James A. Tulli

Chuck vs. The Beard

I can’t imagine there wasn’t a Chuck a fan watching tonight that didn’t have a a huge smile on their face following the tell-all moment between Chuck and Morgan.  Here we were in the midst of a conversation that could have gone any way, Morgan and Chuck entering a will they won’t they be friends arc, or a total rejection of Chuck by Morgan because of his decpetion.  Instead, we were met with a friend who was both ecstatic and prophetic and in being both of those things, not only undid the tension that had been building between them but helped save the non-mission and the CIA Castle as well.  A proud day for Morgan Grimes and hopefully this translates into some newly renewed confidence for MG.

It’s clear to me now that as Chuck has felt his deception distancing him from his family and friends, events like these are starting to shine light on the fact that living the spy life will become easier and easier for Chuck with Morgan on board now.  The only remainig piece in this puzzle is to get the woman he loves back in his life where she belongs.  And as I’ve previously stated, I am certain it will happen this year.  Shippers will not be disappointed and we’ll get some real closure with Charah by Season’s end.

Best Line of the night:  ”The condor, the jackal, Chan Min Chi.  Damn it.”

Runner Up:  ”I want diplomatic immunity.”

All in all this episode was the “vs. The Colonel” of Season 3 for me, taking the show to a new level of excitement and intrigue with the revelation that Casey is the agent the Ring is trying to turn.  Next week will surely bring some great confrontation between Chuck and Casey and I am realy looking forward to the time Chuck and Sarah wil obviously have alone on the mission.  Will Casey jump ship once and for all?  Will Chuck convince him to stay?  Will the Ring have set a new trap luring Charles Carmichael into it this time?  Is Shaw behind all these deceptive misdirections and setups?  Where is Jill?  Will Alex Coburn make his appearance next week?

So many questions, and a week to think them through.  Here’s to another great episode of Chuck and some good ratings numbers tomorrow. Be sure to check TV By The Numbers and vote on HULU for Best in Show.

Tonight’s Chuck episode was for me one of the best.  We got to see a real change in the Chuck/Sarah dynamic and after “vs. the Mask” and now “vs. the Fake Name” I am firmly convinced we are on the downhill heading towards the finish line for the two of them.  Shippers rejoice, they will get together this season, mark my words.

Line of the night: ”Weird, huh.  Walker helping you get laid.” – John Casey.

Runner up:  ”I want to moisturize her feet with my saliva.”  - Lester

In general, it was a real great Casey episode with the sniper rifle playing a centric role, the tooth extraction(I guess the toe healed?), and ample one-liners “Five people in the world can make this shot?  Guess I’m one of them.”  A real treat to get so much from Casey, something that we haven’t had much of this season.  I am really looking forward to the episode where we find out about Alex Coburn.  Honduras seems to be an important part of the back story, make a mental note.

Is it Monday yet?

Have you seen this yet?  If you’re a Chuck fan then you already know, but if you are new to the show or haven’t seen it yet, this is the preview of all previews.  So much to digest, so many great teasers that raise so many questions, a little taste of a great show.  Looking forward to diving back in next Monday.  Enjoy.

Woke today to the sinking feeling of computer issues.  Laptop powers on, no display, just 17 inches of quiet blackness, trip to the Apple store required.  Luckily, a quick bit of research tips me to the fact that NVidia had a large issue with graphics processors in this model of Macbook Pro.

My warranty long expired, I arrive at the Apple Store fully ready to accept the fact that my motherboard is shot and needs to be replaced.  In a machine like this, probably a $500+ endeavor.

Mac Genius greets me right on time for my appointment which I made last night from my iPhone sitting on the couch.  He’s quick to dive in, a few key strokes with a modified iPod nano attached to my laptop and he has the verdict.

Indeed, my motherboard needs to be replaced, and Apple will do so in 2-3 days, board isn’t stocked at the store, and it will cost me nothing.  Yes, nothing at all.  You see, Apple, regardless of warranty expiration stands behind their product and yet again delivers the kind of Customer Service other computer makers should strive to match.  Kudos Apple and thanks yet again!

Thought I’d drop in on the Fox News website this morning and check out whether they were covering the latest poll released today on Sarah Palin and her plummeting numbers.  Not surprised to find nothing on the story, just like they ignored the story about all the emails released recently by the Alaskan government detailing her husband’s involvement in state affairs though holding no position in public office.  Not the reason for this post so enough about that.  I saw a link entitled “You Decide” on a topic about the recent blocking of Administration appointees from Senate confirmation.  So I clicked and this is what I found:

So according to this “non-scientific poll” 52% of Fox News website visitors believe “Obama”, I think it’s funny how Fox rarely calls him “The President”, is “not making it easy for them.”  So, Senator Shelby’s decision to block ALL appointees because of earmark issues is the President’s fault exactly how?  I think in the future all poll choices should come with the “(leave a comment)” requirement so people can explain how they came to their, tough I’m sure, decision that the President is delaying the appointment of his own appointees.  Would love to hear those thoughts.

In another sign that Google has gotten so big it’s totally bored with Search, they announced today Google Buzz.  A service that will integrate into Gmail and offer users a Facebook or Twitter like experience is sure to be buzzing around both social networking sites in the coming weeks.

Sure, just what I need.  Another site, another place to look through a sea of messages/updates/posts that might be interesting to me or not.  All it takes folks is a giant Server Farm and a crew of totally bored software engineers and voila! a social networking service to rival the two largest in the business.

Seems to me Google should spend more time in it’s lab FINISHING some of it’s “Preview” and “Beta” projects before slapping together another attempt at competing with a well established and widely adopted service.

Maybe someone wants to start a Google Wave with me and discuss?

Yes, Google Wave, you know the service that will change the way we all collaborate online forever……

Chuck rolled into the mid-season break last night in grand style, and contrary to what the initial reactions in the ChuckoSphere were, I think we’re in position for an incredibly great Season 3 second half.  We’ll get to the Chuck vs. Sarah topic in a second but I just want to touch on the finer points and a few predictions outside the Charah plot-line for a moment.

First, Chuck is really coming into his own as a spy now on many fronts.  Last night he used his god given talents as a computer whiz to save Shaw, used his Intersect abilities to flash on the bad guy at the museum to save the mission, and used his problem solving skills to not only save Sarah but save Hannah at the same time.  A real growth episode for Chuck even though much of the action concentrated on the complex relationships that have developed this season.

Second, and I hate to say it, and the Shippers will totally disagree with me (more later), but Morgan was the biggest loser last night and so far this season in the relationship department.  Anna’s gone, he lost his dream as a chef, he doesn’t trust Chuck, and the ultimate pie in the face was losing Hannah to his best friend.  Morgan really likes Hannah, and this new twist will surely bring some serious tension to the Chorgan relationship here on out.

Third, I think Sarah knows what’s up and is playing Shaw.  She’s not stupid and Shaw’s sudden interest has got to have her spy radar up a bit.  This whole thing came out of left field considering how hard he has been on the whole team since arriving and considering the exchange he had with Beckman before he first appeared.  More to follow….

Prediciton

Put Hannah in the bad guy column.  She’s everything Chuck likes and it all came too easily in my mind.  I am skeptical to say the least about Shaw’s sudden and intense pursuit of Sarah immediately following the introduction of Hannah to Chuck.  Put him firmly in the bad guy column as well.

I don’t know exactly how I feel about this but I think Chuck and Sarah will both get burned and this will ultimately put them back to the same place they once were, relying on each other and together yet again.  The partner dynamic was really highlighted at the museum last night when he rescued the mission after flashing.  She lit up when he said “ready partner?”

I think Shaw is a triple agent and Hannah is his plant (or on a stretch Ted Roarke’s daughter seeking revenge), and Sarah is Shaw’s means to control Chuck and the Intersect.

(BEGIN SPOILER ALERT (Episode titles))

Knowing that episode 312 is titled “Chuck vs. The American Hero” I think Chuck and Shaw will most certainly go head to head and I’m convinced that Chuck will kill Shaw even though he still hates guns.  It will be an epic episode like “Chuck vs. The Colonel” and 313 (Season finale #1) “Chuck vs. The Other Guy” will be the culmination of the Chuck transformation this season.

I see the finale episode pitting Chuck against his very spy likeness Charles Carmichael and will be a turning point in the Chuck Sarah relationship in Season 3.  Now that Chuck is a super spy can the old Chuck handle this new Chuck and get exactly what he always wanted?  I think we’ll see much of this unfold in episodes 314-319.

(END SPOILER ALERT)

Shipper Insight

A few things bother me about the negative reaction to last night’s episode and hopefully my thoughts will calm a few:

1.  Chuck and Sarah together now doesn’t make any sense at all and I’m honestly surprised this didn’t happen sooner.  Chuck and Sarah at the end of last season went through a monumentally traumatic event.  The death of a close friend to Chuck who had been protecting Chuck for most of his adult life, and Sarah’s only close relationship she’d had in years.  Until Chuck.  You couple that with the fact that Chuck chose to become a spy over being with Sarah and you expect them to walk off into the sunset hand in hand?  Sarah was hurt, still is, and now months after being rejected by the man she loves an attractive, brave, and professional equal makes a pass and she’s not going to go for it?  It just doesn’t make sense that she wouldn’t take a shot, even if it doesn’t mean anything to her.  I mean, it would have been hilarious to have an episode where her and Casey have a few too many drinks in Castle after a mission and spontaneously embrace for only a moment.

2.  Chuck has always put Sarah on a pedestal even without having a real chance to get to know her.  He still doesn’t know her real name, even though we know her middle name.  Hannah represents everything Sarah can’t give to Chuck; a real name, a real job, and nothing to hide (at least on the surface).  The similarities to Jill are striking, without the storied past of course.  Even when Chuck had the chance to run away with Sarah it would have been with a fake name, and they would have not been living a normal life having to be on the run.  By staying in, by rejecting the relationship at that point, Chuck kept alive the possibility that one day they could be together in a normal life.  Had he run then, they’d probably be dead already, or his family and friends would be used as a wedge to get them back.

3.  (Humorous)  Guest stars, people.  Guest stars!!!  It’s hard to get upset at the recent developments when you know the expiration dates on these characters are coming very soon.  Just wondering how it’s going to play out is well worth the short term uncertainty.

Finally, there has been a lot of talk that this episode was a poor entry into the break and I couldn’t disagree more.  We have a serious amount of detail to discuss over the next few weeks, controversy has sparked interest, and I for one am extremely excited to see how Morgan will handle this new development.  I think the Ring will be the least of Chuck’s worries in the weeks and months to come.

Without a doubt, Apple’s iPad will be a game changer as a mobile device.  Will it eliminate Kindle?  No.  Will it replace all Netbooks?  No.  Will it replace laptops and smart phones?  No.  What it will do is create a new platform for applications that has not existed until now.  Plain and simple the success of the iPad will come from the tsunami of Apps that will be written for the device and take Apple’s App Store from outstanding to awe-inspiring.  Where the iPhone OS unlocked the potential for incredible mobile applications, iPad will take that software development to new heights.  Here’s how:

Imagine waking in the morning, showered, dressed, coffee brewed, breakfast ready.  The typical person’s morning might include a newspaper, TV on a favorite financial or news channel and laptop open to check email, Facebook, Twitter, from overnight.  Enter the iPad.  Instead of 3 devices (TV remote, laptop, smartphone) and a paper you have a single device with all those things in one.  Imagine a news site which not only displays the news but also streams a live feed from the TV station you normally watch.  A CNBC, Bloomberg, or Fox News app that does this is not out of the question on this platform.  Now imagine you’d rather just watch your HDTV and read The New York Times on your iPad.  Using one of the many Universal Remote apps developed in the App Store you turn on your TV from your iPad, change the channel, set a Tivo recording for tonight, and then return to the Times app for the days headlines.  All possible because of this platform.

The work day begins and today you find yourself on the road instead of in the office.  It just so happens you needed a presentation for your trip but accidentally forgot that you saved it to your work PC desktop and not on your Sharepoint site where you could have downloaded it.  Using another great find in the App Store, and the beautiful 9.7″ IPS screen, you’re connected to and controlling your office PC in seconds and posting your presentation to Sharepoint or emailing it to your iPad.  Yes, Windows users will love iPad too.  With your presentation now downloaded and available you give your presentation using the iPad and the Pages/iPad compatible bluetooth remote you bought while attached to the customer’s projector over WiFi.  No laptop necessary, no cords, no hassles.  On the ride back to the office a call comes in, not to your mobile phone, but through 3G enabled Skype on your iPad, and with bluetooth enabled your car’s handsfree system takes over and you make plans for the evening.  All while your iPad never leaves your briefcase.

I’ve illustrated only a few concepts that I think will become a quick reality with this amazing new device and as you can see when you really start think about the possibilities it becomes clear the iPad will fit into everyone’s life.  While the Kindle is great for eBook junkies, and the netbook is the great cheap alternative to a laptop, the iPad will not only offer comparable experiences to each of those devices but the iPhone OS platform will only limit what’s possible to the designer’s imagination.

These days I am wondering if Facebook is still the useful social networking tool it once was.  When I first signed up for Facebook it was exciting reconnecting with old friends, old neighbors, family, and colleagues.  Sharing personal photos, videos, and stories was enjoyable, doing fun quizzes on occassion, even airing a political debate or two was common.  It all seemed to make sense and was an enjoyable part of an evening or lull in a work day.  Then one day Facebook got REALLY big.

If I were to make an anology I’d say Facebook has become like any typical magazine on the newstand, with the information you really want buried deep inside a mess of everything you don’t care about.  Where magazines have advertisements Facebook has games, polls, quizzes, request, events, suggestions, products, etc. now outnumbering valuable information 5 to 1 on my news feed.  It has become so cumbersome it’s almost a second job going through everything just to stay on top of it.  Another sign that Facebook even knows that the information is reaching tiring levels?  The “Like” button.  No longer do you need to comment on someone’s post to show your appreciation for it, now you just click “Like” on your way to the Request section for responding to the 37 “Farmville” gift requests you have.

These days I find myself more a drive by Facebook user, and since my Notification bar often exceeds the vertical length of my computer screen it’s no surprise I find myself more interested in Twitter and it’s limited capacity for information.

I’ve decided to start writing on my blog again and what better way to do it than with a short piece on my favorite TV show.  NBC’s Chuck was picked up for a third season today after weeks of wild speculation and rumors.  Needless to say I kept more than busy in the last 15 days thanks to TV By The Numbers “15 Days of Chuck” and I can say that I, and many Chuck fans, are really glad to know the show is coming back.  There has been crazy debate since the announcement today, with Chuck not returning until March 2010,  but I remain very positive since coming back in any form is better than not at all.  With the AHA Campaign (http://weheartchuck.blogspot.com), the Subway foot-long campaign, and the various fan support campaigns it’s no surprise that NBC saw an opportunity in a completely engaged fan base.  We can only hope they support the show in the off season and promote it well enough during the Olympics to see the ratings jump making next year’s discussion not about renewal but about how many years they are going to pick up.  Until then, DVDs, webisodes, and NBC forums will have to fulfill the Chuck craving in all of us.