CHUCK 1.8 – "Chuck Versus The Truth"

Writer: Allison Adler
Director: Robert Duncan McNeill

Cast: Zachary Levi (Chuck), Sarah Lancaster (Ellie), Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah), Adam Baldwin (Casey), Joshua Gomez (Morgan), Mark Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike), Ryan McPartlin (Captain Awesome), Vik Sahay (Lester), Scott Krinsky (Jeff), Bonita Friedericy (General Beckman), C.S. Lee (Harry Tang), Kevin Weisman (Reardon Payne), Emy Coligado (Poppy Tang), Sanjay Chandani (Mason Whitney), Chris Dotson (Scooter), Rachel Bilson (Lou Palone) & Monika Ramnath (Lauren)

Chuck meets a charming woman called Lou, which complicates his fake love life with Sarah. Meanwhile, someone is using a truth serum to retrieve codes for nuclear facilities...

"You know, if I had a blog, this would be a really big day for me."

-- Chuck (Zachary Levi)

Credit where it's due, this is the second consecutive episode that managed to balance the comedy, drama, character relationships, and sexy elements of the show. What's more, this episode focused almost entirely on the main story, making it fill every minute without having to rely too heavily on a Buy More-related subplot. I'm pleased to see the show raising its game, and sincerely hope the quality level can be maintained till the finale, and beyond...

It was very much a character-driven episode, which the show is most comfortable with. The ensemble cast have managed to pull viewers through some convoluted plots, but now they're being rewarded with writing that does them justice. Here, Chuck (Zachary Levi) faces a dilemma in the delectable shape of local deli owner Lou Palone (The OCs Rachel Bilson); a woman who clearly finds him attractive, but making a move on her would sabotage Chuck's cover with faux girlfriend Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski).

Speaking of which, Sarah decides it's time to take her fake relationship with Chuck to the next level – by sleeping with him – as Chuck's sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Captain Awesome (Ryan McPartlin) are beginning to comment about their celibacy. That night, Sarah arrives to spend the night in Chuck's bed, driving him crazy by opting to wear semi-transparent purple lingerie. God bless the Chuck writing staff; they never fail to satisfy the red-blooded male demographic.

As Chuck grapples with his real feelings for (fake girlfriend) Sarah and (potential girlfriend) Lou, the spy-related plot bubbles up around him. This week, it's a much simpler storyline – as a man called Reardon Payne (Alias' Kevin Weisman) is using a truth serum called Pentathol to extract nuclear secrets from people. For the first time, Chuck's real and secret lives clash when events conspire to make Payne place a bug on Ellie's neck and drug her with his serum. After freaking out and deliriously telling some home truths about her boyfriend and brother, Ellie is admitted to hospital – where it becomes clear they need Payne's serum antidote to save her life.

Eventually, Chuck, Sarah and Casey (Adam Baldwin) are also infected by the serum after grappling with Payne at the hospital, meaning all their lives are in danger unless they find the antidote. But the situation does have the added bonus of allowing Chuck to get a straight answer from Sarah about the chances of real love developing between them – and she breaks his heart by saying it's not likely.

While the outcome to everything was inevitable, the episode did end with a few genuine surprises, as Chuck decides to embrace his chance for real love by officially "dumping" Sarah at the Wienerlicious and hot-footing it to the deli to start romancing Lou. And, as she watches Chuck drinking coffee with Lou through a window, it's revealed that Sarah has been trained to fight the effected of the truth serum, meaning she probably does have feelings for Chuck – but chose not to voice them.

Chuck Versus The Truth is a highlight of the season so far, as the writers seem to have realized it's worth playing to the characters more directly, as that's where the real joy is coming from. Levi and Strahovski are wonderful together, nicely supported by Baldwin, while Lancaster and McPartlin manage to make potentially limp supporting characters fly. Joshua Gomez was pushed into the background this week as Morgan, but even he brings something to the party.

The Buy More subplot this week was the episode's one major failing (a bland bit of nonsense with Tang's stereotyped wife), although I was nicely surprised when Harry Tang (C.S Lewis) stumbled onto Chuck's big secret – seeing him in the home theatre room with Casey and Sarah, getting a mission debrief. Unfortunately, the juicy prospect of someone like Tang knowing Chuck's secret is squandered, as Casey immediately dispatches Tang to Hawaii – under the pretence of being recruited as a spy for a secret mission. This apparently ends Lewis' tenure on the show, which is a real shame. He was one of the only Buy More characters with any personality. I hope he returns for a guest starring role in season 2, though.

Overall, despite a weak subplot and a simplistic storyline, Allison Adler's script was an effective way to push the Chuck/Sarah relationship into new, exciting territory. Rachel Bilson, while very much a walking plot device as Lou, will doubtless cause enjoyable tremors – even if it's inevitable that Chuck and Sarah will reunite at some point. But the fun's in the chase.

And, am I just being paranoid, or will Lou turn out to be an enemy agent who's targeted Chuck for nefarious reasons? It was always a stretch that someone as hot as Yvonne Strahovski would be Chuck's girlfriend (hence the comedy), so is it likely Rachel Bilson would genuinely swoon over Chuck just because he fixed her phone? She even named a sandwich after him. So it must be love, right? Hmmm.


26 May 2008
Virgin1, 10.00 pm