Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips

Thank you for pantsing me.

Photo credit: Jordin Althaus/NBC

So, this week had a few twists and turns. We knew from last week that the Intersect was changing Morgan, not for the better either, and him betraying the team to offer his services to Verbanski Corp. was a clear sign that all was not well.

I’d assumed that the Intersect was going haywire in Morgan because his neurological structure couldn’t handle the amount of information and was overwriting parts of his brain.

Of course this week we found out that Beckman did not send Chuck the Intersect glasses. We have to assume, as Team B did, that Decker planted them with the intent that Chuck be uploaded with the Trojan Horse laden programme. Although, what the plan was for Chuck having it isn’t clear to me.

The main theme of the episode seemed to be relationships; namely the ones between Chuck & Morgan and Casey & Verbanski with bits of Morgan & Alex and even Jeff & Lester thrown in.

Chuck’s friendship with Morgan seemed to blind him to why he was becoming such an egotistical ass, having seen that sort of behaviour in him before. It took Sarah talking with both Ellie and Beckman for him to realise that it wasn’t all Morgan, but the Intersect amplifying his egomania.

I did like the little scene between them at Verbanski Corp. Having taken out all the other trainees, Chuck takes on Morgan and, despite not having the Intersect, hold his own (although it was short and tailored not to be a stunt heavy fight to accommodate the actors) before revealing his identity.

Talking of fights and Verbanski, I see what they meant about ‘erotically charged’ when it came to the fight between Casey and Verbanski! I’d say it was probably more overtly sexual than the ‘gun cleaning’ scene between Casey and Alex Forrest in “Versus the Broken Heart”. I had to laugh at Casey’s face when Gertrude reversed the hold and had him bent over the desk; surprise, annoyance and confusion all manifested there. Priceless!

It was nice to see that Casey can be just as hopelessly awkward with a love interest in a non-violent situation as the rest of us. That being said, he used Sarah as his wingman in a non-traditional form, and then planted a bug on Verbanski so that he could monitor her covertly. Jeff would be proud of you Casey!

Of course, Casey’s lack of social smarts when it comes to the opposite sex stem largely from not being used to opening himself up to emotional vulnerability, which is a good thing for a spy; one less thing that can be used against you, one less thing to get in the way of the job. The thing is, Casey is not just a ruthless assassin/spy any more, he’s also a friend and, more importantly, a father.

The scene between Alex and Casey showed that he’s both protective of his daughter and still unused to the role. I don’t think many fathers would suggest ‘working over’ the guy who dumped their daughter!

The B-story this week gave us Awesome left looking after baby Clara and realising that being a stay-at-home dad was not as easy as he thought. He quickly lost himself, taking advice from himself via the Buy More advert, which lead us to the Buy More part of the story.

It seems that whilst Chuck and Morgan are away, the Buy Morons are nowhere to be found. Well, all except Lester, who was taking a nap whilst Jeff was almost killing himself with carbon monoxide poisoning trying to customise his van.

We got a little humour from Lester looking after Clara for the few minutes it took for Awesome to drag Jeff out of the auto shop. That man can barely look after his friend, but since there seemed to be no other staff available, it was a decision made out of necessity.

By the end of the day, despite being on paternity leave, Dr Woodcomb had given check-ups to both Jeff and Morgan (making both of them wear gowns – does he just carry them around?) and dispensed a little advice to both.

It was quite amusing hearing him say to Morgan that he had ‘lost his identity’ becoming a stay-at-home dad. Come on dude, you’d been at it all of one day!

Since their mission for Gen. Beckman has been stolen from under them by Morgan and taken to Verbanski, the team decide to try and reclaim it. At the same time, Chuck decides to try and appeal to Morgan, saving him from himself in essence.

I initially heard the targets name incorrectly. During my first watch of the episode, I was convinced the guy with the whistle-blowing website was called Max Zorin, which is of course the name of the baddie played by Christopher Walken in the James Bond film ‘A View to a Kill’. Turns out that his name is actually Matt Zorn, note the difference and yet how easy it would be to mishear it.

As Morgan goes all mission fixated, Chuck reminds him of his 7^th grade pantsing and the ham & moustache sandwich revenge and gets through to the old Morgan, but not before he shoots a hole in the helicopter fuel tank. It does give us some hero time as Chuck and Casey rescue Morgan and Verbanski from the flames, allowing Casey to get some, ahem, face time, with Gertrude.

It seemed like a pretty easy fix, reminding Morgan of his pantsing incident to cut through ‘the fog’ of the Trojan Intersect. Jeff being cured by Awesome paralleled this; the easy fix of not spending the night sleeping in his van.

Given the 13 episode run, I suppose certain things will have to be quick fixes in order to push the narrative along.

Regarding Morgan’s pantsing; I have to say, kudos to the hairy one for being able to grow a full moustache in the 7^th Grade – I wasn’t even shaving until the equivalent of the early 9^th grade!

Also, is anyone else finding Jeff as a normal functioning human being freakier than him being a burnt out weirdo? How long will this version of the character last and what does this mean for the future of ‘Jeffster!’?

So the tampered with Intersect is being dealt with, but there’s a kill order out on the little bearded one and it goes way above Beckman. Who is behind it and how far does the conspiracy against Chuck stretch?

Next week: Chuck Versus the Business Trip

Chuck and Sarah must stop an assassin after the Intersect at a Buy More convention. Jeff shows a new side to himself.

Here’s the trailer, take a look: