WRITER: Phil Klemmer[SPOILERS] The problem Chuck faces now is how to keep a sense of drama alive between Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) as a couple. In some ways these final six episodes are occurring after the perfect "happily ever after" moment, and fairy tales usually end when those words arrive on the page. "Chuck Versus The Role Models" had an interesting way to explore the new Chuck/Sarah dynamic, by throwing a light on what their future as married spies could be like, but it didn't quite work for me.
DIRECTOR: Fred Toye
GUEST CAST: Fred Willard, Swoosie Kurtz, Scott Holroyd, Bonita Friedericy & Nadia Lanfranconi
This week, General Beckman (Bonita Friedericy) tasks Chuck and Sarah with shadowing the CIA's renowned spy couple Craig and Laura Turner (Fred Willard and Swoosie Kurtz), on a mission to steal a valuable decryption device from millionaire Otto (Udo Kier). The Turners have 30-years experience juggling espionage with the demands of marital life, so Beckman hopes their experience will rub off on the CIA's latest in-house romance. Seeing a future-echo of Chuck and Sarah was a great idea, particularly when it became clear the Turners may be a warning that working relationships don't work -- as the spy couple constantly argue, Craig's revealed as a philanderer, Laura's an embarrassing drunk, and they've actually divorced and remarried three times. The two subplots were of mixed success. In the first, Casey (Adam Baldwin) was ordered to give Morgan (Joshua Gomez) basic training, which involved performing various tasks around the Buy More (getting a sexy customer's phone number, stealing Big Mike's access card) and gun-training session at the Castle's firing range. It's already very clear that the Casey/Morgan pairing works very well, arguably better than Chuck/Casey ever did, because Morgan's a more believable nerd. Consequently, the disparity between them is even more amusing. It also helps that the show's now able to split its characters into two neat duos (Casey/Morgan, Sarah/Chuck), which gives the show more balance. Too often in the usual Chuck/Sarah/Casey trio, one of those characters would be playing gooseberry or just given little to do (i.e. stuck doing surveillance in the van.)
Second of Strahotness: got juice?
In the second subplot, we caught up with Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Devon (Ryan McPartlin) as they started their Médecins Sans Frontières humanitarian work in Africa, helping sick refugees. I didn't expect to see those characters for awhile, certainly not until they came back from their trip, so this was a surprising move. The story itself was thin and the fake refugee camp not entirely convincing, but the pay-off that aid worker Justin (Scott Holroyd) has incapacitated Devon with "malaria" and is actually a Ring agent should result in something more entertaining next time. It's getting ridiculous how many characters turn out to be Ring agents on this show, but I hope the writers have a good reason for Justin's actions. I assume he's trying to make Ellie vulnerable, perhaps as a way to get to her father -- knowing that Scott Bakula will be back for the finale. And is there a chance Chuck will need to rescue Ellie before this season's over, thus exposing the fact he's a spy to her, too?
Back to the main story, and I have to say that the appeal of the Turners was lost on me. I've liked Willard and Kurtz in other roles, but they didn't convinced me as a couple here. And the plot-twist that the Turners were after Otto's decryption device, that he keeps on his Bengal tiger's collar, for themselves just left me cold. What's the lesson here exactly? That three decades of being married as secret agents will make you crave bigger thrills to keep your love alive, even if that means ignoring orders and stealing a valuable asset to sell for a quick buck? And why did Chuck and Sarah let the Turners go free once they uncovered their deception? Those two are clearly untrustworthy, dysfunctional liabilities!
So no, I wasn't convinced by the focal Turner storyline this week, although it's still enjoyable seeing Chuck and Sarah on a mission together and able to show their true feelings. As the hilarious pastiche of Hart To Hart's opening titles tipped its hat to, the idea of two spies in love doesn't have to be a problem. It can and has worked many times in the past (heck, J.J Abrams' has a new NBC series with that very premise starting next season), but Chuck will still have to tread carefully. Chuck has his dream job and dream girl, so the show needs to find convincing drama from somewhere else to drive his emotions -- because, as much fun as it is seeing Chuck and Sarah having fun together on missions (trapped in closets by a tiger, etc.), a lot of that is down to how different it feels. But that feeling will fade. I hope the writers find a way to put their relationship through various trials and tribulations, because drama doesn't come naturally from comfort and happiness.Asides
- The Hart To Hart opening sequence was marvelous and very convincing, it has to be said. But am I the only one disappointed Morgan's voiceover didn't pronouncer "murder" as "moida?. I would also have been on cloud nine if Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers had played the Turners, too. Maybe that was the intention originally, but they couldn't get them signed up?
- For all my apprehension, if Chuck/Sarah being together results in more scenes of Yvonne Strahovski walking around in her underwear, to hell with the loss of character drama. I only half mean that.
- You may recognize Udo Kier from, well, every cheap horror movie that requires a creepy European baddie, pretty much. Blade and the Halloween remake are probably his bigger hits, and he played Yuri in the video-game Command & Conquer.
