Screen Actor's Guild Awards

The Screen Actor's Guilld Awards were on last night, an awards show that I usually enjoy watching. The actors are all excited to get to hang out together, and I love the little "and I'm an actor" intros they do at the beginning. And of course, I love watching red carpets.

The red carpet event on E! was a trainwreck. Seacrest wasn't there, and Guiliana Rancic was able to make every single celebrity uncomfortable with her weird, probing, personal questions. The woman has no boundaries! Even the most gregarious celebrities looked a little freaked out, so you can only imagine how I cringed when she peppered poor, shy Michelle Williams with intimate questions.

Frankly, the whole thing was painful. I'm apparently a glutton for punishment though (or I just like making snarky tweets) because I did not opt to watch the show on mute. Anyway, let's talk gowns.

The Highs

Ariel Winter, Julia Bowen, Sarah Hyland, Sofia Vergara

 The women of Modern Family killed it, didn't they? Yes, I know Ariel Winter is only 14. But you know what? She's very pretty and plays a nerd on TV and deserves to dress up fancy for these things. Sofia Vergara is getting a little predictable, but looked fantastic nonetheless. I think this might be the first time I've liked what Julie Bowen's worn on a red carpet, and I thought Sarah Hyland looked beautiful as always.

Berenice Bejo, Viola Davis, Naya Rivera, Octavia Spencer

Viola Davis looked spectacular, right? Truly stunning. As for the other women in the collage? Good enough. Not on par with Viola, though.

Angelina Jolie, Stacy Keibler, Jayma Mays, Ashlee Simpson

I always find black a bit boring, but these women did it well. Angelina's look was very well, Angelina, but she wore it well. Stacy Keibler has been fulfilling her duty as Clooney's arm candy in all the right ways. Jayma Mays looked sparkly and beautiful. Now, who was surprised by Ashlee Simpson? I certainly was. She actually looked pretty good, and didn't seem like a trainwreck. She was there as the date Lucky Luciano from Boardwalk Empire.

Dianna Agron, Emily Blunt, Melissa McCarthy, Natalie Portman, Michelle Williams, Kyra Sedgwick

My favorites here are Dianna Agron and Emily Blunt. I loved the sweet simplicity of Dianna's look following her intricate, stunning Golden Globes gown, and I love that Emily Blunt wears color so often.

What do we think of this?

Rose Byrne

I'm pretty sure I've come to the conclusion that I like it. It's daring, that's for sure. But I think she pulls it off. I love her hair, too.

The Lows

Jessica Chastain, Kaley Cuoco, Zoe Saldana, Meryl Streep, Shailene Woodley

Oh, there are so many misses here. I love the color of Jessica's dress, but the fit was weird. Kaley was too prom queen. Zoe was wearing a Hanes tank top under that gown, I do believe. Meryl - well, when did this become her signature look? I was chilly while watching the awards and had a blanket draped over my shoulders. Had someone handed me a belt, Meryl and I would have been twinsies. And that print on Shailene, well...it's time to find a new stylist.

Tina Fey, Ellie Kemper, Busy Phillips, Kristen Wiig, Emma Stone, Maya Rudolph

Stop disappointing me, funny women! Tina Fey's boobs look weirdly squished. Ellie Kemper is wearing a fancy swimsuit. Busy Phillips - well I don't even know what to say about that. Kristen Wiig made all of Twitter mad with that choker, and could girlfriend wear some color once in a while? I always love Emma Stone, but I had this. And it was like Maya Rudolph wanted to look frumpy. I love all of these women. And I want better for them.

Lea Michele, Heather Morris, Amber Riley, Jenna Ushkowitz

(Most of) The Women of Glee. A few made the highs list - Dianna Agron, Jayma Mays and Naya Rivera - and I don't have a photo of Jane Lynch, but she looked pretty good. But these women need to take some cues from their cast mates. Lea Michele is notorious for trying too hard, and this gown is the epitome of that. Too tight, slit too high. Her hair looked nice and shiny, though. Heather Morris is just a bad, bad scene. Amber Riley looks like a present that I hope came with a gift receipt. And Jenna, well she's the worst of all. What is that?

The Show Itself

Now, as for the actual awards show, it was pretty good. There were some laughs (Martin Scorcese! Everyone drink!), and Dick van Dyke introduced Mary Tyler Moore, who was receiving a much-deserved lifetime achievement award.

Not all the awards (full list here) jived with what I would have chosen, though. Actors vote on these, so I think emotion and likable personalities play a huge role. The Help received honors that I don't think are proportionate to the quality of the film, and I think we all know Betty White is not handed great material on Hot in Cleveland even though she herself is a very funny person.

As someone who's not a big Boardwalk Empire fan I wasn't thrilled to see the cast win in the drama category, and I was most certainly rooting for Kyle "Coach Taylor" Chandler for best actor. I hoped Parks and Recreation would beat out Modern Family for ensemble cast in a comedy even though, I know, they weren't nominated. That was a crime.

Did you guys see the red carpet or the awards? What's your take?

Chuck: Goodbye, Friends

I'll just come out at say it: I loved the double-header series finale of Chuck. In fact, I'm not sure it's possible for me to be happier. Sure, I could probably nitpick if I wanted to. But that's the thing - I don't. I thought the plot was quick and exciting, I loved how the episodes called back precious moments from seasons past, and over and over again the episodes hit the perfect notes of emotion. It was beautiful.

Chuck vs. Sarah

Pitting Sarah against Chuck in the penultimate episode of the series? I thought it was a great idea. Sarah, with her memory erased thanks to Quinn and the Intersect, had a mission to take out Chuck. She lied to him and pretended everything was OK so she could snag the Intersect glasses before killing him, but Chuck knew something was wrong. And since Chuck is a spy who doesn't even like to fire a real gun, he certainly wasn't going to fight back when his wife and soulmate started kicking his butt.

Eventually, Sarah realized that Chuck had been telling the truth all along and Quinn was the bad guy - unfortunately, Quinn got away and she still didn't have her memory back. She believed Chuck when he said they were in love, but she didn't share those feelings. It was heartbreaking.

Chuck vs. The Goodbye



So in act two, Sarah sought to take Quinn out and Chuck offered to help - with the ulterior motive of making her fall back in love with him again. There was a Nerd Herd uniform, and wonderful glimpses back to "their story", how Chuck and Sarah came to be.

It all culminated at the symphony. Beckman, unaware that she had an important piece of the Intersect hidden amongst her badges, was enjoying a concert when Quinn revealed that she was sitting on top of the bomb. If she stood, it would go off. If the music ended, it would go off.

Cue a concert from Jeffster (that was hilarious), Sarah finally killing Quinn, and a touching moment where Chuck realized that the Intersect glasses, with only one upload left, could do one of two things: it could upload all of Sarah's memories for her, or it could put the Intersect in Chuck's head so he could diffuse the bomb.

All along, Sarah had flashes (ah! pun!) of memory. She rearranged things at a German version of the Wienerlicious where she used to work. And when Chuck wasn't sure he could stop the bomb, she remembered the Irene Demova Virus that he'd used on their first mission. In the end, the team saved the day.

What was great about this episode is exactly what was great about the season: everyone had their moment to shine. We saw Ellie intentionally crash a car to not only save Chuck, but to save Sarah from doing something she knew the real Sarah would never forgive herself for. We saw Jeff and Lester have their moment to shine, Chuck's mom came back to lend a helping hand, Beckman had her moments. Everyone was there.

When it was all over, it was bittersweet. There were a lot of happy endings, with lots of movement for our favorite characters. Ellie and Awesome moved to Chicago to accept prestigious positions at a hospital. Morgan and Alex announced they were moving in together. Casey decided to go after Verbanski and actually be happy. Jeff and Lester moved to Germany to become pop stars. Subway took over the Buy More, which was a funny little shout out to the sandwich company that saved our show. And we were left with Chuck and Sarah, sitting on a beach.

Chuck told Sarah their story, and they laughed and cried. And then, like in a Disney princess movie, they kissed. Maybe it wouldn't magically restore Sarah's memory like Morgan thought - he's watched a few too many princess movies with baby Clara. Maybe the optimistic viewers out there think that it did. But I think it was a sign of a fresh start for the couple. Maybe Sarah's memory will slowly come back, or pieces of it will. Maybe it won't. But they're starting a new life together, a life where they're no longer spies, and Sarah knew enough to know she wanted to be a part of it. That's what I think happened.

Chuck has always been a show that's not afraid to surprise you - Chuck's dad getting killed is often referenced. And I think the show stayed true to this in the finale. It would have been easy to diffuse the bomb another way and use the Intersect to restore Sarah's memory. But that's not the kind of show Chuck is. Chuck is funny and at times campy, it's action-packed, and most importantly it's emotional. It's got heart, but it's not afraid to make you hurt either.

Since Chuck is a show that's had more could-be season and series finales than probably any other show I've watched, I think any loyal viewer would say they're glad the show was allowed to absolutely leave on their own terms. I loved this final season, and I commend the show for delivering such a memorable finale.