1.Evolution of the Walker
The flashback at the start of the episode only confirmed what we have known for a while, Sarah has changed...a lot!! Even if you just consider Sarah's fighting style from the flashback in Hungary at the start of the episode to her fight with Ryker in her Mom's house. Before she met Chuck and probably right up until she realised she wanted to live a live together with Chuck her fighting style was calm, fluid and maybe even a little robotic with little or no emotion. Just look at how calmly and easily she mowed down those guys in Hungary.
But now her fights are more emotional, where as before she was a robot spy trained to be emotionless and weigh up her options; no matter the situation and who was in danger. But now Sarah is like a Tigress defending her cubs when it comes to those she loves. Spies are taught to take all emotion out of these situations as we have ofter heard "feelings get you killed"; but I ask you this... without her emotions could Sarah have saved Chuck in Thailand? Could she have saved Molly and her Mom from Ryker and his goons?
We have now passed the point of Sarah Walker being just a spy, you could argue that Sarah Bartowski's roles as a wife, sister and best friend take precedence over her life a spy. So she now throws herself into the fray and fights with the emotion of somebody who has a lot to lose; some may consider it a weakness in a spy but to use her own words I think "it is what makes her great".
I think the best example of the effect Chuck has had on the evolution of Sarah as a spy and a person. Is her attitude to killing since Chuck Versus The Santa Claus, she knows that Chuck doesn't like killing but understands that it is sometimes required for the greater good. It was it that point she realised she could no longer lie to Chuck about the killing because it hurt Chuck so much (the lying more than killing) but it is also she has changed as a person. Sarah is no longer person who can kill on the CIA's say-so it has to be a final resort to save lives, in particular the lives of those she loves.
I can't tell you all just how great it was that Sarah had the epiphany to tell Chuck more about things in her spy past because really this nerd will never leave or give up on Sarah... EVER. Even if it took Ryker to help realise it, I am just really glad Sarah can now open up that little bit more.
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| Sarah never expected Tiger-Mom training to be so intense... |
2. White Collared out of existence
Many questions were answered by this episode but if possible it seemed to leave us with just as many new questions as we got answers.
The main question being how did Sarah go from ending the Hungary mission to beginning her mission on the Intersect Project with Chuck and Casey in Burbank?
I understand that Sarah no longer needed a handler but what does this mean for her missions with Bryce and her missions with the Cat Squad? Are we to assume she had a handler for those missions; it wouldn't make sense would it? Have I stuffed up the timeline in my head or did it all just become more convoluted?
What irony it would be if Matt Bomer's character (Bryce) was made irrelevant by an episode starring his fellow WHITE COLLAR star Tim DeKay (Ryker).
I have heard whispers that we may not have seen the last of Director Langston Graham in CHUCK; maybe this will answer more questions because at the moment I am just a little confused...did the writers just make Bryce and the Cat Squad irrelevant or worse write them out of existence? Be a shame if they did because as much as I dislike Bryce for his epic rooster-blocks on Chuck and Sarah; he did create the angst that made the romance between our favourite spy couple even more memorable!
I really hope I am just over-thinking this... :(
3. Redemption of the Beard
It has been a long and winding road to redemption for Chuck's bearded little buddy. After the debacle of the Morgan-sect he has tried hard mend the bridges he burnt along the way. Making it up to Chuck and Sarah was easy as saying sorry (and getting rid of those pretentious frosted tips). Casey's forgiveness was a little harder because he put himself out there emotionally for Morgan and he not only betrayed the Colonel but broke his daughter's heart as well.
To fix this with Casey it required more than words; it required action by Morgan to show that he was there for the team and for Alex. This required a lot of Semper Fi-dizzle by Morgan but eventually Casey forgave him and Casey even went in to bat on the Bearded Man-boy's behalf with Alex.
Alex was right to be careful about whether to forgive Morgan or not. Let's not forget the guy who said he loved her and then broke up with her by text message; bonehead and scumbag are two words that come to mind.
By the end of the episode Alex had not only come to forgive Morgan but even let Morgan back into her life as her boyfriend and all it took was Morgan just being the best Morgan he could be the loyal, brave and caring guy who Chuck has always told him he could be if he didn't try too hard to be funny or cool.
I will leave the Morgan/Alex 'shipping to "Gun" (who may I add is a very good friend of the Blog...Thanks Gun!!) but I am glad that Morgan has Alex, the pairing may not warm my heart as much as Chuck and Sarah (but than again who does???). Morgan deserves some happiness for being there for Chuck (and Sarah and Casey) when the serious stuff goes down. I can't quite believe it myself but I have even forgiven him for his part in the Barstow incident.
4. Sarah's Family Matters
I love episodes that have a Sarah focus, they are in my all-time favourites. Even though the show is called CHUCK and not SARAH (or CASEY or MORGAN) but just like the show's title character CHUCK is at its best when it is selfless... especially when it comes to Sarah.
The fans of the show have been dying to find out about Sarah's Mom almost from the very moment we met her Dad, Jack Burton in DeLorean. Thank you to Fedak and the show's writer's for getting it done, it may have been easier to leave it all a mystery but I think this is one of a few special treats the Powers That Be have planned for CHUCK fans in this farewell season.
Just seeing Sarah with her Mom was was so special for me, we have never seen Sarah truly let her guard down with anybody except Chuck and Jack. We can now add Emma to the list; I am not going to lie to you guys and girls there was tears... plenty of tears from Sarah saying that she wants all the normal things for Molly and then the scene with Sarah and Molly talking and finally the embrace between mother and daughter. Not a dry eye in the fandom!!
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| I think we found a patten here.... |
We got all the hallmarks of a Sarah mythology CHUCK episode... a great Yvonne Strahovski performance hitting all the emotional buttons that make us love the special character that is Sarah Walker (Bartowski) and equally brilliant support performance from Zac Levi who proves once again he can shine as the second banana; full credit to the guy. I mean not many can handle being one of the E-Street band when they have built a reputation as Bruce Springsteen. Some of Chuck Bartowski's best moments have been in these Sarah-centric episodes from bringing Sarah burgers in Cougars to giving Sarah his Buy More jacket in DeLorean. Chuck always walks that fine line of wanting to know everything about his mystery girl Sarah, because she means everything to him. But also realising that Sarah has compartmentalised her life because of hurt she has suffered and perhaps because of the hurt Sarah has caused others, which she just doesn't want Chuck to know.
Finally as the blog title suggests I do love my moments of symmetry, how about the conversation between Chuck and Emma? It is quite reminiscent of Chuck and Jack at the end of DeLorean; it is quite moving to see both Sarah's parents realising just how much Chuck loves Sarah (and how much Sarah loves Chuck) and that is so awesome.
I know both Sarah's parents are eternally grateful to Chuck for being able to provide the life and love Sarah deserves... a life neither Jack or Emma could provide because of situation or circumstance.
"Thank you for giving her... this" Those six simple words say say so much! Truth be told, this is the point of the episode where I am guaranteed to lose it...EVERY TIME!!
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| Sarah Walker episodes always end in tears and hugs... awesome!! |
5. Chuck and Sarah (and Home) is where the heart is...
This episode returned us to what I love so much about the inescapable heart and soul; in particular the great Chuck and Sarah scenes! In a show that has built itself on the strength of family and love it is the Sarah and Chuck relationship that "burns brighter than the sun" and this was the best episode of Season 5 with regards to the progression of their relationship.
How adorable was the end of the episode with Sarah and Chuck carving the names into the wall of the house that will be theirs one day. Once again Sarah is an artist with a knife- scary, awesome and heart-warming all in equal measure. Plus don't think I forgot how Emma's house looks... white picket fence...big red door...have we heard this somewhere before? I love the way the show pays attention to these little details!
It seems Chuck and Sarah will turn down the offer to re-join the CIA so that they can start to build the life together away from the world of espionage which has been the main theme of Season 5 but has also been seriously hinted at since Season 3 when Chuck and Sarah got past all the BS and entanglements. As Sarah so awesomely put it to Chuck in Role Models "Well I would like to have something to fall back on when our spy life is over".
I really hope...No...I know that there will be more great Chuck and Sarah moments to come! So as a wise nerd once said... prepare to be heart-warmed!
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| Vandalism is one way to lower the price of the house... |
P.S. I have mentioned the episode Chuck Versus the Role Models in this post, if you haven't seen it for a while I think you should especially after watching Chuck Versus The Baby both episodes actually go well together. Role Models is after all where Chuck and Sarah make the decision to move in as a real couple and Baby we see them commit to getting the house that will be the foundation of the life away from the CIA and spying. Plus Role Models has Tigers...you should know how much I love my Tigers!! Endangered and majestic just as Chuck said!!
P.P.S. I really wanted to get out my Blog's 2011 CHUCK awards but my absolute lack of time management and prepping for a job interview of sorts has meant time has escaped me. If people out there are keen I could probably get something done eventually; but I seriously doubt it could match anything the other great CHUCK blogs out there have done.
Anyway I hope everybody enjoys Chuck Versus The Kept Man; being Sarah Walker's kept man sounds like a dream job... just wished I thought of it first! ;-)
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