CHUCK 3.7 - "Chuck Versus The Mask"

WRITER: Phil Klemmer
DIRECTOR: Michael Shultz
GUEST CAST: Kristin Kreuk, Brandon Routh, Henri Lubatti & Jim Piddock

[SPOILERS] I tend to enjoy Phil Klemmer's scripts, because they usually offer new twists in a show that frequently bows to formula. "Chuck Versus The Mask" was jerkily-plotted, hectically-edited, and rather awkward in how it achieved its ultimate aims, but despite those faults I was just pleased this episode had the guts to shake up the show in a fundamental way...

The silly conceit this week involved a priceless antique, the Mask Of Alexandria, that's going on display at a local museum. Shaw (Brandon Routh) believes the Ring have used it to smuggle something into the country (as customs procedures for antiquities are less thorough), and now Ring agents are planning to steal the Mask (and its contents) before its grand unveiling. The episode begins with Shaw on a ceiling wire trying to steal and replace the Mask with a duplicate (shades of Mission: Impossible), before getting caught inside the vault with a diminishing air supply. Chuck's (Zachary Levi) called in to help by Casey (Adam Baldwin), where he's required to override the museum's computer system to save Shaw's life, but finds matters are complicated when he notices suspicious Hannah (Kristin Kreuk) has followed him, believing he's just out on Nerd Herd installation job...

A lot of this episode played with the idea that Chuck's double-life is dangerously close to being exposed -- not only from overeager Hannah, but also from Morgan (Joshua Gomez) and Ellie (Sarah Lancaster), who are beginning to notice how much Chuck disappears during the day, or leaves work on mysterious "home installs" that even Morgan has no awareness of as Assistant Manager. The meat of this episode involved Chuck and Hannah becoming partners on a "mission" to prevent the museum's computer system failing during the Mask's unveiling, while Chuck simultaneously had to help an undercover Shaw and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) make their switch under the nose of circling Ring agents and museum staff.

It's always fun when Chuck's spy life gets complicated in some way, and throwing a civilian like Hannah into the mix was a cool way to keep things especially tense, not to mention excruciatingly awkward for Chuck's love life -- particularly when Hannah made her feelings for him clear by kissing him, only to feel disregarded when Chuck raced off to help Sarah, his "ex", who had coincidentally arrived at the museum with her "new boyfriend" Shaw in tow...

For all the comical hijinks attempting to steal the Mask and keep one step ahead of the indistinguishable enemy agents that populate every episode, "... Versus The Mask" was really about setting up two new relationships. With Chuck and Hannah growing closer (and it really does seem Hannah's a genuine girl, thankfully...), we also had Shaw making moves on Sarah during their museum assignment as a couple, and by the end of the episode it became clear that both Chuck and Sarah are fine with the idea they should see other people. So, Sarah's moved onto the hunky fellow agent to get neck massages after work, while Chuck's decided to give things a go with a fellow Buy More employee for after work smooching. The latter's tryst in the store's theatre room was also eavesdropped by Morgan (hiding his broken heart, as he had feelings for Hannah) and Ellie (overjoyed her brother's moved on from the Sarah breakup.)

I don't frequent many Chuck fansites/forums, but while researching a few background elements of this episode I couldn't help but noticed the furor from Chuck/Sarah 'shippers (always hated that term), who are apparently extremely upset that Chuck and Sarah have parted company and each found love in another's arms. But, to be brutally frank, I simply don't see the problem and will put this online uproar down to fanboy bitching over what's actually necessary and interesting character growth. And besides, do you really think Chuck and Sarah's romance (which has always been the heart of the show) has been put to rest? Seriously? Brandon Routh and Kristin Kreuk are only contracted for a specific number of episodes this season, remember. And there's really no point crying over the fact the show's temporarily divided its lovebirds in what's actually the most plausible way yet devised.

Admittedly, the sudden Shaw/Sarah love-in could have been better foreshadowed, as it seemed to leap out of nowhere to snowballed too rapidly in this episode, but I can forgive that inelegance because it means the show now has two juicy romances to explore. I just hope Casey gets some loving soon, because he's in danger of becoming the ultimate gooseberry!

Overall, despite a somewhat haphazard feel to how this story played out, I can't fault its verve and courage in creating some fresh, new relationships. It was a shame the potential behind Morgan and Ellie's investigation of Chuck's activities appears to have lasted all of one episode, but otherwise I was happy with the direction this episode took as a "mini-finale" before the Winter Olympics interrupt the season, and it was fun to see the Ring's HQ -- an amusingly clichéd gallery of silhouetted men beneath a giant circle emblem! You know you're a bad guy if you find yourself reprimanding employees from a shadow. Also, while my suspicions of Hannah have died down because she seems to present a normal romance for Chuck, for some reason I'm still apprehensive about Agent Shaw...

8 FEBRUARY 2010: NBC, 8/7c