CHUCK Recap: “Chuck vs. The Marlin”

Episode: “Chuck vs. The Marlin”
Original Airdate: 1.24.08
GMMR Recapper: SB

Two episodes in one night! I’m still not over it. Anyway, this one had two major things going on: one, that Fulcrum was getting closer to figuring out who the Intersect was; and two, that Awesome wanted to propose to Ellie and Chuck was supposed to be guarding the ring.

Okay, so it starts out that Chuck finds a bug in the store and thinks it’s one of Casey’s that he’s been using to eavesdrop on Chuck. It turns out to belong to Fulcrum and there is a receiver somewhere in the store, and Casey and Sarah have 48 hours to find it. Big Mike comes in the next morning to discover that everything in the store has been stolen, including the giant marlin over his desk that, hilariously, he purchased on eBay. He falls over, which begins the first of many “funny” physical comedy jokes that pepper this episode.

A “detective” comes in to interrogate the employees (again, did anyone really buy that this guy was just a cop?), saying that it was most likely an inside job. Casey is notably absent, and Chuck is sent to call and find out where he is. Casey demands that Chuck come to some warehouse, where the door opens on all the Buy More merchandise. Also, that warehouse seems to have unnecessarily tall ceilings. Unless, oh wait—do they sell airplanes at the Buy More?

Casey tells Chuck what’s going on and that they have to find the receiver or Chuck is going to an underground holding cell for pretty much ever. Underground? Literally? Doesn’t that seem a bit excessive? I mean … really?

Anyway. Chuck is all freaking out because the ring is also missing from his locker. I could lead you through all of the how did the marlin get from point A to B to C to Z crap, but it was kind of tiresome and all you really need to know is that while Casey was trying to extract info from Morgan, he got him a grape soda on the rocks and Morgan sipped it and sighed and said, “Ah … proper,” which Amity (aforementioned pop culture goddess) pointed out was an MC Hammer reference. And that, my friends, is why this show is amazing. The ring was found at the end in some garbage, the transmitter was found in the marlin, which was found in the Wienerlicious freezer, which was preceded by some serious girl fighting between Sarah and Pita Girl, who was an undercover Fulcrum spy and also the one planting the bugs in the Buy More.

Here is the thing. I kept waiting for there to be a cliffhanger that I wasn’t going to like. For example, when Sarah and Pita Girl fell off the side of the building, I thought that was going to be it. Instead, they landed in a pile of cliché. And by cliché, yes, I mean garbage. For a second, I forgot I was watching Chuck and thought I was watching The Pink Panther or something. I mean … really? At least it was so lame as to be kind of funny, but I couldn’t really tell if that was the intent or not. And I think that the part where Chuck almost got taken away to his padded cell was supposed to be suspenseful, but it really wasn’t because, again, did anyone really think that he was going anywhere? NO!

It’s like … you think with such an action-filled show with such likeable and engaging characters that there would be a lot of room for suspense, even if it’s kind of funny or goofy, but there really isn’t any because they’ve set this pattern of there never being any consequences. You sometimes see Sarah feel pain and conflict over being sort of stuck in a life that she possibly doesn’t want, but it never really goes anywhere. Meanwhile, no one ever finds out about Chuck and no one suffers any serious harm, even in the form of injury. I mean, look no further than Bryce, for crying out loud, who was supposed to be DEAD, and ended up being cryogenically frozen or whatever. Even when people die, they don’t actually die. So my question is, okay, we’re halfway into a season, and what exactly am I supposed to be feeling? I’m not worried, because everything is always fine, and I’m not stressed out about Sarah and Casey not being able to “keep him here forever”, because I know they’ll continue to find a way to do that, and I’m not even really curious about Sarah and Chuck’s relationship, since they have put that way on the back burner. I mean, yes, it’s a funny and entertaining show, but it’s almost like a series of unrelated sketches and I don’t know what to do with that. But I do love this show, so I would like for the people behind it to figure out what they want me, the viewer, to be taking from it.

And I admit, maybe I’m too Type A to just sit there and watch television, but I’d like to feel like this is leading somewhere. Like, can we be let in on the progress of what’s going to happen to Chuck? Is he going to run away? Is he going to become Not the Intersect? Are they going to try to kill him? That would lend a greater sense of purpose beyond one episode at a time. And what is the bigger picture for him taking down these little crime syndicates. Is he making the world a better place, or is he just secretly performing these little one-time acts that don’t connect to anything larger? And if so, am I supposed to be pondering the ramifications of this idea as it pertains to our existential nature?

Anyway, the real long and short of it, as I always say, is that I really, really enjoy this show. In fact, I am a huge Pushing Daisies lover, but when I went cast my vote for the People’s Choice Award for Best New Show and Chuck was an option, I had to sit there and wrestle with myself for a minute. It’s like, in my brain, I know that Pushing Daisies is probably the “better” show, what with its originality and cleverness and incredible cast, but I had to really go with my heart and I voted for Chuck. I just have a soft spot for it, and that’s why I want to see it develop into something sustainable.

And that brings me to the end of yet another recap, with nothing new on the horizon. Sad face. But, silver lining—at least we know there WILL be more. So yay for that.

SB has many interests, including photography, her pets, entertainment, traveling and writing. She does have a day job, but that mostly amounts to her being a sarcastic young woman with a lot of time on her hands, which is why she appreciates the opportunity to recap.