Five-Legged Iguana

CHUCK
Season 1 Episode 13
“Chuck Versus the Marlin”
Written by Matthew Lau
Directed by Allan Kroeker

So the final episode before the freshman season was forced to shut down due to the writer’s strike involves Fulcrum bugging the Buy More with scores of GLG-20’s to smoke out the real identity of the Intersect.
The threat of Chuck’s being found out (and the resultant possibility of his being pulled away from his family and friends into isolated, protective custody), then coincides with Awesome’s plan to propose to Ellie.
And we all just know the second Awesome asks Chuck to keep his great granny’s ring for safekeeping that it will be anything but…


I suppose what I found vaguely annoying about this episode is that much of the cause and effect of the plot derives from the drunken antics of Lester and Jeff (who unknowingly spirit off the receiver containing the recordings of what the bugs have picked up), and the over-reacting of Morgan (who finds the ring and assumes it’s because Chuck is about to propose to Sarah).
Now, while the Buy More subplot this time out is, pardon me, pretty much married to the main secret agent plot, I usually find the Lester-Jeff tandem to be an irritating one. Morgan’s also a distinct pain when he bungles things up the way he does here.


But, as much as the plot itself annoyed me, the moments where the characters’ emotions take center stage—as when it looks like Chuck will have to be taken into protective custody without even getting to say goodbye to his loved ones, and he has to ask Sarah to make sure that they all know he loves them—once again keep Chuck a satisfying watch.
(I do hope though that Ellie and Awesome’s impending marriage will not mean that Sarah Lancaster and Ryan McPartlin will be absent from Season 2. Lancaster, in particular, is a great foil to Chuck, bringing out a lot of the character’s humanity, while McPartlin manages to balance the comedic role Awesome plays in the show’s goings-on, while still keeping the character human, due to his very clear love for Ellie; the sitcom-y feel of Awesome which bothered me when Chuck first kicked off has thankfully subsided somewhat.)


So, with that, we forcibly draw Season 1 to a close.
Now, due to the delay between the time I saw the episode and wrote this review, and this very moment, when it’s being posted, shooting for Season 2’s already begun.
Aside from the news of Nicole Richie’s guest spot, there’s also been word that the mythical Jill will finally be seen in Season 2, and The Faculty’s Jordana Brewster plays her. (Now that latter bit is casting to look forward to.)

(Images courtesy of nbc.com and aintitcool.com.)