CHUCK
CHUCK VS. THE RING
04-27-2009 8:00PM

SEASON FINALE—CHUCK MUST SAVE HIS SISTER’S WEDDING AND HER LIFE—MORGAN FAIRCHILD ("Falcon Crest"), BRUCE BOXLEITNER ("Babylon 5"), TONY HALE ("Arrested Development"), SCOTT BAKULA ("Quantum Leap") AND CHEVY CHASE (NBC's "Saturday Night Live") GUEST STAR—When Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Awesome's (Ryan McPartlin) wedding day finally arrives, Chuck (Zachary Levi) must save Ellie’s life and her big day from being ruined by Ted Roark (guest star Chevy Chase) and Fulcrum.

Show Cast: Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster, Ryan McPartlin, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Vik Sahay, Scott Krinsky, Julia Ling

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Hm...this is interesting.

So Chuck is going to off Chevy Chase in this episode and take over his company?

Small complaint: I'd rather not have known Roark was in league with Fulcrum...

Why are there only 22 episodes? I thought there were supposed to be 23.

Staple season is 22 episodes, which sucks because that's really not that many.

I believe that these last two episodes (this one in particular) are make or break for this show's chances of renewal.

If Fedak (who wrote it back in early February) leaves us with another bummer ending ala "Santa Claus", I feel that NBC will drop the axe. If he gives the comedy, action and perhaps most importantly, Charah a good feeling and progression at the end, I could see NBC renewing Chuck based on the praise from this forum alone.

This season finale is meant to lead into a different direction for season 3 but at the same time satisfy the fans in case NBC doesn't give the show a 3rd season (which hopefully doesn't happen!). Now it is just a matter of hoping and waiting...

That's the most spoilery summary ever!!!!....looking foward to it tho!!!!

What could "the ring" possibly mean? I think it's safe to assume it's not referring to an Ellie or Awesome wedding ring because centering another finale around Chuck protecting a ring would be kind of redundant. I also hope it isn't an engagement ring for Sarah. The synopsis for Colonel seems to suggest Chuck and Sarah will be together by the finale, which would make everyone really happy, but an engagement? That would just seem rushed in my opinion. I'm inclined to think this is definitely a very misleading title, but who knows?

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I'm really curious as to how this will end. The only thing I'm certain is that Sarah will be by his side whatever decision he makes.

I'm one of the people who discussed ratings/renewal on this thread earlier today. My apologies, I definitely didn't look further down the list of discussions to post in the right forum. Won't happen again, I'll get it right next time.

Ring of lies? Ring of Fulcrum agents? Hmm, the possibilities are vast. Of course, I've been wrong in my guesses about what the episode titles mean pretty much 100% of the time, so I'm obviously not so good at guessing!

Although I do hope they throw in a few Lord of the Rings references. That would be pretty geektastic!

^^^ Yeah, it could be a symbolic 'ring'. Never thought about that. I reckon it's gonna be the 'ring' as in meaning the marriage, so 'Vs. The Ring' I would substitute for 'Vs. The Marriage', as in Ellie and Awesome's marriage. I really hope that they do tie things up during this episode, hopefully action-packed for the first 30 minutes, then I'm hoping for 5-10 minutes at the end of really sweet scenes, like the wedding, and some kind of balance reached in regards to Chuck/Sarah and the spy/Buy More world, but an ending that leaves possibilities open.

Ah!! I'm so excited!

It could also imply that something happens to either Ellie's or Awesome's wedding band. I don't think that either Chuck is the Best Man or that Sarah is the Maid of Honor so I'm not sure whether we can assume that either of them loses the ring(s).

Based on the synopsis, maybe somehow Fulcrum replaces their rings with explosive versions or something, resulting in Chuck having to locate them and replace them! :b

Any thoughts?

Episode titles for this show often carry double-entendres. I do like the idea of a LotR connection though. Could be great. Chuck has already proven is inability to hang on to rings ("Marlin"), so I'm guessing the title doesn't have anything to do with a plot involving the actual wedding rings.

Chuck did have to plan the bachelor party, most often the best mans job. So Chuck might be in charge of the rings also. Can't one of Devens frat brothers step up.

Me too. Would love if this finale was similar to BSG's...with the first 30-45 min an exciting action sequence, and the rest a nice wrap-up in the eventuality Chuck is not renewed.

As for the Chuck+Sarah dynamic, I am not overly concerned if they don't get together at the end. It would be great, but it's not entirely necessary for me. I wouldn't mind if Sarah told Chuck her real name, then leaving...

Here's a thought, assuming awesome has found out the whole CIA thing with Chuck, maybe awesome tells Chuck to marry Sara spontaneously to force her reassignment not to go through or something like that.... just an idea. (That's assuming there are indeed two weddings).

Obviously the first thing I think about when I hear the word ring is the sort of thing you wear on a finger. The SECOND thing I think about is a boxing ring, or, along those lines, to "throw your hat in the ring".

Technically speaking, Sarah could always refuse a re-assignment. The agents have some choice of where they go. Sarah could always request a transfer to a non-field position...she might make field agent supervisor depending on her experience and record of work.

I am not worred about the Chuck+Sarah dynamic because the show faces cancellation, so I'm sure it will end on a happy note. I'm just curious as to how they will tie things up but create cliff hangers to beg NBC for another season...

For example, will Fulcrum survive the finale? Doesn't seem like it...then who becomes Chuck's main antagonist? Will Chuck remain at the Buy More? Will Chuck continue to live with Ellie and Awesome?

Hmmm, I was thinking about ring this morning and realized it could be a telephone ring. I decided to take a look in a dictionary (Webster's unabridged) to see how many different meanings there could be for ring. There are a LOT. For nouns there are 32 meanings, for verbs there are 31.

Here are some interesting ones to cogitate upon given the show, "Chuck":

n. (#12) a group of persons cooperating for unethical, illicit or illegal purposes, as to control stock-market prices, manipulate politicians, or elude the law.

v. (#2) to make a given impression on the mind; appear. (As of in, "words that ring true"). Interesting given Chuck's flashes.

...And finally, given whether you are an optimist or a pessimist as to whether "Chuck" will be renewed:

v. (#22) to begin, inaugurate, initiate; v. (#15) to bring to an end. (As of in, "to ring up/down the curtain").

Can we not bring Webster's definitions on here again?

Maybe the title is a reference the the leaders we saw in the lethal weapon who were in charge of Fulcrum. Those sneaky show title writers.

What if "vs. the ring" means chuck finding out who is in the main fulcrum "ring" leaving it open for season 3 being about chuck searching these guys and woman out to get to the fulcrum intersect and get his life back. Any thoughts?

Well it has to do with a ring and there are two weddings according to interviews. Could our favorite couple be getting hitched?

I doubt our Charah will be wedding. I even doubt they will be together at the end of this episode.

Well the synopsis is all about Ellie and Awesome's wedding so it isn't a stretch to say that the ring has to do with the wedding, but I think it may be a ring from their parents, Chuck got the bracelet, maybe Ellie got Mom's wedding ring which could have imporant info on it. Beyond that I think that there is much information in the next three episodes to be discovered before we can make sense of this one.

You know the rings are going to refer to two weddings. It is going to big mike and morgans mom and the awesomes getting married. Chuck and Sarah will get together at the end. Go team Chuck.

I bet its a reference to Jeff and Lester having a Lord of the rings marathon

I'm sticking by dual meaning, first is the obvious weddings and second is the fulcrum 'ring' of leaders.

I also think chuck and sarah will be together at the end.

I should better define together. I do not consider them having a kiss as together; I am talking about a relationship commitment. I just don't see it happening.

Considering the real threat of cancellation, they will probably end up together.

Not sure, look at other series, especially Kyle XY, and you'll see that a cancellation threat is not sufficient enough to have an happy ending... We're pretty lucky though, Chuck's writers are *really* taking in account this in their scripts, as they said.

True, but they also mentioned that they would leave storylines open for a third season. Ryan McPartlin even openly stated what one of those storylines would be during an interview.

However, I'm pretty sure the Charah storyline will end on a happy note in 'versus The Ring' due to the threat of cancellation.

I agree that's the most likely scenario. Of the four actual couple on the show the awesomes are obvious for one of the two promised weddings.
Big Mike and Morgan's mom are by far the most likely for the other; it would let them tease us with talk of two weddings while having virtually no impact on the show. It even makes sense character-wise; adults looking to remarry often seem to pull the trigger more quickly than younger adults.
Margan and Anna are next most likely. It would have a little more emotional impact for long time viewers while the actual impact on story telling would be minor.
Obviously the whole reason they mention two weddings is the remote possibility of Chuck and Sarah being one of them. I'm 90% sure they will wait til season 4 or 5 and hype it for half a year if they get the chance; but "if they get the chance" is the what leads to the slim possibility of a big surprise. With the show being weak in the ratings a big pay off for this season and a shake-up for next season is a possibility. JS/CF have mentioned game changers for the end of this season; this could be a huge one. It's not hard to imagine a situation where Chuck and Sarah could make a quick decision to be together, and they've even foreshadowed some things like Ellie pressuring Chuck on marriage, Sarah mentioning a desire for a more normal life, Sarah keeping the rings after The Suburbs, and a taste of domestic life between them. I'm sure the original show outline drew this out for several seasons but given the current state of things I think we'll see some sort of commitment between our featured couple by the season finale and possibly something huge.

You are all forgetting the power of television storytelling. We could still get a Sarah-Chuck wedding at the end. All it would take is the words "Three Years Later" at the bottom.

Is this the complete episode description because I've seen a much more spoiler-tastic synopsis elsewhere. In regards to the admin. who issued the warning about spoilers, is there a place where we MAY discuss them? Some of us quite enjoy learning about future episodes and discussing them before they are revealed live. Surely the words "May contain spoilers" in this topic description grants us *some* freedom of discussion of spoilers in here, does it not? And if that is not the case, may I kindly suggest we have a section where spoiler discussion is allowed? After all, other NBC show boards have them (for example, the "Water Cooler" section of the Office boards). Thanks.

Perhaps Chuck finds the ring Sarah kept from Suburbs and questions Sarah about it, leading to some romantic developments and love declaration?

The spoilers I've seen for this episode date back to Christmas time when the episode probably wasn't even written in its final form yet; I think they are worthless.

Now this would be sweet!!

Wishful thinking into season 3.

Well, we all know that if season 3 is there, there will be a huge gamechanger in between the season 2 finale, and the season 3 premiere.

Based on that hypothesis (given by writers, etc.), here are the possibilities :

1. action is taking place just after season 2.
2. action is taking place quite a while after season 2 (like in Desperate Housewifes - hoping no spoiling that to people here -)

If 1., Charah wedding is a bit hard to consider. If gamechanger there is, then it could only means either Charah is living together (but I don't think it's a HUGE gamechanger as writers said), or Chuck doing things from different way (like being a real agent, or leaving BuyMore etc.)

If 2., Charah wedding can be envisaged. Then, the gamechanger would be more focused on their relationship (how they manage their life together while doing spies stuff) rather than their job, or Fulcrum for example.

I'm not really convinced that #2 can happen, because Ryan McPartlin left us know that Cpt. Awesome would be more involved in (hard to consider if 5 years after).

Okay, time to bet : let's say action is taking place just after season 2 finale, Intersect not being the main storyline, and Fulcrum being a "good" organization.

Oh please, please don't let the gamechanger be a time jump. I hate that so much. It's such a cop-out and it's starting to happen more and more on television.

What if the ring has nothing to do with the wedding at all, what if it is the intersect itself?

i can see everyone finding out at the wedding since papa b should be there and chuck too. if something is going down sarah and casey will go missing to save chuck and you cant hide that in front of everyone that 4 people just disappeared after men show up with guns. either that or maybe ellie gets kidnapped by fulcrum for leverage. awesome will try to save her and find out chuck sarah and casey are doing the same. this leads the captain into the possibility of the spy world.

all speculation. any thoughts?

I get what you mean, but i dont think its the intersect, remember the ring is Awesome's grandmas ring.
I do think that Chuck's dad probably made it a trigger to the intersect.
Maybe the ring is a trigger to destroy the Fulcrum intersect. Lol and you have to remember this is a series. I dont think they'll end the storyline in 2 seasons, so it probably wont be the intersect.

I just found a rumor that some what points a finger at the intersect, but I can't be sure if it is true. I hope I'm wrong.

if you read a spoiler that said something i read that too and i really think it would mean the end of the series but then again there are too many unpredictable things that can happen to keep the series going. like the opposite of the spoiler... assuming you read it

"The Ring" probably has multiple meanings. And the most obvious one may not be the most important.

i hope season 2 isn't chuck's last season... i am totally hooked up with it!!!

I have a thought, what if Fulcrum could possibly be not so bad because its no question that they are somewhat bad (and I know they maybe worded very weird). Okay what if Fulcrum is aware of a even bigger threat that which they could use the intersect to aid them in there very own fight against a far worst enemy (That would be a game changer). After knowing this Team Chuck kind of joins Fulcrum in a way...Well not join but come together (Which could be a meaning for the ring..like in marriage the joining of two parties. The Ring could represent that. That my friends could be a game changer). What if the ring also represented a ring of people in the US Government and Foreign countries apart of this bigger threat. Which would explain why Fulcrum fighting against the Government. Maybe they aren't so bad. What if General Beckman was apart of this Ring?

But of course I could be wrong. It could still be the wedding and Charah/Morgan and Anna/ Big Mike and Morgan's Mother.

Oh yeah the ring could also be Chuck and Ellie mother's ring. Papa B may have it and gives it to Ellie. (Maybe someone said that already)

*I probably make no sense its super early and i haven't been to sleep. So don't hate me if you don't understand what I'm saying. I tend to ramble when I'm tired. See I'm rambling still and writing that I'm rambling is further proof that I ramble* sighs so tired