Writer: Scott Rosenbaum
Director: David Solomon
Cast: Zachary Levi (Chuck Bartowski), Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah Walker), Sarah Lancaster (Ellie Bartowski), Adam Baldwin (Major John Casey), Joshua Gomez (Morgan Grimes), Vik Sahay (Lester), Mark Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike), Bonita Friedericy (General Beckman), Scott Krinsky (Jeff), Julia Ling (Anna Wu), Ilyse Mimoun (Cashier), Noel True (Meg), Gwendoline Yeo (Mei-Ling Cho), Ewan Chung (Lee Cho), James Hong (Ben Lo Pan), Creagen Dow (Teenage Boy), Jesse Heiman (Fernando), Rick Hoffman (Agent Scary) & Victor Wolf (Juan)
Director: David Solomon
Cast: Zachary Levi (Chuck Bartowski), Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah Walker), Sarah Lancaster (Ellie Bartowski), Adam Baldwin (Major John Casey), Joshua Gomez (Morgan Grimes), Vik Sahay (Lester), Mark Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike), Bonita Friedericy (General Beckman), Scott Krinsky (Jeff), Julia Ling (Anna Wu), Ilyse Mimoun (Cashier), Noel True (Meg), Gwendoline Yeo (Mei-Ling Cho), Ewan Chung (Lee Cho), James Hong (Ben Lo Pan), Creagen Dow (Teenage Boy), Jesse Heiman (Fernando), Rick Hoffman (Agent Scary) & Victor Wolf (Juan)
Chuck goes on a stakeout of a Chinese restaurant with Sarah and Casey. Meanwhile, Morgan participates in a Buy More sales competition..."Glocks and a crotch rocket: my kinda gal."
-- John Casey (Adam Baldwin)
5 weeks in and 5 solid laughs. I've resigned myself to approaching Chuck as a light-hearted episode of Alias now, instead of a full-on spy spoof, and it's working. But it really is a crying shame the laughs are so sparse, as the characters and development of said improves every week. Even the stories are beginning to sustain an hour better – even if the cogs of the narrative still need greasing...
It's stakeout duties for geeky hero Chuck (Zachary Levi), as he accompanies government protectors Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) and Casey (Adam Baldwin) outside Chinese restaurant Bamboo Dragon, after "mind-flashing" on assassin Mei-Ling Cho (Gwendoline Yeo), who's working undercover in the kitchen. But it turns out she's there to rescue her brother Lee (Ewan Chung), who has been kidnapped by the Triad managers of the restaurant, led by Ben Lo Pan (Big Trouble In Little China's James Hong; note his character name's similarity to his villain from John Carpenter 80s cult classic.)
For the first time, Chuck's secret life as a walking piece of spy kit clashes more forcefully with his social life, as his mission begins to threatens a "Mother's Day" celebration he religiously participates in with sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster). Best-friend Morgan (Joshua Gomez) also finds he can't count on Chuck's help in winning a Buy More competition – where the "green-shirt" with the least number of sales is going to be fired by Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence.)
Sadly, Chuck Versus The Sizzling Shrimp is another episode where the main story doesn't grab your interest; with its feeble kidnapped brother and vengeful sister plot all rather vague and boring. There are some good moments (like Chuck becoming the "eyes" of Sarah and Casey during a mission, via security camera feeds), but the subplot with Morgan trying to win the Buy More competition actually became more involving. And Chuck himself was written more goofily than usual, sadly.
With few laughs, a disappointing mission, and a lack of Yvonne Strahowski in revealing clothes, the one thing keeping this episode from total failure is the resolutely strong performances from the cast. In particular, Sarah Lancaster got a chance to shine here; and her gradual acceptance of irritating Morgan, together with her mature (though incorrect) acceptance that Chuck's romance with Sarah means she's going to see less of him, was well handled.
Indeed, many episodes seem to spend a solid 5-10 minutes at the end just concentrating on every mission's fallout regarding its characters – and they're always the most interesting part of each episode. But the late reveal that Chuck and Ellie's "Mother's Day" celebrates the day their mother abandoned them, forcing them to fend for themselves, was interesting but awkwardly done.
Overall, the show is certainly improving steadily, even if this episode's story was a notable step backwards compared to recent plots. The writers should be extremely grateful the cast (particularly Levi and Baldwin) are able to rise above the wobbly material and eek out some laughs.
If Chuck was the laugh-riot it should be, you could overlook its plotting deficiencies, but unfortunately it's still stuck in neutral when it comes to tickling the funnybone. Some people like the fact it lacks a scattergun approach to gags (and I agree with that), but you're lucky if you get one worthwhile joke a minute. And that has to change. The opening credits have a mischievous, funny, funky vibe that's still missing from the actual show. Sorry to say.
5 May 2008
Virgin1, 10.00 pm
