(S01E09) "Relax, It's dating in L.A. ... everyone lies" - Casey
So, if you saw this episode last night, you must be freaking out right now. If you happen to be passing by this review on the TVSquad front page, I won't ruin it for you, but you need to be watching Chuck. It is really one of the few shows I truly look forward to and it will be the one I miss the most if this strike continues for much longer. That may be a little extreme of me to say, but it is pretty much the truth.
So let's get the sappy stuff out of the way first (romance). This week, much like what I said last week, the Buy More storyline was very underdeveloped -- especially given Morgan's "breakthrough." However with Chuck carrying two hefty plots on his shoulders, it was understandable. I want to see more Morgan in the future episodes (before WGA strike takes its toll on Chuck).
I have been getting the feeling over the past couple of episodes that Morgan is truly becoming his own character. Most of his actions have been alone (lone wolf), since Chuck has been either doing spy stuff or chasing hot girls. Their on-screen time together is very limited and this separation may come to a head sometime later down the line. Maybe Morgan and Chuck will have their own break up.
Lester seemed slightly less "douche-y" and a little more cartoonish at the beginning of this episode. When Sarah out-sexed his advances, I almost felt sorry for the poor kid. I am pretty sure that if an Australian supermodel did the same to me, I would have the same reaction ... or just explode. Also, I always thought that Anna was cute in that sort of punk-nerd sort of way. It was sad to see Morgan ruin his chances with the girl by being ... Morgan-y. They will probably get back together in the next episode.
Fun Fact: Anna Wu shares a similar name/style to our very own Annie Wu.
The ending to the Lou situation was very abrupt. I was hoping she would stick around for a little while, but maybe she will come back later in the season. It would be a good thing for two reasons. First, to provide some real closure to a great relationship that could have been and, secondly, because Rachel Bilson is at least a 9 in my book.
We knew that Chuck and Sarah were going to kiss from the preview, but I didn't think that Chuck would put himself on the line for the girl (trust me, asking a girl out via voicemail is a bad idea). If I were Chuck, I would have just figured it was a desperation kiss and not end it with Lou. I guess Chuck really didn't have a choice after she was told he was an "undercover FDA agent." On a side note, how sweet/adorable/cute/fuzzy-wuzzy was that "take a number" routine? I almost actually said "awww" out loud.
Now on to the main storyline. Has anyone else wondered what shipping magnates do and how they make so much money? The situation is still really confusing to me. Why are most of them Greek? Why are they making billions? Are all of them involved in weapons trafficking? Off-topic questions aside, I liked the bad guys this week and I am glad that they were smart enough to see Chuck's guitar pin/secret microphone. In most spy movies the protagonist can get away with something like that, but at least Chuck has the decency to defy the genre every now and then.
This episode officially belongs to Casey (Adam Baldwin). For all my nerd-readers out there I will provide a translation: "C@53Y FTW." He didn't have any major part in developing the story line, but he was so full of snarky comments, I had to recognize his achievements. Let's look back and reflect on some of the highlights.
- Gave Chuck a flower so he could "get laid"
- Mentioned the right to bear arms
- Remarked on Sarah's trend of falling in love with her partners and told her he wasn't interested.
- Asked Chuck if the mirror had suffered enough
This brings me to the other side of the coin. I hated Sarah this episode. I just didn't like her one bit. She went out of her way to ruin everything. Maybe she made it up by kissing Chuck, but I found her annoying for most of the episode.
So just to recap: Casey +10 points, Sarah -25.
Current score: Irrelevant to Who Cares?
Oh Snap Award
There wasn't much action this week, so the Oh Snap Award goes to Bryce Larkin for not being dead. I think we all knew what was going to happen. Although, I was secretly hoping for Rachel Bilson to be a cyborg. I don't think anyone who has been watching the show was necessarily surprised by Bryce being in the container. Kudos to Casey for the one-liner after the pod had opened: "Didn't I kill him?"
In the back of my mind, I thought for a second that it might be Peter Petrelli. It was a hope for the most awesome-st cross-over of all time. I knew it wasn't going to happen, but how fantastic would that have been? I have no idea what they would have done with it, but just the thought of Casey opening the door, Peter saying "Who am I?" and Casey slowly closing the door again was enough to make me smile.
Apparently, Bryce isn't going to be playing the nice guy card next week. Maybe he and Sarah (both ruiners of things) are perfect for each other. I wonder if Bryce is going to explain himself for his actions (blowing up the Intersect) next week, but my guess is probably not.
I am more interested in the guy in all black (the one who looks like Lou Diamond Phillips). Who the hell is he? Who does he work for? And why are they transporting Bryce's body across the world? He apparently returns next week (with a gun to Chuck's head), so let's hope for some answers then.
Comic-Con Countdown: You ask Sci Fi the questions, we deliver
Giveaway Monday: ER - Season Nine DVD
Giveaways reminder: Stargate: Atlantis, X-Files, Fastlane
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-20-2007 @ 10:44AM
vacelts said...
I'm disappointed that Rachel Bilson's storyline is done. I liked Lou. Her addition is just wanted the show needed.
http://redlightnaps.wordpress.com/category/television/chuck/
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11-20-2007 @ 10:53AM
Christopher said...
I getting really pissed that the WGA strike is still on, cause Chuck and Heroes are on fire right now.
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11-20-2007 @ 11:01AM
Wisconsin_Cheesehead said...
OK, I think this episode was full of inconsistencies.
When did Sarah tell Chuck and Casey that she'd had an affair with Bryce? My roommate and I both have watched the show since the beginning and were scratching our heads over this one.
Early in the series, there was an allusion that Sarah and Casey had also had at least slept together once- which explained how they knew each other. In fact, they were playing Casey up as jealous of Chuck. Suddenly Casey's like "I would never..." in a very un-Casey-like mode.
If Stavros was in Intersect, why is it that Lou wasn't as his "long-time ex-girlfriend"? You'd think they'd know who she was upfront, if he's such a menace.
We'll have to see next week's episode to answer the cliffhanger question: if that really was Bryce in the oxygen chamber, then who did Casey kill in the first episode? Are we venturing into cloning territory?
OK, at least Chuck and Sarah had a major make-out moment, finally...
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11-20-2007 @ 11:20AM
Oneiroi said...
You thought Sarah was annoying?
I thought it was annoying yet endearing, I mean she was just overreacting about Chuck being with someone else...so even if she was messing everything up it was sweet in its own way.
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11-20-2007 @ 11:27AM
Shane W. said...
"When did Sarah tell Chuck and Casey that she'd had an affair with Bryce? My roommate and I both have watched the show since the beginning and were scratching our heads over this one." -- Wisconsin_Cheesehead
If memory serves it has always been alluded by Casey that Bryce and Sarah were in a relationship so his comments on the matter weren't that foreign to me...however I am not completely sure that Chuck knows about the affair from the episodes that have aired. It seems that the previews for next week's episode included allusions that he'll find out for the first time.
"if that really was Bryce in the oxygen chamber, then who did Casey kill in the first episode? Are we venturing into cloning territory?"
From next week's preview alone I can speculate that there is no cloning going on... 1.) There was a bullet wound in his chest. 2.) There was a (seemingly very passionate) kiss between Bryce and Sarah. I don't think that a clone would be that into it right off the bat... 3.) Are we sure Bryce was dead? I mean...the series is about spies...who's to say they didn't put him in some form of suspended animation or whatever to "fix him up".
But take that worth a grain of salt...just my perspective from what I've seen from the episodes and previews.
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11-20-2007 @ 11:37AM
khamel said...
Rachel Bilson is only a 9? Out of what, 6? i would blow up countless government intersect computers to date rachel bilson.
really liked this episode. this show isn't a great show but its alot of fun and im glad i watch it every week. im offically off prison break (well, i might download it and watch it later) so this is my new 'watch live' show with himym on tivo.
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11-20-2007 @ 12:03PM
YooToob said...
@3 & @5,
If my memory serves me correctly, there was a whole big thing about Chuck finding out about Sarah and Bryce during that episode where Sarah's friend/nemesis (the hot DEA agent who's name escapes me) was in town. Sarah originally told Chuck that she and Bryce's relationship was just a cover but Sarah's friend told Chuck the truth and Sarah couldn't get herself to deny it when confronted with it...
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11-20-2007 @ 12:06PM
fred said...
of course sarah was annoying, she's always "it's all about the case" and suddently she just let her jealousy take over and is willing to act in very stupid ways, putting at risk herself, Chuck, and the mission... for no real reason.
About the "big twist" at the end, I really didn't like it, felt like a stupid thing someone would come up with only to get the audience to go "wow", regardless of anything else.
Anout Casey, you forgot that one line that cracked me up: "By the way Miss, your pastrami is delicious!"
I'm just sad Rachel Bilson (who is an 11 in my book) is gone, she was the reason I watched...
http://88.191.26.34/i_watch_tv/2007/11/20/chuck-chuck-versus-the-imported-hard-salami/
ps: talk about "inconsistencies" : Chuck to throw his "guitar" inside a glass, only to have it show up seconds later nicely put next to the glass, somehow.
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11-20-2007 @ 12:11PM
Matt said...
I think that Sarah in this episode was good because it showed that she is after all a human with emotions. She was very un-spy like in this episode. I can't wait for next week. Go Chuck!
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11-20-2007 @ 1:26PM
Shane W. said...
@7 You're absolutely right, I completely forgot about that episode...then I guess the next episode will include a bit of jealousy as well...
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11-20-2007 @ 2:14PM
foxpoet said...
I loved the "take a number" scene, too... but the very best part was the punch-line, when the meaty tough guy behind the deli counter grabbed his heart and said "he had me at pastrami." Almost fell off my couch laughing!
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11-20-2007 @ 4:39PM
nickmagoo said...
so i'm watching antiques roadshow and i randomly check my dvr listings...and chuck wasn't recording! ack! so i only got to see the last 15 minutes. i am so ticked off...and yeah, the bryce thing was so anticlimactic i yawned. maybe if the person in the container was, say, abe vigoda - now THAT would've been something.
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11-20-2007 @ 7:43PM
Urbey said...
Forgive me for the delay, but I was doing advanced calculations involving differential equations, the curl and grad operators, and an antique HP-35 calculator to come up with these results. I have determined that Rachel Bilson is a 9.96, and Jessica Alba a close second at 9.89.
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11-20-2007 @ 10:03PM
TheBrad said...
Sorry. The line of the episode belonged to Chuck: "Is it me, or does our government want me never to have sex again?"
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11-21-2007 @ 10:45AM
Sean said...
@ # 3 & 5 also, yes the Hot DEA Friend was the one who was with Casey which caused him to mess up an operation which they were all working together. (Just as her actions caused problems in the Hairy Chest Guy Episode) Sarah was outed when the hot DEA agent wanted Chuck (I understand if you were distracted because I certainly was) and asked if he and Sarah were together and she said something like, "After Bryce I can understand why she'd be gunshy."
As for Sarah being boring, I agree that she was being Human...recall her one liner about being able to resist the truth serum and if not it would have caused a problem. I like that she's breaking down while still being tough as nails seeing Casey to coordinate their escape.
I loved Morgan and Anna in this episode and almost fell off the couch when he used the PA to break it off with her. I miss Harry Tang and wonder if he's coming back or if he's done. I guess they did go through all that he could do as he was the evil jerk, the evil boss, and the dupe so not much more you can do with him.
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11-23-2007 @ 11:49PM
Rose said...
Speaking of cross overs....can I get a Morgan on an episode of The Office?!?...good morning! :)
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