Chuck 4.2 Review (spoilers)

Before I get into talking about my favorite television show, let's take a cold, hard, dose of reality, shall we?  The odds of Chuck continuing beyond this season are very, very slim; there aren't many shows currently on network television that get lower ratings than Chuck.  So consider every episode we get to be something of a final countdown, although I think the show is in a good place and on a good overall storyline to come to a satisfying conclusion.

The only real solution I could see is NBC moving the show to Friday nights with the hope that its very loyal fan base follows.  On Friday nights, Chuck gets god like numbers.  But I don't know if a) NBC would even bother with that (although there's going to be an opening soon, I believe) and b) if all of Chuck's 6 million-ish viewers would make the move.  Not all of them would have to, of course, given the ratings wasteland that is Friday nights.

Anyway, just something to keep in mind as we go through the season.  As much as I loved the second season finale (perhaps one of my favorite episodes of Chuck ever), I really, really hope Schwartz and Fedak don't throw caution to the wind again and give us a cliffhanger.

Am I Watching the Wrong Josh Schwartz Show?

Truly, I was expecting at least one Gossip Girl joke in an episode of Chuck that spent so much time at runway shows.  If any happened, I missed them, and if they didn't, I'm a little disappointed;  The OC joke was one of the best in Chuck's brief history.

As a self contained episode, there isn't much to say.  I get a little worried when the show stretches the limits of disbelief like, for example, with the "tranq gloves."  While I know Chuck live in an exaggerated world, it works best when that exaggeration is played for laughs.  And perhaps that was the intention of the "tranq gloves," when Chuck gets into his fight with Lou Ferrigno, but it fell flat for me.

And while I appreciated the tension created by Sarah and Chuck facing off against a fashion model/spy, Karolina Kurkova isn't much of an actress, and there were moments when that was painfully obvious.  It might not have been as noticeable on other shows, but the main cast always brings the acting thunder.

Window Dressing

None of the above really mattered, aside from the banter between Chuck and Sarah and what was, I believe, their first official mission together (sans Casey) since becoming a couple (yes, I know, there was that one last season with the older spy couple, but they were still on shaky ground then).  I said it before and I'll say it again, the chemistry between these two is so great that even the weakest of storylines is enjoyable.  You can put them into any situation and gold will come out of it.

Chuck and Sarah weren't the couple of the hour, of course: that honor went to Jeff and Lester.  I had wondered how they were going to bring those two back and this was a decent was to do it.  I'm not sure how they're going to handle the fact that they're exposing so many civilians to a CIA base, though.  Granted, they're fairly dumb civilians, but someone's going to realize something is up.  I do hate to see Beckman go, but hopefully she'll stay in the area.

The Search For Mom

If it hadn't been for the preview we got at the end of last week's episode, I'd probably be really mad about the "hiding being an agent from Ellie" bit.  The fact that I do know that it will end, though, has me rather loving it.  Why?  Because it seems like the conversation that will finally get Chuck to reveal the truth to Ellie will actually be instigated by her.

This is actually a pretty wonderful way to tackle the story, particularly when paralleled with Chuck finding their dad.  The simple fact that Chuck did find their father is only going to give fuel to Ellie's fire, but at the same time she has to know that Chuck only found their dad because he was a spy, and that only a spy could find their mom.  It's a great dilemma to place Ellie in, that she wants to keep her family safe, yet still wants her mom back as she's about to become a mother herself.

I Love It When Chuck Looks Like A Bad Ass

Next week looks like it's going to be a good one.  Obviously, it's going to be cool to see someone come after Chuck for taking them down.  But I also like the way they're playing the Chuck/Sarah situation.  It's not entirely serious, nor is it meant to be.  The preview makes it look like Chuck had no intention of ending up on a knee with a ring in his hand, yet, of course, he finds himself in that situation.  It's fun to watch.  After all, Chuck has spent most of his life being Joe Average, a guy who figured he'd end up getting married and having kids some day.  Sarah, on the other hand...not so much.  As long as they continue to play this particular issue for laughs (albeit awkward ones), I'm on board.  I just hope they don't amp it up too quickly.

All in all a decent episode of Chuck, if not a great one.  I have a feeling next week will be the first "that was fantastic" episode of this short season.

Album Review: Weezer, "Hurley"

Part of the problem with the albums Weezer has released since they reformed is how easy it is to dismiss them.  They lack substance.  I'm firmly of the belief that this is because four of those five albums (I'm not counting Hurley in any of this) weren't really full records.  Each contained a few really good songs surrounded by what can only be referred to as filler.  Compare to that to the Blue Album, for example.  There's exactly one song on Weezer's debut that I'm not fond of ("Holiday," for those wondering) which means that 90% of the record is, to me, great.  That's a pretty high bar, I grant you, but Weezer hasn't even come close to that.
(Yes, I said four of the five albums.  I will go to my grave preaching the greatness of Maladroit, a rawk masterpiece that sold almost no copies, but was a complete record in the same way that the Blue Album and Pinkerton were.)

So how does Hurley stack up?  Well, that's a complicated answer.

As a whole, Hurley is a much better album than the majority of what Weezer has released in the last few years, just due to the simple fact that it contains a higher number of good songs.  That said, it's not at the level of the Blue Album, Pinkerton, or Maladroit because it's not a work unto itself.  It's actually something of a mash-up.

I'm a long time R.E.M. fan.  My brother introduced them to me when I was a kid and I was hooked.  But in later years their music didn't do it for me.  Not unlike Weezer, their music started feeling less and less substantial.  I think there might be a couple albums that I own that I only listed to once or twice.

But then they released New Adventures In Hi-Fi.  I loved that album.  What was really curious about it, though, was how each song seemed very different, and how each one seemed like a B-side from an early record.  You could actually go through the entire record and say "that should be on Document, that should be Green," and so on.  The album was great, but it was completely scatterbrained.

Kind of like Hurley.

Before I get into specifics, I'd also like to mention that those waiting for a return to the old days of Weezer have more than just Rivers' songwriting to fight, they have Weezer's entire recording process.  Blame it on the loss of Matt Sharp if you want, but Weezer doesn't have the same sound that it had and probably never will.  There's less crunchy bass, less quirky vocals, and more production.  Even this album, with it's "raw" production is still miles apart from their debut.  That is a ship that sailed away a long time ago and will never return.

Now, on to the tracks.

"Memories" -- I have no idea what to do with this song.  I like it well enough, but that chorus is pushing the limits of Weezer-style cheese.  This feels like it would fit in nicely on the Green album or maybe Make Believe, two albums I believe could have been merged to make a single, stronger record.  I have to wonder if the strings in the very beginning are a nod towards the fact that the bass line at the start of the song sounds like an Arcade Fire song.

"Ruling Me" -- Another track that would have fit nicely on my imaginary Green Believe record, I actually of dig this track.  Lyrically, it's a got a bit of that old Rivers charm to it, like "my ocular nerve went pop zoom."  That's a disturbingly sweet way to describe first meeting someone.

"Trainwrecks" -- Probably lyrically as close to Pinkerton as we've gotten on this album, kind of picking up where "Good Life" left off.  Musically, I think this one might actually fit on Red Raditude (yes, I believe those two albums should be combined into one, too).

"Unspoken" -- And then it hit!  Perhaps of all the tracks on Hurley, this feels the most like something that could have been written during Weezer's early days.  It could have been a B-side from the Blue Album that failed to make it on to Pinkerton.  There's a nice angstiness to Rivers' voice here and the song itself has some nice changes.  The big thunder that comes in towards the end puts me more in a mind of Pinkerton than the Blue Album, but that's not a bad thing.  The production is a great example of one of the positive effects of Weezer's evolution.

"Where's My Sex" -- Almost, but not quite.  As the story goes, Rivers' kid calls "socks" "sex" and thus was born this song.  There are moments when the swapping of words almost works in a crazy abstract way, but those are few and far between and mostly it just comes off as bad.  The music is actually pretty catchy, but then it has this weird, out of left field middle section that's completely jarring.  Rivers also goes a little crazy with his high pitched, desperate singing voice in this one.  I'd probably place it on Red Raditude, but I don't know that it would make the cut.

"Run Away" -- And so, Ryan Adams comes in to co-write one of the better tracks on this record.  This one might upset my theory of each song sounding like a B-side from another album, but I'm okay with that.  It's a nice song, and I think perhaps "nice" is the best way to describe it.

"Hang On" -- This might be my favorite song on the record at the moment.  The inclusion of the mandolin is nice and it's something I wish WeezerWeezer lyrics going on here.  Really, this song and "Run Away" are a nice combo, and would be great as a build off point for Weezer's future work.

"Smart Girls" -- No.  Just...just...no.

"Brave New World" -- I'm always a fan of rocking riffs, and the intro for this song is a good one.  It loses steam in the chorus, though, which sounds a lot like the "Age of Aquarius."  I'd place it on Red Raditude, although it might have fit on Maladroit, if the guitar sound was more epic.

"Time Flies" -- I appreciate the effort, Weezer.  That's not to say I think this is a bad song.  It's actually kind of catchy.  But I loathe the production.  Why does it sound like everything was maxed out?  This actually might have been a better track had it just been Rivers and co-writer Mac Davis and a couple of guitars, recorded simply.

BONUS TRACKS

"All My Friends Are Insects" -- I love this song.  I love everything about this song.  I don't watch "Yo Gaba Gaba!" so I don't know if it's actually been on the show (it was written by Adam Deibert, who also writes music for that show), but I love this version.  I love the crazy changes, I love the crazy guitar solo, and I love the crazy lyrics.  Did I mention that I love this song?

"Viva La Vida" -- While I appreciate the humor and novelty in Weezer covering a Coldplay song, this really isn't much of a cover.  There's nothing about it that makes it a Weezer song.  That's the beauty of a good cover: it should still be recognizable, but it should have the covering band's stamp on it.  This does not.

"I Want To Be Something" -- I wish this track were on the standard addition and I'm confused as to why it isn't.  Honestly, though, all of Weezer's recent releases have featured bonus tracks that are better than the standard ones.  This one definitely puts me in a mind of Pinkerton, and not just because Pinkerton actually had an acoustic song on it.  Even the lyrics make me think of Pinkerton.


"Represent (Rocked Out Mix)" -- I didn't realize there was a different mix of this song.  Anyway, I liked the World Cup.  I enjoy those few weeks.  This song is what it is.  Really, this is the perfect bonus track, as it's not remotely essential.

So where does Hurley stand when it's all said and done?  I'm not entirely sure yet.  A good album, I think, with glimpses of potential for a more focused sound from Weezer.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go put together my Green Believe and Red Raditude playlists.

Chuck 4.1 Review (spoilers)

"Why would she?"

I have become convinced that creators of shows should either a) write all the episodes (ala Aaron Sorkin) or b) not write any episodes.  The initial basis for this opinion came from Battlestar Galactica, a show with a staff full of great writers, many of whom, I have to imagine, had to have found fault with creator Ron Moore's script for the series finale.  Working under that assumption, then, it's an easy trip to figure that none of said great writers said anything to Moore about the awfulness of what he'd written or, if they did, they were shot down, as Moore was one of their bosses, after all.

I like to think that the writing room on a TV show is less dictatorial than that, so I choose to think that the great writers on the staff simply choose not to say anything at all, for fear of insulting the guy who pays them.

This leads me to last night's season premier of Chuck, written by co-creator Chris Fedak and featuring the second most painful contrivance in Chuck history.

On two separate occasions in last night's episode, Chuck states that he isn't telling Sarah about his quest for his mother because she would try to stop him.

This would be the same Sarah that spent much of three years being a spy with him, and at least six weeks of last season embracing his role as a spy.  This is the same Sarah that involves him in dangerous activities for things that mean much less to Chuck than his family.  This is the same Sarah who loves Chuck and is no longer afraid to say it.

So, in the writers' room, when that script was read and Chuck said (for the first of two times) that Sarah would try to stop him, the question someone (ANYONE) would have asked is: "Why would she?"

Because she wouldn't.  No, she would help him.  There wouldn't even be hesitation on her part.  In fact, the only way to prevent Sarah from jumping right in to help would be by, say, manufacturing a horrible excuse that was out of character for pretty much everyone.

Now, sure, you could chalk it up to Chuck being stupid when he made such an assumption about Sarah.  And while that's really flimsy in and of itself, it's also taken off the table when Sarah actually agrees with Chuck that she would have tried to stop him.

Again, "Why would she?"

Because it served the plot.  And I hate inorganic elements that are forced into a story for the sake of servicing plot.  It's always obvious and it's always jarring and it makes the show seem bad and, even worse, the writers either willfully ignorant or of the belief that their audience is stupid.

Deja Vu

Name the Chuck premiere: Chuck is out of the spy game, the team is broken up, and Chuck and Morgan no longer work at the Buy More.  But, by the end of the episode, Chuck is back in, the team is back together, and Chuck and Morgan are back to work at the Buy More.

Last night's episode?  No, that was the season three premiere.  And, as I said last season, it is a Josh Schwartz trope, something he began with The OC.  Each premiere becomes a throwaway episode because it establishes a status quo that it completely flips by the end of the episode, when it could have just started off that way.  And while this season's premiere didn't include the horror that was the train station scene played over and over again, it still felt like a wasted opportunity to do more.

For a show that is surely on its last 13 episodes, treading water for an episode really hurts.  Even worse, I can't imagine last night's frantic pace did much in the way of attracting new viewers, something even more painful considering how much press the show following Chuck got.

Not All Bad

I know it seems like I'm being harsh, but I really care about this show and I want it to be around for a long time.  I also tend to see the flaws in it because they stick out like a sore thumb.  They stick out like a sore thumb because they're surrounded by gold (how about that for mixing similes).  Even the worst episode of Chuck is still better than almost everything else on television.

What did I love?  I loved the scenes in Moscow.  Cliche as it might have been, everything from Chuck's "death" on was great.  Sarah's reaction was great.  Casey's reaction was great.  Chuck being a bad ass is always great.  Even better, was Casey's reaction when they knew Chuck was alive, the way he was almost bragging about Chuck's bad assery.  That was all great.

The second sexting scene.  By my count, there were four, which was probably one too many.  The initial introduction of the idea was funny, because Chuck and Morgan are almost always funny together.  The second time it comes up -- this time between Chuck and Sarah -- was comedy gold.  The third time, when Sarah decides to snap some pics, was probably more fanservice than anything else.  The last time, in Moscow, was a bit much, mostly because it went on for so long.  It was mildly amusing at first, but seemed forced as it went on.  Also, just how talented are Sarah's toes?  And what are the odds an iPhone gets reception in that place?

Chuck and Sarah were great.  While I loved the "will they/won't they" dymaic of the first two seasons (and loathed in in the third season), it was clear from the last six episodes of last season that they can really work as a couple.  Their relationship actually adds to the show without taking anything away.  It's a testament to the characters that the show hasn't lost anything with the end of that romantic tension, and a testament to the show that it doesn't need that to survive.

Linda Hamilton is going to be great as Chuck's, particularly since we really don't know which end of the spy spectrum she's going to fall on.  If nothing else, we know she's not afraid to kill people, but then again, neither is Sarah.  It sets up a nice dynamic, as Chuck's dad was a computer nerd who married a spy, and Chuck is a computer nerd who's dating one.  I can't imagine that Chuck's reunion with his mom is going to be nearly as happy as the one with his father was.

The new Buy More is fantastic, even without the Buy Morons, although I'm looking forward to seeing how they fit in.  Only good things can come from having more General Beckman on the show and her scenes with Chuck were great.  I'm looking forward to more of that.

The Best For Last

This will sound bad, but the best part of last night's premiere was the ending...or what came after the ending, rather.  The preview for this season was fantastic and hinted at what appeared to be some great stories.  I am thrilled that Chuck is going to tell Ellie what's going on.  I can understand why he didn't tell her in this episode, but I was going to be really annoyed if we returned to Chuck lying to his sister again.  And, as I mentioned, Chuck's mom doesn't seem to be so nice.

So, yeah, not great, but good enough for now, particularly since it looks like it's only going to get better.

Liftoff!

The Kickstarter page to raise funds to publish my book, 

"I Pray Hardest When I'm Being Shot At" 

is LIVE!