This week in Chuck, we have the continuation of the last episode that finds John Casey a civilian, the results of Sarah’s trip to Washington DC revealed, and Chuck on the verge of becoming a spy. It’s Chuck though, so that means he’s conflicted and getting himself into all kinds of dangerous and humorous positions.
Synopsis: Chuck’s fate as a spy rest on a single mission. Chuck learns that his latest solo mission will be a final test to see if he is ready to be a spy. Chuck needs to put everything he has learned into action to avoid going back to his old life while Sarah and Shaw observe his every move.
What Was Good: This was more of a serious episode, as Chuck’s final exam (besides some moments involving a sweet suitcase love kit and a pantless IDing of a mole) was a rather straight faced affair. Chuck and Sarah’s reservations about the exam and specifically about the red test were tangible on the screen, and the two did a great job as per usual of upping the tension between each other and their always simmering love. The love kit was pretty fantastic and was touching in the way it gave us a throw back to their initial stakeout.
Chuck’s relationship with John Casey continues to be an entertaining one and one that is filled with an odd respect between the two.
The twist at the end during the red test was handled very well, and was set up in a subtle way that was meticulously set up but with obvious cues throughout if you thought back to it. Good work by the team in making that work.
The humor wasn’t as rampant, but I can tell you that Chuck’s reaction to finding out a Russian criminal he was tailing was using “Ivan Drago” as his alias was hilarious. I let out a pretty big guffaw to that one.
What Was Bad: While it was a pretty decent episode, there were a number of things that really bothered me.
Namely, while I understand that Casey likes Chuck, him showing up to kill Chuck’s target on the red test at the end harms him more than almost anything. To me, it just doesn’t make sense. It makes Sarah dislike him, it establishes a precedent that Chuck can kill, and it puts Chuck in a position where he’s caught in a lie that he can’t out himself from without getting Casey in trouble. It’s a bizarre move, but I’m sure Fedak and Schwartz can get him out of.
Then you have the question as to why Casey is there and why is he putting up with ridiculous people like Big Mike, Jeff and Lester? While I like them when they need to be there, puffing their chests against an ace like Casey seems so backwards. That’s fairly bothersome.
Finally, as much as I want to see Chuck and Sarah together, this whole Chuck can’t explain because he’d get Casey in trouble is a forced roadblock that we’ve seen variations of a number of times. As much as I love this show, there are just some times where their formula is just repeated just too often.
Overall: Given that this was supposed to be the third to last episode of the season (before the season was expanded to 19 episodes), it makes sense that the show was setting the pieces up in such unenviable positions. Still, this wasn’t a particularly strong episode. There were even bigger holes than usual that felt particularly hard to let go this time. Still, I have faith that this was more of a hiccup than an establishment of a new norm.
