“The problem is not with the computer. It’s with you.”
Chuck is right: his emotions screw everything up. He thought he’d hit rock bottom (which, it turns out, is liberally sprinkled with cheese balls) in LA, but reached a truly abysmal low in Mexico. They key flash wasn’t an Intersect-flash, but a flashback to his disastrous decision to choose the life of the spy over a real life being Sarah’s boyfriend.
I was extremely curious to see how Josh Schwartz would solve the “I know kung-fu” problem: how could this show be as charming and dopey-sweet if the hero was a superhero? Luckily, Chuck’s still a doofus. He chose spy school over Sarah, and didn’t just come to regret his choice, but actually flunked out of a spy school designed specifically for him. Yikes.
The first 50 minutes of this episode were depressing. I almost cried when Chuck turned Sarah down at the train station until I realized that he needed to want to be separate from her—he’s been in puppy-love for so long that the tables needed to be turned, however briefly.
All the bells and whistles of the new Intersect gave Chuck the delusion of power, but in learning to harness it—and to use his power for the force of good—he began to really come into his own. We’ve seen Chuck choose spy-life over real-life before, and as long as he has Sarah at his side he seems more or less okay with that choice. Am I? I’m still not sure.
The General’s warning note set an interesting tone for the rest of the season: is Chuck really a danger to the world? Is Sarah really the right person to keep his emotions in check?
Bytes:
• Olympics product placement? Oh, no…that was a Honda commercial about the Olympics featuring Chuck cast members in character. I am officially confused.
• It’s so great that Adam Baldwin gets so many roles that require he refer to guns with female pronouns.
• Slo-mo sparring scenes are awesome.
• Let’s all have a moment of silence for the passing of Emmett. And a moment of silent thanks to Subway, whose sponsorship made Chuck un-canceled.
And Pieces:
• Jeff: “Hello, sir. How may I service you?” Some of my co-workers constantly say “service” when they mean “serve.” It always makes me think of dirty, dirty things.
• Emmett: “Sneaking back into the BuyMore like some vagrant Serpico…goodness, you’re a hot mess.”
• Awesome: “Oh, wait. This is really you?”
• Chuck: “I think I have documentation somewhere that proves I am an official nobody.”
This wasn’t a traditional Chuck episode, but it covered a lot of emotional ground that needed to be covered. In cheese balls.
Three out of four lemons.
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