"Chuck me." Indeed. What a wonderful episode this finale of Season Two is. It may have taken me over a year to cover the entirety of the season but it was well worth it because this season ends on such a tremendous high note. When the episode begins Chuck no longer has the Intersect and he has his whole life ahead of him free of danger, or so he thinks. He quits the Buy More and alerts Ellie on her wedding day that he is free and she wants to know if he like her will make his dreams come true with Sarah. He hopes so. There's only one problem -- she's leaving. General Beckman has made Sarah in charge of the Intersect program and one Agent Bryce Larkin will be the recipient of their brand new Intersect.
After receiving a nice sum of back pay from the Government, Chuck asks Sarah to come with him somewhere, anywhere in the world for a vacation where they can spend some time together. When Sarah lets Chuck in on her new assignment he is crushed. Everyone around him may be buzzing about the wedding but all he wants to do is get buzzed on Champagne that is until he realizes that one Ted Roark is in the building. Roark threatens to kill his sister if he does not retrieve the Intersect Cube for him and Chuck is off and running but not before alerting Morgan that he forgot the rings and to please stall the wedding. Gulp, Chuck are you sure you want that to happen?
Chuck arrives at Castle to find the Intersect Cube gone and Bryce tells him that he will go in its place because Fulcrum has always believed that he had the Intersect in his head anyway. Bryce also informs Chuck that he has known about Orion for some time and that he knows that Orion is Chuck's Dad and that he promised him to keep Chuck safe. Back at the wedding Sarah realizes that something is wrong because she knew for a fact that Chuck had the rings on him and takes a peek into the reception area to see Roark and his Fulcrum goons. I love how Sarah starts opening wedding gifts looking for a proper weapon.
I absolutely love when Morgan introduces Jeffster to the wedding audience and all we hear is a loud gasp. Jeffster in an epic moment that will never be forgotten performs Mr. Roboto by Styx and even though they sound awesome, Devon wants to know why Morgan is ruining his wedding but Morgan quickly explains -- because Chuck told him to! Devon knows that Chuck is a spy and it must be for a good reason. So he goes along with it and the next big laugh comes from none other than Woody Woodcomb or Tron if you will, Bruce Boxleitner when he says, "Why are you letting Sam Kinison and an Indian Lesbian wreck your wedding?" We get hilarious reactions from Big Mike, Anna Wu and Morgan's Mom in the crowd.
With everyone distracted Chuck arrives to tell Roark that he could not get the Intersect and before he kills him he reveals that he brought Bryce Larkin with him who gets a kick ass orchestral Mr. Roboto entrance thanks to Tim Jones. Truly epic. A gunfight ensues and John Casey and his Marines come to the rescue saving the day but not before destroying the flowers, the centerpiece and the entire wedding reception. Then just when Ellie wants to know what the hell is going on, I mean why is Jeffster playing at her wedding? Jeff fires off some roman candles and the sprinklers come on. Wedding Cancelled.
Chuck blames himself for everything, he tells Ellie it wasn't Morgan's fault because he was the one who told him to stall the wedding but to please trust him because he has a trick up his sleeve. Chuck spends his hard earned spy dollars and with the help of Sarah, Casey and the Marines and probably everyone else for that matter. They put on the beach wedding that Ellie wanted in the first place. It's one of those moments that Chuck the series always does so well. It turns out that one of Casey's men is actually a rogue spy that works for a new enemy, The Ring. He kills Ted Roark and decides not to kill Casey because Casey once saved his life. Meanwhile at the new reception which is now located at the Bartowski apartment complex, Ellie thanks Chuck for the amazing wedding and suspects he may be a superhero. Chuck wishes. After a short exchange Orion flashes on the agent that comes to pick up Bryce to take him to the new Intersect. That's right Steven Bartowski has an Intersect in his head! Which he reveals to Chuck and Sarah right when Sarah is about to tell Chuck that she was going to stay. No time for that now Sarah because they have to go save Bryce but not before checking up on Casey. Steven gives his son his fancy Orion Arm Computer thing and they are off to the secret Intersect location.
This episode had an insane amount of songs in it, first we have Now We Can See by The Thermals when Chuck quits the Buy More. Then we hear Looking At The Sun by Gramercy Arms when Chuck goes to see Ellie in her dress. Then of course we hear Mr. Roboto performed by Jeffster! Christmas TV by Slow Club at the Beach Wedding and Friday I'm In Love by The Cure at the Wedding Reception and then 3 Rounds and a Sound by Blind Pilot.
Listen to the Podcast Episode: S2Ep22 Vs The Ring
I've decided to include lots of reactions to the finale for this episode. First we have Alan Sepinwall, Eric Goldman and AV Club's reviews and I've even included some thoughts from critic Maureen Ryan who does start to cover later episodes of Chuck, I just hope I can find them somewhere online to include here later.
When Chuck, Sarah and Casey arrive they are too late, Bryce has locked himself in the Intersect room and there are bad guys everywhere, Chuck finds a vent and goes to help Bryce only to find that he has been shot and he's not looking too good. Bryce tells Chuck that he must destroy the Intersect before The Ring get their hands on it. If they do, nothing will be able to stop them. Bryce dies and Chuck is all alone to decide for himself what to do. Does he destroy the Intersect or download it and become the hero that Sarah already believes him to be? Chuck downloads the new Intersect and quickly puts in the gadget that Bryce gave him and destroys the Intersect device. When the Bad Marine enters he is pissed and promises to kill Chuck last. Sarah is devastated to see Bryce dead and they are informed they are The Ring an unstoppable group of agents and that they're 'The Best', and when the bad guy points his gun at Sarah, Chuck flashes but this isn't like any flash he has had before, it's something else. Chuck quickly disarms the Ring agents, their guns go scattering to the ground and Chuck realizes that HE CAN FIGHT! And so he does and he kicks all of their collective asses and even Casey is speechless. Chuck then reveals, "Guys, I know Kung Fu." which is of course, FREAKING AWESOME! And TO BE CONTINUED...
Wow, what an episode, what a finale, what a way to end what was an amazing season of the series. I don't care how many times I have watched this episode, when you start from the beginning and work your way back to it, it is always just as amazing as the first viewing. I still get chills and I still laugh at the same moments, This is why I love this show. Just like when I finished season one I will include a cool interview that Alan Sepinwall did with Josh Schwarz and Chris Fedak all about each season of Chuck, if you have not seen every season of Chuck though don't skip ahead because there are definite spoilers -- Here's the Interview where they tell you all about their experience of working on Season Two.
Now another thing, when this episode first aired, no one knew if Chuck was coming back, everyone feared it was going to be cancelled by NBC. Many fans of the show came out of the shadows to show their support and Save Chuck and the result was that the show was indeed renewed -- read about it here. Also watch this amazing video of Zachary Levi leading a bunch of fans to Subway to help pledge their support! It turns out not only is the show special, so is the cast and so are the fans.
Now that I am finished with season two, it's so cool to have this block of episodes of the podcast for Chuck fans to listen to. I can't wait to get cracking on Season Three of Chuck! I would also like to thank my friend Adam Sexton for being a guest on the second hour of this special double-sized episode of the podcast and also give thanks to my friend Ross for giving his thoughts on the episode as well via voicemail. I would also like to thank you for reading this blog and listening to the show, When I hear about someone finding the podcast for the first time and re-living their love of Chuck, it makes me happy. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to go and prepare for season three.
Until then...
Watch more Chuck!
The Jastrom
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