See? I promised yesterday that I would try to be more proactive on writing about the shows I want to watch. And for today, at least, I’m going to keep this promise. Last night was the second episode of the season for Chuck. And I barely had time to get done with fixing dinner before the show was on, so I think I missed the first minute or so. But that didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the episode.
BTW, 2 lbs of ground sirloin, 1 packet of ranch dressing, 12 crushed saltine crackers, 2 eggs, and 1 tablespoon of minced garlic make damned good hamburger patties for grilling. But that’s another story.
Anyway, on to the episode. Chuck is having some relationship issues with Sarah. He’s nervous about the fact that Sarah hasn’t unpacked after being together for 8 months. It makes him feel like Sarah is not as committed to the relationship as he is. And then he becomes even more neurotic after talking to Morgan, who warns him that every relationship has an Achilles Heel. That is, some issue that will ultimately doom the relationship.
In the meantime, Morgan has been noticing that the Buy More seems ‘off’. It’s too perfect, to the point where people will eventually notice that something is not right. Morgan goes to General Beckman to discuss this, and ultimately goes on a ‘recruitment drive’ to fix the problem.
The big mission of the week is to steal smart-bullets from a beautiful ‘super model’, Sophia. She’s also a weapons smuggler who uses her good looks and position to travel the world meeting with the rich and powerful using her model-lifestyle to disguise her true activities. Chuck and Sarah are sent to the fashion show to steal her latest item, ‘smart bullets’.
Chuck often lives or dies on its use of guest stars. And Karolina Kurkova did fairly well with the role they gave her. She was surprisingly menacing in the role. Lou Ferigno was in it too, but he had much less importance and impact to the show.
So Chuck gets himself in the dog house early in the episode, which distracts the couple who seem to treat the job as something simple. However, Sophia is one step ahead of the group the whole time. She immediately sees through Chuck’s theft-attempt; and plants a bomb in her purse and lets them go for it Sarah disarms it, and the two break into her hotel suite later to steal the bullets. However, things don’t go well there either. Sophia catches them (while naked); and while the two do manage to escape with the bullets back in LA they learn that she stayed one step ahead of them. Though they go the actual bullets…the important part of the tech was in the chips which had been replaced with fakes.
The two eventually manage to determine that the chips are likely in Sophia’s dress; and go back to the fashion show to get it. This culminates in a big fight scene between Sophia and Sarah; while Chuck gets surrounded by bad guys (including a very unhappy Lou). The fight is very brutal, and ends up going quite public on the catwalk before Sarah manages to take Sophia down in a fairly close fight. The two return home victorious and a bunch of relationship related things happen. Chuck and Sarah make up. Sarah begins to unpack because ‘Chuck is her home’. The old Buy More crew returns (just in time to protect Chuck’s cover). Awesome and Elly agree to help each other out. And Casey contacts his daughter for the first time in a long time. Oh, and Morgan is now manager of the Buy More.
Like the premier, the episode was good, but not great. The ending was very ‘Chuck like’ with a lot of great character moments that really help sell the characters and humanize them. Sophia was an OK villain, one who was always a step ahead and quite the bull fighter, but we really didn’t get to see much of her. And at the end, we do learn of Chuck and Sarah’s Achilles Heel…when Chuck mentions children Sarah’s eyes bug out completely and the episode ends.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Fringe Season 2
As I think I mentioned in my review of the Season 3 premier, last season I made a concerted effort to watch the show when it aired (or more specifically, the night after it aired on Hulu). This didn’t survive past the third episode. And in fact the only episodes I watched of the second season was the first 3 and the last 2. As such I really didn’t know where things were going, other than the fact that the season finale really threw me for a loop by throwing the alternate Universe side of the story front and center. Threw me for a loop in a good way, that is.
So I was pretty psyched for Season 3. I tried to get a hold of the Season 2 disks as soon as I could. I wanted to finish Season 2 before the premier, just so I’d be caught up. However, the disks did not arrive until the day of the premier. But maybe this was a good thing. Because I went into Season 3 knowing that the show really stepped up to the plate and was willing to go somewhere instead of keeping everything hidden and mysterious.
In any case, I really didn’t know too much about Season 2. I’d read a few reviews and articles and knew that the show started off strong, lost most of its steam during the middle, and came back for a strong finish. In hindsight, I’m not entirely sure I agree. The show remained pretty compelling while I watched it from start to finish. But, the show did very much loose its focus in the middle with a bunch of stand-alone episodes that really added nothing to the mythology of the show. For a serialized show, that’s less of a problem watched back to back but it can be a major pain when watching it on the air.
Season 2 did, however, suffer from a major issue that Season 1 mostly avoided. Fringe is a sci-fi show with the trappings of a police-procedural show. However, Fringe has always had a larger mythology in which everything had context. What made the first season so inspired was that most of the Fringe investigations were eventually showed to tie into the mythology as a whole. Each pattern event was related to people and individuals using advanced technology as part a world-wide plot. And each episode served to peel backs some of the people behind it, and their motivations. Though there were some true stand-alone episodes in there too, those were few and far between.
Season 2, however, still had the group investigating strange and gross things. But in a lot of cases, they were ‘just’ strange and gross and rarely had any additional meaning to them. While most of them were fine to watch, they really didn’t add anything to the show. Another thing that was unfortunately missing was some of the groups from the first season. While the new villains, the shapeshifters, were interesting they only showed up occasionally. And honestly they weren’t used all that effectively. Though I will admit that I liked their leader, Newton, who had quite a lot of charisma for as little as we saw him.
Once the truth about Peter came out, the writers really started playing with the format of the show and experimented with things. For the most part that worked pretty well, with the notable exception of the ‘musical’ episode…if there is one show where a musical episode doesn’t work it is this one. And, of course, the two-part season finally really ended the season with a bang.
Overall, Fringe Season 2 suffered only from a minor sophomore slump which lasted a mercifully short period of time. And unlike Chuck Season 3…Fringe Season 3 starts with a bang, not with a whimper. So, now I think I’m going to go back and re-watch the first season as well and maybe compare the two a bit more closely. I’m looking forward to it.
So I was pretty psyched for Season 3. I tried to get a hold of the Season 2 disks as soon as I could. I wanted to finish Season 2 before the premier, just so I’d be caught up. However, the disks did not arrive until the day of the premier. But maybe this was a good thing. Because I went into Season 3 knowing that the show really stepped up to the plate and was willing to go somewhere instead of keeping everything hidden and mysterious.
In any case, I really didn’t know too much about Season 2. I’d read a few reviews and articles and knew that the show started off strong, lost most of its steam during the middle, and came back for a strong finish. In hindsight, I’m not entirely sure I agree. The show remained pretty compelling while I watched it from start to finish. But, the show did very much loose its focus in the middle with a bunch of stand-alone episodes that really added nothing to the mythology of the show. For a serialized show, that’s less of a problem watched back to back but it can be a major pain when watching it on the air.
Season 2 did, however, suffer from a major issue that Season 1 mostly avoided. Fringe is a sci-fi show with the trappings of a police-procedural show. However, Fringe has always had a larger mythology in which everything had context. What made the first season so inspired was that most of the Fringe investigations were eventually showed to tie into the mythology as a whole. Each pattern event was related to people and individuals using advanced technology as part a world-wide plot. And each episode served to peel backs some of the people behind it, and their motivations. Though there were some true stand-alone episodes in there too, those were few and far between.
Season 2, however, still had the group investigating strange and gross things. But in a lot of cases, they were ‘just’ strange and gross and rarely had any additional meaning to them. While most of them were fine to watch, they really didn’t add anything to the show. Another thing that was unfortunately missing was some of the groups from the first season. While the new villains, the shapeshifters, were interesting they only showed up occasionally. And honestly they weren’t used all that effectively. Though I will admit that I liked their leader, Newton, who had quite a lot of charisma for as little as we saw him.
Once the truth about Peter came out, the writers really started playing with the format of the show and experimented with things. For the most part that worked pretty well, with the notable exception of the ‘musical’ episode…if there is one show where a musical episode doesn’t work it is this one. And, of course, the two-part season finally really ended the season with a bang.
Overall, Fringe Season 2 suffered only from a minor sophomore slump which lasted a mercifully short period of time. And unlike Chuck Season 3…Fringe Season 3 starts with a bang, not with a whimper. So, now I think I’m going to go back and re-watch the first season as well and maybe compare the two a bit more closely. I’m looking forward to it.
Civilization 5 is out!
OK, I’ve had a lot of stuff to post that I’ve had for a while. But this will pretty much catch me up. As everyone who reads this blog knows (i.e. nobody lol), I went and purchased RUSE. I fully intended to finish the single player game there first before starting Civ 5. But this weekend I decided to try Civ 5 out and quickly got sucked in. In fact, I didn’t play RUSE at all this weekend and am no farther along than I had been before.
Civilization 5 is the latest installment in a tent-pole PC franchise. And it’s a doozy. Beautiful graphics and presentation, a very slick interface, and a compelling gameplay quickly make this version of the game really stand out. It’s not perfect by any means, and I’ve read some people who have complained about the game simplifying certain aspects of the game too much. But so far I’m digging it and the changes.
I LOVE the new hex-grid layout (they should have done this a LONG time ago). I like the introduction of city-states (an inspired, if ultimately BADLY flawed concept). The game is more user-friendly and brilliantly designed. And combat, once a rather annoying part of the series, becomes much more interesting with the removal of army-stacks and the emphasis on ranged combat and positioning. I especially love how the new game really makes holding defensible terrain important; enough so that it can really affect city location.
The game does suffer from some problems. I think that the pacing options are a little ‘off’. Standard IMO seems just a bit slow; while fast is too fast. I think there needs to be an intermediate option there somewhere. I think the tech tree seems a little thin too, though that might just be my memory thinking the older trees were more complex. Also, city states, while a great idea, really seem to suck. City States are hard and expensive to keep happy for long periods of time; and don’t seem to give you a huge advantage either. In fact, the game really seems to want to goad you into just conquering them outright.
Another problem is that the game has some performance issues (especially on large maps). I love large-maps, but after a while things really do slow down. Hopefully they’ll fix that with a patch. I also experienced a few crashes too. My father bought the game, and he’s having major problems playing it in Direct X 10 (even though he has a compatible card). That tells me there are some bugs to work out still.
And while some of the game systems (culture, religion) are much simplified, I don’t think it’s in a particularly bad way. Happiness, however, is the reverse…the generalized nature of happiness in the game is something I don’t like. Either your whole civilization is unhappy, or happy; there is no in between. And that is a bad thing. It’s not a deal breaker, certainly, but it is an example of a simplified game system being a little TOO simplified. And I think they completely took out pollution too, which is also a bad thing.
On the plus side, I believe that Civ 5 is designed to be just as (if not more) mod-friendly than past versions. Apparently there are going to be mod tools that will be released fairly soon, though they didn’t ship with the game unfortunately I’ll probably look at that whenever they get released.
So overall the game great and another win for Firaxis. And I’m looking forward to playing Civ 5 a lot over the next few months.
Civilization 5 is the latest installment in a tent-pole PC franchise. And it’s a doozy. Beautiful graphics and presentation, a very slick interface, and a compelling gameplay quickly make this version of the game really stand out. It’s not perfect by any means, and I’ve read some people who have complained about the game simplifying certain aspects of the game too much. But so far I’m digging it and the changes.
I LOVE the new hex-grid layout (they should have done this a LONG time ago). I like the introduction of city-states (an inspired, if ultimately BADLY flawed concept). The game is more user-friendly and brilliantly designed. And combat, once a rather annoying part of the series, becomes much more interesting with the removal of army-stacks and the emphasis on ranged combat and positioning. I especially love how the new game really makes holding defensible terrain important; enough so that it can really affect city location.
The game does suffer from some problems. I think that the pacing options are a little ‘off’. Standard IMO seems just a bit slow; while fast is too fast. I think there needs to be an intermediate option there somewhere. I think the tech tree seems a little thin too, though that might just be my memory thinking the older trees were more complex. Also, city states, while a great idea, really seem to suck. City States are hard and expensive to keep happy for long periods of time; and don’t seem to give you a huge advantage either. In fact, the game really seems to want to goad you into just conquering them outright.
Another problem is that the game has some performance issues (especially on large maps). I love large-maps, but after a while things really do slow down. Hopefully they’ll fix that with a patch. I also experienced a few crashes too. My father bought the game, and he’s having major problems playing it in Direct X 10 (even though he has a compatible card). That tells me there are some bugs to work out still.
And while some of the game systems (culture, religion) are much simplified, I don’t think it’s in a particularly bad way. Happiness, however, is the reverse…the generalized nature of happiness in the game is something I don’t like. Either your whole civilization is unhappy, or happy; there is no in between. And that is a bad thing. It’s not a deal breaker, certainly, but it is an example of a simplified game system being a little TOO simplified. And I think they completely took out pollution too, which is also a bad thing.
On the plus side, I believe that Civ 5 is designed to be just as (if not more) mod-friendly than past versions. Apparently there are going to be mod tools that will be released fairly soon, though they didn’t ship with the game unfortunately I’ll probably look at that whenever they get released.
So overall the game great and another win for Firaxis. And I’m looking forward to playing Civ 5 a lot over the next few months.
Fringe (8/23) Season 3 Premier
Fringe is one of those TV shows that I really like, but rarely watch. Everyone has those shows, for whatever reason, and Fringe is mine. I meant to watch the first season when it came out, but only caught 1 or 2 episodes. So my first real experience with the show was when the first season came out on Blu-Ray. That is both a blessing and a curse. Serialized shows like Fringe work MUCH better on disk than watched when aired. But, that does not help its ratings…which if I’m not mistaken were relatively mediocre.
For Season 2, I fully intended on watching it every week. Fringe was available on Hulu so while I couldn’t really watch it live I could watch it there the next day (I don’t generally torrent TV shows). But, for reasons I can’t remember I watched the first 2-3 episodes; then missed a couple and never really got back to it. And when I did finally get back to it, it was during the season finale which blew my mind but really left me wondering…wtf was going on here?
Season 3 starts in a manner very similar structurally to Season 2. It’s designed to introduce its premise to new viewers; and keeps the show’s tradition of including very compelling secondary characters (the cab driver was awesome). As a premier this works very well and it certainly helped me transition and keep up with things. Ironically, Fringe’s premise is inherently more complex and easier to misunderstand that, say Chuck’s, but this episode handles the re-introduction quite elegantly.
As a show about parallel universes, Fringe really succeeds is making the alternate universe very compelling. It’s not too fantastical—it’s similar enough to be recognizable and relatable, while at the same time being different enough to make it interesting. And the season premier is set almost entirely in the alternate-universe. So that helps quite a bit.
So, Season 3 starts with the Fringe-Team making an expedition to the alternate-universe to ‘rescue’ Peter. Peter had discovered that he was actually from the alternate-universe. Walter had, in fact, kidnapped him from that alternate universe when he was a young man. Peter had understandably freaked out about this, and when given the opportunity to return to his ‘real’ home and family he understandably takes it.
However, the Observers had warned Walter that Peter could never return home. And that if he did so Bad Things would happen. So Fringe risks a mission to the alternate Universe using several cortexaphan (sp)? children (Olivia being one of them). Their mission succeeds, but leaves Olivia trapped on the other side and Alt-Olivia now assuming her identity as an agent infiltrating the Fringe team. Peter is safe, for the moment, but is now aware that his real father wants to use him with technology that will allow him to destroy their Universe.
So the premier happens almost entirely on the alt-universe. Olivia is now a prisoner. She’s being subjected to psychological torture, and creepy experiments which we learn are designed to overwrite her own memories in favor of Alt-Olivia’s. Walternate is aware that Olivia has the inherent ability to travel between universes safely; and he wants to not only take advantage of that but learn how to do that. Now, I’m not entirely sure how rewriting her mind will accomplish this, but while the treatments don’t seem to be working at first it becomes quite apparent as the episode goes on that it is actually working.
So Olivia escapes and managed to flee into the city. She takes a cab driver hostage; and trying to work her way back home by returning to the same location that she originally arrived at (a ‘soft spot’ I guess). However, that location is quarantined in amber, leaving it off-limits. William Bell is nowhere to be found (and Massive Dynamic never existed there). Leaving her with no real options to get back, but as she continues searching, her efforts continue to lead the Alt-Fringe team to her location. They have not in turn been told that Olivia is from the ‘other side’…they’ve only been told that she suffered some form of psychotic break. So instead of seeking to harm her, Charlie and the others are trying to bring her in safely (and have no idea of Walternate’s dark plans).
As Olivia’s situation slowly grows worse, her grasp on her own mind is also slowly slipping. Her memories are being overwritten by another woman’s identify and as her situation grows worse she loses more and more of herself. Everything culminates at Olivia’s mother’s house; where the shock of seeing her mother alive eventually causes her to loose herself completely. The episode ends with Olivia’s mind seemingly overwritten; and Alt-Olivia making her move on Peter.
So there is a lot of like about this episode. Unlike a lot of TV shows, Fringe doesn’t pull its punches here. It doesn’t make any attempt to return to the status quo by putting Olivia in a seemingly impossible situation only to have it resolved by the end of the episode. Instead, Olivia remains trapped; Alt-Olivia still remains embedded. And a new status-quo emerges that only resembles the old one on the surface.
At this point it’s impossible to tell where the show is going. In some ways, it seems like the episodes will return to a more normal format. But in reality, this changes everything. Each new episode in alt-Fringe will continue to not only reveal their situation but their history and culture. And Olivia’s presence on the Alt-Fringe team is tempered with the fact that Broyles, and Walternate know exactly what she is. And if anything else, Charlie is back in some form (and that is a good thing).
We’ll get a better idea of what is happening on Fringe-Prime on this week’s episode. Maybe it will stick with a more normal format. But maybe they’ll turn that concept around as well. Now every episode is going to be more serialized…even the standalone episodes will be more heavily based on the larger overarching story. That is also a good thing.
The only downside is that it is two weeks before we’ll see the ramifications for Olivia’s memory-wipe.
For Season 2, I fully intended on watching it every week. Fringe was available on Hulu so while I couldn’t really watch it live I could watch it there the next day (I don’t generally torrent TV shows). But, for reasons I can’t remember I watched the first 2-3 episodes; then missed a couple and never really got back to it. And when I did finally get back to it, it was during the season finale which blew my mind but really left me wondering…wtf was going on here?
Season 3 starts in a manner very similar structurally to Season 2. It’s designed to introduce its premise to new viewers; and keeps the show’s tradition of including very compelling secondary characters (the cab driver was awesome). As a premier this works very well and it certainly helped me transition and keep up with things. Ironically, Fringe’s premise is inherently more complex and easier to misunderstand that, say Chuck’s, but this episode handles the re-introduction quite elegantly.
As a show about parallel universes, Fringe really succeeds is making the alternate universe very compelling. It’s not too fantastical—it’s similar enough to be recognizable and relatable, while at the same time being different enough to make it interesting. And the season premier is set almost entirely in the alternate-universe. So that helps quite a bit.
So, Season 3 starts with the Fringe-Team making an expedition to the alternate-universe to ‘rescue’ Peter. Peter had discovered that he was actually from the alternate-universe. Walter had, in fact, kidnapped him from that alternate universe when he was a young man. Peter had understandably freaked out about this, and when given the opportunity to return to his ‘real’ home and family he understandably takes it.
However, the Observers had warned Walter that Peter could never return home. And that if he did so Bad Things would happen. So Fringe risks a mission to the alternate Universe using several cortexaphan (sp)? children (Olivia being one of them). Their mission succeeds, but leaves Olivia trapped on the other side and Alt-Olivia now assuming her identity as an agent infiltrating the Fringe team. Peter is safe, for the moment, but is now aware that his real father wants to use him with technology that will allow him to destroy their Universe.
So the premier happens almost entirely on the alt-universe. Olivia is now a prisoner. She’s being subjected to psychological torture, and creepy experiments which we learn are designed to overwrite her own memories in favor of Alt-Olivia’s. Walternate is aware that Olivia has the inherent ability to travel between universes safely; and he wants to not only take advantage of that but learn how to do that. Now, I’m not entirely sure how rewriting her mind will accomplish this, but while the treatments don’t seem to be working at first it becomes quite apparent as the episode goes on that it is actually working.
So Olivia escapes and managed to flee into the city. She takes a cab driver hostage; and trying to work her way back home by returning to the same location that she originally arrived at (a ‘soft spot’ I guess). However, that location is quarantined in amber, leaving it off-limits. William Bell is nowhere to be found (and Massive Dynamic never existed there). Leaving her with no real options to get back, but as she continues searching, her efforts continue to lead the Alt-Fringe team to her location. They have not in turn been told that Olivia is from the ‘other side’…they’ve only been told that she suffered some form of psychotic break. So instead of seeking to harm her, Charlie and the others are trying to bring her in safely (and have no idea of Walternate’s dark plans).
As Olivia’s situation slowly grows worse, her grasp on her own mind is also slowly slipping. Her memories are being overwritten by another woman’s identify and as her situation grows worse she loses more and more of herself. Everything culminates at Olivia’s mother’s house; where the shock of seeing her mother alive eventually causes her to loose herself completely. The episode ends with Olivia’s mind seemingly overwritten; and Alt-Olivia making her move on Peter.
So there is a lot of like about this episode. Unlike a lot of TV shows, Fringe doesn’t pull its punches here. It doesn’t make any attempt to return to the status quo by putting Olivia in a seemingly impossible situation only to have it resolved by the end of the episode. Instead, Olivia remains trapped; Alt-Olivia still remains embedded. And a new status-quo emerges that only resembles the old one on the surface.
At this point it’s impossible to tell where the show is going. In some ways, it seems like the episodes will return to a more normal format. But in reality, this changes everything. Each new episode in alt-Fringe will continue to not only reveal their situation but their history and culture. And Olivia’s presence on the Alt-Fringe team is tempered with the fact that Broyles, and Walternate know exactly what she is. And if anything else, Charlie is back in some form (and that is a good thing).
We’ll get a better idea of what is happening on Fringe-Prime on this week’s episode. Maybe it will stick with a more normal format. But maybe they’ll turn that concept around as well. Now every episode is going to be more serialized…even the standalone episodes will be more heavily based on the larger overarching story. That is also a good thing.
The only downside is that it is two weeks before we’ll see the ramifications for Olivia’s memory-wipe.
Chuck 8/27 (Season 4 Premier)
I have a confession to make. I have a hard time believing that Chuck actually managed to get a 4th Season pickup. While I love the show Season 2 especially, Chuck saw a distinctive dip in quality during the 3rd Season which it was just starting to recover from by the time the season ended. This wasn’t just me. The ratings for the show quite clearly reflected the growing viewer discontent. In virtually every way Season 3 was a failure. It drove away die-hard fans and new viewers alike.
Fortunately, by the end of the season Chuck had recovered from much of its missteps from the early and midseason. And Chuck managed to squeak by and get a 4th season pick up, despite its drop in viewership. To be honest the fact that Chuck survived had everything to do with NBC’s desperate schedule and the Jay Leno fiasco. Chuck is a relatively cheap show to produce and its ratings, even at their lower level, still made the show a viable choice for NBC.
Season 4 was not a certainty, and despite the uptick in quality at the end of Season 3 the show still has some fundamental issues. Structural issues that the writers have clearly struggled to overcome. In reality these are pretty obvious. The Intersect 2.0 helped Chuck become a better spy, but also caused Chuck to muscle into territory earlier owned by Casey and Sarah (and due to relationship issues, Sarah was almost sidelined). Also, as Chuck became a spy, his family and workplace became less and less important. And as they became less important, the writers typically overcompensated so when those other characters were onscreen they were so over-the-top that their charm almost completely disappeared.
The fundamental problem is that as a spy show Chuck is only average. Chuck really shines in its relationships, and as the show became more spy-centric that focus shifted. Now this isn’t necessarily a problem. But at the same time the writers are also clearly unable or unwilling to move on. This is why as a spy show Chuck fails…the writers still try to ground the show in what Chuck was originally…a lovable nice person who falls into trouble. He is a character who started with potential that was being completely squandered in a loveless-existence as a faceless computer-tech at a faceless retail outlet until the Intersect gave him a purpose and a meaning. As a character Chuck had to evolve from that state. And he did. Yet, for the most part the rest of the show has not. And that’s the problem.
Season 4, though, seems to be taking a stab at resolving those issues. Chuck and Sarah are now a couple, and they work surprisingly well as one as a spy-team. If anything, that romance has always been the emotional center of the show; and as a couple that’s even more obvious. Morgan has now been brought him…which somewhat saves his character for uselessness (though I think they have made Morgan too bumbling). Casey has a daughter (which will hopefully factor into Season 4). And everyone of importance now knows Chuck’s secret. The Buy More is No More, having been destroyed. And Chuck now has a new ‘mission’ to find his mother, though has promised Elly to leave the spy game.
So, much like the Season 3 premier, this episode is a bit of a step backwards. Though it’s not as jarring as Season 3, and has more of a ‘yeah, but’ twist to things that makes it more palatable. Chuck and Morgan have spent the summer (and a huge amount of money) spanning the globe trying to find Mom…only to find their first real clue back in LA. Sarah and Casey have continued on as spies, both missing out on Chuck’s presence. Chuck’s back to keeping secrets…but in some ways that makes more sense here (until he has something to tell, it’s better to keep it secret).
So Chuck has no luck finding Mom (though he gets closer than he realizes). He’s out of money, so he decides to find himself a ‘real job’…and in an amusing sequence finds each potential employer acting very strange towards him. The Buy More has been rebuilt, and is now a full-fledged CIA operation—and General Beckman wants Chuck back. The Ring has been replaced by an entirely new organization of Bad Guys (who are already more interesting than either Fulcrum or the Ring ever were…though time will tell if that is true or not). Linda Hamilton was great as Chuck’s mom (an inspired choice) and so was guest star Dolph Lungren…who would have made a great recurring villain IMO.
By the end of the episode, Sarah and Casey know the truth about Chuck’s secret activities. He’s now back on the team (along with Morgan). General Beckman is now permanently stationed in LA…which should be cool as it’s always fun when she’s directly interacting with the cast. And it’s somewhat expected, and frustrating, that Chuck still keeps the truth from Elly (although I admit I wouldn’t have told her at that moment anyway).
But the episode was not the shot out of the park that the show needed. As a pure spy show Chuck is somewhat lacking (and typically falters in spy-centric episodes like this one, although admittedly this one was better than most). Jeff, Lester, Big Mike, and Awesome were not even present in any way (and while I can do without Jeff and Lester, no Awesome is criminal). Even Elly was only in for a short scene (where she dropped the b-bomb) and that is a real shame. The episode definitely suffered from trying to jam in too much plot in too little time and the faster the show gets the more desperate it seems.
So while the premier was not a home run it still did well enough. The stuff with Chuck's mother, while brief, was compelling. And those final moments definitely showed that Chuck’s mom is going to be different than their father. I’m still quite interested in where the show is going, and I do hope that the uptick in quality continues. Tonight’s a new episode, and I can’t wait to see where they go from here.
Fortunately, by the end of the season Chuck had recovered from much of its missteps from the early and midseason. And Chuck managed to squeak by and get a 4th season pick up, despite its drop in viewership. To be honest the fact that Chuck survived had everything to do with NBC’s desperate schedule and the Jay Leno fiasco. Chuck is a relatively cheap show to produce and its ratings, even at their lower level, still made the show a viable choice for NBC.
Season 4 was not a certainty, and despite the uptick in quality at the end of Season 3 the show still has some fundamental issues. Structural issues that the writers have clearly struggled to overcome. In reality these are pretty obvious. The Intersect 2.0 helped Chuck become a better spy, but also caused Chuck to muscle into territory earlier owned by Casey and Sarah (and due to relationship issues, Sarah was almost sidelined). Also, as Chuck became a spy, his family and workplace became less and less important. And as they became less important, the writers typically overcompensated so when those other characters were onscreen they were so over-the-top that their charm almost completely disappeared.
The fundamental problem is that as a spy show Chuck is only average. Chuck really shines in its relationships, and as the show became more spy-centric that focus shifted. Now this isn’t necessarily a problem. But at the same time the writers are also clearly unable or unwilling to move on. This is why as a spy show Chuck fails…the writers still try to ground the show in what Chuck was originally…a lovable nice person who falls into trouble. He is a character who started with potential that was being completely squandered in a loveless-existence as a faceless computer-tech at a faceless retail outlet until the Intersect gave him a purpose and a meaning. As a character Chuck had to evolve from that state. And he did. Yet, for the most part the rest of the show has not. And that’s the problem.
Season 4, though, seems to be taking a stab at resolving those issues. Chuck and Sarah are now a couple, and they work surprisingly well as one as a spy-team. If anything, that romance has always been the emotional center of the show; and as a couple that’s even more obvious. Morgan has now been brought him…which somewhat saves his character for uselessness (though I think they have made Morgan too bumbling). Casey has a daughter (which will hopefully factor into Season 4). And everyone of importance now knows Chuck’s secret. The Buy More is No More, having been destroyed. And Chuck now has a new ‘mission’ to find his mother, though has promised Elly to leave the spy game.
So, much like the Season 3 premier, this episode is a bit of a step backwards. Though it’s not as jarring as Season 3, and has more of a ‘yeah, but’ twist to things that makes it more palatable. Chuck and Morgan have spent the summer (and a huge amount of money) spanning the globe trying to find Mom…only to find their first real clue back in LA. Sarah and Casey have continued on as spies, both missing out on Chuck’s presence. Chuck’s back to keeping secrets…but in some ways that makes more sense here (until he has something to tell, it’s better to keep it secret).
So Chuck has no luck finding Mom (though he gets closer than he realizes). He’s out of money, so he decides to find himself a ‘real job’…and in an amusing sequence finds each potential employer acting very strange towards him. The Buy More has been rebuilt, and is now a full-fledged CIA operation—and General Beckman wants Chuck back. The Ring has been replaced by an entirely new organization of Bad Guys (who are already more interesting than either Fulcrum or the Ring ever were…though time will tell if that is true or not). Linda Hamilton was great as Chuck’s mom (an inspired choice) and so was guest star Dolph Lungren…who would have made a great recurring villain IMO.
By the end of the episode, Sarah and Casey know the truth about Chuck’s secret activities. He’s now back on the team (along with Morgan). General Beckman is now permanently stationed in LA…which should be cool as it’s always fun when she’s directly interacting with the cast. And it’s somewhat expected, and frustrating, that Chuck still keeps the truth from Elly (although I admit I wouldn’t have told her at that moment anyway).
But the episode was not the shot out of the park that the show needed. As a pure spy show Chuck is somewhat lacking (and typically falters in spy-centric episodes like this one, although admittedly this one was better than most). Jeff, Lester, Big Mike, and Awesome were not even present in any way (and while I can do without Jeff and Lester, no Awesome is criminal). Even Elly was only in for a short scene (where she dropped the b-bomb) and that is a real shame. The episode definitely suffered from trying to jam in too much plot in too little time and the faster the show gets the more desperate it seems.
So while the premier was not a home run it still did well enough. The stuff with Chuck's mother, while brief, was compelling. And those final moments definitely showed that Chuck’s mom is going to be different than their father. I’m still quite interested in where the show is going, and I do hope that the uptick in quality continues. Tonight’s a new episode, and I can’t wait to see where they go from here.
The 2010 Fall TV Season
I realize that my posting to this blog is sporadic at best. And my interests are varied. I tried to do something of a regular write on True Blood during its Season 3 run, but for the most part failed in that. But, while I promise nothing I do intend to spend some time writing about the fall TV schedule, and some of the shows that I’m most interested in. This is just a heads up about this, but otherwise we’ll see how committed I am to it.
Right now I’m looking at Chuck and Fringe. There are a few other TV shows that I’m interested in checking out. The Event is one I’m interested in (and from what I’ve read had a pretty lack-luster premier). How I Met Your Mother, and the Big Bang Theory are two others. There might be something else I’ll check out (depending on what catches my eye). But no promises.
Right now I’m looking at Chuck and Fringe. There are a few other TV shows that I’m interested in checking out. The Event is one I’m interested in (and from what I’ve read had a pretty lack-luster premier). How I Met Your Mother, and the Big Bang Theory are two others. There might be something else I’ll check out (depending on what catches my eye). But no promises.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
RUSE...part 2
Well, I've had a few days to spend with RUSE. I've clocked in about 6 hours over the last 4 days or so...not a huge amount of time but not bad either. I'm pretty far into the single player campaign, which has some cool missions with it but a terrible story. It's bad enough to actually affect enjoyment of the game, in fact, and it's one of the first games where the inability to bypass most of the talking is actually painful.
As for the game itself, like many RTS games it is basically a complex game of rock-paper-scissors. Various units are very powerful against other units, but stupidly weak against others. One of the key aspects of the game relates to using this more effectively than your opponent. The use of combined arms, surprise attacks, and smart placement of units to take advantage of line-of-sight and surprise is critical to success and leads to a fairly metholodical strategy. It's not perfect, but the large size of the maps and unforgiving nature of the action does create a game that requires quite a lot of strategy and understanding of the units.
I think the game will really begin to shine in multiplayer. I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet, but I will soon enough I'm sure. I have at least 1 friend who has purchased it, and he is willing to give it a try. For now though I'm all about trying to finish the campaign. Which I may or may not do this weekend.
As for the game itself, like many RTS games it is basically a complex game of rock-paper-scissors. Various units are very powerful against other units, but stupidly weak against others. One of the key aspects of the game relates to using this more effectively than your opponent. The use of combined arms, surprise attacks, and smart placement of units to take advantage of line-of-sight and surprise is critical to success and leads to a fairly metholodical strategy. It's not perfect, but the large size of the maps and unforgiving nature of the action does create a game that requires quite a lot of strategy and understanding of the units.
I think the game will really begin to shine in multiplayer. I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet, but I will soon enough I'm sure. I have at least 1 friend who has purchased it, and he is willing to give it a try. For now though I'm all about trying to finish the campaign. Which I may or may not do this weekend.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
R.U.S.E
After seeing some interesting videos on the game R.U.S.E I have decided to go ahead and purchase the game. It is available for PC, 360, and PS3. But after thinking about it a bit I decided to buy the PC version. It is 10$ cheaper for one thing, my PC can handle it, and a few friends are thinking about buying it as well for the PC. This way, I will at least be able to play with them in multiplayer. The game itself looks very nice.
For those who know nothing about it (and this game completely snuck up on my so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people don't know about it) RUSE is an RTS that is more of an actual strategy game than most RTSes. IMO most RTS games are actually more RTT games which heavy favor tactics over strategy (but that's another debate for a completely different post).
Reviews have been a bit mixed. But, having watched the game I think it's slower pace and emphasis on planning strategy, and diversions is right up my alley. The game itself looks great, and I'm interested to see where it goes.
Of course, the PC version seems to be available only through digital downloads. So it doesn't seem like you can just go into a store and buy it. This is probably the wave of the future for PC games. And that sucks IMO. But, I guess I can't bitch too much considering that I put down 49$ bucks for the game. I'll have a post about actual impressions for the game once I get a chance to play it. Which may not be today considering how slow the 4.5GB download is going. Here's hopeing the game lives up to my expectations!
For those who know nothing about it (and this game completely snuck up on my so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people don't know about it) RUSE is an RTS that is more of an actual strategy game than most RTSes. IMO most RTS games are actually more RTT games which heavy favor tactics over strategy (but that's another debate for a completely different post).
Reviews have been a bit mixed. But, having watched the game I think it's slower pace and emphasis on planning strategy, and diversions is right up my alley. The game itself looks great, and I'm interested to see where it goes.
Of course, the PC version seems to be available only through digital downloads. So it doesn't seem like you can just go into a store and buy it. This is probably the wave of the future for PC games. And that sucks IMO. But, I guess I can't bitch too much considering that I put down 49$ bucks for the game. I'll have a post about actual impressions for the game once I get a chance to play it. Which may not be today considering how slow the 4.5GB download is going. Here's hopeing the game lives up to my expectations!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
It's September...er...8th
It's been a very busy month for me. At work, at home, and pretty much everywhere else to. About the only place that has really slowed down is WOW. I'm not in the beta and there really is nothing to do in the game now. Hopefully Cataclysm will hit in November. I was pretty leary of that, but I've heard that the beta is getting much father along. I'm sure there is still tons of work to do (there's apparently a LOT of unfinished stuff in the game still) but November might not be so unrealistic of a drop date. That means we might see the major 4.0 content patch as early as late October or early November. 2 months.
So, with WOW winding down I've been playing some Elemental. The game was virtually unplayable at launch, but two patches have helped the game quite a bit. It's not quite so terribly slow and it doesn't crash constantly anymore...at least until you reach the end game where you see constant 'out of memory' crashes. sigh. The game is a lot of fun though, I'll give it that (when it works).
And, I've joined the FFXIV open beta. Now that's a disaster of epic proportions. I've heard nothing but bad things about beta and even worse things about open beta. The torrent client SE has is terrible. I started the download last night and by tonight it was at least 15% complete. Oh, sure I was uploading tons but virtually 0 kps on downloads. After watching it for about 30 minutes; I went ahead and extracted the beta torrent file and started downloading it with uTorrent. 2 hours later I've got the patch files downloaded and installing even as I type this. And I thought the WOW patcher was bad...
I'm also getting psyched about the new TV season which is rapidly approaching (and in some cases already here). Lots of Blue Ray sets to check out (especially Fringe, Chuck, How I met your Mother, and Big Bang Theory). There are some shows I'm kinda interested in starting as well...The Event (hope it's good, looks good, but NBC can fuck up a show like none other. Nikita...female action star porn > me. That will get me started at least, and I'll see how other new shows fair. Some of them might be good, but who knows.
This summer has really been a dull and boring one. So I'm really hoping there is a good reversal and the fall really turns things around. It's going to be an interesting fall regardless though, what with work going crazy and all of the things going on at home.
Oh, one other thing. Last Friday another of my close friends took another job. I was pretty bumbed out by the first one to leave; and now I'm really starting to feel a bit lonely at my work place. I used to have friends to talk to, go to lunch with, and it helped me feel like I was part of something. With them gone, it's now just...well...it's now just the bad stuff that drove me nuts in the first place. It just sucks all around. But, until something better comes along I'll have to make do. I've done it before and I'll do it again.
So, with WOW winding down I've been playing some Elemental. The game was virtually unplayable at launch, but two patches have helped the game quite a bit. It's not quite so terribly slow and it doesn't crash constantly anymore...at least until you reach the end game where you see constant 'out of memory' crashes. sigh. The game is a lot of fun though, I'll give it that (when it works).
And, I've joined the FFXIV open beta. Now that's a disaster of epic proportions. I've heard nothing but bad things about beta and even worse things about open beta. The torrent client SE has is terrible. I started the download last night and by tonight it was at least 15% complete. Oh, sure I was uploading tons but virtually 0 kps on downloads. After watching it for about 30 minutes; I went ahead and extracted the beta torrent file and started downloading it with uTorrent. 2 hours later I've got the patch files downloaded and installing even as I type this. And I thought the WOW patcher was bad...
I'm also getting psyched about the new TV season which is rapidly approaching (and in some cases already here). Lots of Blue Ray sets to check out (especially Fringe, Chuck, How I met your Mother, and Big Bang Theory). There are some shows I'm kinda interested in starting as well...The Event (hope it's good, looks good, but NBC can fuck up a show like none other. Nikita...female action star porn > me. That will get me started at least, and I'll see how other new shows fair. Some of them might be good, but who knows.
This summer has really been a dull and boring one. So I'm really hoping there is a good reversal and the fall really turns things around. It's going to be an interesting fall regardless though, what with work going crazy and all of the things going on at home.
Oh, one other thing. Last Friday another of my close friends took another job. I was pretty bumbed out by the first one to leave; and now I'm really starting to feel a bit lonely at my work place. I used to have friends to talk to, go to lunch with, and it helped me feel like I was part of something. With them gone, it's now just...well...it's now just the bad stuff that drove me nuts in the first place. It just sucks all around. But, until something better comes along I'll have to make do. I've done it before and I'll do it again.
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