involved both in front of and behind the camera.

But how would the show move into its next slate of episodes?

For one, we have a whole lot of new fairy tales to interpret (and re-interpret). Hansel & Gretel will come to life in the form of Daryl Sabara and Hannah Marks; according to Entertainment Weekly, the two will appear in an episode titled "Organ Grinder" as homeless teenagers getting caught up in black market organ dealing. No word on the "creature of the week" and what exactly brings them into the world of human organ dealing, though. Lost alum Titus Welliver will be popping up as a creature that can turn into a steinadler (German for golden eagle), per TV Line. Instead of merely being another foe for Nick and Monroe to take down, Welliver's Grimm provides information of mystical gold coins, a welcome development as Monroe tends to be the info dump more often than not. Also stopping by the latest sci-fi hotspot is Amy Acker. TV Guide reports that the actress will be playing the Black Widow, a rapidly aging suburban housewife named Lena that needs to suck the blood of men in order to keep herself young and beautiful.

Then there are the roles that have yet to have their casting announced. According to EOnline, the show is currently looking for an actress to play Ariel, a dragon-like creature (Daemonfeuer, for those keeping score) who's also a fire dancer. Think it could top the recent dragon from Once Upon a Time? Also from E!, we'll also be meeting Leo in episode 12 this February, a lion-like creature in charge of organizing fights between his fellow creatures. (Likely at somewhere seedy, dank, and awesome.)

But as strong as Grimm can be visually with its monsters, a huge part of the show is Nick's struggle to hold on to his humanity, which will be brought up again. Remember the refrigerator repair man that was terrified knowing he was in a Grimm's house and it kind of seemed like Juliette was alarmed? That'll be coming up, as E!'s Watch With Kristin reports that the vet will not only be finding out Nick's real identity, but she'll be operating on creatures in the near future. We'll have to get through arguments about fidelity, since she thinks he's cheating on her when he's gone all hours, but the promise of her finding out early is quite gratifying. It'll get her involved in the action instead of being an outlier, plus there won't be much "how will he hide it this week?" hand wringing going on; I'm mostly curious about how they reveal it to her, but I think she can be a solid asset to Nick and Monroe and it'll be nice to get to "know" her a little more.

Grimm returns from its winter slumber on January 13th with the episode "Game Ogre" described below.

"GAME OGRE"
An escapee returns to Portland seeking revenge against those who put him behind bars. His unusual strength and high tolerance for pain makes Nick (David Giuntoli) take notice. As the case escalates Nick and Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) are put in danger, and Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) is called into action to help put an end to the convict's deadly rampage.

Which fairy tale do you want to see Grimm take on next? Do you think Juliette should find out about Nick this early in the show's run? Where do you think Grimm goes after the hiatus in terms of story?

Grimm Spoilers: Creature Feature

When last we left Parenthood's Team Braverman, things were finally looking up a bit, with Crosby's, Adam's, and Sarah's relationships all recovering from earlier bumps in the road. Julia seemed to be moving on from the thought of adopting Zoe's baby, Amber was ready to get out of the food service industry, and Drew had finally poked his head out of his shell enough to get a girlfriend and some confidence. As much drama (and melodrama) as the Braverman family had dealt with in season 3, it looked as if the storm clouds had finally cleared a little.

But wait! This is Parenthood after all, so the final seven episodes of the season are bound to amp things up. That amping up looks to be starting with Braverman partiarch Zeek, generally a peripheral character that tends to pop up in other people's storylines to voice his (unfiltered) opinion. TV Guide is reporting that sage ol' Zeek is hiding something from his family; no, it's not another real estate/money pit that almost cost him his marriage in season one. Instead, it seems like Zeek's been disguising a medical problem and Crosby will be the one to figure him out after accidentally picking up his medication. It may sound a tad sitcom-y, but it'll bring Zeek down from his high and mighty perch and could humanize him through that type of vulnerability. If that wasn't enough, we'll be meeting Zeek's mom very soon, according to TV Line. Set to be played by Frances Sternhagen, perhaps best known as Bunny MacDougal on Sex and the City, Zeek's mother will be celebrating a birthday during the first episode back (titled, fittingly, "Road Trip"), so all 393 Bravermans will be taking to the roads on a caravan of dysfunction.

Road trip/destination episodes can be a tricky thing to do well, but you just know that a bunch of Bravermans trapped in a confined space is a highly conducive environment for drama.

Mark and Sarah's relationship has, for the most part, been out of the least dramatic parts of this season, a playful bit of glow-y new relationship bliss that helped balance the heavier aspects of a particular episode. Considering that Jason Ritter will only be on 13 of the 18 episodes this season, you knew it had to give sometime soon and it will, according to Entertainment Weekly. It'll be the age difference that will undo the couple, exacerbated by a meeting with his friends that highlights the difference in life experience between the two. The two had been talking babies recently, due in part to a positive experience watching Nora together, but don't get too comfortable with the thought of this being a permanent thing.

Looking more and more like he'll be re-entering the dating world is Crosby, who seems to have quashed any chances of a romantic reconciliation with Jasmine. (For now.) After dating on and off earlier this season, the Cros-man has his eye on a musician played by Courtney Ford that he meets at the Luncheonette. Per TV Line, Ford's character will appear through at least the end of the season, but if Parenthood gets picked up for a fourth season, I wouldn't be terribly shocked to see this storyline stretch further. Crosby's spent a lot of time beating himself up and feeling guilty this season, but it really feels like he's ready to move on and a new love can only expedite the process. While Crosby is moving on from his last love by choice, Haddie is moving on by necessity, as Entertainment Weekly indicates that former flame Alex (Michael B. Jordan) won't be returning anytime soon. Their break-up had a major sense of finality to it, complete with an emotional goodbye between Kristina and Alex, so it makes sense to hold out on a reunion, at least for now.

I have a sneaking suspicion that we haven't seen the last of Alex, though, and that a Mark/Sarah-type reunion could be in the cards in the distant future.

In interesting (but not entirely plot-related) news, Adam Braverman (Peter Krause) himself will be directing an episode of Parenthood, according to TV Guide. The 15th episode, titled "Politics", will be helmed by the Emmy nominated actor, though no official description has been released. (I'm willing to bet that Amber and Kristina's new job working for a campaign plays a major factor, but it could just be another great "theme" episode of Parenthood.) Whatever it's about, look for the episode during February sweeps.

Even though the description for "Politics" is still a mystery, the first two post-hiatus Parenthood episodes have had the veil lifted off them:

"ROAD TRIP"
Seeking his mother's approval, Zeek (Craig T. Nelson) demands the entire family caravan on a road trip where they encounter many road blocks along the way. While spending time on the road, Adam (Peter Krause) connects with Haddie (Sarah Ramos), Sarah (Lauren Graham) confronts an embarrassing issue with Drew (Miles Heizer) and Julia (Erika Christensen) learns to appreciate Crosby's (Dax Shepard) odd personality. Meanwhile, Kristina (Monica Potter) struggles to enforce a harsh punishment she gave to Max (Max Burkholder) for acting out.

"JUST SMILE"
Crosby (Dax Shepard) is frustrated when Adam (Peter Krause) becomes the focus for a local newspaper's piece on the Luncheonette. Meanwhile, Amber (Mae Whitman) struggles to find her place in a new job and Sarah (Lauren Graham) becomes overwhelmed with thoughts of having a baby. Also, Julia (Erika Christensen) and Joel (Sam Jaeger) try to resist interfering in Zoe's personal life.

In a nutshell, "Road Trip" looks like a lot of (necessary) family bonding, since we only get certain combinations of Bravermans on a regular basis. Ideally, I'd like for the show to throw together all types of family iterations in weekly storylines as opposed to shoving them all together, but any chance for Haddie/Adam, Julia/Crosby, and Sarah/Drew in the same episode is too good to pass up. "Just Smile" returns us to status quo and I'm intrigued to see how the road trip, a fairly big family event, resonates on the rest of the season. From the description, it looks like a lot of baby fever (am I the only Parenthood fan who's kind of babied out?) with some needed time given to Amber, who has one of the better storylines right now.

Parenthood's third season has had moments of greatness, but I'm hopeful that the final seven episodes (the only rerun between now and the season finale is on January 24th for the State of the Union Address) can step up even more and close things out the right way.

Parenthood returns Tuesday, January 3rd at 10:00 on NBC.

What are you most looking forward to in the final seven episodes of the season? Which plot would you most like to see trimmed or cut out completely? Of the first two episodes, which sounds better?

Parenthood Season 3 Spoilers: What's Next for the Bravermans?

Chuck season 5 dresses up its seventh entry with this week’s "Chuck Vs. The Santa Suit" as Chuck races to recover a piece of stolen CIA technology with General Beckman, while a returned Daniel Shaw (Brandon Routh) holds Sarah hostage in time for Christmas and computer virus "The Omen" looms over the Buy More.

Shaw's return and the surprising reveal of Sarah's secret at episode's end will likely  what most take away from "Chuck Vs. The Santa Suit," but as one of the better episodes of the season, it's a shame more people might not see what keeps this little show kickin'.

First of all, I should start this review by telling you that I nearly missed Chuck tonight, so swept up in the holiday preparations that it barely even occurred to me there might be fresh TV episodes to watch.  Not that any huge boom or bust in Chuck’s ratings (or Subway sandwich purchases) would do any damage at this point, but I imagine that a great many regular Chuck viewers could shirk their watching duties with such an awkwardly-timed episode.

It really speaks to NBC’s regard for their fan-beloved series to casually dump one of the final season’s better episodes on the Friday before Christmas, but then again this is the same network that attracts protest groups outside their New York offices before a series has officially ended.  I can scarcely think of the dismal ratings Chuck will be likely to attract tonight.

That said, I also wanted to tell you how Christmas episodes have always been a strongsuit for Chuck, but then I realized that to date the series has only truly had two, here with “Chuck Vs. the Santa Suit,” and all the way back to season two’s “Chuck Vs. Santa Claus.”  The two seasons in between had their episodes and orders shuffled to the point that Chuck almost* never aired in December in time for Christmas, despite Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak’s very OC-perfected experience at capturing the sweetness and drama of the holidays.

(*) Technically, season one’s “Chuck Vs. The Crown Vic,” itself another strong episode aired in early December, but didn’t make the holidays any kind of real focus beyond a Buy More subplot.

That said, season 2’s “Chuck Vs. Santa Claus” proved a surprisingly dark and ante-upping kind of episode, where for one of the first times Chuck really learned the dangers of the spy world, and the cold-blooded lengths his handlers traversed to keep that status quo, as Sarah brutally gunned down a problematic Fulcrum conspirator (hey, it’s The Walking Dead’s Michael Rooker!).  “Chuck Vs. The Santa Suit” didn’t quite go to the same lengths, but still reminded me that the series succeeds by taking itself seriously.  Watching Chuck and Shaw once again take to fisticuffs amidst the aisle of the Buy More felt like what the fight from season 3 ender “Chuck Vs. The Ring, Part II” always should have been; rather than two Intersect-powered equals trading superfluous blows, here both were brought down to the level of ordinary men, and forced to rely on their own innate strengths to win the day.  Here the fight gives Chuck a chance to showcase the true evolution of his character, relying on his own acquired fight experience combined with genius intellect to defeat Shaw, exactly what the series should highlight in these final episodes.

On the subject of Shaw, I’m somewhat on the fence on his effectiveness as a villain for Chuck.  Growing up, to me Venom always seemed the perfect villain for Spider-Man; a dark and menacing mirror image always locked in a twisted ballet with the other, near of the exact relationship Chuck and Shaw share.  Both Shaw and Eddie Brock started out somewhat sympathetic, if morally unsound characters, but find themselves empowered and enslaved to an unending vendetta.

Along the same line, it wasn’t until I was older that I became aware of the fan’s disdain for “90’s” anti-heroes like Venom, contrasted with the more classic supervillains, and so too can I understand Chuck fan’s difficulty in accepting Shaw.  Shaw initially represented yet another meaningless obstacle for Chuck and Sarah’s relationship, but grew into a more complex character after revealing his tragic shared history with Sarah, and gaining Intersect powers of his own.

Admittedly, I never quite understood why the Intersect would make an ultra-competent spy any more efficient, but the mirror imagery still gave Chuck a more credible threat to have looming over the series.  I have a harder time accepting Shaw’s heel-face turn into unrepentant villainy and betrayal of his country, and “Chuck Vs. The Santa Suit” doesn’t do the character many favors in that respect.  One the one hand Shaw’s re-appearance manages to tidily explain the recent conspiracy plots and Decker’s CIA vendetta, but Shaw never entirely comes to life as a villain, his ominous hatred of both Sarah and Chuck feeling more caricatured than compelling.  Sarah killed Shaw’s wife on orders, granted, but why such elaborate conspirator lengths for simple vengeance?

As long as we’re speaking in such nerdy comic-book terms, I should mention that we can’t expect too much out of Chuck’s writing, or Brandon Routh’s performance, given what Superman Returns became.  Whether you buy Shaw’s villainy or not, perhaps The Joker said it best:  “All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy.”

As I mentioned last week, Chuck will always walk a fine line between plausibility and comic sustainability, but “Santa Suit” succeeds moreso than “Chuck Vs. the Curse” in having fun with its inherently silly premise.  “Curse” wanted us to invest in the deadly predicament its main characters found themselves in without delivering on the consequences, but “Santa Suit” treats danger with a grain of salt.

The real threat lies in Shaw’s invasion of Castle, freeing Chuck and General Beckman to recover a top-secret piece of tech from a boozy CIA Christmas party that consists of sloshed and saucy military officials hiding their greatest secrets behind two locked doors, and apparently, the real Stan Lee.  The best, most relatable Chuck lies in comical situations broken up by real threats, not threats broken by comedy.

Another area “Chuck Vs. The Santa Suit” succeeds in is utilizing its supporting characters without shortchanging their value to the series.  For the first time since…ever…as far as I can remember, both Jeff and Lester actually prove useful to the main plot by directly taking on “The Omen” virus (in one of the rare instances they’re actually aware of what they’re involved in).

Casey and Morgan got their own little moments  as well for both Casey’s tender badassery and Morgan’s Samwise Gamgee-like support, but particularly effective was Ellie’s integration into the story, finding some measure of peace in being the one to ultimately take out Shaw and vent some grief for her father’s murder.  Even General Beckman gets some of the bigger laughs of the hour with her brief, and horrendously awkward smooch with Chuck.

It’s also worth noting that “Chuck Vs. The Santa Suit” above all else, actually delivers laughs, more so than I’m used to from the usual Chuck, perhaps owing to writer Amanda Kate Shuman’s sparklingly awkward dialogue.  I especially liked the brief exchanges over Casey’s choice of present for Alex, along with Chuck and Beckman’s post-makeout car ride home, the perfect examples of how Chuck can find its humor in the smaller moments rather than the overtly silly set pieces.  Now if only the same attention could have been afforded to some of Shaw’s more ear-splitting villanisms, I’d be much more enamored of the hour.

I feel like I always say it, but by the end Chuck is Chuck, most threads tidily resolved without any major casualties, and we’re even treated to an especially sweet misuse of government resources in the Bartowski / Woodcomb Christmas party (The OC always managed to make its parties full of such warm atmostphere).  But as the pattern has been, Chuck offers up a small tag (complete with its requisite Terminator knock-off music) to drive the next episode, that of the supposed baby Sarah wishes to keep hidden.  I swear I’ll throw a hammer at my window if Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak manage to side-step a pregnancy and cram a baby into Chuck and Sarah’s life before the end of the series, but at the very least right now things remain full of possibility.

And in the end, isn’t that what we all love about this time of year?  Also, lavish presents.

And Another Thing…

• After the rush of crowds I’ve seen in the last few days, it doesn’t unnerve me in the slightest to think that in Chuck’s world, when the entire globe faces down an internet-destroying computer virus, people still focus on how it affects their holiday shopping.

• So, no one made any attempt to de-Intersect Shaw during his captivity, despite the speed and convenience with which we’ve seen that done before?

• What’s with the over-the-top Subway harping?  At this point in the show’s tenure, why bother?

• Aside from Stan Lee, the episode also features former Mad TV star Mo Collins, these days apparently best known for playing sloppy drunks on various NBC comedies.

• Stupid Spy Behavior of the Week:  Sarah.  When you’re being stealthily stalked by a trained spy with a machine gun, here’s a hint: REMOVE YOUR CLACKING HEELS!

• So, with Shaw almost succeeding in creating the Intersect 3.0, do we expect (or even want) Chuck to receive it before the end of the season?

• In spite of some of the dialogue, I especially dug Yvonne Strahovski’s performance in frigid captivity, and Shaw’s cold brutality.  It was especially shocking for Casey to actually get shot, though the tension (and his sad last recording to the bear) were quickly undercut by Chuck’s unwillingness to kill off any characters…yet.

What did YOU think?

Chuck 5.07 "Chuck Vs. The Santa Suit" Review

As a proponent of heavily serialized drama, character development is one of the major things that I look for when deciding whether or not to stick with a new show. Even though you have to give some a little more time than others, there has to be some sense that the people on screen are characters that are going somewhere and have their own sets of hopes, fears, and aspirations that give them some coloring. Though watching a crime be solved will always be intriguing to me, mostly because my degree is in criminology, there has to be more to the characters in a procedurally-based show than complex legal lingo and generic cop platitudes that make them look less like people from the real world (as opposed to The Real World) and more like the means to an end that are only there to bring you 42 minutes of justice.

When I took on the role of writing about Grimm, I was a tad nervous. I'm not a huge watcher of procedurals and very rarely watch cop dramas in my free time, so I simply hoped that the show would toss in enough serial elements to keep me interested to go along with the expected legal wranglings of Portland, Oregon. After a sluggish start in terms of character beats, it looks like Grimm is on its way to being able to please fans of the serial and procedural elements of TV, if "Let Your Hair Down" is any indication. Grimm may not stack up character moments like its genre show peers, but when it does decide to give you a peek behind the curtain, it's usually a whole lot of fun, as evidenced by last night's episode that gave just about everybody a moment or two to just be themselves.

Most notably, "Let Your Hair Down" was another Monroe-heavy episode that added more density to the show's heartiest character by revealing his complete love of anything and everything Christmas and a little bit of what he learned in the scouts as a baby blutbad. However, quirky traits/history aside, the episode gave Monroe some much needed (positive) interaction with somebody other than Nick. Thus far in Grimm's run, Monroe's played the part of oracle and enforcer, both the muscle and the brains behind Nick's immersion into the Grimm world, but we've very rarely seen him just be a friend or have a chat with somebody else. Last week's episode aside, of course. He had kind of been Grimm's fire extinguisher, existing in an isolated glass case and take out in case of emergency, so an episode like "Let Your Hair Down" highlights the fact that he's got a human side and a need for contact that hasn't quite been met yet.

If the show is planning on using him as much as I think they are, this type of episode is necessary in the grand scheme of things, as Monroe's struggle to balance his two sides is one of the more intriguing parts of Grimm and made all the more poignant when we see how caught in the middle he actually is. The door was left open for Holly to return as a possible Monroe mentee and I kind of hope she's brought back, if only to give our favorite sidekick some non-Nick interaction.

Monroe wasn't the only supporting Grimm-ster to gain from "Let Your Hair Down", as Renard, Wu, and Hank all got to show off, in a sense. Now that we know that Renard is a Grimm like Nick, all of his official police duties and press conferences like we saw are given that much more depth and eeriness. Wu and Hank' s budding bro-ship makes sense within the context of the show and works well for both characters; since Nick is off by himself/with Monroe a lot, having Hank sit around and do nothing would be a waste of a character, so teaming him up with Wu gives him something to do and brings some new dimension to the police department scenes. While keeping Hank in the fold as opposed to sending him almost strictly on side missions, it brings previously peripheral Wu closer to the show's orbit and makes him less of a uniform and more of a person. We still don't really know who Wu is, aside from being a hard-working, sarcastic drinker, but we're much closer now than we were even a few episodes ago and that's pretty much all you can ask for.

As much good as "Let Your Hair Down" had, with its copious time in the gorgeous forest, I'm a little exhausted of all the kid/teen cases the show has thrown at us. Of the first batch of episodes, only a couple haven't dealt with children or teenagers being dangerous or in peril, which is playing that card a bit too much for me. I don't mind episodes concerning crimes committed against children, but when you're seven episodes in and more than half feel too similar, it's time to expand your reach a bit. I know that the show is based on fairy tales, which are about and aimed at children, but Grimm has done well so far about changing up enough elements from the source material to appear modern and I feel like they could adapt several stories into adult tales. It just feels like tired writing to continue going to the "child in danger" well and while there are enough elements in "Let Your Hair Down" to keep the episode fresh, including Monroe's connection to Holly, the episode could have been stronger with a different type of case to work from.

The fall finale of Grimm was a pretty fun way to admire how aesthetically beautiful the show can be while giving several characters screen time to advance their agendas. The chess pieces are moving slowly around Portland, but all that matters is that they're indeed moving and that the show they're moving in has made leaps toward finding itself in recent weeks. Grimm has still not made the cross from good to pretty good (and even great), but the more we get to know the people behind the monsters, the more I think it has the firepower to do so.

Thoughts, Quotes, & Observations:
-"We're not cops. We own a doggy wash!"
-"That is one broken neck."
-"I don't think Big Foot would fit into the sleeping bag."
-"Hold on to your...whatever you hold on to."
-"You should see me in my Santa suit."
-"$50 says you're full of tree sap."
-"It also works as a fine diuretic."
-"I was being attacked. I didn't stop to consult my animal guide."
-This was yet another strong opening scene for Grimm, no? Say what you want about the rest of the show, but they always start things off with a bang.
-Did anybody catch whether the guy bragging about being in a Grimm's house and surviving was the refrigerator repairman from a couple episodes back? I'm 95% sure that's who it was and if it is him, nice job on bringing him back, writers.
-How did you feel about the open-ish ending with Holly's eyes glowing in the police station? I'm glad they tweaked things and it was suitably creepy, but I hope it goes somewhere.
-The whole "if she goes for my throat, shoot her" thing was too cool and kept Monroe's supernatural-y self in the forefront.
-We're now around a quarter of the way through Grimm's first season, with the show resuming on January 13th. Hit the comments (or my e-mail) and let me know what you've thought so far. How has the show compared to your expectations? Do you think they should amp up the serialization? What's been your favorite episode thus far?

Grimm 1.07 "Let Your Hair Down" Review

Chuck season 5 summons out its sixth entry with this week’s "Chuck Vs. The Curse" as Chuck, Sarah and Casey look to rescue Devon and Ellie from rogue CIA agents after a date gone wrong, and prevent the outbreak of deadly computer virus "The Omen" at the hands of Robin Cunnings (guest star Rebecca Romijn)

Ultimately, "Chuck Vs. The Curse" offers up something of a mixed bag, enchanting us with its potential scope but stumbling a bit in its execution.

With a show as versatile as Chuck you’re bound to run into headaches trying to classify episodes, which in and of itself speaks to why the series at large experienced such trouble in finding an audience.  Chuck works at its best when keeping the comedy and heavier spy material in check, last week’s “Chuck Vs. The Hack-Off” keeping a smart mixture of palpable dread and light-hearted absurdity in the episodes’ main mission that made for one of the better episodes of the season.

Unfortunately, “Hack-Off”’s rather explosive ending meant that things couldn’t’ immediately go back to status quo, and it’s the more “dangerous” episodes of Chuck where the material begins to suffer from a lack of plausibility and consequence.  Blowing up Decker provided a rather hardcore turn last week, but even in these final episodes the stakes rarely feel raised.  Simply put, it’s Chuck.  Of course Awesome and Ellie are going to survive their predicament entangled in the CIA, and of course all charges against Team Bartowski for their various murders will fall by the wayside.

It’s not that I’m asking for Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak to do something as drastic as cost Chuck his sister and a series-long character for the sake of his own sins, but I’d be wary of Chuck’s turn to darker territory when it can’t follow through on the dangers inherent in its premise.   For goodness’ sake, rogue CIA operatives who don’t even value the lives of their fellow agents shouldn’t hesitate to torture, and or kill their captives, something this week’s villain Robin Cunnings (guest star Rebecca Romijn) drags out beyond any palpable sense of menace.  Sure, Cunnings herself provides cannon fodder in that we can gruesomely imply her torture at the hands of Casey and General Beckman, but to see nothing and later reveal she gave up all her secrets off-screen feels like a cop-out we shouldn’t have to forgive at this point.

During Robin’s (near) interrogation of Chuck, she naturally refused to deliver any necessary exposition about the purported conspiracy taking aim at the Bartowski family, but she did utter one line that resonated with me, that of Chuck having angered a number of powerful people.  Clearly we’ve seen Chuck thwart dozens of powerful figures over five seasons, to the point where Robin’s statement has only face value, but it reminded me of another series I’d recently taken in, that of the short-lived but critically-adored Terriers*.

There the basic premise rings the same, that you have small figures scurrying about and making trouble for the big dogs, the idea that even the most ill-equipped of teams can rattle the cages, and fight the evil empire.  It’s a universal theme to be certain, but Terriers embodied the spirit especially well by creating real consequences for these scrappy underdogs meddling in powerful forces.  Fitting perhaps that both Chuck’s final season and Terriers' only season each consist of thirteen episodes, but I gravitate to Terriers if only for their willingness to deliver casualties and omnipresent threats, rather than hand-wave away danger with off-screen information.  Chuck still has more than half a season to go, but now isn’t the time to pull punches, and “Chuck Vs. The Curse” suffers a bit for it.

(*) About the time you start referring to Terriers in a Chuck review, utilizing an italicized asterisk break, and given last week’s Community cameos, you know you’ve been reading too much Alan Sepinwall.

On the positive side, I like that “Chuck Vs. The Curse” kept continuity with “Hack-Off” by keeping afloat the threat of “The Omen” computer virus and the “conspiracy” itself.  It all seems a bit jumbled when CIA authorities tend to cross-cut one another without explanation (Beckman apparently forced to appear as though she’s apprehending the team, but morse-code tapping them to run), but I sincerely hope we’ve not seen the last of this thread.  Chuck spent far too much time in its earlier seasons fighting faceless threats of *insert evil organization here,* so the sooner we can put a human face on the “personal” danger driving our heroes this season, the better.

If Chuck were to have an emotional conflict of the week, “The Curse” at least offers a believably resonant moral dilemma in the parallels drawn between Chuck and his parents.  The so called “Bartowski Curse” really has done a number on his family in the way Stephen and Mary Bartowski spent near of their whole lives on the run, so for Chuck to face the same conflict in abandoning Ellie rings very true to the spirit of the character.  Admittedly yes, we’ve seen Chuck wax noble and waltz into national danger alone for the sake of his loved ones before, but seen through the lens of his family history the gesture feels far more personal.  This seems to represent a trend Chuck’s final season has going for it, where even re-used emotional conflicts feel fresh and powerful given no one really has to cover up their double-lives anymore.

Speaking of double lives, “Chuck Vs. The Curse’s comic angle finally allows some spotlight for Devon and Ellie in their inadvertently winding up in the wrong hands, but this proves something of a double edged sword.  In a way Devon and Ellie have always felt underutilized, the way the beautiful Sarah Lancaster always finds herself dressed down in scrubs and reduced to harping on her brother or how even when the chiseled Ryan McPartlin gets to play Devon on a mission with Chuck, the handsome doctor usually fins himself unfit for higher-stakes action.

So on the one hand I like finding things for Ellie and Devon to do, but then I glance at my notes and observe the phrase “these people are DOCTORS” over and over.  Seriously.  Two brilliant physicians, and they couldn’t figure out that the CIA was rustling them into a car until twenty minutes later, or the basic chemistry of not shoving a metal hairpin into a fuse box?  Why would Ellie worry about her husband seeing her exposed lack of panties, especially when their lives were on the line?  And didn’t the direction make a point of showing us those limo doors were locked in the first place?

These provide exactly the kind of Chuck I find infuriating, when the writing dumbs down intelligent characters for the sake of lighter comedy, yet never creates any real consequences for their mistakes.  I thought we might be in for a Firefly-style dual torture session between Devon, Chuck and Robin, but what does it say about the edginess of a series if it won’t even afford its primary characters one measly electric shock?

It almost feels as tacked on to this review as it did to the episode to mention Morgan’s subplot of retrieving Chuck’s “P.A.N.T.S.” (Priceless Artifacts Never To Share), but I suppose something needs to get the ball rolling on the inevitable Morgan / Alex reunion.  And what better way than to lock them in an apartment overnight?  Granted, I certainly don’t mind getting Mekenna Melvin in on the action (especially with a shotgun), and a recent conversation with her indicated she’d indeed be getting her hands dirty a bit this season, but the subplot itself doesn’t amount to more than some requisite sweetness.

What does seem like a surprisingly larger, and more epic twist for Chuck was to actually release the “Omen” virus out into the world, but far be it for Chuck to really explore the incredible scope of the world coming under a computer virus, the malevolent entity seems to be biding its time for now.  I’m excited for where that thread might go however, as a problem much more organic to Chuck’s natural skill set, and surely not set loose into its world-devastating peril for the sole purpose of releasing one prisoner from that ominously malfunctioning door at episode’s end…

And Another Thing…

• Apologies for the generic images folks, apparently NBC wasn't feeling too Christmas-y with this week's promotional photos...

• Unfortunately, Gertrude Verbanski (Carrie-Anne Moss) indeed seems to have been written out for the time being, but with the charges dropped like a load of bricks, might we see her again before the season’s out?

• I've noticed that several other TV critics have bemoaned or at least called attention to the blatant product placement of Chuck and his sister using "Open Table."  I'm giving that a pass, because I've never heard of it!

• Good direction in the roadhouse scene between Casey and Beckman.   I know ominous music and “shakey-cam” are cheap tricks to ratchet up drama, but in Chuck’s case it works.

• Seriously, not one other person lives in Chuck’s apartment complex, that they even step outside once a cadre of police and CIA have shown up?

• Rebecca Romijn really doesn’t get to make much of an impression as Robin Cunnings, but at least they included the requisite sexy by putting her in a tank-top and utilizing gratuitous boob-shots.

• Most TV critics agree that NBC really dropped the ball by revealing ****’s eventual return in last week’s “next time” promo, so I doubt there’s any mystery to the prisoner in cell 164.7.  That being said, even if NBC hadn’t revealed the villain’s return last week, the suspense still would have been rather short-lived for anyone who caught this week’s “next time” promo.

What did YOU think?

Chuck 5.06 "Chuck Vs. The Curse" Review