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

S2Ep13 Vs The Suburbs -- The Chuck Series Companion

This Episode of the Chuck Series Companion covers Season Two Episode Thirteen of the Television Series Chuck, Chuck Versus the Suburbs - Watch the Episode, Listen to the Show! - Subscribe on iTunes!

S2Ep13 Vs The Suburbs

Chuck Versus the Suburbs

It's Valentine's Day and Chuck and Sarah aren't sure if they should do a fake date. They quickly decide they could be doing other things plus Sarah has lots of paperwork to do. As soon as Morgan wonders what the two lovebirds are up to, they have to pretend to have plans again for the sake of their cover. This wasn't originally planned to be the 13th episode of Season Two, that was Chuck Versus the Best Friend which is now actually Episode 14. Chuck Versus the Best Friend was preempted due to a Presidential speech -- The Network aired Suburbs because it had a Valentine's Day theme -- Kinda. That storyline doesn't last long as Chuck and Sarah are enlisted in a new mission, a mission that requires them to be a married couple and live in the Suburbs! Gasp!

Meanwhile Big Mike's love is on the rocks as him and the Lady Big Mike (I wonder if my Wife would mind if I called her The Lady Jastrom?) are getting a divorce. Poor Mike (Wait! Didn't he sleep with Harry Tang's Wife?). The Buy More gang knew he was acting strange for some reason because Big Mike is actually working for a change and he's making them work too! Jeff thought he might be a Skin-Job (ala Blade Runner and BSG). I love the line where Emmett wonders who crapped in Big Mike's box of chocolates. How frightening is Emmett's wig by the way? I guess Henrietta is into that sort of thing.

So we know that a missing CIA Agent has turned up babbling the word Salamander over and over, he needs to be strapped to a bed and they can't get any answers from him. All they know is that he was undercover in a cul-de-sac in the suburbs called Meadow Branch. When Chuck is packing his clothes Ellie thinks it's great that he and Sarah will have a chance to see how it would work out for them, playing house. Chuck isn't so sure but once he arrives in the neighborhood to the Talking Heads song, Once in a Lifetime you can see the wheels start to turn in his head. He's quickly confronted with the idea of being married and owning a dog no less.

Chuck gets to mingle with the neighbors, Brad played by Andy Richter seems to be the leader, quickly introducing Chuck to the rest of the couples. He is overly friendly and even makes a wife swapping joke, Chuck doesn't know whether to laugh or run away. Jenny McCarthy's character Sylvia notices Chuck hanging back and takes the opportunity to suggest to him that her door is always open. I love how Chuck reacts whenever a beautiful woman comes on to him. He's always fidgety and clumsy. He even tells Sarah, "that woman has a dirty mouth". Casey finds a Fulcrum bug in their house and tracks it to Sylvia's husband who has an incredible amount of power going into his home via some fancy high-bandwidth cable that I definitely want to use to get some 4K Netflix if it really exists.

So it's up to Chuck to head on over to Sylvia's to seduce her and try to gain access to her husband's computer. It's a great scene seeing Chuck be thrown around by the scary cougar. Chuck gains access to the computer only to download something that looks a lot like a red tinted Intersect! When Chuck has to escape in his underwear in front of the rest of the neighbors Sarah slaps him right in the face to save face. General Beckman doesn't like the Intersect being exposed like this so she kicks Chuck off the mission. I can't forget the great moment when Chuck realizes that he could really get into this suburban life, Sarah making him breakfast, handing him a grocery list and kissing him goodbye as he's off to work as we hear I can see clearly now by Johnny Nash -- but it's all a fantasy and things quickly get serious.

Even though Chuck is gone in the guise of his marriage on the break, the couple across the street are Fulcrum and they now know that Chuck downloaded their computer test successfully. It's not long before they have both Casey and Sarah. After Chuck flashes on the grocery list, he rushes off to warn them but it's too late as Brad is there waiting for him. I love how Chuck flashes on all of the neighbors, they are all Fulcrum! It's a great moment. Now Chuck has Fulcrum intel in his head!

Chuck is strapped to a chair A Clockwork Orange style with his eyes pried open, They're going to subject him to their fully operational Fulcrum Intersect to see if his brain can handle the whole thing and Sarah is helpless to stop them. Brad and Sylvia are amused at Chuck's devotion to his fake wife Sarah, Sylvia reminds him that it's not real but Chuck is only concerned with where Sarah is. When they upload their Intersect into Chuck it's a great sequence, it indeed looks like they could be frying poor Chuck's brain! When he snaps out of his stupor he plays along for the Fulcrum agents when Casey who just recently broke his thumb to escape (what a bad ass!) turns the tables on Fulcrum and exposes them all to the deadly Intersect -- In a great nod to Raiders of the Lost Ark, Chuck tells Sarah to close her eyes, not to look. With Fulcrum's  collective brains scrambled, Team Bartowski has won.

Listen to the Podcast Episode: S2Ep13 Vs The Suburbs

There were some great songs used to great effect in this episode from, El General Midi by Monareta, as mentioned before, Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads to Fever by Peggy Lee. My favorite song would have to be Freeze and Explode by Cassettes Won't Listen when Chuck tells Ellie that he and Sarah are just never going to happen.

Again with the reviews? Of course, we have to see what our resident TV Critics thought of this particular episode don't we? Why not. First we have Alan Sepinwall's review and then we have Eric Goldman's, they both seemed to really dig the Suburbs. Then we have another AV Club review.

General Beckman warns Sarah that this is a most dangerous time and they need to protect Chuck and the Intersect more than ever before. Chuck wants to take Sarah back to the Cul-de-sac and pretend some more but Sarah is having none of it. Chuck is totally bummed out when he realizes what Sylvia said was true, it's all a fantasy, it's never going to happen, that's when he tells Ellie that their little trip to the suburbs helped him realize that he and Sarah would never be anything more than they are now. Now, Chuck can't actually tell Ellie why this is, so I think I'd understand if she is more than a little confused.

There's a great bit at the end when we find out that Big Mike's date was a fabulous night of lovemaking (T.M.I.) and we quickly find out that it's Morgan's Mom that he is banging! At least that's how Morgan put it, poor Morgan. Have you ever noticed when things go bad for Chuck, they also seem to go bad for Morgan as well? Sure nothing has really changed between Chuck and Sarah. Chuck has just been given a healthy does of reality, this spy life has a nasty way of preventing people from having real relationships.

                                              Somebody call the Cable Guy?

Well, that's it for this time, I apologize for taking a month off from the Chuck Series Companion and after the holidays I'm hoping to get back at it on a regular basis. I want to thank you for taking the time to read the blog and also for listening to the podcast. I'm still having a blast doing it and I hope that you are along for the long haul, one episode at a time. Podcasting can be rewarding but it can also feel like a vacuum, if you have any feedback about the show or the blog or just want to talk about Chuck, send me some feedback, it would be appreciated. Watch more Chuck!

Until then...

The Jastrom

S2Ep12 Vs The Third Dimension -- The Chuck Series Companion

Covering Season Two Episode Twelve of the Television Series Chuck, Chuck Versus the Third Dimension - Watch the Episode, Listen to the Show! - Subscribe on iTunes!

S2Ep12 Vs The Third Dimension

Chuck Versus the Third Dimension

February 2nd, 2009. Once upon a Prime Time. Chuck aired the first ever 3D episode of the Show. The previous evening during Superbowl XLIII -- NBC aired a Monsters Vs Aliens commercial in 3D as well as a Sobe Life Water ad. If you kept your free 3D glasses you could watch Chuck in 3D the following night. While I never did find a pair to watch Chuck in 3D, I still enjoyed the episode. I read in several places that the 3D effect was not very effective. I even read that most people removed their glasses during the broadcast (quitters!). Some called it 'just a gimmick' but it didn't matter to me. I wanted to experience the effect for myself but I never did (although I have read that you can find a Season 2 DVD set with the 3D episode intact including glasses but they are very rare -- hear the story of how I finally saw the episode in 3D 'kinda' on the podcast).

From what I can tell it's been a few months since the events of Chuck Vs Santa Claus and Chuck is still mixed up emotionally over what he saw Sarah do. She killed what looked like a surrendering Fulcrum Agent named Mauser. Chuck has been having nightmares, but the dream Chuck has doesn't start out that way. Sarah appears at the foot of his bed, she's dressed rather provocatively. Chuck knows he's dreaming and he also knows that he needs to tell the real Sarah his real feelings. Before he can, Dream Sarah stabs him with a butcher knife and he wakes up screaming like a girl. Well, that's how Devon put it.

The next morning at breakfast, Chuck is on edge, he hasn't been sleeping and Ellie has taken notice. Awesome advises that Chuck needs a day off, bad. When Chuck arrives at the Buy More he finds out quickly that all is not what it seems because the place is jam packed full of people. Morgan informs him that it's Tyler Martin day. Tyler Martin is some Rock Star that all the kids seems to love but Morgan has never heard of him. Lester loves him though and Emmett Milbarge says he's a close personal friend (Yeah, sure Emmett). Before Tyler Martin arrives some guy in a Trench Coat plants an IG-88 Grenade in the Buy More. Luckily Chuck was there to see the whole thing.

I loved the little nods to the 3D effect like the counter ticking down when the bomb would blow. Morgan intercepts Chuck's pass of the grenade to Casey and we get the introduction of new Buy More employee Jimmy Butterman (Jerome Bettis). Using some quick thinking, Casey and Chuck dispose of the bomb. It turns out that the IG-88 Grenade isn't just a reference to the Empire Strikes Back. It's also a military grade explosive (in the Chuck universe). Being that this was an event episode of Chuck in 3D, the Bad Guy had nothing to do with Fulcrum. They needed a Villain that had no backstory for the new viewers that would be tuning in. So instead we have a mystery assassin who wants Tyler Martin dead.

Tyler Martin (Dominic Monaghan) is a hilarious cliche'd Rock Star, he spends most of his time drinking and partying and doing other substances while looking for his next groupie. Sarah easily lures him into the stock room where Casey is waiting to tranq him with his dart/pen shooter. This is a hilarious device that Casey uses multiple times on Tyler throughout the episode and it's even funnier when he finally uses it on a complaining Chuck.

Chuck is meant to babysit Tyler while Casey and Sarah look for the Assassin but in what has already been determined to be a burned-out Chuck, he reluctantly goes off to party with the Rock Star. Chuck looks to be having fun but a little out of his element. He's pretending to be a record label rep when two ladies show up with nefarious intentions towards Tyler. I love the scene where Chuck runs for his life and encounters the same couple from Chuck Vs the Seduction -- Chuck interrupted their romantic night on the balcony but this time he ruins their romantic elevator ride. Too funny.

Earlier at the Buy More, Tyler Martin announced that there was a hidden Golden Ticket in one of his many CD cases in the store that would grant entry backstage to his concert. Leave it to Morgan, Jeff, Lester and even Butterman to start searching right away. When Morgan finds the ticket he decides that the only way to determine who goes with him to the concert is a competition -- Buy More style! My favorite bit involving a urinal cake, this was also the first big Subway plug on the show when Jeff and Butterman race to see who can eat a giant sandwich the fastest.

Listen to the Podcast Episode: S2Ep12 Vs The Third Dimension

When the Team figures out that Tyler has hidden secrets in the tattoos on his back, they create a plan to catch the Assassin. I like the moment where Chuck persuades Tyler to help and at the same time gives Sarah the hint that something is really up with him. Tyler will perform and act as bait to lure his killer out in the open.

This episode was jam packed with lots of music, I mean it's filled to the gills! The music in the opening dream sequence was Clap Your Brains Off! by No Somos Machos Pero Somos Mucho. Then we hear Good Days Bad Days by Kaiser Chiefs when Chuck arrives at the Buy More. Try it Again by The Hives when they are trying to get rid of the IG-88. The Final Countdown by Europe during the Buy More competition although I'm pretty sure it was a cover version of the song. Out at the Pictures by Hot Chip, Tales of a Thousand Fears by Vienne and Lost Coastlines by Okkervil River. Believe it or not there were even more songs that are heard in the episode which you can find here. I love the several nods to The Shawshank Redemption that we see and hear with inclusion of Duettino Sull'aria by Mozart in the episode. Great stuff.

Alan Sepinwall was not impressed with the 3D effect but he did enjoy the episode as did Eric Goldman in his review. I really enjoyed reading this write-up by Maureen Ryan, her enthusiasm for Chuck was quite infectious. Also be sure and read another one of AV Club's reviews of our favorite show.

When Chuck and Tyler crowd surf their way to safety and Casey and Sarah have apprehended the Assassin we get a hilarious moment where the fans in the crowd realize they don't know who Chuck is, he's certainly not in the band and they promptly drop him to the floor. Poor Chuck. The day is saved and Tyler wants to know where he can get some more of those tasty tranq darts. Finally Sarah is ready to grant Chuck some much needed time off but not before he finally tells her the reason he's been so distant lately. Chuck understands why Sarah did what she did, he just doesn't think he will ever get used to the lengths that her and Casey will go to preserve his safety. They come to an understanding and Casey and Sarah are off on another mission. Chuck is free to do what he wants but he isn't interested in free time, he wants to be with his team on the mission and so he joins them in the Crown Vic and we get one final Back to the Future reference. What a fun episode!

The 3D may have been a gimmick for the network to get some new viewers but the episode brought the goods, it had the silliness of the Buy More and a great guest actor in Dominic Monaghan and we got to see what happens when Chuck parties with a Rock Star. On the Podcast for this episode I had quite a blast digging up the old commercials and promos that aired on NBC during the Superbowl. It was like a history lesson coinciding with an episode of Chuck. I hope that you enjoyed listening to it as much as I did making it. Well, what are you waiting for? Go and watch more Chuck.

Until Then...

The Jastrom

S2Ep11 Vs Santa Claus -- The Chuck Series Companion

This Episode of the Chuck Series Companion covers Season Two Episode Eleven of the Television Series Chuck, Chuck Versus Santa Claus - Watch the Episode, Listen to the Show! - Subscribe on iTunes!

S2Ep11 Vs Santa Claus