a burrito earlier and I'm trying to be respectful."
-- Chuck (Zachary Levi)
Chuck's at its most charming when focusing on the "unrequited" love between Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski), to a backdrop of a bubbly, sexually-charged espionage thriller. "Chuck Versus The Seduction" is a good example of this, even managing to push a dumb Buy More subplot into grateful obscurity. And for once, the primary storyline of romance and seduction is echoed neatly in a subplot for Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Captain Awesome (Ryan McPartlin)...
"The Cipher" (Intersect 2's vital, missing component) is again on macguffin duty. Here, Chuck must woo glamorous former-KGB agent Sasha Banacheck (The OC's Melinda Clarke, looking half her 39 years), who has the Cipher in her possession. Obviously, he needs help to land himself a Russian babe of this calibre, so the CIA secure the services of a Bond-style "legend" in former spook Roan Montgomery (John Larroquette) to teach Chuck the art of seduction.At home, Captain Awesome is having similar problems impressing his girlfriend Ellie, but makes the mistake of asking for Morgan's (Joshua Gomez) advice because he's known her longer. Needless to say, Morgan's idea of how to impress Ellie (involving a "Sister Act" DVD) doesn't have the desired effect. Elsewhere, the Buy More is once again suffering from the whims of a power-crazed assistant manager -- in the shape of Lester (Vik Sahay), who has clearly forgotten being on the receiving end of similar plots last season. Why does he think irritating the staff with draconian rules is good man-management?
Both subplots aren't great, but the Ellie/Awesome storyline benefited from at least matching the theme of Chuck's A-story. I rarely get enthused about the Buy More because the setting is difficult to milk comedy from, and it looks like they're already repeating themselves with variations on old ideas. It doesn't help that none of the characters are particularly funny creations and, without Chuck around as the straight man, the Buy More misadventures just bore me.
Fortunately, the majority of time concentrates on Chuck's mission, as he assumes his alter-ego of debonair agent "Charles Carmichael" to flirt with Sacha in a hotel lobby, with the help of ladies man Roan via earpiece. It's a funny if clichéd situation; one of the better examples of Chuck's lovable geek colliding with the dangerous world of espionage.
Guest star John Larroquette isn't a big name to audiences outside of America, but I'm vaguely aware of his work. He's certainly good value here as the ageing, alcoholic has-been, but I was disappointed Roan Montgomery didn't get a chance to prove why he's such a legend of the spy game. In fact, during the climactic sequences (which take place at the Buy More again -- groan), Roan is easily disarmed by a villain and winds up looking rather pathetic and stupid. That may be more realistic, but it's half as fun. Montgomery should have been a character who can still give the likes of Casey (Adam Baldwin) a run for his money, not a dinosaur who's all talk no walk.Overall, "Chuck Versus The Seduction" was a fun and confident outing that was good enough for me to tolerate the peripheral nonsense at the Buy More. Its combination of decent jokes, strong guest-stars, and a cheeky mission made for a flavoursome cocktail. And the cherry on top was undoubtedly Yvonne Strahovski's sexy and amusing fantasy entrance; cart-wheeling and crawling her way into the Buy More to plant a kiss on Chuck's lips. Be still my beating heart...
16 June 2009
Virgin1, 9pm
written by: Matt Miller directed by: Allan Kroeker starring: Zachary Levi (Chuck), Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah), Adam Baldwin (Casey), Sarah Lancaster (Ellie), Joshua Gomez (Morgan), Vik Sahay (Lester), Ryan McPartlin (Captain Awesome), Julia Ling (Anna Wu), Mark Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike), Scott Krinsky (Jeff Barnes), Matthew Bomer (Bryce), Bonita Friedericy (General Beckman), John Larroquette (Roan Montgomery) & Melinda Clarke (Sasha Banacheck)
