Chuck Versus the Goodbye (#1.16)

Wow.  I finished watching the series finale of Chuck about two hours ago and I can't get it out of my mind.  I haven't cried that much since the series finale of Friday Night Lights.  And before that?  Probably the series finale of Lost.  Perhaps you notice a pattern.  Seems like I really only cry for TV shows and especially during finales.  I haven't quite mastered saying goodbye to these friends I've spent years with.  Of course, all shows have to end sometime (except, maybe, The Simpsons), but that doesn't mean goodbye doesn't hurt.  Still, Chuck and Sarah and Casey and Morgan gave me plenty of good times to remember, plenty of laughs to think about and the pain subsides a little.  Here's a raised glass, a toast, and a salute to the show that brought out the inner geek in all of us - Chuck.

Chuck started in 2007, created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak.  Mixing genres left and right, Chuck was funny, romantic, and packed to the gills with action.  Centered around a Buy More (think Best Buy) computer nerd who was suddenly infused with the world's most dangerous and advanced intellectual weapon - the Intersect - Chuck quickly became the origin story every present-day geek would have written for himself.  I used the male pronoun there, but who am I kidding?  I would LOVE to have the Intersect.  Anyway, Chuck (Zachary Levi) is soon courted, falsely, by his CIA handler Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski).  Their fake, cover relationship eventually becomes real and by season five Chuck and Sarah are happily married and looking to quit the spy game and start a family.

And then there's Casey, Morgan, Ellie, Awesome, Jeff, Lester, Big Mike, and Alex to round out this strange, but loving family the Chuck universe has created.  The characters, as with any great series in my opinion, are the foundation that made it worth watching.  They become your friends and your extended family that you choose to spend time with every week.  And it was such a wonderful journey to watch them grow.  Seeing Casey go from trained assassin to caring father.  Being with Ellie and Devon as they became parents.  Learning how smart Jeff could be when he stopped sleeping in his van with the engine running.  All of these discoveries were great because we were with people we loved.

Another of my favorite things about Chuck was its ability to combine so many different types of shows.  It was a romantic comedy and a procedural.  It was an action series and a workplace sitcom.  It had mystery and it had emotion.  I laughed.  I cried (obviously).  I sat on the edge of my seat in suspense.  Through five seasons, Chuck gave the viewers a little bit of everything to enjoy.  And the viewers did what they could to give that joy back.

Now, maybe it didn't always have the biggest fan base.  In five seasons it was on the verge of cancellation after each and every one of them.  But that small fan base, let me tell you, was so loyal and dedicated that every year these people showed NBC that they wanted more Chuck and they wanted it now.  They ate their way through more Subway sandwiches than could be counted and saved the show time and again.  So for this show to have gotten the five years that it did, I can be nothing but grateful.

But I'm still sad it's over.  Because the creators knew this season would be Chuck's last, they were able to provide closure to these fans that loved the show so much.  And although not everyone loved the way the finale left things, I can certainly find some comfort in how it ended.  I don't want to give anything away for those of you who will give this series second-life on DVD, but while the finale was not all rainbows and smiles, it left me with a feeling of hope and, in my mind, I know everything will be okay for Chuck, Sarah, and everyone else.

I love Chuck and I will miss it like crazy for a while.  But someday, I'll pull out the discs and start over from the beginning.  I'll start this adventure again and find new things to love and admire along the way.  Because although it may be gone, Chuck will never be forgotten.


And I still have quite a few things to watch between now and then.