"Checkmate!" Chuck proclaimed who was then warned by Leader (Patrick Kilpatrick) to "Never say that." Because you never know who you are playing against. Well sir, you were playing against Chuck Bartowski and you lost. Here we have the third and final episode of the Jill Arc and it was a very exciting conclusion.
Chuck figured out rather quickly that Jill was working for Fulcrum thanks to a flash but he was still in denial until Casey uttered her Codename: Sandstorm. It was then that he knew for sure she was indeed a Fulcrum Agent, but did that mean she was all bad? We know by now that Chuck wants to trust everyone, he thinks the best in people, so in turn, he wanted answers from Jill.
When Jill takes Chuck back to the carnival from their past, He just wants to know how she could do this, how she could work for Fulcrum? She has all of the right answers and she even saves his life by not killing him as ordered by her boss, Leader. It was all a clever ruse though, just to get into Castle (Yes, I can refer to it as Castle now!). Leader wants information from their database and it turns out they are looking for Bryce Larkin who they think still has the Intersect.
Chuck starts out the episode confused and nervous but then when Leader shows up to Castle, Chuck is full of confidence because he read the manual and another thing we know about Chuck is that guy is good with computers, technology etc. Castle, with all of it electronic gadgetry is right in Chuck's wheelhouse. I love that Chuck saves the day and frees Sarah and Casey because he took the time to read the instructions.
As for Jill, she's playing Chuck. He wants to believe everything she's telling him, heck even I want to believe her, she's very convincing but dang it, she's a Fulcrum Agent! She's just telling Chuck what he wants to hear. He was her first love, they can still be together etc. I love that moment when Chuck walks up behind Jill right when she's about to shoot Sarah. It's right then he knows what he's going to do, he plays it cool, and he leads her right to her capture. Well done, Chuck.
This episode had some great moments with Ellie going insane with cleaning because The Awesomes were coming for Thanksgiving Dinner and Morgan, Lester and Jeff were stuck protecting the Buy More from thieves. It was all a fantastic set up with multiple pay offs. First Big Mike taking down Leader and then everyone gathering at the Bartowski's for Thanksgiving. Thanks Chuck, there's that warm feeling again!
Listen to the Podcast Episode: S2Ep8 Vs The Gravitron
This episode had some great music, Hot Mess by Sam Sparro, Knock Knock by The Accidental and finally Can You Tell by Ra Ra Riot.
Check out Alan Sepinwall's review of Gravitron and then read Eric Goldman's, they both really dug it. Also be sure and read AV Club's positive review.
Now while I have your attention I have a special treat for those of you that have finished the series Chuck in its entirety. For those of you that have watched all five seasons of Chuck, and have seen all 91 episodes. I have recorded a Chuck Series Companion Special just for you! Recently a friend of mine named Ross binge watched the entire series of Chuck on Netflix. I really wanted to talk to him about it and ask him what his favorite moments were and his thoughts on the series. So why not hit record and turn it into a special episode of the show? Well, we did just that and here it is for all to listen to. Again, if you have yet to watch all 5 seasons of Chuck, I implore you to set this episode aside until you do because this conversation is chock full of SPOILERS! You heard me, this special episode of the show is FULL OF CHUCK SERIES SPOILERS! You have been warned, it's out of my hands.
Download the Special Episode Here: Chuck Series Companion Special
Thank you so much for listening to the show and reading the blog, I continue having a blast re-visiting Chuck and sharing my love for the series. I love when a new Chuck fan is made like Ross and hopefully even more people will find the show on Netflix. If you're a new fan or old fan of Chuck I hope that you are enjoying the podcast because I plan to keep on going.
Until Then...
The Jastrom
Hey Jason,
ReplyDeleteI've been catching up on your Chuck Series Companion Podcast recently and after listening to "Chuck Versus the Gravitron" I couldn't wait to hear your conversation with Ross covering the entire series. As I've said multiple times, through voicemail that is, fantastic job to you and Ross of course. I recently moved to Florida and for the time being I have a hour commute to and from work, and there is nothing better than getting to relive this fantastic series.
The way you present your Chuck podcast, as well as ETL, is entertaining, enthusiastic and simply enjoyable.
All the best,
Jim
So, vs the Gravitron is the first instance that the the name Castle is used for the base. If you hadn't pointed it out, I would have guessed that it was referred to as Castle much earlier than episode 8 of the season.
ReplyDeleteOverall, an enjoyable, satisfying trio of episodes (S2E6-8) for the Jill story. I have not scrutinized the nitty gritty of the Jill/Fulcrum story in these episodes and I suspect it might have some logic and continuity lapses, but maybe it would hold up. A part of me just doesn't want to be too critical about those details (as I've noted before, I give the spy stuff a pass on the little things), but I wonder if Jill's reveal to Chuck that she made up the story that she and Bryce had gotten together in order to drive Chuck away holds up if I went back and looked at earlier scenes between Chuck and Bryce. Did Chuck never say anything to Bryce about Jill? If Chuck had, the logical thing if Jill made up the story would have been for Bryce to deny it/ask Chuck what the hell he is talking about. And does Jill's actions throughout make sense given she's a Fulcrum agent the whole time? That may depend on whether she did know/suspect that Chuck is a government agent from the beginning or, if she didn’t know until he told her so (I don't remember if the show lets us know for sure when she knows about Chuck's spy life).
These Jill story episodes I think are very effective at cementing for the audience Sarah's feelings for Chuck, both on a platonic level (she wants him to be happy, to regain his "normal" life and shake off his feelings of failure) and, more significantly, romantic (it's clear that she is pained by Chuck's rekindled interest in Jill). Yvonne really delivers these feelings exceptionally well, often with just expressions and body language. Chuck's actions seem reasonable to me -he doesn't know what level of feelings Sarah has for him, he has doubts that they can make a relationship work, and the girl he pined for about five years before Sarah's arrival and who painfully dumped him is now giving him a chance to erase that- so the relationship storytelling I think holds up well.
My recollection of my first viewing may be a bit off, but I don't think I thought Jill was Fulcrum or otherwise in the "spy" realm until just before her photo is revealed (the scene is nicely done, building a sense that something ominous is going to occur as Casey and Sarah review the decrypted information). Their reaction and the shots of them running out of Castle and into Chuck's bedroom are excellent.
The scene where Sarah is coaching Chuck on how to kiss Jill is a tv show cliché, but Zach and Yvonne are so wonderful together that I don't care and eat it up.
[Jill, hooked up to the lie detector, answers "Yes" to question about attending Stanford]
Chuck: "Can I ask a follow up question?"
Casey: "You're about to leave through that window."
Chuck: "I rescind my follow up question."
(Ha! I love the delivery of those lines.)
The last scene between Chuck and Jill in E8, when he locks here in the Nerd Herd-mobile, is solid but far from being a scene I'd single out as a great one. That said, it was nice in that it confirmed that Chuck hadn't abandoned Sarah for Jill and, with Sarah witnessing it, gave her some reassurance.
The scene after between Chuck and Sarah before they head into his apartment to have Ellie’s Thanksgiving dinner through to the end of the episode is, I agree, a wonderfully warm scene that I really enjoy. The fog that Jill had cast over Chuck’s feeling for Sarah are already starting to lift -yay for that.
--LetsGoRed