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'Chuck' Season 4, Episode 13 Recap
by Ryan McGee, posted Feb 1st 2011 1:30AM
['Chuck' – 'Chuck Versus the Push Mix']'Chuck' has long had the opposite of the problem that faced 'Lost' during its final few years. Whereas the latter show negotiated an end date and built its last three seasons of narrative with that firm guarantee, 'Chuck' keeps pushing forward unclear when the end might come. The uncertainty surrounding its overall airtime has sometimes produced weird situations in which the show tried to wrap up the series only to find that it had been extended a life line. 'Chuck Versus the Push Mix' was written as a series finale, not a mid-season episode. Not only did it wrap up the season's plot points, but in many ways ended a decades-long chapter in the Bartowski family as well.
Next week may prove to be a big ol' let down as the show tries to continue its story after essentially wrapping everything up tonight. But I come not to bury future episodes but to praise this one, a rip-roaring, crowd-pleasing, everything-good-and-almost-nothing-bad episode that 'Chuck' can pull out on more than a few occasions. This show doesn't always know how to get to the predetermined finish line, but Lord knows it tends to break the tape with its narrative chest with incredible flourishes. In 'Push Mix,' Chuck managed to beat the big bad, reunite his family, and propose to Sarah. Mission freakin' accomplished, dude.
Let's look at these three success stories in terms of their overall importance to both the season and the show as a whole.
1) Beat the Big Bad. Timothy Dalton was not only the best 'Chuck' baddie ever, but quite frankly may have launched himself into consideration for one of the best bads in recent television history. That he could be both incredibly menacing AND credibly have an ice cream parlor aboard his Floating Fortress of Fun is a testament to the levels given to Volkoff by Dalton as well as the writing staff. Whereas past seasons focused on nebulous organizations for Chuck and Company to take down, this season gave a literal face and thus a much-needed focus for our heroes to overcome. And while Chuck often acts like a village idiot on missions, his plan to take Volkoff down shows promise not only for his future as a spy, but also that 'Chuck' can also create compelling spy drama when it puts its mind to it. (Also, NBC, if you're reading this: Please cast Dalton and Linda Hamilton in something, STAT. Their last scene together was one of the show's all-time best.)
2) Reunite his family. So much of 'Chuck' has dealt with the makeshift family that he has created in lieu of his parents being around to raise him. Sure, he had Ellie from the outset, but he also built up a support group that consisted of Morgan, Awesome, Sarah and Casey as well. But a central component of Chuck's spy life consisted of slowly understanding the choices made by his parents that didn't make sense to him as a child, and thus misinformed his own approaches towards being close to others. He couldn't truly contemplate a life with Sarah until finally coming to terms with the love that his parents truly had not only for him, but each other as well. That search also allowed for Mary to be there for her granddaughter's birth, a moment not marked by drama between estranged mother/daughter but simple joy and comfort for both parties. Speaking of simple joy ...
3) Propose to Sarah. Season 4 has put so many obstacles in the way of these two that any type of resolution would have been joyfully accepted. And yes, it's easy to see all the histrionics surrounding the issues for Chuck and Sarah about the institution of marriage as set-up for this final, unheard moment. Still, things got a little 'Lost in Translation,' as they were, along the way. The success of the actual moment doesn't quite make up for the prolonged way in which the show kept finding new ways for these two to act out of character in order to delay the inevitable. But Chuck quietly and confidently proposing to her in a dank hospital hallway, not a romantic French chateau, told you all you needed to know about the type of emotional transition he went through by completing the first two stages listed above.
Complaints about tonight? The biggest comes from the fact that Casey got almost nothing to do besides make peace with his daughter, a character who hopefully can be featured more in the back end of the season in order to give some weight to Casey's reaffirmation to be a father. Having him AWOL for the big mission certainly paid off Sarah's need to sell her flipped nature, but meant that the show lost one of its biggest action assets in an episode chock full o' gunplay and spy wizardry. It's a small complaint, but one worth grunting about for a paragraph or so.
So where does the show go from here? Well, back to less epic episodes, ostensibly. The show blew a lot of budget tonight, not only in terms of creating elaborate laser hallways but also in terms of getting the rights to 'Push It' for Jeffster to rock the maternity ward. Getting more 'Chuck' is nothing to complain about, although hopefully the powers that be in the writers' room won't have to continually keep writing the theoretical end to their spy dramedy and just let the good times roll.
What did you think of 'Chuck Versus the Push Mix'? Happy to see Volkoff taken down, or will you miss Timothy Dalton? Did the proposal exceed your expectations, or underwhelm you? Leave your thoughts below!
'Chuck' airs Mondays at 8PM ET on NBC.
Watch the full episode here:
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