Chris Fedak on the Chuck Finale

Posted by Debbie

April 29, 2009

TV critic (and Chuck supporter) Alan Sepinwall spoke with Chuck co-creator Chris Fedak about the implications of the season 2 finale, “Chuck vs. the Ring,” Jeffster, the campaign to save the show and various other Chuck things. Here is a bit of the Q&A:

What exactly does that final scene mean in terms of what Chuck can do now?
The first thing I should say is Schwartz has sent over a Warner Bros. security expert to my house. So if I say anything that might spoil season three, I think he’s authorized to take me out. He looks like former KGB.

The final scene is a launching pad for season three. It’s something that we’ve kind of teased, ever so slightly earlier in the season. It gets back to what you asked me the last time we talked about the Feistel code, the scene (in "Chuck vs. the Dream Job") where Chuck’s dad asks him to look at the computer screen, the idea is that his dad knows inside the Intersect is the ability to decipher a code. That was our first subtle hint that maybe the Intersect didn’t just store information, but it could provide abilities. In our final scene, with the new Intersect update is that there’s now abilities stored inside.

So he knows kung fu now. Can you tell me what else?
I can’t tell you what else. The security expert from Warner Bros. is putting a silencer on the gun right now.

Well, that brings me to my next question. Let me play Devil’s advocate: you went into the series knowing that a lot of the appeal of the show is seeing this ordinary guy struggle to be a spy without any real training, he doesn’t know how to fight, how to use a gun, he doesn’t know spycraft, and he’s just a nerd who has this intelligence in his head, saving the world because he’s good at Missile Command or whatever. Does giving him these abilities take away from the appeal of the show?
No. It doesn’t take away. I’m going to answer your question rather cryptically. I’ll say that the show is not going to lose its sense of humor.

Well, then the other question is, if Chuck knows kung fu, and he has the Intersect, and he also has the Orion wrist cuff, which we know can do a lot of cool things on its own, at what point does he still need Casey and Sarah?
Oh, I think he absolutely needs Casey and Sarah. He’s not suddenly going to become Jack Bauer.

What can you tell me about the Ring? Is that, in fact, its name?
I think it goes by many names. It’s cryptically known as the Ring. If you think about Fulcrum as a subsidiary, a franchise of the Ring, that it’s a larger organization.

So what is it that introducing the Ring does for the show that Fulcrum wasn’t. Why did you feel the need to introduce a larger evil organization?
(Long pause) I’ll say this: the Ring has different goals than Fulcrum.

But wasn’t Fulcrum already pretty vague in its goals? One of the advantages and disadvantages of Fulcrum is that we didn’t really know what they were about, so you could do anything with them.
Thinking about season three, it was important that the Ring have a very specific goal. And that plays out in season three.

The last time we talked, you said you had most of season three already mapped out. Obviously, you’re reluctant to give away too much, but let me ask you one of the more obvious questions: Chuck has quit the Buy More, Casey has quit the Buy More, Morgan has quit the Buy More. We love the Buy More, Jeffster and Big Mike are still there, you still have that set, but how do you keep using it as a part of the show at this point?
Unfortunately, I think you’ll just have to wait and see season three.

Couldn’t you just convert it to a Benihana set?
We look forward to building the Benihana set.

At any point did you consider something with more closure, or would that have made things too easy for NBC?
This was our finale. We knew it from the beginning of the season that this is what we were working to. This was the coolest ending we could imagine. This was the one we had to write.

How did you guys decide Captain Awesome would be the one to find out? Are there specific stories you have in mind for that, or was it just that you thought he’d be funnier to be in the loop than, say, Lester?
The reason we chose Captain Awesome is because, of all the people in the "Chuck" universe, he’s the one who thinks he has it all figured out. That type of certitude, especially with the way Ryan plays the part, it’s so much fun to throw him a curveball. We really enjoyed the idea, of all the people you could tell, whose world would be rocked the most? And who would respond the best, who would have Chuck’s back the most? It would be Captain Awesome.
One of my favorite scenes from last week’s episode was Captain Awesome losing it in front of Ellie because he couldn’t deal with the secret.

Are Jeffster! supposed to be getting better? Because it actually doesn’t sound bad, and that’s even before the Styx version comes in.
There’s three different versions of the song. There’s the Jeff and Lester version, then our composer Tim Jones in to add score, when Bryce comes into the reception hall, it’s Tim’s score playing an orchestral "Mr. Roboto," and when the paratroopers fly through the window above, that’s the actual Styx music kicking in.

Jeff and Lester are not the best performers in the world, Jeffster’s not the best wedding band in the world, but they’ve got enthusiasm. Since they are technically proficient, I thought this song was perfect for them, because they rock when they have a vocoder.

So what are you hearing right now from NBC?
We had a good meeting with NBC and Warner Bros., and everybody’s very positive. We’re still in the same holding pattern. There’s no ETA.

So if, unfortunately, NBC decides not to renew and this is the ending, what do you want the audience to take away from the show?
I love endings that imply further adventures. If this is the end, and God forbid that it is, our fans should know that Chuck and Sarah and Casey are off saving the world. They’re amazing and thye’re a great team, and hopefully we’re going to get to see that.

And how would you react to knowing this was the last episode?
It would be gut-wrenching for our entire writing staff, and our cast as well. We’ve all fallen in love with these characters. You probably feel that from the show that we write. It’s hard to imagine not having more experiences and more fun, taking those characters out into the world and telling their story.

Knowing that there’s a chance the show might not continue, in hindsight are you happy with the pace at which you moved the Chuck/Sarah relationship?
Absolutely. Especially for season two, it was imperative to the show that Sarah’s job is to protect Chuck. If they have an emotional relationship, she’s not as good at her job. So keeping them apart and having that tension was organic to the show.

That then leads me to the inevitable follow-up: Sarah was able to have a relationship with Bryce, Chuck now appears to be perfectly capable of taking care of himself and much more of an equal to the other two. Are the obstacles no longer there?
Sepinwall, you’re not gonna get that out of me. Unfrotunately I’m just going to say you’re going to have to watch season three.

God, I hope I can.
God, I hope you can, too.