General Beckman's (Bonita Friedericy) surveillance has provided evidence that Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah's (Yvonne Strahovski) relationship is veering away from the professional and platonic. The emotionally-entwined Sarah is assessed and unceremoniously replaced by another hot blonde; the more experienced, (arguably) sexier, tougher agent Alex Forrest (Helfer), who makes an indelible impression on the equally blunt Casey (Adam Baldwin). Indeed, one of the funniest sequences was seeing Casey get turned on just by watching Forrest clean-out her gun barrels in a suggestive manner with a pipe cleaner, in a slow-motion montage that didn't skimp on the cleavage.
Forrest's first mission protecting "the asset" involved stealing a hospital key-card from Captain Awesome (Ryan McPartlin) – Chuck's goofball of a prospective brother-in-law we're supposed to believe is a surgeon -- so they can gain access to an Afghan terrorist being treated for a heart operation, and plant a bug in his pacemaker to lead them to a terrorist bigwig he associates with.The Buy More subplot neatly overlapped with the main story quite successfully, as the electrical store became the venue for Awesome's bachelor party – a surprise event thrown by Lester (Vik Sahay) and Jeff (Scott Krinsky) to fulfill their lifelong partying ambition -- which gifted Forrest an ideal opportunity to steal Awesome's key-card, by posing as a sexy stripper and giving the hunky doc a private lap dance. For Awesome, this was a lucky escape considering Jeff has hired three grotesque strippers that included his own sister!
There were some fun moments scattered throughout this episode, but the reality of seeing sweet Sarah being replaced by a cold, methodical, detached counterpart wasn't as interesting as it sounds. Helfer's proven herself a surprisingly talented actress for a woman who physically adheres to the glamourous bimbo stereotype*, but she's not given much to do here. Forrest is deliberately flat and mechanical as a character, which I felt was a missed opportunity. I actually wanted to see her grow closer to the smitten Casey, essentially proving herself a hypocrite for ostracizing Sarah, but the story didn't go down that road. What it did was treat us to the sight of Helfer wearing rubberized hotpants, but that was oddly unsexy because Forrest's such an ice queen.
However, I thought this episode's finale recovered things quite nicely -- with the ousted Sarah rushing back to save the day because her bond with Chuck has made her receptive to telltale signs he's imperiled. And, indeed, Chuck had been kidnapped by terrorist physician Dr. Zamir (Shaun Toub) -- who had mistaken the nerd for a surgeon and wanted him to remove the bug implanted in his employer's chest. The scene when nitrous oxide ("laughing gas") was released into the room, leaving Chuck and the doctor giggling hysterically like stoners, was infectiously amusing. I also appreciated the moment Casey admitted Sarah's the best partner he's ever had; a rare, sincere moment from the gruff agent, whom I sense is beginning to defrost around Chuck and Sarah.
It all led to the inevitable conclusion from Beckman that Sarah and Chuck's mutual affection might actually be of benefit to the mission, so frosty Forrest was reassigned and Sarah reinstated. Intriguingly, before she was reassigned by the General, Sarah had decided to do one last thing for Chuck before going, having sneakily used the CIA database to find his absentee father Stephen. The denouement found Chuck and Sarah arriving at a remote trailer in the countryside, allegedly the address of Chuck and Ellie's dad...
Overall, it was the small moments and gags that rescued this episode from tedium, and I enjoyed the suggestion that Awesome might become the first person to learn Chuck's secret (he did see Chuck as he passed out from a tranq dart, remember...) In recent weeks, it feels that the show is beginning to adjust itself, as a few abiding "flaws" with the concept are being tackled, and some key relationships have started to develop.
6 October 2009
Virgin1, 9pm
written by: Allison Adler directed by: Kevin Bray 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 (Awesome), Sarah Lancaster (Ellie), Tricia Helfer (Agent Alex Forrest), Shaun Toub (Dr. Mohammed Zamir), Pam Trotter (Rachel the Nurse) & Mitzi McCall (Blanche)
* Primarily through Tricia Helfer's work on Battlestar Galactica (playing multiple characters and twisting preconceptions of her centerfold appearance), but I also hear she's been good in Burn Notice.
