Writer: Chris Fedak
Director: Allison LiddiCast: Zachary Levi (Chuck), Sarah Lancaster (Ellie), Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah), Adam Baldwin (Casey), Joshua Gomez (Morgan), Vik Sahay (Lester), Scott Krinsky (Jeff), Julia Ling (Anna Wu), Mark Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike), Matthew Bomer (Bryce Larkin), Ryan McPartlin (Captain Awesome), Anthony Ruivivar (Tommy), Carolyn Power (Nurse), Gary Weeks (Fireman) & Petra Sprecher (Costumer)
Chuck's life is complicated when CIA agent Bryce returns from the dead... "Sarah and Casey are right inside. One girlish
scream from me and they go into combat mode."
scream from me and they go into combat mode."
-- Chuck (Zachary Levi)
The nemesis in question is Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer), the hotshot CIA agent who sent Chuck (Zachary Levi) the contents of the US government's "Intersect". Despite his apparent death at the hands of loyal CIA agent Casey (Adam Baldwin) in the Pilot, he's back for more...
Of course, "nemesis" is actually a misnomer, as "... Versus The Alma Mater" revealed how Bryce got Chuck kicked out of Stanford University for understandable reasons (to prevent him being recruited by the CIA). He did this despite the fact nearly everyone at Stanford seemed to be a spy-in-training. Why does this show view joining the CIA as such a bad thing, anyway? Poor Chuck's eking out a living at a Buy More these days, when he could have been a globe-trotting secret agent? Bah. Maybe Bryce is the enemy after all.
Anyway, Bryce is back from the dead and will only speak to Chuck. It turns out Bryce had been recruited by Fulcrum before his "death"; a top secret agency working within the CIA. They patched him up in Europe after his near-fatal mission to steal the Intersect's data for them -- which is the only reason he's alive, as Fulcrum's agents believe the Intersect is now stuck in Bryce's mind.
But the tension really comes from the characters' uneasy relationships: Casey was Bryce's "killer", but has to grudgingly accept Bryce as a good guy; Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) is Bryce's ex-girlfriend, and they both still have feelings for each other; and Bryce is Chuck's enemy/friend, and the ex of someone Chuck has unrequited feelings for.
Indeed, this brand of inter-character strain is also used in the subplot, as Morgan (Joshua Gomez) invites new girlfriend Anna (Julia Ling) to a Thanksgiving dinner, aware she knows he has feelings for Chuck's sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster). This inevitably provides plenty of fireworks at mealtime, as jealous Anna tries to assert her authority over Ellie and treats Morgan as a possession. All while everyone else at the dinner table is secretly in the midst of a mission to protect Bryce from Fulcrum's agents...
The links to the Pilot and its emphasis on character means "... Versus The Nemesis" ranks as an important episode, with something to say on the Bryce/Chuck/Sarah situation. It's just not really as exciting as it could have been, although the way Chuck's world once again collided with the Buy More worked quite well. But saying that, I'm tired of how most episodes involve enemies arriving at the Buy More, as the show would be much more exciting if it ventured away from Chuck's work life more often. Sometimes the duality of Chuck's life can work well, but it's already overplayed and predictable.
Overall, there's some fun to be had throughout "... Versus The Nemesis", and fans will enjoy the love-triangle, but I can't help thinking Chuck's unable to capitalize on good ideas because it's allowed itself to become formulaic. It's something of a blessing Chuck's freshman season is only 13 episodes long, as the writers definitely need to construct ways to give Chuck more freedom in his secret agent life.
9 June 2008
Virgin1, 10.00 pm
