CHUCK 3.10 - "Chuck Versus The Tic Tac"

WRITERS: Rafe Judkins & Lauren LeFranc
DIRECTOR: Patrick Norris
GUEST CAST: Robert Patrick, Alexandra Bromstad, Clare Carey, Bonita Friedericy, Frank Krueger, Mekenna Melvin & Greg Roman

[SPOILERS] Casey (Adam Baldwin) tends to get lost in the shuffle on Chuck, as he's arguably the least developed character and relatively two-dimensional (the patriotic, right-wing uberagent type), so it was great to have an episode that focused on his character and opened Casey up for deeper exploration in the future. It was also nice to get a story that felt like a throwback to earlier years, with Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) out on a mission where the danger was personal (rescue Casey), the stakes were high (they risked being jailed for treason), but there was still time for moments of fun (avoiding booby-trapped corridors)...

This week, Casey's secret past as "Alex Coburn" came back to haunt him, with Colonel James Keller (Robert Patrick) -- Casey's black ops recruiter, who's since defected to The Ring -- returning to order his protégé to steal a valuable pill that eliminates the emotion of fear. Tasked to secure the underground facility where the pill's kept, working on government intel of a planned robbery, Chuck notices Casey stealing the tablet during the mission and, mistaking the incident as a "test", accidentally exposes Casey as the thief shortly after. Casey's swiftly jailed as a traitor, but after he's sprung by Keller's men, Chuck and Sarah begin to realize that Casey's being manipulated by The Ring -- as Keller's threatening the life of Casey's erstwhile fiancé, Kathleen McHugh (Alexandra Bromstad), who still believes he died 21 years ago.

I wasn't totally thrilled by "Chuck Versus The Tic Tac", although I enjoyed what it was aiming to do and, broadly, how it went about it. I'd personally have liked a more sizeable role for Patrick (who was largely wasted) and even Baldwin felt slightly marginalized in an episode that supposedly revolved around his character. Still, it was interesting to learn that jingoist Casey chose serving his country (his job) over the love of a good woman (his life) -- mainly because it served as a prescient warning to Chuck, who's walking a similar path and may have to make that kind of decision one day. I also appreciated Sarah advising Chuck to stay true to himself and not let the spy world change him, as it felt like a rare moment of a character saying what's on their mind and not biting their lip in service of the script.

Like a great many Chuck episodes, things picked up significantly in the final act. I enjoyed seeing Chuck at full Intersect capability after swallowing the pill to eliminate his fears, which also gave us a chilling look at how unfeeling he'd become if he achieved that self-control naturally. It was also a nice touch that seeing Sarah, the woman he loves, was enough to dampen the pill's effects as he was about to throttle a Ring agent to death.

"... The Tic Tac" also delivered more changes to the show's makeup in the denouement -- with the reveal that Casey has a teenage daughter (something I'm certain we'll return to), Casey's punishment being an unceremonious return to civilian life (not for long, I'll wager), and a final scene where Sarah has apparently accepted reassignment to Washington D.C to build a life with Agent Shaw. So, what, Chuck will be given new handlers now? I'm not entirely convinced by the logic of Beckman's decisions here, particularly as she seemed to agree earlier this season that the Chuck/Sarah pairing is vital to the Intersect's smooth operation, but whatever. I'm just glad the show's branching out into new areas.

Overall, "... The Tic Tac" was all about past and present decisions for many of the characters, and it did a solid job fleshing out Casey's past while laying the ground for an interesting future. I guess being reunited with Kathleen and his daughter will be the long-term goal of his character now, just as Chuck eventually hooking up with Sarah is his. I'm glad Casey has some direction to his arc at last, as I was personally growing a little tired of his grunting cipher. In the subplots: how they're using Morgan (Joshua Gomez) pleases me, as he's eager to help Chuck be a spy and proving himself a pretty decent amateur spook; and it looks likely that Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) is leaving with Devon (Ryan McPartlin) for Africa as part of Médecins Sans Frontières, which I'm likewise glad about. Those characters are growing nearly as tedious as the Buy More clique this season.

Asides

-- How funny. Last week I compared The Ring's musical motif to the droning sound used to announce the presence of the T-1000 in Terminator 2, and now the T-1000 himself (actor Robert Patrick) turns up as a Ring agent!

-- I also mentioned how the incidental music on Chuck tends to irritate me last week, so I was pleased "... The Tic Tac" appeared to debut a few new ditties.

-- Funniest scene: Morgan and Devon circling each other indoors, both suspicious but uncertain that the other knows Chuck's a spy.

-- Sarah and Chuck's scenes trying to get through booby-trapped corridors felt like a return to the kind of camaraderie and fun of earlier seasons, particularly once they had to talk themselves out of trouble when the security system's creator was alerted to their presence. Sarah even got to smile a few times! Is it coincidence that Shaw wasn't around in this episode?

-- Maybe the CIA/NSA should take a good look at their organizations, because it's worrying how so many of their agents defect to Fulcrum or The Ring. Are there more perks of the job with the bad guys? Better health care? More holidays?

15 MARCH 2010: NBC, 8/7c