Who knew? Did you? I’m gonna be honest with you, I totally didn’t see the “twist” coming in the latest episode of NBC’s Chuck until they told us. And I guess I should have. Sure, you could say “that’s a helluva coincidence,” or rather you could realize that maybe there’s less coincidences than usual.
I guess with the inclusion of both Scott Bakula and Chevy Chase there wasn’t much time left for any Buy More shenanigans. But I really didn’t mind. While Chase’s role was pretty cardboard, Bakula was really able to sink his teeth into a character that turned out to be far more complex than it started. And he did so masterfully.
In the beginning of the episode, he played it like the slightly off-kilter absent-minded absent-bodied father that Ellie and Chuck thought he was. He shuffled around slowly and had a noticeable defeated stoop about his shoulders even. But all that fell away when he revealed himself as Orion, the tech mastermind behind the Intersect and ultimately everything Chuck has been dealing with.
I thought for a moment that this might be the first chapter in the “game changing” alterations to the series’ status quo that we’ve been promised for the season’s final episodes. Hell, maybe it still is, but in the end things are kind of back to status quo and we can have more filler episodes like last week’s ultimately turned out to be.
Hopefully, we’re not done with Bakula as I thought he added something nice to the cast. His presence alone was enough to inspire Chuck to really work on getting rid of the Intersect, which in turn led to him getting all super spy (he took out Casey!). And considering that Casey didn’t kill him after that played out, I think he’s even earning the big lug’s respect a bit more each episode. There may be a great spy in Chuck yet.
As much as I want to say poor Ellie, and I do feel bad for her considering how much she’s kept in the dark about what’s really going on with both Chuck and now her father as well, it’s hard to when she keeps lording the bachelor party over Devon. I know there are women out there who just can’t let things go, but you would think that after the years they’ve spent together, Devon would have earned her trust.
I was none too pleased when she went behind his back to find out what happened. I will say that I feel bad for Devon. Not only is the bachelor party incident clearly affecting his relationship with Ellie, but he’s beating himself up over it as well. And Devon, as Steven (Bakula) pointed out, is a true straight arrow. He was just a victim of Cylon Number Six’s brutal tactics last week.
I do like how out of nowhere we got the Roark Instruments is bigger than Microsoft or Apple. Where did that come from? What a strange world they live in where there’s room for an even bigger operating system than the big two. Are Linux and Unix still out there too? It sounded like it was a free OS so that puts it more in line with those latter two.
I know, speculating on the operating system wars in Chuck’s world is maybe even a bit too geeky for the Nerd Herd. Still, you can’t help but wonder if Ellie and Devon ever sit at home snuggling on the couch and watching Ted Roark on Dancing With the Stars.
Clacked by Jason Hughes 
on Apr 08, 2009 @ 10:05 EST5EDT
I definitely got the feel that Roak Industries = Canonical, and the OS they were talking about was a Ubuntu kind of thing.
Thought the episode was great, but its time to move on (not from the show, but from the setup). I suspect the ‘game changer’ is something to do with most, if not all, of his family and friends finding out what’s going on, and a possible move in location.
I also loved the “Oh Boy” from Bakula – nice. I liked Papa Bartowski too, but I am a sucker for Bakula. I thought Morgan acting all hurt at dinner about Chuck’s new job was appropriate.
Maybe Ellie holding onto the bachelor party is because she can’t confront her dad about him leaving, so she is using Awesome and the stipper as a proxy.
I think Dorv is right – the change is going to be how Chuck handles a new spy skill set or he moves out when Ellie and Awesome get married.
@JFTA Damn! I missed an, ‘Oh boy…’ Must rewatch!
Maybe it’s because I’m a girl (yes, it’s true!), but I think Ellie’s reaction to Devon’s supposed misconduct is totally fine. I mean, I’m hoping they clear it up and she realizes he was faithful…but she has every right to be pissed when her fiance bangs a stripper at his bachelor party (that’s what the photos made it look like, after all).
Anyway, great episode. According to IMDB, Bakula’s supposed to be in the next two episodes so I’m excited about that. I giggled for a good two minutes after the “Oh boy” line.
Ofc they’re going to turn ellie into an emotional rollercoaster over situations. That’s what show’s do, they use drama. If they didnt the show would be boring and as a result the show would loose ratings.
hell if sarah and chuck didnt have a constant thing… would you tune in? Hell no! Its the concept that goes, OMG I CANT WAIT FOR MONDAY! WHAT WILL HAPPEN!!!
Like now they’re on the run, i cant wait to see what happens with them!