I’ve constantly given Chuck the benefit of the doubt. I considered the show clever, fun, and adorably endearing. When, a few seasons back, there were talks of cancellations, I signed petitions and got agitated. Sadly, with recent episodes, I’m starting to lose faith. But I’m clearly still watching, anyway, so here goes.
Riley, Volkoff’s lawyer, shows up with a letter for Vivienne, which he attempts to read in Alexei’s voice (a quirky and ridiculous request that totally fits the crazy man’s character). Vivienne swears she’ll be the first to say no to her father, but Riley gets all crazy and tries to force her. Apparently he forgot the whole thing about her being “groomed for evil,” which he’d said a few seconds before, because when he tries to hold her at gunpoint she goes all kung-foo on his ass and escapes.
Cut to Sarah and Ellie trying to plan the automaton's wedding. Sarah doesn’t get the whole deal with flowers, Ellie tells an adorable story about having emotions, which Sarah clearly can’t relate to. Ellie has a lovely premonition about the Ice Queen melting, making the end of the episode abundantly obvious.
To help assuage Chuck’s guilt, Morgan pretends that everything is going fine at his mom’s while he looks for a new place. But he’s actually miserable and sick of hearing Big Mike (the Buy More manager) and his mom get it on.
Vivienne, meanwhile, comes running to Castle, trying desperately to prove she isn’t evil. Chuck flashes on the gift Riley gave her earlier, and they learn where all of Volkoff’s funds are: the First Bank of Macau, which is apparently staffed by mercenaries. The plot is hatched: Vivienne will help the team get into the bank. Chuck is hesitant at first, but General Beckmann is completely clear: she is an asset who must be cultivated. We discover a delightful new gadget in Castle that sweeps a person and gives them holographic projections of some available costuming options.
Back to the B-Plot. Jeffster, a pair of whacky Buy More employees, try to get Morgan to give them time off for a Renaissance fair, but Morgan refuses, and so they come up with a zany plot to use Morgan’s online roommate ad to bring the Renaissance fair to them. And so a troupe of Renaissance freaks answers the ad, which Casey quickly shuts down to maintain Castle’s cover. Morgan tries to move in with Casey, but clearly that would be weird, seeing as Morgan is dating Casey’s daughter. Whatever.
But yay! Casey shows up, clearly occupied with his NSA mission. He isn’t even interested in taking down the First Bank of Macau, a challenge normal Casey would love. So clearly, something serious is going down in the under-construction secret lair annex.
At first, the team tries to infiltrate the bank the easy way, bringing Vivienne through the front door, but Chuck sort of blows her cover when he’s told account holders only can enter the vault. Vivienne decides to go in alone. This is clearly the perfect time for Sarah to discuss wedding details and her concerns over her lack of excitement with Chuck, which is just when Chuck flashes on a bunch of stolen military grade servers and realizes that there are some much bigger problems afoot. Vivienne, meanwhile, is subjected to a lie detector test, which she passes, and gains access to her father’s private box, which is (yawn) full of pictures and news clippings of Vivienne. Chuck gets stopped by a security guard and Vivienne acts all evil to try to misdirect the guards’ attention. The bank president makes some comment about seeing her father in her, and Vivienne (clearly not all that tied to being a good guy), is visibly moved.
Vivienne convinces Chuck that she deserves answers when it comes to her father, so Chuck pulls some strings to get her in to see Alexei. This is when I groaned at the blatant direction the show is going to take Vivienne in; she’s at least going to have a foray into the dark side. Ellie decides wedding dress shopping is the best way to get automaton Sarah excited for her pending nuptials, so Sarah uses the makeover machine to try on dresses. They’re all ugly and un-Sarah; that is, until she tries on a super simple, sexy, sleek satin number that makes her cry and giggle like a little girl.
Gen. Beckmann determines that the bank is using the stolen servers to fund terrorism. So Vivienne must be sent back into the bank to hack the system, and Sarah and Chuck will have to stage a diversion by pretending to rob the bank. They dress like they’re in the Matrix (I mean, exactly like they’re in the Matrix, complete with leather trench coats and the entrance scene where they walk through the metal detectors, guns blazing). Vivienne takes the opportunity to plant a bug in the system so the CIA can track the money movement, which is of course when Riley, hand all bandaged, comes in to stoke the flickers of her evil flame. Riley tells Vivienne that Chuck is responsible for her father’s arrest, claiming that Alexei isn’t actually evil and that the CIA is using her.
A body-suit clad Sarah and a 90s sunglasses wearing Chuck discuss her dress shopping while holding the bank’s customers hostage in the fake robbery. Vivienne leaves Riley and is “taken hostage” by Chuck and Sarah, but she clearly isn’t comforted by their praise. The shoddily constructed cover of her loyalty to the CIA is (too) obviously cracking. The situation isn’t helped by the fact that Beckmann refuses to let Vivienne see her father, and when Chuck tells her the news, Vivienne clearly loses a lot of her faith in Chuck.
Suddenly, Sarah is bride-zilla, ordering Ellie around and planning the most expensive wedding ever. Morgan’s still desperate for a place to stay, and even the spot at Jeffster’s is filled (by the Renaissance King). He settles for sleeping in the Buy More, but while he’s trying to catch some zzz’s he sees technicians enter Castle to build the new NSA secret lair. Hopefully this means the plot will be discovered for real, and soon, because all episode I just kept thinking about how much I missed Casey. The lovable meat head discovers Morgan as he’s poking around, and when Morgan confronts him about it later, he uses the information to semi-blackmail Casey into letting him crash at his place.
The episode closes with Vivienne ignoring a pleading call of apology from Chuck as she sits next to Riley and proclaims she’s “ready to know the truth about [her] father.” Cue stock ominous music.
While this week’s episode at least had some shining (albeit dimly) comic moments, the entire show is just getting too overwrought and obvious. I mean, it’s never been a particularly inventive show, outside of the original premise, but the writing and characterization in the early seasons was spot on, and the dorky witty banter kept me entertained. But now, I see everything that’s happening episodes in advance. Unless there’s a giant twist coming around the bend, I’m going to be pissed. Hopefully, I keep watching to see it.
Overall grade: C+
“It’s kind of like J. Crew for spies.”
“I’m fine. Lets hook up later, get facials, and chat.”
“It’s a little intimidating to be in the presence of a King. You’ll get used to it.”
Did I mention I miss Casey? Screw you, NSA (I’m probably going on watch lists for that…)
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Showing posts with label Chuck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chuck. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Rachel's Review: Chuck, Season 4 Ep. 16: Chuck vs. the Masquerade
I know you’re not supposed to switch horses mid-stream, but I hope the RTBN faithful won’t mind if I jump into the middle of a season of Chuck to start reviews. For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to revel in the ridiculousness that is Chuck, here’s the skinny: the titular Chuck is a geek-turned spy who has fallen into his place with the CIA after accidently being exposed to a supercomputer program called the Intercept, which has given him the ability to recall all types of confidential information and spy training when triggered (“flashing”). His now-girlfriend Sarah started as the agent tasked to protect him, and the lovable curmudgeon Casey is their muscle. Chuck’s former haunt, the Buy More (think Best Buy) is peopled with delightfully awkward nerds. Hilarity ensues. Now to the episode.
It’s Valentine’s Day in the Chuck-o-verse (ok, it’s a week late, but whatever), and Morgan and Chuck are pulling out all the sappy Hallmark stops. But this is Chuck we’re talking about, so, of course, nothing really goes according to plan. While the roommates have carefully coordinated plans, the team soon gets called into a mission: crashing a fancy masquerade party to find a counter intelligence agent on a murdering spree. It provides ample opportunity for the smoking hot Sarah to wear a delightfully revealing dress (although, considering the earlier scene of Sarah decked out in skimpy V-Day lingerie, complete with wings, it isn’t as stunning as usual). The typical scene unfolds: hot girl, hot dress, big gun.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Chuck’s sister Ellie and her husband, Captain Awesome (also known as Devon) are desperately searching for ways to get their new daughter to sleep so they can sleep together (literally and figuratively). A stuffed sheep that plays “Send Me On My Way” seems to do the trick, but only for a while. When the team returns from their mission (in apparently no time), Casey does his best to throw a major monkey wrench in Morgan’s sexy-time Valentine’s Day plans with his girlfriend Alex, who happens to be Casey’s daughter. So he trades paperwork with damage control, and Sarah decides it’s time to spend some quality time with her fiancée’s best friend. Sarah the automaton fails to grasp the difference between toys and collectible action figures, sending Morgan into a tailspin on whether or not he’s just a child, (worries that Casey planted earlier) inspiring him to move out of the apartment he shares with Chuck as a means of instant maturation.
Chuck, meanwhile, attempts to turn Vivienne, the newly discovered daughter of the evil Alexei Volkoff, the villain extraordinaire who is this season’s main target. They bond over being the unwitting children of spies, as Casey is wooed by the NSA, which appeals to his aloof juggernaut nature. A plan is hatched to lure out the evil psycho picking off Volkoff lieutenants, Boris, by using Vivienne as bait. Chuck has to juggle the mission with his Morgan issues, which are made all the more moving by the use of an Alexi Murdoch track to play up their nostalgia, embodied in the splitting up of the accumulated trappings of their geekery.
Sarah is sent in as a double for Vivienne to draw out Boris, but when the plan backfires and Sarah is ambushed and identified, Vivienne decides to take the reins (actual reins. She’s on a horse.) of her own life for the first time and become more than just a pawn. Chuck induces a flash so that Vivienne can help the (tranquilized) Sarah and Casey escape. But when Vivienne returns to the stable, Boris is waiting for her, and points out how her father, who, on the surface, made it seem like he was trying to protect her from the hard life of a terrorist, has actually been grooming her to takeover his company. And she proves him right when she shoots him in the chest with a rifle hidden in her saddle. She then covers up the information Boris gave her about “the Key” to keeping Volkoff industries together, feigning ignorance when Chuck asks.
Chuck returns from Castle, the team’s headquarters beneath the Buy More, the find Morgan all packed up. Blah blah blah, profession of bromance love. They decide to give their Han Solo and Chewbacca action figures to baby Clara, so they don’t have to split up the dynamic duo. Under their watchful eyes, Clara finally falls asleep and Ellie and Awesome hit the sack (and promptly pass out).
In a twist, Casey, who originally turned down the NSA because of his ties to Burbank and the team, learns that the agency is creating their own headquarters at Castle, leaving enough room for split loyalties and dilemmas to grow in upcoming episodes. Then we cut to Vivienne at Volkoff headquarters in Moscow, using her necklace to open the doors to a secret compartment as she takes up the mantle of her father. And a new villain is born.
The heart of show is Chuck’s ongoing struggle to balance his personal life with his burgeoning career as a spy. He desperately tries to protect and help everyone he knows, holding them all together. His overly emotive nature has melted the cold, cold heart of Sarah, and it’s nice to see her coming into her own emotions. And Casey’s growing fatherly instincts are charming, when juxtaposed with his typically surly nature.
But my problem with this episode is the same problem I’ve been having for most of this season. It’s just nothing special. There’s a cold open about an evil-doer juxtaposed with a scene of domestic tranquility, followed by the planning phases, diluted with a B-plot. Then comes mission, regrouping, new mission, narrow escape, and a return to the home front, where the personal issues of the characters are made out to be just as complex as the covert operations they engage in. While the delightful Timothy Dalton as Volkoff provided a bit of a respite from the wrought story line, with his surprisingly well-timed humor and alternating sociopathic/hilarious behavior, his arrest three episodes ago has left a bit of an action vacuum. But it was an arrest, not an assassination, so here’s hoping for an escape.
I’ll keep watching, because Zachary Levi is adorable and Yvonne Strahovski is a babe, but I hope that the writers pick up the banter, get a good villain, and do something to distract us from the fact that our main couple is now together, which makes for some relatively boring television, even if they’re spies.
Overall Grade: C
Stray Observations
-Children eat all time previously dedicated to sex. Who knew?
-“It’s like our souls are so close, they’re vibrating.”
-“Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Kubrick Fan.”
-“I’ve been to those kinds of parties and they look nothing like this.”
It’s Valentine’s Day in the Chuck-o-verse (ok, it’s a week late, but whatever), and Morgan and Chuck are pulling out all the sappy Hallmark stops. But this is Chuck we’re talking about, so, of course, nothing really goes according to plan. While the roommates have carefully coordinated plans, the team soon gets called into a mission: crashing a fancy masquerade party to find a counter intelligence agent on a murdering spree. It provides ample opportunity for the smoking hot Sarah to wear a delightfully revealing dress (although, considering the earlier scene of Sarah decked out in skimpy V-Day lingerie, complete with wings, it isn’t as stunning as usual). The typical scene unfolds: hot girl, hot dress, big gun.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Chuck’s sister Ellie and her husband, Captain Awesome (also known as Devon) are desperately searching for ways to get their new daughter to sleep so they can sleep together (literally and figuratively). A stuffed sheep that plays “Send Me On My Way” seems to do the trick, but only for a while. When the team returns from their mission (in apparently no time), Casey does his best to throw a major monkey wrench in Morgan’s sexy-time Valentine’s Day plans with his girlfriend Alex, who happens to be Casey’s daughter. So he trades paperwork with damage control, and Sarah decides it’s time to spend some quality time with her fiancée’s best friend. Sarah the automaton fails to grasp the difference between toys and collectible action figures, sending Morgan into a tailspin on whether or not he’s just a child, (worries that Casey planted earlier) inspiring him to move out of the apartment he shares with Chuck as a means of instant maturation.
Chuck, meanwhile, attempts to turn Vivienne, the newly discovered daughter of the evil Alexei Volkoff, the villain extraordinaire who is this season’s main target. They bond over being the unwitting children of spies, as Casey is wooed by the NSA, which appeals to his aloof juggernaut nature. A plan is hatched to lure out the evil psycho picking off Volkoff lieutenants, Boris, by using Vivienne as bait. Chuck has to juggle the mission with his Morgan issues, which are made all the more moving by the use of an Alexi Murdoch track to play up their nostalgia, embodied in the splitting up of the accumulated trappings of their geekery.
Sarah is sent in as a double for Vivienne to draw out Boris, but when the plan backfires and Sarah is ambushed and identified, Vivienne decides to take the reins (actual reins. She’s on a horse.) of her own life for the first time and become more than just a pawn. Chuck induces a flash so that Vivienne can help the (tranquilized) Sarah and Casey escape. But when Vivienne returns to the stable, Boris is waiting for her, and points out how her father, who, on the surface, made it seem like he was trying to protect her from the hard life of a terrorist, has actually been grooming her to takeover his company. And she proves him right when she shoots him in the chest with a rifle hidden in her saddle. She then covers up the information Boris gave her about “the Key” to keeping Volkoff industries together, feigning ignorance when Chuck asks.
Chuck returns from Castle, the team’s headquarters beneath the Buy More, the find Morgan all packed up. Blah blah blah, profession of bromance love. They decide to give their Han Solo and Chewbacca action figures to baby Clara, so they don’t have to split up the dynamic duo. Under their watchful eyes, Clara finally falls asleep and Ellie and Awesome hit the sack (and promptly pass out).
In a twist, Casey, who originally turned down the NSA because of his ties to Burbank and the team, learns that the agency is creating their own headquarters at Castle, leaving enough room for split loyalties and dilemmas to grow in upcoming episodes. Then we cut to Vivienne at Volkoff headquarters in Moscow, using her necklace to open the doors to a secret compartment as she takes up the mantle of her father. And a new villain is born.
The heart of show is Chuck’s ongoing struggle to balance his personal life with his burgeoning career as a spy. He desperately tries to protect and help everyone he knows, holding them all together. His overly emotive nature has melted the cold, cold heart of Sarah, and it’s nice to see her coming into her own emotions. And Casey’s growing fatherly instincts are charming, when juxtaposed with his typically surly nature.
But my problem with this episode is the same problem I’ve been having for most of this season. It’s just nothing special. There’s a cold open about an evil-doer juxtaposed with a scene of domestic tranquility, followed by the planning phases, diluted with a B-plot. Then comes mission, regrouping, new mission, narrow escape, and a return to the home front, where the personal issues of the characters are made out to be just as complex as the covert operations they engage in. While the delightful Timothy Dalton as Volkoff provided a bit of a respite from the wrought story line, with his surprisingly well-timed humor and alternating sociopathic/hilarious behavior, his arrest three episodes ago has left a bit of an action vacuum. But it was an arrest, not an assassination, so here’s hoping for an escape.
I’ll keep watching, because Zachary Levi is adorable and Yvonne Strahovski is a babe, but I hope that the writers pick up the banter, get a good villain, and do something to distract us from the fact that our main couple is now together, which makes for some relatively boring television, even if they’re spies.
Overall Grade: C
Stray Observations
-Children eat all time previously dedicated to sex. Who knew?
-“It’s like our souls are so close, they’re vibrating.”
-“Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Kubrick Fan.”
-“I’ve been to those kinds of parties and they look nothing like this.”
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