The intersect may help Chuck with kung fu, defusing bombs and perhaps making the best grilled cheese sandwich, but when challenged with leadership, there was no flash to save him. Instead, he had his team to support him in Sarah and Casey, while Director Bentley was there to impede him at every turn.
After the failure of Director Bentley’s Intersects last week, it was up to Chuck’s team to find another compatible person to become the next intersect. Their mission to find another “Chuck” was derailed when Chuck’s first choice was found stabbed to death. And, that’s when tonight’s Chuck turned into an episode of Castle — a murder mystery. I wasn’t really sure who had “dun it” until the very end. I even fell for the possibility that Director Bentley did it.
I didn’t like Director Bentley at all and about halfway through the episode I hoped she had done it, because she messed up the dynamic of the team. Then, when she took the boom-box bomb into the containment room — willing to sacrifice herself — I actually felt a little bad that I disliked her. But that is what makes this show so great, the attachment — good or bad — to the characters. Yes, I was glad that Chuck saved her and it was so worth it when he used his pocket protector to do it. That said, I’m also glad she is returning to Washington. Since she is no longer Chuck’s nemesis, a return visit wouldn’t be so bad.
Back to Chuck’s leadership during this assignment; did anyone else get annoyed that Sarah had to “protect her man,” not only regarding Director Bentley, but also to Casey? I cringed a bit at that and hope that we don’t see that continue in Sarah and Chuck’s relationship. Not on the job, at least. I understand that Chuck wants people to like him and isn’t a natural leader, but it just fed directly into Director Bentley’s issue with Chuck … his “over-reliance on handlers.”
There was a quite intriguing shift in secret-keeping that happened, and unfortunately we didn’t really see it happen. Awesome, who has been keeping Chuck’s spy life a secret from Ellie, is a double agent of sorts now. Instead of taking the Orion hard drive to give to Chuck, he left it for Ellie and gave Chuck a fake. What in the world did Awesome tell Ellie? I’m guessing that she doesn’t know that Chuck’s still a spy, rather thinks that Chuck wanted the hard drive to protect her. Awesome, oh Awesome, what a mess you’ve gotten yourself into. I can’t wait for this to play out! Unfortunately, I don’t think it is going to be smooth sailing for any of them; the intersect is too dangerous.
While Director Bentley is no longer Chuck’s nemesis, he now has a much more threatening one in Vivian Volkoff.
Other stuff:
This weekend, I attended the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo and had the opportunity to interview some of the Chuck cast. Make sure to check back for my post of the interview and cast panel. In the meantime, watch the video montage that was shown prior to the panel. I’ve watched it too many times to count, it is that good!
Clacked by Carla Day 
on Mar 22, 2011 @ 06:21 EST5EDT
Oh please mean Ellie is becoming the next Intersect! haha
That was my first thought – Ellie as another intersect. Although, I think it’ll be a slightly different intersect (since the files said something like “Agent X” instead of “Intersect”). Maybe Vivian Volkoff kidnaps Chuck’s mom, and the finale ends up with Vivian facing off against Ellie and Chuck?
Why would they have their stuff taken away? They’re all CIA employees, no?
In regards to getting explosive material into Castle, Chuck said in the episode that the sand on the bomber’s pack would interfere with their scanners.
is vivian chuck’s half sister? possible??
Was I the only one who laughed when they kept talking about the giant BM? They even had it flaming on the door step at the end.
You weren’t the only one. You’ve also got me and definitely the writers. “I’ve got a big BM on my chest. That’s satisfaction.”
I thought that Ellie was learning about how their dad invented the method to alter the mind so it would accept all that information and be able to access and use it. The Agent X thing kind of threw me, but perhaps that was referencing the first experimental intersect; maybe daddy was experimenting on himself.
It looks like Ellie is smart enough to understand the biology of the project so maybe she’s going to figure out how the intersect information insertion works, but to what end? I can’t wait to find out and I’m *dying* for news of renewal of perhaps the most fun show on TV.