Friday, February 12, 2016

S2Ep14 Vs The Best Friend -- The Chuck Series Companion


Covering Season Two Episode Fourteen of the Television Series Chuck, Chuck Versus the Best Friend - Watch the Episode, Listen to the Show! - Subscribe on iTunes!

S2Ep14 Vs The Best Friend

Chuck Versus the Best Friend


Semper Fidelis! Chuck is always faithful to his best friend Morgan and Morgan has always been there for his best buddy Chuck so what happens when Chuck is ordered to betray him? This episode begins with a hilarious spy mission that doesn't involve Chuck's real spy life, it involves Morgan's love life. Anna is now dating someone else and Morgan wants to get to the bottom of it with the help of Jeff and Lester. Jeff's got a creepy spy van just perfect for this kind of mission. Chuck accompanies for moral support.


I love that Casey and Sarah are spying on the guys spying on Anna. Chuck objects of course, he thinks this is a really bad idea but it leads to him flashing on none other than Anna's new beau Jason Wang! He's mixed up with Triad gangsters and now it's up to Chuck to go on a double date to see what he can find out about the Triads as ordered by General Beckman. I love the moment when Casey sides with Chuck because he understands the idea that you never leave a brother behind being always faithful and always loyal because he was a Marine but he also knows that orders are orders.


Chuck and Sarah meet Anna at her boyfriend's exotic car show and I love the moment where Anna is surprised to realize that Sarah thinks of her as a friend. The painful part comes later when in order to save Morgan, Chuck must embarrass him in front of Anna and Jason and the Triads. Chuck calls Morgan a stalker and tells him to grow up. It's a moment where you feel for poor Morgan. Chuck is crushed that he had to hurt his friend but Morgan won't let him talk, he tells Chuck to enjoy the memories because their friendship is over. Chuck vents at Sarah telling her that she has no idea what it's like to have a best friend. She quickly gives him a piece of reality that it's not just his best friend that's in danger but everyone's best friend if the Triads have smuggled in some sort of weapon.


This is also a great episode for a very special reason: JEFFSTER! That's right, this episode is the birth of Jeffster! Jeff and Lester have a band. They would have called it Jester but they didn't want to be thought of as a couple of fools. I love it. Devon has asked Chuck to pick a band for their wedding because he just doesn't have time even though Ellie asked him to. As soon as Jeff hears about this he begs Chuck for a chance for Jeffster to play the wedding which wisely he immediately turns down. That's not going to stop Jeff though, this is the most motivated we've ever seen him, they show up at the Bartowski's in the guise of fixing Ellie's laptop to seize the opportunity of auditioning for the wedding. There's only one problem. Lester is scared because after all he's a very tortured artist even though he has a voice that makes angels cry.


Eventually Morgan forgives Chuck because he's more angry with himself for Chuck always having to bail him out for his stupidity. He decides from now on he's going to fight his own battles only now's not a good time because those Triad guys just showed up at the Buy More to kill him. They found the bug Chuck planted and they think Morgan was the one who planted it! Earlier in the episode Casey showed Chuck some really cool spy breath spray that's really knock-out spray -- Chuck uses it on Morgan and is out like a light just in time for the Triads to kidnap him sleeping in a box. Chuck gives chase and Casey and Sarah follow.


What follows is one of the coolest Sarah Walker fights of the entire series as she goes toe to toe with a slick Triad woman named Smooth Lau. They beat the tar out of each other inside a car and it's pretty brutal. Chuck goes after Morgan in the nerd herder with Casey on the roof. There's a bomb in the Chinese Ambassador's car and Morgan is asleep in the back. So funny. I love the editing between Sarah's fight and the car chase to the tune of Wannamama by Pop Levi, it's excellent and energetic. Sarah kicks Smooth Lau's ass and Chuck takes the bomb and drives away in the nerd herder. Sarah arrives on the scene just in time to see what she thinks is Chuck blowing up. It's an awesome scene -- Sarah thinks she just witnessed Chuck's demise and you can read it on her face. It's okay though, Chuck just used the remote-controls for the nerd herder that Casey had just recently revealed. Nice try Chuck Writers, you didn't fool me.


Listen to the Podcast Episode: S2Ep14 Vs The Best Friend


This episode had some great music, the episode starts out with Been Caught Stealing by Jane's Addiction and then we get Mama's Boy by Chromeo on the Anna date spy mission. When Chuck and Sarah go to Jason Wang's Car expo we hear Why do these parties always end the same way? by Benji Hughes. And as I mentioned before during the awesome Fight and Car Chase we hear Wannamama by Pop Levi.


Here are links to this episodes reviews by Alan Sepinwall and Eric Goldman and AV Club.


At the end of the episode Awesome and Ellie show up at the Buy More, Devon has brought Ellie there unaware that they are about to see Jeffster perform. Come on Ellie, didn't you ever have a dream that never came true? I love the speech that Jeff gives Lester about doing it for him. Apparently Jeff quotes Eminem here which is hilarious but I had no idea until I read it. Hey some references on this show are bound to go over my head but most stuff lands. Jeffster performs Africa by TOTO and it is glorious! On the podcast I spoke about expecting Jeffster to sound terrible but in reality they sound great! Sure it's part of the joke, they are creeps but they are our creeps and we love them. Rock on Jeffster! I can't wait to see more.


Thank you so much for listening to the show and reading this blog. I want to apologize for the long gap between episodes, I really want to do episodes on a more consistent basis so thank you for your patience. This was a fantastic episode and it wraps up with one of those patented heartwarming Chuck endings. Sarah tells Chuck that she's sorry for not understanding his and Morgan's friendship because she's never had anyone that cared about her like Chuck does for Morgan. Yeah you do. Chuck does. Watch more Chuck.


Until then...

The Jastrom