school reunion is that you don't get suspended for being drunk."
-- Chuck (Zachary Levi)
Chuck's title unavoidably tilt events Chuck Bartowski's way, but it's about time we learned more about his CIA protector Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski), and "Chuck Versus The Cougars" duly delivered the goods...
Sarah is perturbed by the arrival of Heather Chandler (Nicole Ritchie) in the Buy More, but not for reasons of national security. No, it turns out Heather attended high school with Sarah (or "Jenny Burton" as she was once known) and recognizes the ugly duckling-turned-undercover swan. Indeed, flashbacks throughout the episode confirm sexy Sarah was once a brace-faced, mousy-haired geek. Jinkies! Together with Heather's own nerdy boyfriend Mark Ratner (Ben Savage), Sarah is pressured to go on a double-date with Chuck (Zachary Levi) to reminisce about old times -- an adolescence she'd rather forget, for many reasons...Sarah's discomfort at confronting her past (particularly in front of Chuck, as it blows her cover) is the episode's biggest delight, although it wouldn't be Chuck without an espionage plot bolted to events. Here, Chuck flashes on some goons tailing Mark -- an engineer with information about a new high-tech fighter jet. The foreign spies later follow them all to Sarah's ten-year high school reunion in San Diego, which she's dragged to by Heather and a fascinated Chuck. Meanwhile, Casey (Adam Baldwin) disappears into a variety of disguises at the school to keep tabs on the whole situation and keep Chuck and Mark safe from danger.
Elsewhere, it's time for more hard-to-swallow Buy More yuks, as Lester (Vik Sahay) inexplicably comes to the decision that selling electrical goods at ridiculously low prices is a brilliant idea. Selling half their stock while Bike Mike's (Mark Christopher Lawrence) away will surely impress his boss, but obviously Lester winds up losing the Buy More thousands of bucks, too. So there's only one option: hold a massive keg party in the store, charging entrance fees! Head-slap.
Second of Strahotness: dressed to thrill; courtesy Strahotski.com
I'm no fan of the Buy More, generally. To me, it feels like a very limiting location full of storylines that are often needlessly dumb and just a pathetic distraction from the more involving adventures with Chuck, Sarah and Casey. This episode's subplot was a good example of why I dislike it -- what with Lester losing his mind as his so-called "friends" let him take an obvious fall. I understand it's just a knockabout comedy, but there has to be some semblance of realism, and the Buy More exists in its own bubble of brainless guffaws. A late attempt to have Morgan save Lester's skin was admirable, but I just find the situation and these characters largely unfunny, broad caricatures. There's usually no crossover with the A-story, though, so you can fast-forward through the Buy More guff and see Chuck improve when it's contracted into a half-hour spy comedy.
I was bracing myself for guest star Nicole Ritchie's appearance, but she was surprisingly decent. Sure, it was hardly a stretch playing a spiteful bitch, but she was perfectly acceptable as Heather Chandler (Heathers gag duly noted), although the plot didn't explain why she was a villain very well. Still, best to focus on the Heather vs. Sarah catfight towards the end -- barefoot in a girl's locker room, before getting wet n' wild in the shower! It was a nice touch to mix their fight to The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up" (excellent '90s music throughout, actually), but I don't think the choreography sparkled enough to really impress as intended. Still, I appreciated the effort.Overall, with a tone and references evoking classic teen movies like Risky Business and Heathers, with a plot that tweaked Grosse Point Blank's storyline, I found this a very enjoyable episode. It was great to get some overdue background on Sarah (although I still don't believe someone that gawky could blossom this impressively!), and the coda involving CIA Director Graham (Tony Todd) was the first time this show left me genuinely surprised and delighted as the credits rolled. Brilliant.
30 June 2009
Virgin1, 9pm
written by: Allison Adler directed by: Patrick Norris starring: Zachary Levi (Chuck), Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah/Jenny), Adam Baldwin (Casey), Joshua Gomez (Morgan), Vik Sahay (Lester), Julia Ling (Anna Wu), Scott Krinsky (Jeff Barnes), Bonita Friedericy (General Beckman), Mark Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike), Nicole Ritchie (Heather Chandler), Tony Todd (CIA Director Graham), Jeff Wolfe (Ivan Fyodorov), Michael Weaver (Dick R. Duffy), Hope Shapiro (Bunny), Ben Savage (Mark Ratner), Jesse Heiman (Fernando) & Sonora Chase (Woman)
