Chuck - Verses the Angel de la Muerte (S3Ep3)
Thank goodness for continuity announcers. The voice over the end credits managed to totally spoil the surprise twist cliffhanger to the episode, and boy am I glad they did.
I've heard that some fans weren't as enamored of Chuck's third season, and based on this episode I can understand why. Chuck always mixes humour, romance, action, family and all things geek. This week the geek was gone. While it's absence was noticeable, it didn't totally unbalance the show, just tipped it a little more in the Alias direction. There were still plenty of laughs, mainly courtesy of Adam-the man they call Jayne-Baldwin's Casey, but Chuck himself was suddenly a much more professional and cool-under-pressure spy. I know the creators have accelerated his arc because of the likelihood of cancellation but this felt a little too much too soon compared to the Chuck we all know and love. I'm sure I'll adjust to the new personality but the shift was somewhat jarring.
It was great to see Awesome and Ellie get some time in the spotlight, though their marriage blues are rather sudden for two people living pretty much the same lives as before. Awesome does get to be especially awesome by saving a man's life twice, and slightly less awesome by revealing Casey to a room full of armed guards who all want him dead.
Overall a fun episode that loses a couple of points for not feeling quite Chuck enough and for the general's almost impenetrable accent, and gains some back for the shock ending.
4/5
Glee - Journey (S1Ep22)
Glee's had a very bumpy second half of a season (and I'm not just referring to the pregnant dance routine. My eyes! My eyes!). You only have to watch the last episode before the mid season break and the couple immediately after it to see the show's producers not only thought they wouldn't get a mid-season pick up, but clearly had no plan in case they did. Plot threads are recycled (regionals instead of sectionals with the same punishment for failure, Will and Emma get together only to be torn apart for the flimsiest of reason); character arcs come and go like thunderstorms, full of sound and fury one minute, as if nothing had ever happened the next; and collections of songs by currently popular artists are forced in with little to no reason.
And then comes this finale. Sweet, moving, uplifting, packed with great performances and moments of joy. Finn telling Rachel he loves her just before they go on; Will saying the same to Emma as she fights to save the club (and him in turn); Finn's tribute to Will, his role model for being a man; Sue Sylvester welling up and growing a heart; the sheer delight of the glee club's faces as they perform at regionals.
They've left a lot of plot threads hanging but now that the writers have the summer to plan for the next year I can't wait to see what they do with them. Bring on season 2!
5/5
