CHUCK vs. The Tic Tac
March 15, 2010 by Kath Skerry
“When three of my agents are arrested for treason in 24 hours, it reflects poorly on me.”
For all of you Casey’holics out there, tonight must have been some kind of binge. With the relationship woes of Chuck and Sarah taking up so much screen time, lately it feels that Casey has been a bit of an after thought. At times it seemed like the writers weren’t sure what to do with the guy, and he seemed like an outsider just along for the ride rather than an integral member of Team Bartowski. But tonight we learned more about John Casey than I ever could have imagined. The events that unfolded within “Chuck vs. the Tic Tac” could have an impact of the remainder of the season, but is that a good thing?
While I was a big fan of the last two episodes, tonight’s ep was just okay for me. Pardon my ‘Clueless’ reference, but tonight’s ep was a bit of a Monet. From far away, it’s okay; but up close, it’s a big ol’ mess. There were elements of the story that worked really well, but others that fell short, mostly due to the shortcomings of the writers room and some questionable directing.
If you were one of the people that was excited when Sarah’s real name was finally revealed, then tonight must have really thrown you for a loop. Although the ‘Alex Coburn’ was introduced in “Chuck vs. the Fake Name” only spoilerhounds could have known just why Casey was so agitated when Chuck flashed on the moniker. While we’ve know from S1 that Sarah Walker was indeed an alias, it never occurred to me that John Casey was also a fake identity. But then again, on some level it really wasn’t.
Although the writers have been going out of their way to point out just how much Chuck has changed over the past few seasons, Sarah and Casey have changed just as much. Just as Chuck has taken on more characteristics of a real spy, the two seasoned agents have softened a bit since Chuck came into their lives. Although Casey has always presented himself as an unwavering servant of his country, even he is vulnerable when love is on the line.
Who would have thought that we’d find ourselves in a world where John Casey commits treason against his country to save the woman he loves? But that’s just what happened when Casey’s former commander, Colonel James Keller (played by the always menacing Robert Patrick), now a Ring operative, threatened the life of Casey’s former fiance. Or should I say Alex Coburn’s former fiance?
Keller gave Casey a counter mission which involved stealing a pill from a lock box in a secure location that would be entered under the guise of a CIA training mission. The pill was designed to suppress the emotions of the person who took it. Not sure why the pill was so special. Couldn’t a strong dosage of anti-depressants achieve the same effect? Sure, but then there would be no climax in which Chuck has to take the pill in order to suppress his emotions so he can Flash. More on that weak story point later.
So Casey betrayed his country for some chick. As Casey said, he made a choice. He chose love of country over love. But did he really? Alex gave up his entire life for the love of his country. All these years later John Casey was asked to give up his life again, but this time around he chose love, or at least a former love.
So now John Casey is a civilian. Who is this man if not a spy? It’s the only life he knows. Despite Chuck’s encouragement, Casey doesn’t seem too eager to be reunited with his former fiance, Kathleen (thanks for the shout out. How kind of you to name a character after me 🙂 or his daughter, Alex. (Guys, Casey is a Dad!) But why? He told Chuck it’s because he made his choice back when he gave up on Alex Coburn, but I think on some level Casey is punishing himself for the decisions he made.
While Adam Baldwin has always been fantastic as the grunt’licious Casey, tonight he was superb! He managed to show Casey as his most vulnerable, but yet he never let us forget the man that we know he is. Even when his life was essentially taken from him by the very government that served so faithfully, he still showed respect for his country. I don’t know about you, but I may have gotten a little choked up when Casey was demoted back to civilian life. And can we talk about the look on John’s face when it was revealed that he had a daughter? Go back and watch that scene again, and pay special attention to the emotion within Casey’s eyes? Perfectly restrained. Well done, Baldwin.
So it seems that Morgan and Casey now have something in common besides the green Buy More shirts. They are both on the outside looking in on Team Bartowski. And both guys want in…bad.
Now that Morgan knows that Chuck is a spy, it was to be expected that he’d want in on the action. Awesome had the same reaction when he found out about Chucks’ double life too. Like Devon, maybe Morgan just needs to see how dangerous the day-to-day of Chuck’s life is before he realizes that being on the inside isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But now that he knows that Devon has been in on the action, don’t expect Morgan to relent anytime soon.
Despite Shaw being absent for the entire episode, we were still handed some heavy duty relationship angst. While I’m not as invested in Chuck and Sarah as a couple as some, my patience is wearing thin with these two. Or maybe I should say that my impatience is with the writers. It’s almost as if there is a Chuck & Sarah checklist that must be completed before the episode is considered complete.
- Sarah must voice her concern that the Chuck she once knew is slipping away. (At least tonight that person was Chuck.)Sarah: “Please don’t lose that guy that I met three years ago. Don’t give up on the things that make you great.”
Chuck: “I’ll always be that guy.”
- Chuck has a revelation that he really does love Sarah. (Sometimes this happens more than once within the course of an episode. It’s like he’s that little fish in Nemo. Does he keep forgetting that he loves her? Why is it always such a surprise to him?)
- Chuck tries to talk to Sarah about his feelings for her only to have Sarah shut him down and change the subject to the mission at hand. (Let’s just hope he’s done using his bottled up feelings as an excuse as to why the Intersect doesn’t work.)
- Someone on the outside must comment on the status of Chuck and Sarah’s relationship. (Casey giving Chuck advice about Sarah? Somehow it just didn’t ring true to me tonight. Seemed a bit cheesy and forced.)
- One of the two must face leaving Burbank and Team Bartowski. (The latest involves Sarah possibly moving to D.C. Before that she contemplated moving on with Bryce, Katrina, Cole Barker and even consider going on tour with U2 just to distance herself from Chuck – ok maybe not, but my point remains the same.)
When we last saw Sarah, she had accompanied General Beckman to D.C. and was contemplating moving there. Really? Are we supposed to be concerned that Sarah is going to leave Chuck in Burbank and move to D.C. to live happily ever after with Shaw?
While I thought the last two episodes were really fantastic, there were a few hiccups in tonight’s ep that held me back from going all lady gaga over it. The first of which had to do with the reveal that Casey was once Alex Coburn. I don’t mean to be all nit-picky but that flash back was pretty weak. Couldn’t they even try to get an actor that looked like Adam Baldwin to play Alex Coburn? It was a bit confusing the first time I watched the episode. I think the writers and directors could have come up with a better way to reveal this crucial bit of information. Adam Baldwin’s been acting for quite some time, surely there are pictures of him from his youth that could have worked in place of reenacting these scenes with a new actor. No wonder why Alex’s fiance didn’t recognize him. He looked literally nothing like his old self.
I know this isn’t LOST, but isn’t someone in the writers room responsible for character dossiers? If Alex Coburn gave up his entire life back in 1989 and was forced to forever cut off all communications with his loved ones, then how come we’ve seen Casey call his mother.]? And when he did, he referred to himself as “Johnny-Boy”. Wouldn’t his mother know him as Alex? Didn’t Alex “die”? Is this one of those instances that the writers hope we don’t notice? You can’t have it both ways guys. You can’t ask for dedicated fans and then try to pass this stuff by us.
I’m also NOT a fan of this Matrix style slow-mo that they’ve got going on during the action scenes. Sorry but it was so cheesy that it completely took me out of the scene all together. There were elements of that fight sequence that were fantastic, and I’m sure the director opted to slow things down so we could see the detail, but it didn’t feel like CHUCK. Here’s to hoping that was a call made by the director and not something we are going to be subjected to moving forward. Chuck dodging bullets? Really? I was just waiting for him to stop mid way during a kick while the camera did a slow-mo 360.
While we are on the subject of things that annoyed me, what was up with the jagged little pill storyline? So are we to believe that this pill, that was so powerful that the Ring infiltrated the CIA to get their hands on it, could be muted by the pleading eyes of a woman?
The pill was suppose to suppress emotions and therefore help Chuck become the spy he wants to be. I guess it also gave him super strength, because the guy didn’t break a sweat as he held another man up by his throat. But as quickly as the drug entered his system, it left when Sarah snapped him out of his trance. Is the pill out of Chuck’s system for good? Seems to be as he was shown feelings emotions by the end of the episode. I tend to forgive a lot with CHUCK as I love the show so much, but let’s not take advantage writers. Take some advice from Tim Gunn and edit yourself before pulling together the final look.
Please don’t mistake my woes with this episode as a sign that I didn’t enjoy it, because I did. It’s CHUCK, and even when I find fault’s here and there, it’s always an enjoyable hour of TV and a highlight of my week. But that doesn’t give the writers a free pass. Again, a bit of a Monet.
A few other thoughts while I consider whether I’d rather be known as ‘Condor’ or ‘ Lady Fingers’.
- The writer dodged a slow-mo Matrix style bullet by not sending Ellie and Devon off to Doctors Without Borders. Not only would they be missed terribly on the show, but the characters are too good to be given that cliched send off.
- One of my favorite scenes was the showdown between Awesome and Morgan. Josh Gomez and Ryan McPartlin played the scene to perfection, and the physical differences between the two men added a great visual layer to the gag.
- Gotta love when Team Bartowski goes off the grid to save each other’s asses. It’s not the first time the threesome have betrayed their government for the greater good of the team, but the show is always at its best when Casey, Sarah and Chuck are working together. It played out nicely with Chuck and Sarah risking it all to save Casey. They’re friends forever. Sharing everything thing together…
- I had a bit of a laugh when Fitzroy, the security system designer, declared himself a Chuck Bartowski fanboy. He remembers all his missions and even has a few favorites bookmarked. I had no doubt that this guy loves a good $5 footlong.
So John Casey is a father and a civilian. How’s that for a “game changing” (cringe) episode? I don’t want to be a tease, but be prepared to see what life is like for John Casey know that he’s out of the spy business. Next week someone takes Casey under his wing to show him new career opportunities. No guns required.
I’m feeling that I might be skewered for not loving tonight’s episode. To each their own. I can handle it. Talk to me. Share your thoughts on tonight’s episode and feel free to challenge my take on the recent turn of events.
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I’m with you all the way Kath I need continuity! I remembered Casey calling his mom at the beginning of the ep, and waited the whole episode (without satisfaction) for an explanation. You’d think there would be a fact-checker somewhere. I am a big Chuck/Sarah fan, but yes, the repetitive checklist is getting really old. The Nemo comparison is a great analogy. I keep thinking that maybe the writers think we have forgotten something, and need to remind us that there is still a storyline there somewhere. But also, Adam Baldwin was brilliant tonight, and the new bansai tree almost brought me to tears.
I’ll have more to say about this episode tomorrow, but a special note of thanks to Chuck’s casting director for bringing Clare Carey back to my TV. As a fan of ABC’s “Coach” in my pre-teen years, I had a huge crush on Kelly Fox, loving daughter to Craig T. Nelson’s acerbic titular character. As Casey’s longlost love, Ms. Carey reminded me of a more innocent time, and she is still gorgeous. Back to writing about House!
I had always assumed that Casey calling his ‘mother’ was just code for HQ.
Great episode. Game changers in place at the end for Chuck, Casey, Sarah, Ellie and Devon. Quite a nifty feat.
The role reversal continues with Sarah starting the conversation and then cutting Chuck off. A typical Lost moment. 🙂
Great debut writing effort by the newbies. Congrats!
Loved, loved, loved, the writing and editing and choreography of this episode. One of the more stylistic and cinematic episodes of the series to date.
There are things I agreed with this review and things I didn’t. I am not a rabid Charah shipper either. I like them when they are togehter, but when they “broke up” I was ready for it to be over , if no more than for them to actally go and date other people and THEN come back together. That’s why I was bummed his relationship with Hannah was so short. When they finally get together for real, it could really be the death knell for this show.
Loved Fitzroy too. And when Sarah just knocked him out. Hilarious.
“Take some advice from Tim Gunn and edit yourself before pulling together the final look.” — HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
“You can’t ask for dedicated fans and then try to pass this stuff by us.”–good point. This is exactly why I stopped watching Smallville. The continuity errors were excrutiating every week. I’m going to fanwank that (1) Casey still talks to his mom and she and his ex-fiancee are no longer in contact, or (2) Casey was pretending to talk to his mom. Eitherway, the Johnny-boy reference is hard to brush off.
I, though, didn’t have any problem with the actor they picked for the young Casey. They looked enough alike (this is just TV), but over 20 years and massive working out, getting harder emotionally and his injuries, etc… it was believable that he would look different–he’s huge. Using old footage of the actual actor is a terrible idea, since 20 year old footage would be of severely lesser quality and probably unrelated to the plot at hand.
I totally agree with your “Monet” analogy. I loved the episode as I watched it, but I don’t know that it would hold up under a second viewing. I remember having a lot of the same concerns you have throughout the ep, but it was so action-packed that I quickly got distracted and forgot my concerns.
One thing: not to get into a pros vs. cons of the will-they-won’t-they relationship stuff, but I’m going with the writers on this one. I agree that it’s definitely trying my patience, but I think it would be disingenuous for Chuck and Sarah to get together when there’s still all this unresolved stuff: Sarah’s fears that Chuck has changed, and Chuck’s feeling rejected by Sarah. Not to mention Shaw; I believe that, for better or worse, they chose to make this a season-long story arc, so I’d rather see it to it’s planned conclusion.
I will say that I CANNOT wait to see John Casey: Joe Citizen. Lots of comedy potential there!
1) I believe that Casey called HQ when he called his “mom.”
2) As for Chuck dodging bullets, I’m going to say that I don’t believe he dodged the bullets but instead was able to identify the trajectory of the bullet based on the direction of the guns. I greatly enjoyed this fight scene and felt that Chuck staying out of the line of fire was somewhat “realistic” and not matrix-y. I understand if the difference in word choice isn’t enough for some.
3) I really did not like the fact that Sarah punched Fitzroy. I feel that perhaps we are seeing a bit of Shaw rubbing off on Sarah and I’m curious to see if we’ll see Sarah display any other of Shaw’s qualities before the season is over.
I think I am going to have to disagree with your assessment of the episode- I loved it!! I think it was the absence of Shaw…it let the team be together again like the good ole days!
*I think Casey giving Chuck advice was not cheesy at all- they are friends, and Casey just learned that giving up everything for his country kept him away from being a father, he saw the woman he was engaged to for the first time in years, etc- if that doesn’t make you somewhat sentimental and start reflecting I don’t know what will.
*I always assumed that him calling his ‘mother’ was code
*I feel like Sarah thinking of moving to DC has nothing to do with Shaw and everything to do with Beckman’s comments of Chuck needing Sarah less and less…which we all know is crap because Chuck definitely NEEDS Sarah to be a good spy
@Beth – Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I liked the episode more than maybe came across in my review. But it’s all good that we disagree on some points. It’s what makes the TV viewing experience fun in my opinion. Always love to read how different people watching the same show interpreted the same events. Adds so much to the conversation. Thanks for your comment!
I don’t think I actually realized this was a Monet until reading your post. I was Monet blind. Things I loved: Adam Baldwin’s performance, Awesome/Morgan scene, Sarah and Chuck’s mission to thwart Fitzroy and save Casey (that felt very old school Chuck to me – relying on his wits and charm).
The Alex Coburn thing didn’t bother me at first because I’m always glad to get bits from Casey’s past, but the incongruity is really bugging me now. What about his poor mama who sends him knitted hats? They still could have accomplished that story with a few adjustments – lying to his fiance to protect her, but keeping his real name, etc. With the incongruous story and non-Baldwin actor, it felt like lazy writing, but with unnecessarily complicated directing. Really looking forward to seeing Average Joe Casey though.
The magic pill thing seemed completely unnecessary. And you’re definitely right about this Chuck/Sarah formula they’ve developed. You can almost set your watch to it. I don’t actually care which direction it goes because I think we have a lot more Chuck/Sarah story ahead of us, but they need to break out of that rut.
The message with the matchbook from Casey to Sarah was really cool.
The thing with Casey’s mom didn’t bother me. Sarah’s dad called her “Sarah” even though he knows her real name (not to mention her many aliases). I don’t find it all disbelieving that their parents might know about their children’s aliases.
Otherwise, I actually really loved this episode.
This was a great episode for me, the best showcase of Team Bartowski this season and in particular of Adam Baldwin’s great acting. Adam Baldwin was the reason that I started watching Chuck (thought he was great in Firefly) and I’ve always enjoyed the Casey highlight episodes. Everything about this episode felt right to me, despite the little nit-picky bits. When I watch Chuck, I watch to be entertained for an hour, and it certainly fit the bill this week (although it does 99% of the time, but especially this week). Some of my favorite moments from this episode were:
* Tim Jone’s score for this episode was freakin’ great. The music played perfectly with each scene. Give this man an award!
* The matchbook symbol left by Casey for Sarah.
* General Beckman returns!
* Morgan/Awesome scene was … awesome!
* Fitzroy character was very funny, but restrained just enough to not go over the line to cheesy (in the negative sense).
* Casey gets demoted. I can’t wait to see how they play this out.
* The Chuck and Sarah getting ready to hunt down Casey was played perfectly by the actors.
* Casey and Chuck both channel their inner Darth Vader’s with the single handed choke.
Great episode Chuck team! Can’t wait till next week.
By the way, did anyone else think that the cab driver’s voice was eerily similar to Matt Bomer’s (Bryce Larkin)? Maybe it was just me, but when I first heard the voice I thought for sure that Bryce was back.
Hola Amiga – loved your Monet review.
After I watched this EP – I felt like I’d been kicked… whew – too heavy.
Casey – confronted with the woman he loved – getting fired – having a daughter? Do we know if they continue down this rabbit hole later?
I hope it wasn’t just a plot ploy for Casey to pass along his words or wisdom to Chuck… geeeze – even Jeff has done that already.
Agreed with your Dory analogy from Finding Nemo – I get the feeling that the producers and writers are getting nervous that people are going to give up on the relationship they’ve spent sooo much time trying to develop. – they keep having everyone talk about how inevitable it will be – someday…
hmmm – based on the current ratings – they might have run themselves outta time. Its been 10 Ep’s already – how much longer do they think people will wait…. but hey – we’ve got much more Shaw to look forward to ….
3.09 was a breath of fresh air – back to the Chuck of old. I had hoped it was the turning point rather than just a momentary pause in the spiral of chaos
and the vortex of upheaval. hmmm – guess that all the characters have been
completely beaten up now – I’m not sure what to expect next. I keep telling myself that eventually it’ll all work out. Chuck used to be the silly fun night of great charcter stories. If I wanted chaos and confusion with a heathy dose of tragedy – my own life will do nicely thanks. I think we all cheered for the Nerd to come out on top… seems like that might have been too much to hope for.
Do you think they needed to shake up the plot and characters to improve ratings? I get the feeling they are trying to market themselves to a different audience.
I worry that the show might be falling into the trap of Doing Too Much. I think that other shows have done a good job of having two people who we know have affection for each other work together and having what goes unsaid (what is understood) between them be as important as ham-fisted “Don’t change” messages we are getting from Chuck every week. Bones, for example. Everyone knows that they (Bones and Booth) love each other, but they don’t need to have pleading eyes every time they look at each other. Instead, they play out that affection through friendship and partnership. Like grown-ups.
I guess I’d like Chuck to get back to basics. The basics were so good and character-driven. At this point, the Intersect 2.0 is annoying me, as it has led to these silly series of tests to be a “real spy.” The show used to say that Chuck is already smart, and that’s why Bryce sent him the intersect. Because even if he didn’t have physical prowess in season one, his innate goodness and intelligence was enough. It could still be enough.
I still love this show. I feel like I have to say that. But I just want them to know that they don’t have to try so hard. They can trust us to have been watching. Rehashing that Chuck and Sarah formula (you are SO right about that) every week is getting so old. Let Chuck bumble but still get it right because of who he is – not just because of the intersect in his head.
Loved the Casey storyline but bummed that he’s been de-spied! I know it will be good for a few laughs as he readjusts to civilian life, but I don’t know how long that will keep us Casey fans satisfied. I refuse to believe he’ll never return to Castle, and I’m just excited to find out what he’ll have to do to get back in Beckman’s good graces.
About the Laudenol, I had the impression that, since it was untested, no one quite knew what it was going to do. It had as much possibility of knocking Chuck out as it did of making him fearless. And this is probably me being picky, but it didn’t have nearly enough time in my opinion to actually get into his system after he took it. That, and his quick recovery when Sarah showed up, make me think it was more of a placebo effect. It worked the way Sarah did at the beginning of the season – Chuck didn’t NEED it/her in order to flash, but when it/she is around, he relaxes enough to follow through with the flashes.