CHUCK 3.9 - "Chuck Versus The Beard"

WRITER: Scott Rosenbaum
DIRECTOR: Zachary Levi
GUEST CAST: Brandon Routh & Diedrich Bader

[SPOILERS] We've seen big changes to the show's makeup in recent times (Chuck's secret being revealed to his brother-in-law, his new Intersect 2.0 physicality, his desire to be a spy, his split from Sarah), and "Chuck Versus The Beard" joins the ranks as an episode containing a significant plot development I'm sure audiences will welcome and relish...

This week, we discovered that Chuck's (Zachary Levi) emotional turmoil following his split from Hannah has resulted in him being unable to "flash" as the Intersect, which has thus rendered him useless as a spy. Shaw (Brandon Routh) has no choice but to bench Chuck from any missions until he gets his groove back, while he leads an operation into the Ring with Casey (Adam Baldwin) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) at a luxury hotel, where Devon (Ryan McPartlin) and Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) just happen to be staying. Are the Ring targeting Devon, mistaking him for a CIA agent again?

This resulted in a surprisingly enjoyable Buy More storyline (my prayers were answered), helped immensely by the fact Chuck was part of events. I seriously can't remember the last time Chuck spent more than a token scene or two with the Buy More characters at work, so it was good fun to see him fully involved. The story itself concerned a group of store administrators arriving to interview the staff of the Burbank branch, apparently to determine who will be fired in an effort to streamline the business. Shades of Office Space ensue as the characters fretted over the situation and did their best to impress the suits during their interviews. Concurrently, Morgan (Joshua Gomez) had demanded a truthful explanation from Chuck regarding his recent behaviour and the inexplicable loss of employee Hannah, which Chuck wasn't able to give, resulting in him officially "firing" Chuck as his best friend.

To cut a long story short, it turned out that Shaw's mission at the hotel was a ruse to distract the team, and that the administrators at the Buy More were all undercover Ring operatives scoping the place out for the secret CIA base they suspect is on the premises, and trying to determine if Stanford-educated Chuck Bartowski is actually renowned spy "Charles Carmichael". Added fun came from how the Buy More's own amateur "spies" Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vic Sahay) actually started gathering valuable intel on the white-collars interviewing them, but misconstrued their chilling agenda completely.

Naturally, the real excitement of this episode was seeing Morgan witness the interviewers scanning the staff locker room and discovering the entrance to the subterranean Castle facility, before following them inside to gawp at what's laid beneath his feet all this time. And, after taking Chuck into his confidence about all he's seen, Chuck's put into the awkward position of having to feign ignorance of everything while trying to keep a lid on the situation by making Morgan agree to keep quiet and help evacuate the staff. Trouble is, the "Buy Morians" have decided to stage a sit-down protest over potential layoffs by barricading themselves inside the store, armed with Nerf Guns and inspired by a musical performance from "Jeffster".

"... Versus The Beard" was one of those episodes where the storyline wasn't that interesting or layered, but enjoyment came from the cumulative impact of its small character moments, and the fact this episode delivered long overdue development between Chuck and Morgan. It's always frustrated me that Morgan hasn't known Chuck's secret until now; as he'd clearly have made a good "sidekick", and giving Chuck a confidant at the Buy More would make his regular absences a lot easier to swallow. It was also fantastic how they chose to have Morgan react to this discovery, too -- with utter astonishment that quickly gave way to sheer joy and excitement that something this cool has happened. As a bonus, now that Morgan understands all the issues he's had with Chuck's behaviour and secrecy in the past, their friendship has been restored to something more joyous. The potential of Morgan's character just gained a major boost now he's in the loop, which I hope the writers capitalize on.

Overall, this ranks as a season highlight for me, despite the generally shaky storyline. I especially liked seeing how Chuck's rekindled friendship and unburdening of his secret restored his Intersect 2.0 abilities. The idea that Chuck's skills work in tandem with his emotional state has been a wonderful decision from a writing standpoint, to ensure he's not an unstoppable super-agent every single week. This episode also marked the directorial debut of Zachary Levi himself, who acquitted himself very well -- particularly considering he was given such an important episode that involved every single regular actor. A few stylistic choices were perhaps too distracting (like the use of double-vision in two scenes), and a few fight sequences weren't always easy to fully comprehend, but in general you'd never have realized this was an actor's first time behind the camera.

Asides

-- I keep meaning to mention this every week, but I don't like a lot of Chuck's incidental music. All that plinky-plonk electro pap. It's not so much the music itself, more the fact it's so prevalent you can guess the exact nature, direction and intent of a scene by which ditty's playing. I know that's half the point, in a sense, but I can't help feel irritated by quite a few of the show's leitmotifs now. That said, I love the droning sound that accompanies any Ring-related activity this season, which sounds like it's inspired by the T-1000's theme from Terminator 2.

-- Regarding Zachary Levi getting behind the camera, it's worth remembering that Chuck veteran director Robert Duncan McNeill likewise got his start while acting on Star Trek Voyager as Tom Paris.

-- Is this the beginning of the end for Sarah Lancaster and Ryan McPartlin's involvement on the show? Devon seems keen to whisk Ellie away to Africa as part of the "doctors without borders" program, secretly fearing there's too much danger around Chuck. I wouldn't be surprised if those characters depart before the season's out, actually. As much as I like the actors, I think it would be a wise career move for both of them, because they really don't get much to do on Chuck.

-- I was just as surprised as Morgan about how big the Castle was -- what with those corridors disappearing into the distance. I'd always assumed it was a relatively compact secret room with a few cells!

-- It feels like they've managed to revive Morgan as a valued character (although time will tell how they utilize him), so can we take Sarah back to her earlier persona, please? I'm all for character growth, but she was far more enjoyable in the earlier days without so much angst behind her eyes. A happy medium needs to be found.

-- Choice moments: Jeff fitting that entire apple into his mouth for a bet (I'm worried that he's starting to make me laugh more often of late), and Morgan whapping that last remaining bad guy over the head with a kendo stick. Both helped by how Levi chose to film them, too.

-- This marks a directorial debut, but also a writer swansong. Scott Rosenbaum bids farewell to Chuck with this episode, having now taken on showrunning duties with ABC's V remake.

8 MARCH 2010: NBC, 8/7c