(S02E20) Trust. Five little letters that represent so, so much. For Chuck, trust has been key to his agreeing to be the American government's good little intersect. He's gone along with all the dangerous assignments, put his life on the line, lied to his friends and family, and every step of the way, he's trusted that Casey and Sarah and the General are working for the country's best interest, and by extension, his best interest.
After convincing the General that the only way to keep Fulcrum from getting their own intersect, the one not in Chuck's head, was to steal back Orion before he succeeds in building another unit. The fact that Orion was also Steve Bartowski -- Chuck's primary objective, i.e. "get back dad" -- was evident. However, for appearances, he let the team believe that he believed saving the interset was the most important thing.
Without a clue what to do, Chuck improvised. That meant Jordana Brewster was back as Jill, Chuck's ex and an imprisoned Fulcrum agent. Jill's help involved Uncle Bernie -- Borat's Azamat (Ken Davitian) -- who was...wait for it...a Fulcrum agent, too!
Bernie learned Chuck was connected to Orion and chased him and Jill. Maybe if he had been naked like in Borat it would have been funnier. Once Chuck dispatched the lethal Bernie with a move called "The Morgan," the action shifted to a super-secret Fulcrum recruiting office in the heart of Hollywood. Did the government really not know that Fulcrum had that operating in plain sight? The recruiting film was calculated to look like American propaganda, up to the point of referring to the persons watching as comrades.
But as I said, this was all about trust, and that included the action at Buy More. Smug Emmet won Morgan's trust by assuring him that if he used his influence to get the crew to shape up for the corporate review, Emmet would be promoted out of the Burbank "pit" and out of their lives. Morgan believed him.
At the same time, in between gun fire, Jill advised Chuck that his trust in Sarah and Casey and the General was misplaced because no matter what happened with Orion, they would use Chuck to their advantage. His personal feelings wouldn't matter to the CIA, NSA, or Fulcrum.
So when push came to shove, Morgan trusted Emmet and got Big Mike to trust him. In a scene that was a beautiful take-off of The Godfather, Part II ("You broke my heart, Fredo."), Big Mike was demoted to a green shirt and Emmet's now in charge of the Buy More.
Unbeknownst to Chuck, the General pulled the plug on the Intersect. That's right, as Casey called it, "Operation Moron" was done. Sarah objected, but she was following orders. So when Chuck was approached by Sarah and told to come back to the castle because they had captured Orion -- even though he knew his father was at the Black Rock (which was not CBS corporate headquarters on 52nd Street in Manhattan, but a Fulcrum installation in Barstow, California) -- he was ready to believe.
Sarah was telling him a CIA/NSA lie that would have locked him away at Langley for the rest of his life, but she couldn't destroy his trust or his life. Sarah showed that when it comes to Chuck, she's not the hard-hearted pro she's supposed to be. She went rogue taking Chuck with her.
Now it's the two of them on the run with Casey on their trail, Orion on the horizon, and -- oh yeah -- Jill is on the run, too, because Chuck defied orders and let her go. Hope that was an act of trust that doesn't blow up in his face.
Chuck' Show & Cast Photos
CHUCK Adam Baldwin as Major John Casey stars in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008.
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CHUCK Adam Baldwin as Major John Casey stars in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008.
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CHUCK Michael Clarke Duncan as Colt and Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker star in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008.
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CHUCK Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski and Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker star in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008.
NBC
CHUCK Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski and Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker star in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008.
NBC
CHUCK Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski, Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker and Michael Clarke Duncan as Colt star in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008.
NBC
CHUCK Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski stars in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008.
NBC
CHUCK Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski stars in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008.
NBC
CHUCK Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski and Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker star in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008.
NBC
CHUCK Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker stars in the episode "Chuck vs. the First Date." Airs Monday, September 29, 2008.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-14-2009 @ 10:05AM
Jan said...
Okay, was it my imagination but was Richard Dean Anderson one of the prisoners looking at Chuck as he was walking to Jill's cell? I could have sworn it was his eyes.
Reply
4-14-2009 @ 10:39AM
Jason said...
I saw that too. That was definitely the MacG.
4-14-2009 @ 10:39AM
Bill said...
What will Casey do? Hunt them down, by the book? Or will he show a little heart for a change and take their side?
Love this show. Just keeps getting better and better.
Hey NBC! RENEW CHUCK!!
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Reply
4-14-2009 @ 10:44AM
Ian said...
Anyone notice the major twist the main plot is taking?
Clues:
Note the Fulcrum "test" was presented on PCs in a very USA patriotic manner????
Note also that the General is 100% NOT acting in the best interest of Chuck etc.
Note: In prior episodes Fulcrum agents would rather kill themselves than be captured and interograted.
Do we have a plot line here, as in Star wars, whereby Chuck and Sarah get recruited to Fulcrum as they represent themselves as the "good guys"? Will Chuck mature into a steely eyed Fulcrum agent? AT th bear minimum the lines between good and bad are getting very clouded. Gives the producers and directors the power to go in almost ANY direction to convince the Network that Chuck has a future in their 2010 schedule.
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4-14-2009 @ 10:45AM
Lisa said...
Casey cannot go after Sarah and Chuck in earnest so my bet is he will help them somehow. I really wonder how they will get them out of this and back in the general's good graces, though.
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4-14-2009 @ 12:24PM
Dan said...
AWESOME EPISODE!!! I love this show. This show keeps getting better, the ending was amazing. I really think it's finding a niche, and I hope they put some deals on the DVD sets before the next season to get this show some more viewers.
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4-14-2009 @ 12:08PM
Matt said...
I was very confident that second set of eyes had to be Henry Rollins.
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4-14-2009 @ 12:25PM
Dorv said...
And I thought it was John Larroquette, which wouldn't make sense.
4-14-2009 @ 12:26PM
burningchrom3 said...
DUDE! i thought the same thing!!he's got the most unique scowl out there, it has to be him.
4-14-2009 @ 8:39PM
Jeff N. said...
Chuck seems to be getting better and better. Last night's episode was a very good one. I do hope NBC finds a way to bring this show back.
Reply
4-15-2009 @ 12:29AM
WhoElseButME said...
Yeah it keeps getting better and better and we've been saying that for a long while. READ THIS NBC! CHUCK MUST BE RENEWED. I am a Leno fan but an hour of prime time every weekday, are you kidding me?
And if you saw the preview for next week - finally some pay off for Chuck & Sarah fans.
~I heart this show~
4-14-2009 @ 3:00PM
clgbutterfly said...
I loved the ep too and I'll have to go back and look at the eyes in the Jail cell's again apparently. My only weird moment was Jill in yoga type sweat and then when he cutes her tracking anklet she's wearing stilletto boots made of the same material as the outfit! Who works out in stilettos! Very Bizzare. Also sadden that there was no Scott, only in the pre-show and post show stuff. so what show did he show up on this week if not chuck?
Reply
4-14-2009 @ 4:37PM
bruce said...
The Buy More plot made no sense. There was no way that Emmit could have guaranteed that Big Mike would have taken the day off or otherwise said something about taking the day off to Morgan. How is having everyone in the store doing a good job a plan to get rid of Big Mike, the boss? It may have conveniently worked out that way, but to act like it was the plot from the beginning is just illogical.
That being said, I loved the "Fredo kiss of death" Big Mike gave Morgan. Gotta love it.
I like the idea that Fulcrum may be the good guys. We don't know enough about them, or about their intentions to make any value judgments. Just because they operate against the US does not mean they are absolutely evil. There are both good and bad reasons for disliking the US government. Maybe they have similar goals and just differ on how to achieve them. When one thinks of the CIA and NSA, the notion of good ethics does not jump into your mind.
I always thought that the Empire in Star Wars was the good guy and the "rebels" were nothing more than whiny terrorists. Why is bringing order to the galaxy a bad thing? And how is the galaxy possibly better offafter the collapse of the Empire? Surely it lapsed into complete disorder with warring clans/planets/systems. The Huts probably enslaved half the universe. Anyway, just because the writers say or otherwise imply that one side is good and one side is bad doesn't mean you shouldn't think it through yourself. At this point Fulcrum is presumed to be bad, but we just don't know enough about them yet. Hopefully that will change.
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4-14-2009 @ 7:14PM
Alan G said...
Great ep, as always. I love this show. It's fresh, creative, entertaining and the cast is fabulous. Interesting comments about the blurring of good and evil. And the Corleone kiss and the Godfather music in the background - priceless!! Don't worry folks, Emmett is in way more trouble than he ever thought he'd be up against. Big Mike will be back triumphantly. I can only hope we can say the same for the series next season. WAKE UP NBC!! You've got one of the best shows on TV right now. Don't blow it away.
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4-14-2009 @ 7:51PM
bruce said...
I'm so scared that I'm going to lose both Chuck and Life, my 2 favorite shows on NBC. Add to that the impending loss of Terminator TSCC and I'll have nothing left to watch.
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4-14-2009 @ 8:16PM
Sarah said...
John Casey is hands down one of the most bad ass characters on tv right now. I just have to throw that out there.
So....what's the deal between Chuck and Jill? I kind of got the feeling that she is going to decide that she really wants to be with Chuck and will make herself a romantic rival against Sarah. Does he still have feelings for her? I would hope that after everything she's put him through he would have kicked his Jill habit, but he's a sentimental kind of guy.
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4-18-2009 @ 4:16AM
William said...
Definitely bad ass. I still think, "oh snap!" when I think of the episode where John Casey threw a microwave oven into a guy's head to knock him out. John Casey rocks!
4-15-2009 @ 8:21PM
Rick said...
Best actor chemistry in TV is CHUCK! Enjoyed the action, comedy, and twists of this week's episode. Looking forward to next week's Charah romantic time. C'mon NBC! Don't let Leno decide it for you. Renew CHUCK!!!
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4-15-2009 @ 12:08AM
ck said...
did anyone else catch the princess bride reference? when morgan is trying to convince everyone to rebel even though emmitt tells them to be good? a dual of (dim)wits?
regarding the "game changer", i'm thinking it's going to be a change of heart towards fulcrum. my only hesitation with that is that i can't see casey turning (or really chuck or sarah, for that matter), but i wonder if we'll start seeing their side of the story a bit more.
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4-15-2009 @ 1:11AM
Xploited13 said...
I thought it was funny that the Fulcrum agent was named Bernie and they were dragging him and pretending he was alive. Weekend at Bernie's reference ftw.
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