This last episode of Chuck was a lot of fun for everyone; the audience and the actors alike.  Dan and I loved how much fun Chuck and Sarah were having in this episode being pseudo-spies and trying not to let the other one know that they were still acting like a spy and sneaking out to investigate i.e. the scene with Sarah in the bathroom and Chuck climbing along the outside of the train.  Yvonne Strahovski, who plays Sarah, had some fun with that intentionally terrible Texas accent. Dan loved it.

Also, this episode played right into our theory that Team Bartowski will be like a family and that Morgan and Casey will continually team up for the remainder of the season.  Also, Dan and I think that the Chuck and Sarah relationship will help Sarah to gain back some of her humanity that was stripped out of her through her spy training and living with a conman for a father.  Who doesn’t have a favorite song?  Sarah doesn’t because she’s never stopped to enjoy the little things in life like music, film, or comic books.  Dan likes the idea that being with Chuck will bring out a geeky side of Sarah and in a future episode; she will surprise us all when she drops some super geeky knowledge on everyone.  I envision it being one of those scenes where everyone stops what they are doing and stares at her and then goes back to work.  It will be funny!!!

This episode answered a lot of questions on where the story is likely going for the remainder of the season.  However, it left the question of whether or not Ellie & Awesome are gone for good.  We think that they may return as guest stars in a later episode this season or even that Sarah and Chuck may end up doing a mission in Africa and running into them.  This would be brilliant.  It could also finally force Chuck to come clean with his sister about who he really is and what he has been doing for the last 3 years.  This could make for a good season finale or just an awesome episode.

As I have said many times before, I LOVE JEFFSTER.  This episode did not disappoint. John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane” was amazing. Not as good as “Africa,” but amazing nonetheless.  I really hope they continue to do things like this in the future because, as I’ve said, this is at least one of this fan’s favorite things about Chuck. 

Finally, in the words of General Beckman, “It’s about time!!!!”

Smallville:

The last two episodes of Smallville have been excellent.  Last week’s episode was interesting for the future of the Clark and Lois relationship and yet was an excellent twist because they dealt with Clark’s secret getting in the way of the relationship completely differently than previously with the Clark & Lana relationship.  I felt that the writers learned from the debacle that was Clark & Lana and did must better this time.  Lois is in love with the Blur because it makes her feel like she is helping to save the world.  Ironically, she is in love with Clark (as the Blur) for who he truly is, the character we have been following for the last 9 + years, and she does not know it is him and it is causing her to question her relationship with Clark.  I feel like this is going to be an interesting storyline for the next season and two episodes (only two left this season, can’t believe the season is almost over).

Last night’s episode makes it seem like next year’s season will be about restoring Clark/Blur’s reputation because of human kind’s diminishing trust in superheroes due to the events that Zod will cause in the next few episodes.  Clark will be forced to restore human kind’s faith in the Blur/Superman and superheroes in general all of next season as he finally becomes Superman.  Dan and I both feel that he will switch back to the Red & Blue as part of this transition and that the Zod storyline will be resolved this season.  However, I think it will be carried over to the season 10 premiere like they did in previous seasons where they ended the season finale with a giant cliffhanger.  This is how I think they will end this season finale, but Dan thinks it will all be resolved in the finale.

With regard to the Zod baby, I was thinking that the plot was going to go a completely different way.  I thought that Clark was going to keep the baby safe and keep him from Zod.  This was going to be the final straw that led to Zod declaring war on humankind and Clark.  Instead, as everyone saw, Zod unwittingly killed his own progeny and then lied to his fellow Kandorians saying that the human Checkmate organization killed his son.  He used the death as a means to declare war on humankind.  Zod’s destiny is to allow his ego to destroy himself and his followers.  It is his need for followers and to rule them that will ultimately destroy him again as it did the last time when he destroyed Krypton just to prove a point. Each Kryptonian has a destiny, according to the comics, and they are destined to fulfill this destiny despite how they may struggle against that fate.  Clark/Kal El is different/separate from this concept because he is both a Kryptonian and a human because of his upraising as a human on Earth. 

In the comics, he realizes that he is different while living with the Kryptonians on the New Krypton.  This difference makes Superman such a great ambassador to other alien races in the comics.  This is why I love Dan; he knows all these great little things from the comics and educates me every time we talk about them.

Next week will be the return of Martha Kent!!  Dan feels that she is going to say to Clark that she is proud of him and all he has accomplished, but that it is time to take off the gloves and take on the Kandorians.  Dan is also hoping for a Martha Kent and Chloe scene where essentially Martha will say that Chloe needs to show the human race why she originally had such faith in Clark, how she saw him as a symbol of the entire human race and everything we can become.  It will have to be Chloe who will help the Blur fix his reputation and fight the negative public image after Zod’s actions in the final two episodes this season (maybe Lois will be involved with this too if she gets her job back at the Daily Planet).  The scene where Chloe and Tess were locked in Watchtower explains that Chloe has lost her faith in humanity and that seems to be why she has lost her faith in Clark.  Dan and I feel that she has finally turned the corner as far as being frustrated or blaming Clark and has begun to regain her faith in Clark and thus, the human race.

Since Dan and I both have said that we believe that Zod will die in the season finale, the question remains how will Zod die?  Oliver killing Zod is a real possibility, especially after Green Arrow told Zod that if he ever crossed him again, he would change his mind on not killing him.  Dan and I think that Zod may be on the verge of killing Clark and thus Oliver would be justified in killing Zod to save Clark.  Oliver will say something like, “The world needs Clark Kent.”  We think that it needs to be a human that kills Zod because Clark will not intentionally kill Zod.  Think about Doomsday!  Even to the bitter end, he could not intentionally kill Doomsday.  Dan and I threw around the idea that if Zod killed Chloe (remember our earlier theory that she may die in the finale) and Oliver may kill Zod because of this.  I argued that this would be less justified for Oliver because if he kills Zod because of Chloe’s death, then it is revenge and that would not be a justified reason.  Despite the fact that Clark gave Zod a second chance by saving his life by giving him his blood and Zod has wasted that second chance, neither of us can see Clark killing Zod.

We shall see how the huge fight at the finale goes.  Rumor has it that Michael Shanks makes a return as Hawkman.  Awesome!!!

Fringe:

I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this last week’s episode with the detective noir theme.  I usually do not like these gimmicky episodes, but this one was surprisingly well done (well except Olivia).  What was interesting about this episode was that it was told from the Walter’s perspective on everyone in his life and how he sees them and sees the world.  The episode was random because it was created from Walter’s head and he was stoned off his rocker.  Olivia (Anna Torv) was terrible in the noir setting, showing her lack of acting range.   She is just not a good actress! Dan felt that this episode was written as it was because the storyline needed a show where Peter was gone for a time, but Olivia is so terrible that they could not do an episode without Joshua Jackson (Peter).  Dan and I can’t think of another show that we have ever seen that is as successful as Fringe where so many fans hate one of the main characters/actress.  Dan and I are not alone in our distaste for the quality of acting by this leading lady.  I imagine many of you agree with us on this matter as well.

Going back two episodes to where Peter figured out who he was and where he came from, Dan loved the fact that the writers did not make Peter look stupid, but rather brilliant to be able to piece it all together and realize he was from the other side on his own.  Peter reacted exactly like we would expect his character to react, by getting pissed off and disappearing.  We both feel that he will return after next week’s episode where he works a Fringe case by himself and realizes that he can do it on his own, but it is better when he is working as part of his team with Walter and Olivia.  It will be a long time before things get back to where they were two episodes ago before he knew, but I think that Peter and Walter will eventually get back to a good relationship and Olivia and Peter may even get together romantically...though they need to work on building this relationship instead of just forcing it on the characters.  It needs to feel organic, not rushed.

FlashForward:

I LOVE JANICE!!!  I love that she is actually a double agent working for the CIA.  This allows me to root for her again and proves my previous theory/assessment that Janice and Demetri are the best developed characters on the show.  But will she really kill Mark to keep her cover?  I don’t think so; she’ll have to find a way to delay killing him until she can get out of it.

This last episode needed more Demetri. I was especially surprised to not see Demetri after they saved him last episode. Where was he; off recuperating?  I guess I just missed the second best character on the show.

This episode was very much like a LOST episode with this being a Janice centric flashback episode exactly like LOST is famous for doing.  This change in storytelling is going to save FlashForward.  Dan and I have been harping on the idea that this show needed to be more character centric and these flashback episodes allow for greater character development than a purely linear timeline.  Next week’s episode will be a Simon centric flashback episode where we will learn about his past and his relationship with his sister.  I anticipate it will be a great episode.

Gaius Baltar returns, sort of.  The addition of James Callis as Gabriel McDow was perfect for the storyline, which is another plot device that will give us insight into Olivia’s back-story.  Dan and I anticipate flashback episodes for each main character and feel that a Simco episode needs to happen soon to do some character repair because many fans hate this character and feel he’s expendable.  Each week, I’m liking this show more and more and can only hope that ABC will give it a second chance second season. 

Well that is all I have for this week.  Enjoy the week of TV and in the words of General Beckman, “It’s about time!!!”