This week's mission finds Chuck, Sarah and Casey (Adam Baldwin) on the tail of Fulcrum agent Cole Barker (Jonathan Cake), who's in possession of a data-chip hidden inside a belt buckle he took from a colleague's dead body (Andy Richter's character from "... Versus The Suburbs".) As Barker's a British hunk, it falls to Sarah to flash him some bedroom eyes (and leg) in a hotel lounge, making Chuck insanely jealous as his "girlfriend" is stripped down to her lingerie in Barker's room -- every kiss and groan whispered into his earpiece as he sat uncomfortably at the hotel bar.
However, it turns out that Barker (codenamed "Beefcake") is actually a MI6 agent deep undercover; his 18-month mission amusingly thwarted by this trio of Yanks acting on bad intel. Now allies, Sarah and Casey decide to use Barker to lure Fulcrum out into the open, but this means the debonair Brit has plenty of time to pursue Sarah -- giving Chuck a knotty problem, as he's recently decided to cool their fake romance, so has no real or fictional means to throw cold water on the pair. Even worse, it's clear that Sarah is genuinely taken with this English spook, whose mere presence makes Chuck feel inadequate.
Two subplots help fill out this episode: Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vik Sahay) hold auditions for a "Buy More Babe", as a means to proposition a bevy of beauties on their casting couch; and Morgan (Joshua Gomez) moves in with Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Awesome (Ryan McPartlin) to escape living with his loved-up mother and boss. Both are forgettable storylines, although it was ultimately worth sticking with Morgan's story because it resulted in Chuck deciding to move in with his best-friend, seconds before Sarah tells him its imperative they move in together. Will we see a houseshare between Chuck, Sarah and Morgan by next week? If so, that sounds like far better use of Morgan (who rarely interacts with Sarah), while admittedly making Ellie/Awesome even more irrelevant than usual.
The Jeff/Lester storyline felt like a weak excuse to have some Illustrated Sports swimwear models cameo (indeed, check out how many promo photos feature the cast posing with the girls), and it all felt quite lecherous and distasteful. The fact the pair passed the blame onto Chuck and got away with their latest stunt was also frustrating and unfair.
The bone of contention with "Chuck Versus The Beefcake" is how it essentially didn't offer us anything new, particularly in how it handled another love-triangle that put pressure on Chuck/Sarah. Barker was basically a Bryce Larkin substitute -- so, while Jonathan Cake was a great guest-star and it was easy to feel Chuck's anguish as Sarah grew closer to another Alpha Male, the story didn't have anything new to offer. It just coasted by on a formula. Luckily the formula is an entertaining one that gives Strahovski and Levi more opportunities to tug at our heart-strings, but it was a recipe the show has prescribed too often of late.
Overall, this episode had serious problems underpinning everything, but it was an easy watch and contained quite a few memorable moments: Sarah in her underwear (did it suddenly get hot in here..?), one of Chuck's best ever action sequences involving a helicopter gunship, Casey's corridor gunfight that spilled from an elevator, and an amusing finale with cowardly Chuck facing the possibility of being tortured for information by Fulcrum agent Alexis (Lucy Liu-alike Katrina Law). Not a great episode, but a resolutely entertaining one.
15 September 2009
Virgin1, 9pm
written by: Matthew Miller & Scott Rosenbaum directed by: Patrick Norris starring: Zachary Levi (Chuck), Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah), Adam Baldwin (Casey), Joshua Gomez (Morgan), Scott Krinsky (Jeff), Vik Sahay (Lester), Bonita Friedericy (General Beckman), Ryan McPartlin (Captain Awesome), Sarah Lancaster (Ellie), Mark Christopher Laurence (Big Mike), Jonathan Cake (Cole Barker), Katrina Law (Alexis), Brooklyn Decker (Job Applicant), Jessica Gomes (Model #1), Artie O'Daly (Bellman), Stephen O'Mahoney (Fulcrum Agent) & Tim Coyne (Fulcrum Agent #2)
