This week’s Chuck taught me two things. One, I’m eloping when I get married. Two, Chuck and Sarah’s relationship deserves a little more applause, for holding up strong over four seasons.
Sarah and Chuck are at the point where most TV relationships jump the shark. They’ve done the “will they, won’t they” tango. They dealt with each other’s unresolved romantic tension with their exes. We’ve played through their numerous issues as a couple. Now they’re headed for the altar, which I presume they’ll get to by next week’s season finale. (Buzzkill alert: despite this week’s cliffhanger, I’m pretty sure that Sarah will be alive and well in the end, unless The Powers That Be want to incite a big, unruly mob of upset fans.) Should the show get a season five (fingers crossed!) the only step left on the TV couple checklist for them is a baby.
This has sounded familiar to me all season, and tonight I finally put my finger on it: they remind me of Lois Lane and Clark Kent. Not the Smallville version. I mean the pair from Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. One of the better long-term couples to grace the small screen.
Over their four seasons (1993-1997), Lois (Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher) and Clark (Dean Cain) likewise went through pretty much every stage that a TV courtship can go through. Like Chuck and Sarah, it was clear from the beginning that they were going to end up together (it was dictated by exhaustive comic canon, after all!). They met, fell in love, were married and in the series finale, found a baby. Lois and Clark married in their show’s fourth season, which should also be true for Chuck and Sarah barring an eleventh-hour twist. The fourth year ended up being Lois & Clark‘s last — a possibility that’s still very real for Chuck fans.
But it’s more than just similar benchmarks that make me draw the comparison. As is evident from the title, Lois & Clark was about the relationship between the two protagonists as much if not more than it was about Superman, and it was a great example of an effective long-term pairing. While there were some hiccups (having Clark marry a frog-eating Lois clone was ridiculous, I won’t lie), their relationship was the heart of the show and the show worked that way. Likewise, Chuck and Sarah’s romance is now the center of Chuck, if it wasn’t always, and it works to have it there. Although sometimes it gets too cute (they seem to have some issue in their relationship to disagree over almost every week like clockwork), it doesn’t bother me that they’re getting married. It probably wouldn’t even bother me if they had a kid. It’s been rewarding to see their relationship grow, and after four years, it’s the right time for them to take that next step.
Let’s look at this episode’s final scene. Although Vivian taunted Chuck with guessing who she’d try to bump off, did anyone really think it wouldn’t be Sarah? Any other choice wouldn’t have had as much impact on either Chuck or the audience. (No offense intended to Mary Bartowski). After all, we’ve been waiting for them to get married since they became engaged in January, in what would’ve been the season finale if NBC hadn’t ordered an extra eleven episodes… In that one scene, “Chuck Versus The Last Details” reminded us yet again that Chuck and Sarah belong together, and unlike many TV romances, are made for the long haul.
At least, hopefully it’s a long haul. If Chuck ends up being canceled, I can think of no better way for it to conclude than Chuck and Sarah getting married and living happily ever after. Yet if we do beat the odds (again) and get another year, I have no doubt that they’ll still be a great couple, just like Lois and Clark.
Clacked by Brittany Frederick 
on May 10, 2011 @ 08:41 EST5EDT
Honestly the twist was obvious, but still its nice that the writers didn’t chicken out. They could have easily said “nope that is too dramatic.”
The Best part of the episode in my eyes was Jeff’s video. In a lot of ways it meant more to me because that is how Jeff sees them.
The question that is bouncing around in my mind is less “do I want a new season” and more “do they need a new season?”. Between funky episode orders mix and their perma-bubble status and they have to add mid-season story lines and such.
I have a feeling that NBC might pull a Smallville 10th season on us, ie “Chuck Season 5: The Final Season.” Which I am ok with as long as they give it a full episode run from the get go, instead of trying to save money.