MovieChat Forums > Chuck (2007) Discussion > Schizophrenic Season 4

Schizophrenic Season 4

posted 9 years ago by indyjim101
4 replies | jump to latest

Just finished watching the entire series of Chuck on Netflix. I actually had been watching it off and on for the past year and a half. I really enjoyed the fist two seasons and enjoyed most of the show--all five seasons had some great TV. But I had a really hard time making it through the first third or so of Season 4--then loved the rest of it. Wanted to see if anyone else felt the same way.
Once Timothy Dalton showed up (Episode 8 or 9, IIRC) the season really started to take off. But up till then, it seemed to really be searching for direction. I didn't care about Chuck finding his mother (especially since we'd never seen her--and unlike the great guest star Scott Bakula, once she appeared, I didn't think she added that much to the show) plus the episodes seemed disjointed and unrelated. And I hated that after finally showing Ellie figure out what Chuck had been up to for three years, they decided to rehash the whole "Chuck keeping his spy life a secret from Ellie" subplot. Redoing that plot really annoyed me since they had resolved that in the previous season--then decided to do it again.
Even once the whole Timothy Dalton arc was done, I really enjoyed the remainder of the season. In retrospect the whole "Alexi Volkoff--Agent X--Norseman" plot was a bit ridiculous, but it was entertaining and that's what I want out of my TV shows. But getting to the enjoyable parts of the season was a slog through some episodes that I found boring and a retread of things we'd seen before.
So I call Season 4 Schizophrenic because I thought it had a lackluster first third, a great middle act, and an entertaining ending. Anyone agree or disagree? If you feel I'm way off base, let me know and enlighten me!

[–] SuperCore 9 years ago

I remember when I originally watched Season 4 saying, "Wow, Chuck (the show) has really lost it's mission."

Chuck's mom being a spy is overkill. Who is Chuck's life isn't a spy at this point? Do we really need another one?

They started talking about the Intersect in front of everyone. Yelling for Chuck to flash, which was something they were not supposed to do for years...suddenly no need to worry about it anymore.

I agree Ellie learning of Chuck's double life then he has to go back and do it all over again? When she was so valuable as a team member in the know? Just a terrible idea.

And I hated the Vivian arc. When they meet her she doesn't have an evil bone in her body. And after some off camera exposition from Ray Wise (that devil) she's ready to destroy Chuck and his happiness, not to mention kill Sarah?

I also hate the disappearance of the Orange Orange, yet the door to Castle looks like it's in the same place even though they are always going through the BuyMore. Just inconsistent.

Timothy Dalton really carried this season a lot. Linda Hamilton was very weak acting wise. You could tell that she hadn't stretched her legs in a while.

"They have a grill, it's this grill. Now you have it...it's called America."

[–] indyjim101 9 years ago

Agree with everything you said...even though I didn't hate the Vivian arc, it was handled terribly. Better writing could have saved it. Timothy Dalton saved the season--but I still maintain that the last two-thirds of the season was head and shoulders above the terrible first third.
Anyone else care to chime in and agree/disagree?

[–] moderngamenewb 9 years ago

Some of the second third I liked (especially the episode where Volkoff had to recover the part of the Norsman device after getting out of jail to help Chuck and the gang). I also loved Chuck vs Phase Three, as it shows how much Sarah cares about Chuck. I agree that the Vivian storyline was weak. I also thought the finale was weak as well, but was saved by the wedding of Chuck and Sarah, and Richard Burgi's appearance as Decker. The first third of the season was great though, especially the first two appearances by Dalton. The scene in the thanksgiving episode where he is doing Charades, is so funny and creepy at the exact same time.

[–] indyjim101 9 years ago

As I said in my original post, once Dalton showed up, the season took off and markedly improved. But up until that point, it really seemed to lack any sense of direction. Worse, I found it boring. But it seems that is not a universal opinion, so I may have missed something...