Oh man, what an episode! Last night’s Chuck saw Stone Cold Steve Austin and Smallville’s Kristen Kreuk guest star, and yet even without them it would have been an amazing episode.
We follow Chuck on his first solo mission, despite Sarah’s protests. Is he ready to fly solo? Well, he’s certainly ready to fly first class. Almost.
Austin as Hugo Panzer was well cast for his imposing figure, but anyone hoping he’d use some of his moves – as The Rock did when he guest starred in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager – would be let down. A bit of swordplay, a couple of punches and a chokehold in the seats are as much as you get.
Things stepped up at the Buy More following the shenanigans of last week. Morgan turns to Casey for help because the Buy Morons don’t respect him, so how does Casey get their respect? John Casey doesn’t command their respect; he takes it!
Of course all of this is paving the way for things to change in the store. First we have Casey becoming Morgan’s right-hand man, now Lester will be like putty thanks to some disturbing(ly funny) NSA tactics! Kreuk’s character Hannah will be joining the Herd for a stint; Jeff will most likely treat her like a replacement Anna, and we all know how that went!
Loved some of the little touches, a mention of ‘The Beastmaster’ as a sort of in-joke. Chuck is becoming a real spy; getting his vodka martini shaken, not stirred – which I’m sure no one actually does – the second Bond reference in the episode. We also had a brilliant girlish scream, as predicted by Casey in his oh-so-inspiring pep talk. I also have to say how brilliant it was that Chuck flashed on using the nunchucks, warms up using them as the bad guys get taken out behind his back by falling luggage, then turns around prepared to battle using his skills only to find there’s no need to use them. The slight look of disappointment on his face just adds to the amusement for me.
Have to mention how cocky Shaw came across this episode. “I should tell you I’m always right,” is what he says at one point. Considering that we learn at the end of the episode that the one agent he lost was his wife, as was hinted at last episode, it’s a little surprising. Maybe his arrogance is his way of covering his insecurities, whereas Chuck embraces them.
Luckily Team Bartowski comes through in the end with the help of some of Shaw’s Agency contacts and a little flight sim work from Sarah.
It’s also good to see that despite everything he’s been through, Chuck has lost none of his wide-eyed enthusiasm and innocence. The signature ‘Carmichael’ faux suave reassurance that he’d get the job done, followed by his giddiness regarding the lobster made me smile.
Oh, and as I mentioned on Twitter – along with many others – I really want to know about ‘The Volleyball Incident’!
Next episode: Chuck vs. The Nacho Sampler, which features Sarah Walker in a cut-off BSG ‘Frak Off’ T-shirt, looking VERY hot!
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