Review: Chuck versus the Couch Lock

“Big, gun-loving, commie-hating, forgiveness.”

I can’t say enough great things about Adam Baldwin. He manages to load more emotion into a grunt or a hairy eyeball than any other actor I can think of, but this episode gave us another glimpse of another side of his actorly repertoire: physical comedy. Watching him lurch around like Frankenstein’s monster, switching from near-catatonia to dangling Morgan like a…dangly thing, just doesn’t stop being funny. And his history of being betrayed, and the way those betrayals have made him into the curmudgeon he is today, is nothing but touching.

Back in 1999 Iran, Casey’s team betrayed him, and the mission, and the country—but by the end of this episode, Casey has found a new team that he knows won’t betray him. Watching him gradually trust even someone like Morgan, and start to connect with people who might actually show up at his funeral, was a really nice miniature character arc. Using Morgan’s tiny antics to highlight Casey’s foibles was just icing on the cake.

As Casey learned (or re-learned) to trust his friends, Chuck nearly went dark. Last season, the show hammered home the threat of Chuck losing his humanity, so I was really impressed by the subtlety of Chuck’s emotional arc in this episode. General Beckman told Chuck: “You’ve put duty above emotion. Using Colonel Casey as bait? Usually it takes an agent years to put his teammates in harms way.” Chuck made that leap without even realizing it—perhaps it was a momentary glimpse of his pragmatism, but I think it was also evidence that he trusts the team so much, he assumed no harm would come to anyone. After all, with friends all things are possible.

By the end of the episode, Chuck realized (again) the risks of his job, not just to himself but to his extended family. For that reason, he decided to ignore Ellie’s desire to see their mom, and put everyone’s safety above her maternal urges. I definitely see where Chuck is coming from, but I felt bad for Ellie, too: Chuck always seems to do exactly what she doesn’t want him to do. Luckily, Mama B’s phone call has brought Chuck back to the quest. I wonder if she’s evil, or undercover, or something else. I wonder if her arc parallels Chuck’s: is she working for Volkoff to protect her family?

The BuyMore plot…well, there wasn’t really a BuyMore-specific plot, and I think that’s for the best. Jeff and Lester’s dumpster-sleeping habits are funny, but they didn’t drag down the pacing. And it was a nice bit of character-continuity. Jeff’s willingness to rescue Casey, and not over-think the fact that he was dressed in military garb in a downtown dumpster, unconscious (and that he called work instead of someone else), fit perfectly in with his world view.

One last great thing: Chuck and Sarah getting along without talking about their relationship.

Bytes:

• Casey on President Clinton: “Not that I like him or his mouthy wife.”

• Jeff: “If you have the mata to battle the others plainswalkers.” Indeed.

• Morgan’s entire eulogy, which he delivered fabulously.

• Chuck: “They put a tracker on a what? No, god no, don’t shoot it!”
Cat: “Meow!”

• Jeff: “Don’t worry Casey. I know that dumpster.”

• Awesome: “Ah, couch-lock. He over-medicated…Just get his heart rate up.” This is terrible, terrible medical advice.

• Morgan: “Ow! It’s like slapping a car!”

• There were so many hilarious lines, but they’re less funny written down.

And Pieces:

• Awesome and Ellie are having a girl.

• Casey trying to wake up was very Uma Thurman in Kill Bill.

• The gold-heist plot was very Three Kings. That’s a great movie, by the way, that you should rent immediately.

• Alex seems to have inherited her father’s sass. “Have fun playing Halo for the rest of your life.” Zing!

• I’m very impressed that Chuck has managed to get so many guest stars this season. I’m not quite sure I understand why they made that a priority, though.

Four out of four downtown dumpsters.

(Thanks for your patience this week! Next week’s review will be much more prompt–I’m scared that if I’m late again, Casey will eyeball me to death. And then who would review Chuck, Fringe, and the Vampire Diaries for billiedoux.com, as well as here on chucktv.net?)