Chuck is still unconvinced the CIA are that keen on rescuing his dad from Fulcrum agents, seeing as they've admitted they'd prefer to keep the Intersect in his head. Incidentally, does anyone else find it a problem that the CIA are written as an untrustworthy and dislikeable bunch on the show? There are times when I want the terrorists to win, just to give General Beckman (Bonita Friedericy) a reason for that permanent scowl. It's certainly an extra element of drama in having Chuck work for people he doesn't entirely trust, but I'd prefer to feel that Chuck's efforts and sacrifices are genuinely appreciated and duly rewarded. It's hard to get behind the CIA's missions at times, because they're just so unlikeable.Anyway, Chuck wants to interrogate a Fulcrum agent to get answers about where his dad may have been taken, so Sarah arranges for him to see traitorous ex-girlfriend and enemy agent Jill (Jordana Brewster) at a maximum-security prison she's held in. Jill agrees to help, revealing that her mentor Uncle Bernie (Ken Davitian) will have the answers Chuck seeks as he's a Fulcrum veteran who drafted her into the outfit. So, Chuck and Jill fake an engagement party at Jill's family home as a way to draw Bernie out of hiding to celebrate his protégé's good news. Given Bernie's name and Chuck's penchant for '80s film references*, it's not long before Bernie dies of a heart attack after realizing Chuck's a spy.
It was good to see Jill return, as her uneasy relationship with Chuck and tendency to betray him gave their scenes an interesting tang. Levi and Brewster work very well together, and hearing Jill claim that the CIA are just as untrustworthy as Fulcrum was something I found myself agreeing with wholeheartedly. The centerpiece of the episode found Jill leading Casey and Chuck into a building that's secretly used to recruit Fulcrum agents, where she believes Chuck's dad is being held. It was again full of the usual gunfights and an overconfident bad guy in Bill Bergey (Christopher Cousins), together with the episode's running joke that Chuck's cowering pose ("the Morgan") somehow always results in people dying.
The subplot at the Buy More revolved around a good idea -- that Emmett Milbarge (Tony Hale, so underused) was being appraised by a superior, so Morgan (Joshua Gomez) and the staff decide to show him up by playing the fool around customers. However, Emmett proposes to Morgan that they make an effort to impress his assessor, as doing so could get him promoted to another Buy More branch and he'd be out of their lives forever. The staff agree to the plan, but there was a fun twist when Emmett was rewarded for his success by replacing Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence) as store manager. The story was also used to echo the theme of trust, sometimes very bluntly, but as Buy More stories go this one wasn't without merit, and it was good to see Tony Hale actually do something for the first time in months.
But I still feel my blood pressure rising whenever Lester (Vik Sahay) and Jeff (Scott Krinksy) act in ways that should get them an immediate sacking. Maybe I'm too much of a Milbarge, myself -- God help me. Oh, and the product placement for Subway was laughably overt with Big Mike's meal, and perhaps a sign of things to come now the company almost single-handedly saved Chuck from cancellation. It feels inevitable that Sarah will transfer to a Subway and eulogize foot-longs next season, doesn't it.
Rescuing this largely formulaic episode (beyond the return of Jill that spiced things up a touch) was another excellent finale that raised the stakes for the final two episodes: after Chuck secretly let Jill escape during the melee with Fulcrum, Beckman decided to shutdown the Intersect operation and incarcerate Chuck underground forever, ordering Sarah to take him into custody. Sarah arrived at the Buy More pretending the CIA had rescued Chuck's father to lure him back to the Castle, but chose to go against the General's orders for once -- removing Chuck's GPS tracker in his watch and driving off into the night together as a rogue agent. By-the-book Casey will surely be the one on their treasonous tails, even though he respects both of them in different ways.
Overall, I had issues with this episode, but it was enjoyable enough. I liked seeing Jill again, there were some funny moments, and the climax was exciting stuff, but it felt like we were treading old ground for the most part. And seeing Chuck with the Buy More staff looks particularly incongruous to me these days. His character is so much more rounded than those two-dimensional caricatures, and his life so much more interesting and complex, that it's almost like Chuck steps into a different show whenever he's around any green-shirts.
20 October 2009
Virgin1, 9pm
written by: Scott Rosenbaum directed by: Norman Buckley starring: Zachary Levi (Chuck Bartowski), Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah Walker), Joshua Gomez (Morgan Grimes), Mark Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike), Julia Ling (Anna Wu), Vik Sahay (Lester Patel), Scott Krinsky (Jeff Barnes), Adam Baldwin (John Casey), Bonita Friedericy (General Diane Beckman), Tony Hale (Emmett Milbarge), Peter Onorati (Wally Roberts), Lori Alan (Judy Roberts), Jordana Brewster (Dr. Jill Roberts), David Burke (Mr. Mercer), Christopher Cousins (Bill Bergey), Ken Davitian ("Uncle" Bernie), Thomas A. Miller (Fulcrum Agent), Nicole Myrick (Proctor) & Shaun Russell (Guard)
* The film being slyly referenced was A Weekend At Bernie's, although Chuck and Jill didn't spend the episode hauling a cadaver around pretending it's still alive.
