Chuck vs. the Lethal Weapon

By Jenn Kim
“It’s hard to walk away from someone you care about.”
Heck yeah! In your FACE, Agent Smooth Pants.

In “Chuck vs. the Lethal Weapon”, Agent Cole Barker makes a ridiculously heroic return. He’s withstood torture without revealing anything about Chuck’s intersectiness, and escaped nine (actually, twelve; he doesn’t like to boast) Fulcrum agents. When he shares that Fulcrum has been protecting a mysterious man who goes by the code name Perseus, Casey and Sarah are assigned to attend a consulate party to find out Perseus’ true identity. At the party, Chuck flashes (from a safe distance away via CIA cameras) on a nerdy braniac named Dr. Busgang. It’s revealed that Dr. Busgang is the mastermind behind Fulcrum’s attempts at a human-intersect, and is one of the original scientists who worked on creating the CIA’s intersect.

I really liked tonight’s episode of Chuck, and for many reasons.

First, we again toy with the idea that Chuck may be able to be de-intersected. When we see how hopeful he is that Dr. Busgang can help him, we pick up on how truly vulnerable and desperate Chuck is for his old life. (Or at least a life where he can date who he wants, not be forced to lie to his sister and friends, and can be assured that those he cares about will no longer be in any danger because of him.) In these rare moments, we see Chuck for who he really is: a man stripped of his freedom and mobility because of something he can’t control.  And even though tonight’s episode ends with another dead scientist (seriously, really?), this time the show leaves us with a teasing parting gift: ORION.  Though we know close to nothing about him (or her), we do know he (or she!) is the one person who has enough intersect-knowledge to be Chuck’s best hope for a normal life.

Secondly, I appreciated Agent Barker’s personification of perfection because it made it all that much sweeter when Sarah turned him down. Not only is he (irritatingly) heroic (seriously, he took not one, but two bullets to save lives tonight? Pffft, show-off), he’s also generous in sharing the credit and genuinely concerned for the gang’s well-being. Oh yeah, and I guess he’s kind of attractive. If Sarah can walk away from all of that manly goodness because she doesn’t want to walk away from Chuck, how can we NOT have hope that Sarah and Chuck are going to make it in the long run? Sarah and Chuck, 4ever!

Lastly, I love the new resolve and confidence in Chuck. He WILL get the intersect out of his head, and he WILL live the life he wants with the girl he loves. Chuck isn’t just a boy who can’t part with the Tron poster he’s had since he was twelve, but a man who is carefully and methodically mapping out his road to freedom. If that’s not sexy, I don’t know what is.

Some more Chuck thoughts:

• Since when is recreating famous Wimbledon matches through Wii tennis an obscure and disturbing hobby???
• Will Ellie and Chuck’s dad emerge by the end of this season? I love the subtle teasing.
• I’m fond of string cheese as well, but i like to think of myself as tolerant of all cheeses.
• “You do look gorgeous, Sarah. This is Chuck speaking, by the way.”
• And it was the race of the gimps tonight, as we watched a limping Chuck stealthily chase after a limping Dr. Busgang.
• Chuck kneeling down and pretending to tie his cast when Dr. Busgang turned around: best moment of television.
• Seriously, what’s Fulcrum’s deal? What do they do, and why do they do it? We got an obscure clue tonight (“we do what needs to be done to preserve this nation’s rightful place in the world”), but it certainly doesn’t explain why so many CIA agents would go rogue for it.
• “I’m crazy about you, Sarah.” Squeal! So nice for Chuck to finally put it out there, even if it was in the context of “we can’t move in together.”
• I love Yvonne Strahovski. Even through her character’s impressive forced stoicism, we still feel the depths of Sarah’s emotions.
• I need a Wii remote tennis racquet.

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About Jenn Kim: When she’s not questioning her decision to enter lawyer-hood-dom, Jenn enjoys stalking celebrities and getting over her totally rational fear of zombies. She also idolizes Joss Whedon, and is crossing her fingers that Nathan Fillion and NPH will accept her friend requests.

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