Chuck 4x19 Review

[iaria]

Chuck Versus the Muuurder

• I really hated the stereotypes in this episode.

Josie, the only woman candidate (of course) plays cool and composed but underneath is really an emotional mess. Casey’s response to Chuck introducing her being ‘of course you needed someone as emotional as you’ irritated me.

Damian, the Greek-heritage middle eastern looking guy, is the bad guy. Casey clocking him as a bad guy when he walked in also irritated me. The customers running could have been amusing in an eye rolling way but added Casey’s reaction was too much. Especially since the vast majority of the bad guys the team faces are either dressed in suits or otherwise average clothes.

I just hated that the show started with the stereotypes and then appeared to turn them on the head – Josie’s really a no-nonsense hard ass and Damian is a loyal American soldier – and then turned around again and made the stereotypes truth. Ugh.

• I also really hated that Chuck’s top two choices were both the white guys – of course they would be. Also I found the choices curious because the four candidates were supposedly chosen because of their similarity to Chuck but while Brody was a Chuck clone, and Lewis was geeky how the hell were Josie and Damian like Chuck?

• I did love that we were finally given a chance to see another side to Director Bentley. I loved her planning on sacrificing herself to save everyone else. “This is what a leader does.” was excellent. I’m also really glad that they didn’t kill her off. That said it felt like she and Chuck became too friendly. I can see them deciding on a truce/peace after everything that happened but in a more cool way or at least certainly so on her part.

• I found it very weird that Chuck was given command over Director Bentley when she vastly outranks him. That just did not work for me. There is an in-between space between being the boss and being an employee and that’s being equal which is what their relationship should have been. Actually they’re not even that equal since she does really outrank him (though I suppose in this one specific instance they would be).

Actually now that I think about it Diane and Jane are equals – both Directors – but the way Diane was talking to her didn’t feel like one colleague to another. I suppose almost setting off a bomb in a US city damaged her standing allowing Diane the upper hand but that seems a little... childish of her to rub it in. Hmm. Maybe the two of them are nemeses? That could be interesting. I do love that the Director of both the CIA and the NSA are female which makes both the leaders that we see female.

• I thought it was really bizarre that Chuck was so gung-ho about there being another Intersect, regardless of him being in change, especially since in the previous episode he was completely freaked out about the government creating more. In fact he straight out said that it wasn’t what his father wanted. So for him to suddenly switch gears in between episodes was really off.

• I was a little surprised about Chuck’s reaction to Vivian trying to have Castle destroyed and possibly Chuck killed. He focused on having a nemesis (... which, really, one attempt doesn’t make a nemesis and Chuck should know that) and not on the fact that it was Vivian. That felt off. Chuck got very close to Vivian in the short time they knew each other and when they last saw each other he had no reason to think she would go ‘evil’ so I really would have expected far more something like ‘Vivian couldn’t have done this. You must be wrong.’ Basically disbelief and confusion first.

• I hated Chuck and Devon once again apparently conspiring together to lie to Ellie ‘for her own good’. As if she isn’t an intelligent adult who can make her own damn decisions. Why the hell couldn’t Chuck just tell her the truth about the Intersect? I mean Ellie hates the whole spy world, for good reason, so why wouldn’t they assume that she would just give up on figuring out the laptop once she knew the truth? It was just so stupid and irritating. But then it turns out that Devon was lying to Chuck which is a bit better and definitely more interesting.

• I am really excited about the idea of Ellie being an Intersect and becoming a spy. I really hope the show goes in that direction.

• I loved Chuck telling Casey and Sarah that the Intersect isn’t just him or what’s in his head but the three of them working together. That made me go aww. I really hope that this and the last episode mean we’re going to get Casey back to being integrated as an actual partner to Sarah and Chuck instead of just back up. I agreed with him when he told Sarah that in the previous episode and I hope that she took what he said to heart even though she was hurt and angry. I really love the three of them as a team and it’s just not the same with Sarah/Chuck and Casey/Morgan (though I do like the latter two).

• Also I didn’t do a review for the previous episode because I didn’t have that much to say but I loved Casey in it. I loved how upset he clearly was even though he tried not to show it, I loved that while he was hurt too as well as feeling isolated and unneeded/wanted he tried to help Sarah and Chuck by asking for them on the op. I loved that he tried to cheer them both up, I loved that he trusted Chuck in the end and my favourite moment was when he was getting Chuck suited up into his bomb suit and gave a juice box of apple juice in his face shield because it would be hard to use him arms. And he gave Chuck apple juice because it’s Chuck’s favourite and was so encouraging and sweet and even smiled and the whole thing made me go ‘awwww’ so much. I want more of those moments!