I usually try to avoid spoilers, but this week, in the cases of CHUCK and HEROES, that will be a bit hard to do. So, you might want to skip this if you're waiting to watch those shows.
CHUCK: While I hope we get a third season, if this was the end, then they went out perfectly. They could've cut the last scene and the last two episodes would've worked perfectly as a series finale.
A lot of loose ends were tied up, and the show ended with a bit of a cliffhanger. It was also referred to as a game-changer, and it does change things a bit.
Giving Chuck the ability to defend himself was a good idea. It never made sense to me that the General didn't order Casey and Sarah to give Chuck some sort of self-defense lessons, or that she didn't have him take some sort of training course. Sure, he'd still need handlers and protection, but it's just good sense to make sure he can take care of himself in a jam. I know some people aren't going to like this, but I doubt they've turned Chuck into Jack Bauer. I'd imagine that he'll still object to killing anybody, and probably will still go out of his way to avoid any direct physical confrontations on his own. Having his brain's programming get updated with some spy techniques certainly works better for me than that idea of his father being the guy who created the Intersect.
CHUCK: While I hope we get a third season, if this was the end, then they went out perfectly. They could've cut the last scene and the last two episodes would've worked perfectly as a series finale.
A lot of loose ends were tied up, and the show ended with a bit of a cliffhanger. It was also referred to as a game-changer, and it does change things a bit.
Giving Chuck the ability to defend himself was a good idea. It never made sense to me that the General didn't order Casey and Sarah to give Chuck some sort of self-defense lessons, or that she didn't have him take some sort of training course. Sure, he'd still need handlers and protection, but it's just good sense to make sure he can take care of himself in a jam. I know some people aren't going to like this, but I doubt they've turned Chuck into Jack Bauer. I'd imagine that he'll still object to killing anybody, and probably will still go out of his way to avoid any direct physical confrontations on his own. Having his brain's programming get updated with some spy techniques certainly works better for me than that idea of his father being the guy who created the Intersect.
Chuck taking the Intersect back after finally getting it out of his head, to save his friends, worked for me. I also think, though the character wouldn't admit it, he secretly likes being the Intersect, no matter how much he complains about it. Mainly though, it was the right thing to do, and the only way to stop the bad guys.
I honestly thought that the "game changer" was going to be one of three things.
The first was everybody in Chuck's life finds out what he really does. That wouldn't have worked as well as what we got.
The next possibility was that he was going to get Fulcrum's Intersect forcefully put into his brain, making him go bad. Whether it would've been covertly bad, where he was secretly undermining and working against his own team or outright blatantly turning, where his handlers would've had to have protected themselves as well as Chuck's family and friends from him. Honestly, that's still something they could do down the road. It definitely has possibilities.
The final possibility is that just like in what did air, Chuck would've chosen to become the Intersect again, but instead of getting fighting skills downloaded into his brain, his brain would've shut off and he would've been in a coma for a bit and when he came out he wouldn't remember anything. That would've been crap.
If the show does come back, it'll be interesting to see what happens to the Buy More, now that three of the major characters on the show have quit working there.
Finally, I'm pissed that this episode has gotten Mr Roboto stuck in my head.
HEROES: I read spoilers about what was going to happen in this episode and they all were true. Figures they ripped of a Marvel comic for the way to beat Syler this time. They copied a plotline from EXILES where the shape-changing Morph is killed by the vastly-overpowered, reality-bending Proteus. Proteus can also possess other people's bodies, wearing them out and leaving them a dead husk. Which is what he did to Morph. So, using telepathy they make Proteus believe that he's Morph and occasionally there's hints that he subconsciously remembers who he really is and will be a danger when that happens. Sound familiar? It should, since that's pretty much exactly what they did in this episode of HEROES. I suppose they could've gone another way, and had Parkman wipe Syler's mind completely blank like Professor X did to Magneto in the X-MEN back in the early 90's.
Anyway, killing off Nathan and making Syler believe he's Nathan (stuck shape-shifted into Nathan's form) lets the show keep both actors, while killing off a character to give a false sense or ramping up the drama. Also, they can play with the "he vaguely remembers who he really is a little bit" card a whole bunch. Expect that to get over-used in season 4.
Edit: On a forum I was reading, somebody made a good point. Claire's blood could've revived a dead Nathan (it worked on her other father). It wouldn't be the first time they used healer blood to heal/save him from death. It would be the third. Plus, what happened to his body? (That was fake Syler from a few episodes back getting burned towards the end of the episode.)
When did Syler become Longshot, with the ability to touch things and learn a bit of their history? That ability makes the whole shape-shifting thing as a cop-out nearly as bad as the time travel.
Also, does anybody else see the replacement Nathan being kept a secret from everybody but Parkman, Angela, and Noah as something that will spectacularly blow up in their faces?
Which abilities did Peter swipe from Syler? It sounds like he only grabbed some of them, judging from the dialog. Why wouldn't he have grabbed them all? It looks like he didn't grab Claire's healing since he had scratches on his face. Plus, even if he didn't have the healing, he did have the shape-shifting, so why didn't he shape-shift his face back to normal? Will he lose all of the Syler abilities he grabbed if he touches another person with powers? Or is he back to god-level?
I see they decided to use one of the ideas that I would've if I worked on the show, by giving Hiro a physical issue with using his powers to prevent them from being a magical reset button. Of course, I would've made time travel something incredibly physically dangerous to do. Leaving him as a teleporter and giving him the ability to slow down/stop time rarely could be as much of a cop-out as the time travel.
So is there a new company? Seems like. Well, until the writers split the whole cast up again, like they've done every other season. Which makes no sense, and seems to be where all of these people's problems come from.
The whole water/ice/Ali Larter thing is another comics rip-off. This time from the X-MEN's Iceman. Sigh.
Honestly, after two seasons of utter crap, this finale didn't really sell me on coming back next year. I might, simply out of habit or boredom, but if tonight were the final episode, I don't think I would've really cared.
As for the rest of the night's shows...
24: This conspiracy behind the conspiracy stuff was done so much better in season five. At least they brought Chloe back. Aside from Jack, she's probably the most important character on the show. I did love Jack yelling at Janeane Garofolo.
THE BIG BANG THEORY: A pretty good episode. I can't think of much to say about it though.
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: The last quarter of this season has been much better than the first 3/4s. While this wasn't one of the best episodes, I found myself enjoying it. If this keeps up, I guess it won't be among the shows I drop next year.
On the agenda for tomorrow, along with that night's shows is a DVRed CASTLE.
I honestly thought that the "game changer" was going to be one of three things.
The first was everybody in Chuck's life finds out what he really does. That wouldn't have worked as well as what we got.
The next possibility was that he was going to get Fulcrum's Intersect forcefully put into his brain, making him go bad. Whether it would've been covertly bad, where he was secretly undermining and working against his own team or outright blatantly turning, where his handlers would've had to have protected themselves as well as Chuck's family and friends from him. Honestly, that's still something they could do down the road. It definitely has possibilities.
The final possibility is that just like in what did air, Chuck would've chosen to become the Intersect again, but instead of getting fighting skills downloaded into his brain, his brain would've shut off and he would've been in a coma for a bit and when he came out he wouldn't remember anything. That would've been crap.
If the show does come back, it'll be interesting to see what happens to the Buy More, now that three of the major characters on the show have quit working there.
Finally, I'm pissed that this episode has gotten Mr Roboto stuck in my head.
HEROES: I read spoilers about what was going to happen in this episode and they all were true. Figures they ripped of a Marvel comic for the way to beat Syler this time. They copied a plotline from EXILES where the shape-changing Morph is killed by the vastly-overpowered, reality-bending Proteus. Proteus can also possess other people's bodies, wearing them out and leaving them a dead husk. Which is what he did to Morph. So, using telepathy they make Proteus believe that he's Morph and occasionally there's hints that he subconsciously remembers who he really is and will be a danger when that happens. Sound familiar? It should, since that's pretty much exactly what they did in this episode of HEROES. I suppose they could've gone another way, and had Parkman wipe Syler's mind completely blank like Professor X did to Magneto in the X-MEN back in the early 90's.
Anyway, killing off Nathan and making Syler believe he's Nathan (stuck shape-shifted into Nathan's form) lets the show keep both actors, while killing off a character to give a false sense or ramping up the drama. Also, they can play with the "he vaguely remembers who he really is a little bit" card a whole bunch. Expect that to get over-used in season 4.
Edit: On a forum I was reading, somebody made a good point. Claire's blood could've revived a dead Nathan (it worked on her other father). It wouldn't be the first time they used healer blood to heal/save him from death. It would be the third. Plus, what happened to his body? (That was fake Syler from a few episodes back getting burned towards the end of the episode.)
When did Syler become Longshot, with the ability to touch things and learn a bit of their history? That ability makes the whole shape-shifting thing as a cop-out nearly as bad as the time travel.
Also, does anybody else see the replacement Nathan being kept a secret from everybody but Parkman, Angela, and Noah as something that will spectacularly blow up in their faces?
Which abilities did Peter swipe from Syler? It sounds like he only grabbed some of them, judging from the dialog. Why wouldn't he have grabbed them all? It looks like he didn't grab Claire's healing since he had scratches on his face. Plus, even if he didn't have the healing, he did have the shape-shifting, so why didn't he shape-shift his face back to normal? Will he lose all of the Syler abilities he grabbed if he touches another person with powers? Or is he back to god-level?
I see they decided to use one of the ideas that I would've if I worked on the show, by giving Hiro a physical issue with using his powers to prevent them from being a magical reset button. Of course, I would've made time travel something incredibly physically dangerous to do. Leaving him as a teleporter and giving him the ability to slow down/stop time rarely could be as much of a cop-out as the time travel.
So is there a new company? Seems like. Well, until the writers split the whole cast up again, like they've done every other season. Which makes no sense, and seems to be where all of these people's problems come from.
The whole water/ice/Ali Larter thing is another comics rip-off. This time from the X-MEN's Iceman. Sigh.
Honestly, after two seasons of utter crap, this finale didn't really sell me on coming back next year. I might, simply out of habit or boredom, but if tonight were the final episode, I don't think I would've really cared.
As for the rest of the night's shows...
24: This conspiracy behind the conspiracy stuff was done so much better in season five. At least they brought Chloe back. Aside from Jack, she's probably the most important character on the show. I did love Jack yelling at Janeane Garofolo.
THE BIG BANG THEORY: A pretty good episode. I can't think of much to say about it though.
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: The last quarter of this season has been much better than the first 3/4s. While this wasn't one of the best episodes, I found myself enjoying it. If this keeps up, I guess it won't be among the shows I drop next year.
On the agenda for tomorrow, along with that night's shows is a DVRed CASTLE.
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3 comments:
Last nights Chuck was f'n awesome! I laughed my ass off with the Mr.Roboto bit!
The "reboot" was great too! I am going to be pi$$ed if they do not renew Chuck!
If there is a third season.. he will go back to the Buy More.. (you would think)
Heroes is killing me...when they should be killing off everyone else.
Chris: I might actually have a meltdown if there is no more CHUCK. It's probably tied with LOST for my favorite show on US TV at the moment. Of course, that having been said, now I wonder if just having two great seasons and being done might be better than getting a third season and a decline in quality setting in. That's what happens to most shows.
EquisBuffy: The real question is, when is it bad enough that you stop watching? Are all of us that are complaining about this show this year (and last year) going to be dumb enough to be doing it all again next year? Sadly, the answer is probably yes.
I'm not even sure why the show got renewed again. NBC fired two of the head writers earlier this year, and now that season three is over another exec producer/director is out.
NBC must be so glad they decided not to go through with the planned HEROES spin-off after season one. can you imagine how bad things would be if the people that can't even write one show that people enjoy had to crank out two shows every week?
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