Saying goodbye to NBC’s Chuck

It’s sad to see what was once my favorite show go away as tonight brings the final episodes of NBC’s Chuck. I’m a fan of the series, but it has run its course. I think I haven’t talked much about the show here on MLD because on some level I just haven’t found it as thrilling as I did in the first few years. Some of the excitement is gone along with some of the fun, but really I think the show suffered from losing its focus in trying to generate too many episodes over the last two years. There were also episodes that suffered from less production and smaller budgets and they really stood out from most of the series. In its final year, the show was trimmed to just 13 and it has radically renewed my interest. I’m really looking forward to tonight’s finale in a pair of episodes ominously titled, Chuck versus Sarah and Chuck versus the Goodbye.

The primary drawback of the short season is that it left me with the impression that it was all Intersect hopping as we saw the ultimate weapon in both Morgan and now Sarah’s brains over the course of a few weeks. It could possibly be back in Chuck’s head by the end of tonight’s finale and that may just be too much. Giving it to the rest of the cast has created some fun moments, but they have come at the cost of the show’s own rules regarding who can receive the upload. It was also kind of sad to see that the show’s final arch-villain, Quinn, wasn’t a recognizable face. I do like his backstory as the original spy intended to get the Intersect, but the show has had a great list of guest stars throughout its history and after Timothy Dalton’s involvement the bar had been raised. Hopefully we’ll see some of them back tonight.

It has been great to see Chuck operating without the Intersect this season. Even though I think there’s been too many other people operating with it, the way Chuck has evolved makes for a good story. It brings things back to basics and my hope is that we’ll see more of that as the show wraps up. We’ve been told that the reason Chuck was able to tolerate or even accept the Intersect in the first place was that his brain was special, but this season has really shown why. I still think we’re going to learn that Chuck never lost what he gained from the Intersect and he’ll be able to access it to save the day, but I think I’d prefer if he kept being a hero without it.

As far as where all the pieces will end up when the night is through, I’m of two minds. Part of me wants to see a scorched earth ending like Angel or Blake’s 7, but I know I’d rather see everyone survive. It leaves the possibility to return the world of Chuck which can be a bad thing, but ultimately it’s a world I enjoyed visiting every week. I know I’ll miss it and the last few weeks have reminded me why.