Wednesday, March 24, 2010

'Chuck' Passes the Test

I am so not liking the current direction of Chuck, but I'm hoping it's just temporary and that things are going to get back to the old Chuck very soon.  I want Chuck, Sarah and Casey-- NO Shaw-- all working together on spy cases with lots of tension between Chuck and Sarah and lots of funny from Casey.  Watching things deteriorate between Chuck and Sarah and seeing Casey assimilate into a "normal" life just isn't cutting it for me.  And then this week, things began to look even bleaker than I expected.  The question of the episode was whether or not Chuck would pass his final exam and become a bona fide spy.  Round one went relatively well, but round two was decidedly a bit more challenging.


There was tons of angst going on throughout the hour (Casey trying to settle into his "normal life," Sarah deciding to move to DC, Chuck trying one last-ditch effort to win her back, Sarah wrestling over Chuck becoming a real spy, etc.), but the crux of this one rested on one key scene and its implications went much farther than did he or didn't he.  As the final part of Chuck's spy test, he was asked to shoot and kill a traitor agent.  Sarah reluctantly made the request and gave him the gun, but Chuck wasn't prepared to pull the trigger.  He fought with the rogue spy, but ultimately, decided to arrest him instead of killing him.  Things were going fine until the rogue agent got away.  Chuck chased him down in the train yard and pointed his gun right at him.  He wasn't going to shoot (right?), but the agent went for his own hidden weapon and then there was a shot and the agent was dead on the ground.  Did Chuck really kill him?  Sweet, lovable Chuck?!  Is he even capable?  That last question wasn't answered this week because Casey secretly took out the rogue agent before Chuck had a chance to make the fateful decision.  For the record, I don't think Chuck would have pulled the trigger.

Since no one except Chuck knows that Casey was the real shooter, he passed his spy test and received his first solo assignment sans Sarah.  Meanwhile, Sarah thinks that Chuck did kill the agent, so she's crushed and even declared that she is not in love with him -- ANYMORE.  What a depressing mess!  Luckily, there were lighter moments to even things out a bit (Chuck receiving his first spy info and after watching the monitor self destruct, commented that it was just like in the movies).  Overall, though, more tough pills to swallow from the world of Chuck.  I'm just going to keep hoping that things are about to turn around any minute.  It's easier that way. 

Chuck airs Monday nights on NBC.  If you missed this week's episode, you can watch it for free at Hulu.com.

3 comments:

Ambaryerno said...

I'm sorry to see you don't like the fact that Chuck is building to a climax as part of what was originally intended to be the final three episodes of the season.

Y'know, it's not like a serial needs to build tension and raise the stakes as it heads into the big payoff at the end or anything, right?

TVFan said...

I understand what the show is doing... I just don't like it. As I said, I have faith that everything will be resolved and back to normal by season's end, but in the meantime, I'm not enjoying the journey. I feel like the show has lost what made it so special. But to each their own, right?

Strategy Game Guides said...

Yeah he did, actually this show is pretty neat compared to many others! Fine review to it :)