Chuck: Stop the Stunt Casting Already!

Season 4 of Chuck stayed strong on Monday night—the second episode was on par with the solid premiere, even without the presence of Linda Hamilton's fierce Mama Bartowski. Chuck and Sarah embarked on a mission sans Casey, while the Buy More began to look a bit more familiar. Here's my report card for "Chuck vs. the Suitcase."

Agents Bartowski and Walker: Chuck and Sarah got paired together for a mission, and my fanboy heart almost couldn't take it. The spies had to crash Milan Fashion Week (I know, poor them) to intercept Sofia Stepanova, executor of Volkoff's weapon deals. Think couple-y banter, ridiculous disguises, and a catfight on the catwalk. That high-fashion brawl was one of the best the series has produced. But more to the point, Chuck and Sarah reinforced how good they are at their jobs—both as a team and apart. How nice was it to hear General Beckman actually dole out a compliment?
Grade: A

Agents Casey and Grimes: Back home, Morgan worked on a different mission—getting Casey to call his daughter and, I don't know, be a human being. For the record, I only kind of support this. While I like the relationship between Casey and Alex, I felt like his transformation from emotionless killing machine to woobie was a little unrealistic last season. I want the character to be well-developed, not huggable. But this storyline still offered good moments for both of them, and I am always down for a Casey-Morgan team-up. Morgan also revamped the Buy More—more on that in a bit—once again proving himself a loyal asset to the team.
Grade: B+

The Romance: "Hey, Spider-Man kiss?" "No." "OK, maybe later." Even when they're kind of fighting, Chuck and Sarah are adorable. They have great chemistry, and I want to see more of them together as spies—it's frankly way more interesting than the domestic drama. In fact, if there's one thing I didn't like about the Chuck-Sarah aspect of this episode, it was the forced drama of Sarah’s suitcase. These two are obviously very, very in love, and have been for some time. Maybe we don't need to create artificial problems for them on a weekly basis. I'm a little nervous about Chuck saying the relationship doesn't have an Achilles' heel: Never jinx yourself by saying something that naïve. But as long as they're repelling off buildings and making out, I'm happy.
Grade: A-

Awesome and Ellie: Yay, Awesome and Ellie have something to do! By now, you've probably realized that these two are basically my favorites, and I enjoy Chuck most when they're well integrated into the plot. OK, I'm not thrilled with Ellie's pregnancy, if only because it keeps her off her feet and I'd like to see her more in on the action. But Devon's overprotective concern was expected and adorable. Seeing Ellie stand up for herself at the end mollified me—she's a strong, accomplished doctor. She can handle being pregnant and living a normal life. I also liked watching her look through family photos at the end: What does the return of her mom mean for Ellie? Is there a chance Mary Elizabeth is going to be around for the birth?
Grade: A-

The Buy More: Realizing that the Buy More was running too efficiently, Morgan convinced Beckman to let him mess things up a bit. This allowed for the return of fan favorites Jeff and Lester—Jeffster, if you're nasty. I like those guys OK, but for me, the highlight of this plot was seeing Morgan in a leadership position. And now he gets to be General Manager! Be still my Grimes-loving heart. As I've said before, the Buy More is not my favorite aspect of Chuck, but if the show can properly blend the wacky (Jeffster) with the C.I.A. (Greta), I'll be satisfied.
Grade: A

The Guest Stars: Karolina Kurkova. Bronson Pinchot. Lou Ferrigno. Isaiah Mustafa. Enough already. Sure, it's fun to see familiar faces, but Chuck's stunt casting is getting out of hand, and it's really starting to distract from the story. We don't need all these actors crammed into the same episode—let’s focus on the characters we do care about. As for their individual performances: Kurkova was great; Pinchot didn't do anything, so I assume he'll be back; Ferrigno was fine; and Mustafa was playing the Old Spice guy. All in all, not a bad assortment, but this trend needs to stop. I'm already tired of the Gretas, which seem like nothing more than an overwrought wink at the audience. And I love the Old Spice commercials, but not enough to forgive this.
Grade: B-

Date：2010-10-3　【Return】