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MjL – TwoCents Reviewer
MjL@thetwocentscorp.com
The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo is the latest and greatest Midwest convention of its kind. Established in 2010, it brings all forms of fictional pop culture into downtown Chicago once a year to celebrate, promote and entertain the fans that love their fiction whether in book or on screen. Being a reviewer for one of the predominant websites about television, I was given exclusive press access to the event. Pretty keen, huh?
The final TV panel of C2E2 was the largest and most playful of the convention. Chuck members Joshua Gomez (Morgan Grime), Ryan McPartlin (Capt. Awesome), Vik Sahay (Lester) and Scott Krinsky (Jeff) along with co-creator Chris Fedak took us on a very humorous journey into the international espionage world of Chuck. How much was declassified? Well, let’s find out.
The panel got started in the most Chuck fashion possible, when the special video presentation for C2E2 had an audio glitch. It was very funny and informative, giving us an interesting recap montage that seemed to lead to some hints for the upcoming episodes. So, after the second viewing, we got right to business.
thetwocents/MjL
May I first anoint Vik Sahay the MVP of C2E2 panels (I’ll get a plaque made up if he wants the title)? He was incredibly entertaining taking potshots and dishing it back out. He truly knew how to play around with his cohorts on the panel, as well as turning the affections of the audience on and off at his whim. No one was safe from his mockery including Lester and Fedak.
Fedak brought beautiful openness when discussing the past and last few episodes of Chuck’s season (series?). He also didn’t overpower the panel with his anecdotes. My favorite bit from him: he talks to Matt Nix of Burn Notice all the time and thinks about asking to get Bruce Campbell to guest on the show. I like anything Bruce.
Note: beware of any good ideas you might want to send Fedak’s way – he admits he will take full credit for it.
Gomez and McPartlin seemed to enjoy the whole experience of being brought into the spy world this and past seasons, and are anxious for more. McPartlin admitted that his home and work life currently mirror each other. Each experience they described showed their natural gift for comedy that Chuck benefits from.
Noticeably, Jeffster got a huge amount of attention and who knows how far the supergroup will be allowed to take advantage of their growing fanbase after light considerations of albums and tours. However, the game soon was to address the two as one being or make them the butt of jokes.
As for insight into the upcoming episodes, I have a few.
- Looks like Ellie and Awesome are about to get into a lot of trouble over the information on her dad’s computer.
- A bachelor party episode is coming soon that will end up in the woods with Ray Wise!
- The wedding’s going off not as planned.
- Looks like Gary Cole is coming back to Chuck, not much of a surprise there (wedding coming).
- Timothy Dalton is coming back as well.
- An upcoming episode will be an homage to con films.
- Casey’s civilian life will be explored soon.
- There is no knowledge if there has been a renewal. Sorry.
- Despite the previous point, there will be a huge cliffhanger in the season finale conveniently titled Chuck Vs. the Cliffhanger.
This was a fun panel with a nice balance of give or take and met the expectations I had for a panel coming into C2E2, so kudos to the group for keeping me entertained. Now, what do you think the odds are for Chuck getting renewed? What project do you want to see come from Jeffster?
On a side note, here are some of the wonderful costumes from the weekend.
photo: thetwocents/MjL
photo: thetwocents/MjL
photo: thetwocents/MjL
TheTwoCents 
Sahay truly was brilliant. I was so so impressed by him, in general.
And he was so quick with the one-liners like during Ryan’s pregnancy story, he sneaks in the snarky, “She sounds like such a nice lady.”
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