Leap Day

Happy Leap Day Everyone!!

With this extra magical day I've decided to finally say goodbye to Chuck (tear). I think its time plus I'll be able to pick up Psych starting tomorrow (girl without cable here). Yup today the mid-season of Psych with Gus and Shawn is back, its exciting.

But more exciting is a $5 Footlong from Subway and letting go of the best TV Boyfriend a girl could want.

Chuck vs. The Bullet Train

As promised the "Hail Mary" of blogging and Chuck Marathon ends in time for the series finale tonight. It's truly sad and depressing to think about, but the Saga ends here. So heres what you need to know before you tune in tonight.

Quinn has kidnapped Chuck, the two are on a bullet train in Tokyo miles away from Sarah and Casey. He plans to force Chuck to rebuild him a clean and working version of the Intersect, but unknown to Quinn, Sarah and Casey did not die but instead Sarah has the intersect and when she and Casey save Chuck and have Quinn captured he has to recalculate his plans. This leads to him using Alex as leverage against Casey.

Back in the States Ellie and Awesome are working to figure out how the Intersect melted Morgan's brain and erased his memories in hopes of preventing the same thing from happening to Sarah. But Morgan and Awesome get called away when they re informed of Aex's situation. But with all their attempts to be stealthy to two also get captured before they can save her. Luckily Jeff and Lester have been snopping in the parking lot where the drama is taking place and somehow with their over the top and offbeat talents turn out to be the heroes in exchange for the truth about the underbelly of the Buymore.



What Ellie learns from her experiment is that the more a person flashes the faster the memories fade. So in an attempt to prevent that from happening to Sarah they blind fold her because she cannot control her flasing and start working on a suppresion device. Unfortunately the formerly neutralized Quinn returns and draws both Chuck and Casey away from Sarah. When he seems to be losing the small space combat he takes off.

When he heads in her direction she takes it upon herself to stop him. As mentioned Quinn doesn't give up easily. So he uses he's transform he's retreat plan into an opportunity to take the Intersect with him and make her work for him. First he continues to fade and erase her memories with triggers from the Intersect; Which he has studied intensely.

The episode ends with Sarah waking up in her hotel room from five years ago without a clue of her life with Chuck. I really enjoy the homage to the old days and it almost feels like we're going to begin--like we get a chance to see what would have happen to her with the Intersect. Of course Quinn uses this opportunity to pose as her handler and inform her that Chuck is to blame for the injuries and loss memories from the last mission. Tonight's episode will be full of confrontations, danger, violence and of course the power of love versus the games life may play with your memories and true feelings.

Chuck vs Bo

With Jeff and Lester stumbling onto their secret agents for hire lair, Casey and Morgan go to work to make them forget and fill their heads with a faux trip to Vegas. The one thing they don't count on is the 24hour memory erase doesn't get rid of their suscipions about there being more to the Buymore. So this sends them in a loop, constantly ending up between Vegas and Burbank and thoughts of their co-workers being spies for the government.

Due to the recent pregnancy scare Sarah comes up with a new plan for the company in which they track down cyber threats to the country, hoping for a lot less kidnapping, torture and face down guns. Once Chuck and her get the rest of the crew on board all seems to be well.

But a haunted iPhone from Morgan's douche days shows up with a cryptic video related to the Intersect. This gives Carmichael Industries their last secret agents for hire mission.

For the mission to work douche Morgan with the frosted tips and they get led to Vail, Colorado where they run into Bo Derek. It turns out that Morgan had relations with Bo but she was interested in him because he was bragging about being the Intersect four months earlier. Surprisingly it turns out that beyond being the boy hood crush of Chuck and Morgan, Bo Derek is a spy. She also works for an ex CIA agent who was suppose to have the Intersect in the first place. A man named Nicholas Quinn. Eventually they end up figuring out where Morgan hid the shades and have a gunshoot out at a Bizarro Buymore (i.e. Big Michelle). In the end they finally succeed in getting rid of Lester and Jeff's suscipions and have the Intersect.

Just as they are planning to destroy the glasses and toast to their new company Chuck gets kidnapped by Nicholas Quinn. Of course he wants a trade and tells Sarah to bring the shades to get her husband back. Unfortunately Casey and Sarah end up out manned and all Sarah has left after the bullets are the glasses.

The episode ends with the wickedly awesome Walker using the Intersect to save her and Casey's tail. As awesome as an intersect she makes it upsets me that the Intersect keeps getting passed back and forth. The whole point of Chuck having the Intersect was based on the idea that he had a special brain that was receptive to that amount of information. It was a unique defining characteristic of his....I don't know how's its gonna end. Personally I feel that if Chuck doesn't have it no one should.

Chuck vs. The Kept Man

This episode is mostly about Casey and there's a lot of grunting. First Gertrude returns since the charges of Decker's death have been dropped and she wants to spend some time with her man. But of course Casey is distant in general and uses his job(s) as an excuse. So she hires Carmichael Industries as a security detail on her previously pitched romantic trip to South Beach, now a weapons deal.

Meanwhile Chuck gets caught giving Casey lessons on sensitivity and caring he misses the fact that Sarah thinks she's pregnant. Of course this leads to talks about how dangerous their job is and even if they should continue as potential parents in the future.

When the mission goes south and Verbanski's personal army shows up Casey feels used especially since her affections toward him seem fiscal. Can you imagine Colonel John Casey as a kept man? Super weird, anyways it turns out she does need him for the second part of the mission. When things fell apart it was more of a sting to get to a bigger and badder force in weapons dealing. So when she gets held hostage the crew returns to South Beach and save her and eradicate the ruthless weapon dealer.

With Jeff being clear headed he's picked up on the fact that a lot of suspicious things happen in the Buymore. Him and Lester seek to discover the truth and their secret forth member of the team. Morgan stumbles upon their board of theories and sends them on Awesome's trail because who wouldn't believe he's a spy. Anyways eventually the plan is to tail Awesome with Lester in drag but it ends when they break thru the wall and gets a glimpse of Castle.

Chuck v The Baby

Five years ago Sarah was sent on a mission thru the CIA to recover a package that turns out to be a baby. Simple right? Well turns out the baby girl is the heir to a large fortune and Sarah handler is dirty. I think as viewers it gets easy to forget the lethal assassin that Agent Sarah Walker was. In the opening scene she takes down eleven mercenaries in a lethal and impressive way.

But here's the thing Sarah never turned the "package" over to her handler or the CIA. So the question on her handler's mind and our is where did the baby end up. This weeks mission is birthed out the need for Chuck to be involved. Obviously we've seen Chuck doesn't handle not knowing something about his wife well. Sarah reluctantly accepts the back up of Carmichael Industries but holds onto the details and secret of why she's headed to Budapest in the first place.

After facing her old handler and being capture, she is reassured of the child's safety. Once the crew gets her out of a bind and they return to the States she realizes her loner mistakes and tells Chuck everything because she accepts her trust in him. Unfortunately her handler has bugged her. So in we are taken to her mom's house where she left the baby girl 5 years ago. Luckily her mom and her sister Molly relocate before the house gets an unwanted remodeling and Sarah gets rid of her greedy, cut-throat handler.

During the mission The Awesome's, Morgan and Alex have a game night which turns into Ellie and Awesome working to bring the two back together and the succeed; cause they're the Awesome's.

This episode is great because we finally got to meet Sarah's mother. Yep kiddos in the bleacher she saved the baby's life by giving her the home and normal life she never had and cut her mother out of her life entirely. The part that I liked the most about this story line is that this mission where Sarah tapped into her understanding, protective and selfless side. This mission prepared her to be Chuck's handler--more importantly it prepared her for a future with Chuck.

Chuck vs. The Santa Suit

It's Christmas in Burbank and this year the group's big present is the return of Shaw. If you don't remember Shaw he also happens to have the Intersect and a big old chip on his shoulder he'd like to stab both Sarah and Chuck with.

With the Intersect driving his plan, taking Sarah hostage in Castle is a breeze. He immediately informs Chuck of this news and puts him to work. He wants Chuck to retrieve a device from Decker's office in the CIA. While Chuck uses a Santa suit and General Beckman to get into the building, Casey finds a way into Castle. But while Casey is breaking in Sarah gets herself out of Shaw's trap. As soon as Casey gets in his shot by Shaw and thrown into a cell and Sarah is chained to a chair. Disarmed by the cold atmosphere he has created to protect the computers from harm.

Meanwhile the Nerds and Buymore are struggling to combat the Omen virus and get customers thru the door. On the side Morgan assigns Lester and Jeff to find out what the Omen does once it's taken over a system. With this information Chuck figures out Shaw's plan and devises a way to remove the Intersect from Shaw.

Once Shaw recognizes he has uploaded a human virus he still throws down against Chuck. The two face off in a very compelling fight but ultimately Chuck sends Shaw back to cell while Morgan and Casey save Sarah from hypothermic death. With Shaw in prison and Intersectless Beckman is more than thrilled and offers each one of them a job with the agency.

But before Shaw goes to solitary confinement for the rest of his days he plants a small seed of terror in Sarah's mind with the mention of a baby.

Chuck vs. The Curse

As soon as Casey is returned to Castle by the air duct system, the team is informed that the CIA has warrents to arrest them for the stolen virus and Decker's death. The team forms a plan where Casey heads to meet up with Beckman, Chuck and Sarah take to Orion's old hideout to search for whose behind the hunt for Carmichael Industries.

Meanwhile Morgan heads back to his and Casey's place to find Alex waiting. The two have a sorta date post break up, with Morgan spending the evening trying to secure Chuck's P.A.N.T.S. (Private Artifacts Not To Share). Speaking of dates amidst new parenthood Awesome and Ellie go on their first night out after baby Clara and the pair decided during date night to pretrend they're spies. Of course when you actually know spies and their a chance of mistaken identity this doesn't bode well for the evening. The two end up bargaining chips for the omen against Chuck.

With the Woodcomb's lives in peril, Sarah and Chuck are back to the old days, where Sarah is playing middleman between the love of her life and national security. Previous to this hard decision, Chuck has withdrawn back to his neurotic and slighty unsure self; Concerning himself with a family curse. Of course Chuck is not willing to sacrifice his sister and takes off on his own to face Robin Cunnings.

While Chuck is facing electrocution, Ellie and Awesome attempt to cause a distraction but Awesome himself becomes trapped. In the end Sarah and Casey execute excellent sniper skills to save the day but its seems a little too late because Robin has uploaded the virus.

Once Robin is in their custody they find out that she herself is just a henchman and does not know the face or name behind the hunt for Team Chuck.

Chuck vs. The Hack-off

Lester and Casey both en wad up in the county jail (bahaha), but it gets better with his tech savvy ways Lester ends up being the shot caller and protects Casey in the joint! In addition to this back at Buymoria in an attempt to get Lester to promise to stop poisioning Jeff they hire an Indian HinJew to make him jealous.

With Casey in jail Sarah and Chuck take a job at Decker's behest to track down a virus, know as the omen, which has the ability once uploaded to destroy and shut down our whole computer system. The deal is to get Casey out of jail. With a new and sketchy mission on hand Casey asks Gertrude to join the team and keep an eye on them for him.

Before this we get a glimpse of the Chuck who apparently has an infamous cyber hacking identity and the best part is that he chugs Charnade, which he calls his think juice. We also get to see hacker Chuck in a beanie! Super funny :)

While on the mission Sarah and Chuck stumble onto a nude cult, which the target happens to be a part of show they blend in. In the end Decker gets want he wants the virus and necessary device to upload it. Unfortunately this also means him framing Chuck and renigging on his promise to release to Casey. Just before Sarah and Casey retreat, Gertrude manhandles Decker and swaps the virus for a bomb. They leave the scene with Decker a dead and as possible fugitives. Ultimately Gertrude takes off and disappers but not before helping Morgan to get Casey out of the pen.

Chuck vs. The Business Trip

With Jeff being normal Lester has lost his scheming buddy and friend. In an attempt to bring the goofy brain damaged Jeff back he attempts to poison him with CO. Ultimately this causes panic in the Buymore just at the right time for the spy division below and the beloved phrase "Pineapple!" is brought back.

The plan to save Morgan's life is to remover the Intersect and get the hit called off, which Beckman helps with but it seems in situations like this there is always one assassin who cannot be called back once the order has been sent. In this case it's the Viper, with numerous kills under their hat. While Morgan is in lockdown at Castle, Chuck plays human target with Sarah by his side. Everything goes as planned and they capture the Viper, oh so they think until Morgan is being chased through the store and Chuck is facing a sensitive car bomb threatening to take Sarah's life.

It turns out while they were playing decoy and distracted by friendly normal's they brought home their own decoy. Once the carbomb is disarmed and the Viper apprehended the hit is officially called off by Decker. But unofficially the Viper is ordered to cleanse the Carmichael Industries Team and Alex, save Sarah and Chuck. Due to the late suspicions of Sarah, Casey is sent to follow the Viper and overhears these plans and shoots down the Viper squad. Of course Decker shows up to the Bartowski household to arrest Casey for murder.

Chuck vs. The Frosted Tips

Awesome takes his paternity leave and stays home with baby Clara. He soon finds out that baby time can go by very, very slowly. With him being Captain Awesome he has a hard time adjusting and takes on the project of fixing Jeff. He actually turns Jeff into a functioning, thoughtful, health conscious grown up--super weird!



As I mentioned Casey has a crush on Gertrude from their competiting firm, so when Morgan does the ultimate douchy act and betrays Carmichael Industries and his friends after Beckman gets them a mission that's actually legit, the team has to break into Verbanski Corp. This allows Casey the chance to do some more recon on his love interest and it turns out they uncannily are each others soul mates. The crew walks away with the drive but without their friend. I will say it is truly nice to have the old trio back at their finest. Working hard and standing together.


Just in case you missed it, here's a list of the douche things Morgan did, under the influence of the Interesect:
1. Trades to Verbanski Corp. because of his crazy ego
2. Gets frosted tips
3. Wears overly fancy cologne
4. Drives a motorcar into the Buymore
5. Dumps his girlfriend through text message
6. Hires a interior designer
7. Has his own personal assistant
8. Tells Chuck they are not friends


The episode nearly ends with the showdown between Carmichael Industries and Verbanski Corp. In the end they both split the check for a job well done with an explosion (of course). Chuck also is able to bring his friend back from the douchy dark side transported through a virus that has infected his friend's brain, ego and memories and Casey gets his girl.

But there's more.....thanks to Morgan's blabbing and sharing his Intersect secret there is now a hit on his head!

Chuck v. The Bearded Bandit

With their funds frozen and the future of Carmichael Industries looking bleak the trio goes on a sales pitch that gets upstaged by Verbanski Corp. The best part of the episode is when you know Casey has a crush on the competition. I knew the moment I saw the glances between Gertrude and Casey :)

While the group doesn't walk away with clients clammering at their door they still seem to snag one interested person. It turns out though after Sarah pulls off the best rock climbing stunt that they are working for the bad guy--who sold them on the story that he needed to save his brother whose life was threatened. When in truth he wanted him dead. Guess who was the brother, another hottie I've missed since he left Smallville: Justin Hartley (yum)

In the meantime, in an attempt to drum up some business in the Buymore Big Mike gets Awesome to shoot a commercial. Who just also happened to be an Ambercombie and Fitch model--no surprise there :)

Now that Morgan has the Intersect its a whole new world and the mission world is not the best place for him. Yet Morgan takes to being the Intersect a whole lot faster than Chuck did. In his excitement he charges into the bad guys massive fortress and gets himself and Chuck into a bind. Morgan believes that Chuck and him can be the heroes and save the day. But now that Chuck has been saddled with the responsibility of being his handler, their friendship and role-change has become even more complex. In his fear for his friends safety he calls Sarah and Casey for backup, against Morgan's wishes. In Chuck's attempt to protect his friend his ends up hurting his feelings.

The boldest move anyone can make is call in their competition to help and that's just what Casey and Sarah do to save Chuck and Morgan. While they saved their buddies they may have lost Morgan, their ultimate big mouthed weapon to Verbanski Corp. This episode ends with Morgan meeting with Verbanski and telling her with no qualms that he is in fact the human Intersect.

It's So HARD to say Goodbye to my bestest TV BF

There has been eleven episodes of Chuck and I have only seen the premiere.

You may be wondering Why?--since I've been in love with the show from the very beginning. Here's the thing about me I have a hard time saying goodbye so I've been putting it off. So apologies my fellow Nerd Herders, you deserve better so this begins the "HAIL MARY" of blogging.

The premiere was entitled "Chuck vs The Zoom." As promised the crew started their own secret agents for hire company, but things aren't quite as successful as they planned. First off Morgan currently has the Intersect. That's right folks Chuck is back to relying on his intellegience and ingeniuity. And secondly, Decker still has a major vendetta against them, more importantly the formerly CIA funded Intersect.

The episode starts with Sarah and Chuck in a jam. Even though things are looking bleak Chuck uses this opportunity to phish for what Sarah wants in her dream home. Always the romantic, sigh. Then of course somehow Casey gets caught by the guards, leaving their back up to the same fate. So they are forced to bring in the back up to their back up. The new secret weapon. Morgan. They are hoping and praying that'll he'll be able to flash, and I even as a viewer slightly feared for their safety...but in the end Morgan and his tiny body pulls through. Albeit with a bit of the Bartowski charm.

In the end, their funds get cut off by Chuck's nemesis, Decker. So all they are left with is the Buymore. So now they face the challenge to make the store a success. This should be good seeing as their current employees consists of Jeff and Lester. Also if it wasn't clear before its a certainty that Chuck is having a hard time not being the Intersect. More specifically he's worried that his dreams of buying Sarah the perfect home and providing for his new family might fail along with Carmichael Industries and the current Intersect. Ultimately he's having a hard time finding his place on the team now that he's just Chuck.

GG's Best of 2011

Best Artist

Adele, she's gorgeous and her songwriting is beyond amazing

Best Album

The Script's Science & Faith is all about love, heartache and being able to admit when your wrong. Those Irish boys sure know how to speak to a girl's heart and soul.

Best Movie

Thor. I love the film because of it's creative digital creations and the fact that Thor a god has to learn a lesson in humility. Ultimately it marks the start of the Avengers in May. Yay!!! Also Chris Hemsworth is to die for, beard and all.

Best New TV Show

Once Upon A Time!!! It's so good I cannot wait to delve into it further with those of you reading out there. The parallels between fairy tales and reality is great. The writers thus far have done an amazing job.

Of Course we gotta talk about the hotties on my screen:

TV Boyfriends

1.Prince (James) Charming 2. Shawn Spencer/Burton Gustard 3. Neil Caffrey 4. Chuck 5. Dr. Jack Hodgens

GG's Fall TV Schedule

Hey guess who's back, participating with the team!

Yup it's GG, and my apologies but Grad school can be a quelcher of time

Anywho, why am I back at my keyboard?

This week is the second week of premiers, technically, but this is when Fall TV dramas, comedies and new series start peeking out their yellowed eyes from hidden caves.

Up first, tonight How I Met Your Mother, tonight on CBS at 8. All the fans are dying know how Barney is transformed and who is ends up marrying? Will it be Nora, the cute British and extremely forgiving girl, or Robyn whom we all know of love, despite her gun toting ways. Or possibly someone new?

The Dunphees are back on Wednesday. Modern Family airs on ABC at 9. They will be vying for American eyeballs all over the country with the cast of gLee! I am super excited for gLee, even though golden locks Sam is not returning for us to see the romantic endeavours between him and Mercedes. But don't fret Mercedes still has a r omantic interest this Wednesday night. Another great thing to look forward to is the gLee Project winners! I am soooooo excited for Colin and Sam, I cannot wait to see what roles the writers come up with for them.

On Thursday viewers can look forward to The Office and finding out who the new boss will be. Creed will end up burning down the building if he is in power for too long. Plus we always have sweet, ever cute Jam!

Of course that's not all I'll be watching. There are a couple of new series I am interested in this fall.

Revenge and Once Upon a Time have caught my eyes. Their advertisers can give themselves a pat on the back. I'm a sucker for drama, mystery and fairy tales. That last one Disney can take all the credit, all that I have my bitter moments, way deep down I'm a sucker for happy endings.

Revenge airs this Wednesday night, (I'll be doing a lot of cyber watching). And Once Upon a Time doesn't air until October 23rd. Speaking of premiers in the distant future. Returning this fall for a seventh season is Bones.

Unfortunately we'll have to wait til November to see all the new hurtles Booth and Bones have to overcome as a couple, parents and partners! It should be an interesting season. Congrats to Emily Deschancel for her real life pregnancy--it's worth waiting a couple extra months. Anxiously awaiting November 3

Psych returns October 12, and man I sooooo miss my Shawn and Gus with all their hijinks and humorous ways. They are such characters.

Chuck comes back for it's fifth and final season, October 21. I am glad to for the closure we'll recieve but I will certainly miss Zach and his weekly appearances on my television. I do have to say that I am quite worried even a little frightened to see what occurs with Morgan as the intersect, but we'll be getting a close up view into Chuck's struggles with starting his own business and Casey will finally get some love :P

Lea's Weekly Recap 1/24 - 1/29

Chuck 4.12 "Chuck Vs. The Gobbler"

CASEEYYYY NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!11
Ok, so actually I'm not that concerned about Casey. I don't really think the dude is going to die. How much permanent damage he has remains to be seen, but they aren't going to kill off my Casey (Really, he probably should be dead. Because seriously, unless you're John Locke, you really shouldn't even survive a fall like that, but I digress). So, the rest of the episode was pretty good. I have to give it up for Timothy Dalton who has been an absolute DELIGHT every time he's been onscreen. Best guest star ever or best guest star ever (and this for a show that consistently has good guest stars). I still can't believe how readily Volkoff let Sarah walk into his organization, and the misunderstanding at the end was kind of lame. BUT the action was good and when Chuck and Sarah kissed in Castle, I swooned. Next week is supposed to be a real doozy, so I can't wait!

American Idol "Auditions #3 Milwaukee" & "Auditions #4 Nashville"
I. HATE. SOB. STORIES.

The Office 7.14 "The Seminar"

Everyone is talking about the Ricky cameo and rightly so! It was absolutely perfect. The look on Michael's face when he realized he had met his soul mate was priceless. I'm really glad they did that, and that they didn't dwell on it either. It was there and gone and so so satisfying. And what? Another good episode? Yay! Maybe this season is getting back on track! I just have to say that I could listen to Michael and Holly speak in weird accents to each other all day. And Andy was of course, magnificent: "I guess when you looked in me, you forgot about my balls. They're on the outside. Don't know how you missed them."


Community 2.13 "Celebrity Pharmacology" 

I was going to do a post about Community season 1 as I just finished watching the DVDs recently, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I've been watching the recent season 2 episodes despite the fact that I missed the first half of the season, but regardless, this show has quickly become one of my favs. It's another one that doesn't make me laugh out loud all the time, but it's so dang enjoyable. The show is meta to a fault, but I actually love it. Some of my favorite episodes, like the paintball ep, were the ones that reminded you constantly, 'hey, you're watching a tv show!' I think the show took a little while to get its footing, but by the end of season 1, all of the character's 'places' in the show got figured out and it truly became great.
As far as this episode goes, I liked it a lot. Despite the fact that Chevy Chase is amazing on the show, Pierce isn't one of my favorite characters, but him riling up a group of middle schoolers into chanting "we want drugs!" was amazing. Not more amazing than Senor Chang however, who cracks my shit up every time he appears. I love him. He needs to be in every scene on this show ever.

The Ricky Gervais Show 2.3 "The Fly"

If you aren't watching this show, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! It's consistently one of the funniest things I watch all week. I cannot believe Karl Pilkington is a real person.

Lea's Weekly Recap 1/16 - 1/22

So we're trying something sort of new here at the good ol' blog. Every Friday or Saturday, Zozizzle and I (and yes, I changed my moniker to just 'Lea' now. Although Mind Grapes is still in my heart) will attempt a weekly recap post, where we talk about all of the television that we watched for the week. Granted, sometimes an episode that we see will be so great and so full of excitement that a short thought-synopsis won't be sufficient, and in that case, those episodes will be getting their own separate posts.  But for all the other tv that we watch (let's face it, we can watch a  lot of tv), these posts are for that.

Chuck 4.11 "Chuck Vs. The Balcony"

 Chuck is back after the hiatus with a pretty strong episode. The episode focused less on a real mission and more on the sub-mission to get Chuck to propose to Sarah. Amusing stuff mostly because of the inclusion of Morgan, who first worked with Chuck, then Sarah, and then with Casey to try and get it done (Gosh, I remember a time when I hated Morgan. No longer. I love Morgan! Love him!). I thought the episode was sweet and funny and my heart grew 3 sizes when Casey told his proposal story to Chuck: "Forget the balcony. All you need is the girl."
And then I got a Lester story line. A LESTER STORY LINE! Mayhaps you know that I'm kind of a big Lester fan, so when he brought his prospective fiancee into his "Saskatchewan Hinjew" cavern, I felt great joy. That was only surpassed by the appearance of JEFFSTER! Never change, Jeffster. Never change.
I will admit to being a tad bit annoyed that the proposal got cut short if only b/c this show has sometimes run the risk of dragging out Chuck/Sarah issues for a little too long. I'm ready for them to finally be engaged, dammit! The storyline resulting in the capture caught me a bit off guard, just because it seems so implausible (but lol what is plausible on this show, really), buuuut the preview for next week looks amazing and so I'm definitely willing to see how it plays out. I'm just glad my Chuck is back!

American Idol 10 "Auditions #1 New York/New Jersey" & "Auditions #2 New Orleans"

 Ah my love/hate relationship with American Idol continues.  So everyone's freaking out because Simon is gone, eh? Meh. I only started watching this show at the very end of Simon's run, when the dude had clearly checked out and was envisioning a world with an American X-Factor where he could control everything, and I never really found his critiques all that helpful. So I'd rather look forward to new judges (and no more Kara! PRAISE JESUS HALLELUJAH!), and so far I'm cautiously optimistic. Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez had a good first outing. Steven is sort of like the new Paula, wacky and out there and making up phrases, but he also was surprisingly compassionate and let people down easy, while still being tough. He also enjoys singing along to everything, which could get annoying, but eh, it's Steven Tyler, you let the man sing. So far he was definitely the bright spot of the episodes, but J.Lo did a pretty good job as well. She may have had trouble saying no, but she actually gave some strong critiques as well as seemed to really care about the contestants and what she was doing. The real test for both Steven and Jennifer will definitely be the live shows. That's where these guys are really going to sink or swim, but as of right now, I'm encouraged.  And Randy Jackson was just Randy Jackson. I've always had a soft spot for Randy, so as long as he keeps wearing cardigans and serving out "yo dawgs", I'm good.
Oh, the actual contestants? All I remember is that there were a shit-ton of teenage girls whose voices all sounded the exact same to me, which doesn't really bode well (are they looking for a female pop-singer?). A  few teenage boys got through, who I really only remember for their sob stories (Wheelchairs! Twins in Harlem! Picked on because of being a ginger!) than anything else. A fat Justin Bieber. And then of course there was Yoshi-Pop! We'll leave it at that.

Modern Family 2.13 "Caught In the Act"

 I thought this was a pretty solid episode, with quite a few laugh-out-loud moments for me. My watching of Modern Family has started fairly recently, when I went through the first season in about a month and have been watching season 2 ever since. I find this show extremely enjoyable and one that is always entertaining, even in it's "worst" episodes. I've kind of always seen it as the much less dysfunctional version of Arrested Development. But while that show had me in stitches practically the entire episode, Modern Family doesn't always get guffaws from me, but it's always really pleasant to watch. It makes me smile and it makes me happy, and the 3 different families give you at least one thing to grasp hold of every episode. One of them doesn't carry the whole season, but instead all are given good story lines throughout (my favorite story lines however, are the ones that bring all the families together).
The main plot of this one with the kids walking in on Phil and Claire in bed was pretty good, mostly for the kid's reactions (I love Luke and the actor who plays him. His one-liners are a riot: "I don't know what they were doing, but it looked like Dad was winning.") and for Phil being Phil: "Excuse me for thinking your zesty performance deserved some praise."
The mixup with Gloria's email and her thinking Claire was angry about something other than what she was was a liiiiitle too sitcom cliche for me, but the pay off - with Gloria propositioning them to "taste her cupcakes" and Phil almost passing out - was hysterical.
The Cam/Mitch story line felt a little like an afterthought, but I was dying as Cam tried to think of the correct actress who owned the rug as he was freaking out (also, is Lilly the most well-behaved child ever?).

The Office 7.12 "Ultimatum" 

Another pretty good episode after a hiatus. I think, along with it seems like many of the viewing public, that this season of The Office is the worst of it's 7 year run. I know I'll always love it no matter what and will keep watching until it ends, but some of the story lines this year have seemed a bit stale and repetitive (and in fact, I worry about that a bit with the Michael/Holly story line. Those two need to get together in the end, yet I thought a lot of to-do was made about them this episode, where ultimately nothing really happened. Holly's taking a break now? That's it? Boo!). However, I really enjoyed this episode, because there were quite a few great lines and moments which had me rolling. First, Erin has kind of become a caricature, but I don't care, she is hysterical. I love her helping Michael so readily with his video and his "sad box" and "happy box" (with the gummi bears in the sad and the gummi worms in the happy, obviously). And her hatred of Holly is never not funny. Also: "My goal was to learn a new word every single day. And I must say that it is going immensely."
The resolution story line is one that would be incredibly stupid in real life, but it led to some awesome gags, especially Kevin being forced to eat broccoli as he struggles and then spitting it out everywhere. And of course, Andy roller skating to DMB and then dancing to a strobe light, things that are never not good. Greatest line of the episode however was uttered by the legendary Creed, "F*** YOU! F*** YOU!" in response to Erin doing the perfect cartwheel, which Creed only dreamed a possibility.

Get Ready

Tomorrow Officially My TV Boyfriend, Chuck Bartowski returns with all his charm and desire to save the world.

Check out the trailer for season 4. Here's hoping Ellie isn't a pain :P

Nice Hair cut BF ;)

I'll be on my couch tuned to NBC at 8pm where will you be?

Chuck v First Class

Shaw is large and in charge, so to speak. And as leader of Castle his first task is to send Chuck on a mission. Solo mission! That's right he's pushing Chuck out of the nest, besides the protests from Casey and Sarah. Chuck being the gung-ho type of guy is all for it. Plus he finally has a chance to see Paris--or so he thinks.

As always Chuck is Chuck, even though he has the capability to be the perfect spy, he does everything in his own Chuck way--stumbling and fumbling along the way. So while he get's his flirt on with Hannah (Kristin Kreuk), a tech girl working in Paris he discovers that his mission is on the plane.

While he thinks that he has secured the threat and knocked him out. The cliche bad guy dressed in all black and bulky, came prepared for trouble. So to Chuck's surprise the guy wakes up and well the scene unfolds in a comedical manner. Involving Chuck climbing into a coffin and his dreams of using his nun-chucks are broken. That's right he packed nun-chucks for his mission.

3.03 "Chuck v The Angel of Death"

When Devon feels the need for adventure, things get a bit dicey when he saves a dictators life and becomes intertwined in Chuck, Sarah, & Casey's mission.

While in the past the US government sought to end the reign of Alejandro Goya, this time around the dream team is charged with protecting his life. This proves difficult because Casey, who in the past was sent to assinate him, and got the endearment el angel de la muerta, is captured by his guards at a black tie event he invited Devon and Ellie for saving his life.

Well when Chuck thinks he spots a threat and it turns out not to be the right guy. Instead Captain Awesome steps in and causes the capture of Casey--and inadvertently yet again heroicly saving the diactors life. The episode culminates with Devon performing heart surgery and even Chuck takes a dive into the medical field. All ends well but the dissonance between his feelings for Sarah and wanting to be a spy are flushed out with some insightful words from Devon.

3.02 "Chuck v The Three Little Words"

Morgan drags Chuck out of the house to help him move past losing Sarah and in a club he runs into Sarah and Carina. Besides having a knack for getting Morgan's name wrong, she always gets into trouble. It truly surprises me that she is a spy--instead of the con artist that she always plays.

Anyways Carina is engaged to some big tough guy that turns mushy in her presence and as a ruse to gain access to his private vault, Sarah and Chuck are once again a "couple." That's the backstory, but it turns out Sarah only desires completing the task while Chuck sees this as the opportune time to apologize to her. This epi showcases how dangerous Chuck can truly be with the intercept and of course some pretty humorous acrobatic stunts. But of course there always has to be drama and well Chuck gets stuck in the vault which quickly begins to fill up with gas.

In a slight panic Chuck does what you're not suppose--at least as a spy--he tells Sarah yet again that he loves her. While not the best idea at the time it later proves to cause even more problems when Carina is found out and gets held hostage at a housewarming party.

While the showdown at the fountain is pretty humorous. Even more remarkable is the fact that Morgan finally gets Carina.