Contributor: Henry T.
Written by Craig DiGregorio and Phil Klemmer
Directed by Fred Toye
This episode of “Chuck” was, unfortunately, a chore to get through. The show is nearing its completion and there has been a disturbing lack of command about the character dynamics plus momentum in the plot that I am wondering if the writers can deliver on what’s left. Since the disposal of Decker, Shaw, and the overarching villain plot back in the Christmas episode, there has been a vacuum that “Chuck” has found difficult to fill. They are coasting right now — this light espionage plot is a big indication of that — and there isn’t much time left to set things up for the series finale down the line.
There was a disconnect in the main mission for Carmichael Industries. Verbanski re-enters the picture to offer two separate things to Casey and to Chuck’s company. To Casey, it seems like she desperately wants a relationship, and that scares Casey more than anything that the spy world could throw at him. He always has to project that mean, tough, gruff, no-nonsense exterior and doing something like taking a vacation to Miami (with a girl he likes no less) is the antithesis of all that. To Carmichael Industries, Verbanski tells them of a mission involving an arms dealer with a dangerous new weapon to sell on the black market.
It’s really a ruse to get Casey to Miami in case he doesn’t agree to the vacation. It’s also the first opportunity in a while for Chuck’s company to rake in some cash flow while considering their new life together away from any and all spy missions. The Bartowski couple seemed more stable than Verbanski and Casey, simply because they’ve been an established couple for a longer time. Verbanski and Casey had a different agenda while on the mission, as they were trying to get their relationship going, with Casey taking every opportunity to resist it. By the end, he does accept the fact that he cares about Verbanski more than he lets on. But at this point, Alex is the only reason he’s staying in LA instead of flying off on adventures with Verbanski? That is so unlike Casey. Maybe the more things change, the more they stay the same.
On the other hand, Chuck and Sarah are dealing with their own big personal issue in Sarah possibly being pregnant. Sarah’s pregnancy scare played out like a tease throughout the first half of the episode. It’s revealed that she isn’t pregnant by the end, but I really think that’s a false negative. I think it will be shown later that she is indeed pregnant. It would fit with what has been playing out during the course of this season: Chuck and Sarah trying for a house, a normal life that doesn’t involve shooting bad guys or bloodshed or the constant specter of death. A child would be a normal progression of that story arc.
Of course, in this episode, they do the most annoying thing possible on this show in talking about their personal issues while on a dangerous mission. It is part of Chuck’s new imperative for Carmichael Industries: spies that “C.A.R.E.” about things. Chuck has always been a big softie, but what’s surprising to me is that Sarah is softening more and more as we approach the end here. She’s like Casey, starting out the hardened and emotionless spy, and now that she’s married to Chuck, that part of her is changing into something more domesticated.
With all of the main plots tied off at the end, the writers pay off the light subplot of Jeff and Lester figuring out the clandestine goings-on at the Buy More. It was amusing to see that Jeff had figured out exactly what was happening with the Buy More as a covert CIA base, but that only foreshadowed the very last shot of the episode when both Jeff and Lester broke the false wall and saw into Castle. How are Chuck and company going to explain their way out of this one? It’s going to be relatively easy, but as I wrote in an earlier review, Jeff being more clear-headed than he was before is asking for trouble. If only the writers had a way to stop this flagging momentum that was as easy. The show is ending soon so I hope things do pick up in the final stretch.
Grade: 7/10