CHUCK Recap: ‘Chuck Versus the Baby’
December 31, 2011 by Al Mosier
THE MISSION – Holy Matrix! What a flashback! Sarah has changed so much. Five years ago she could take down eleven men without blinking or thinking. Neither did she have the sensitivity to deal with a crying baby, but our girl learns fast. Call Mom! Did I mention that this baby is the key to a vast fortune?
The senior members of Carmicheal Industries are off to Hungary to protect the baby from former CIA agent Ryker, while Morgan organizes game night for Alex, Ellie and Awesome in Castle. Which mission will end better? It’s touch and go for both.
Sarah, still refusing to tell Chuck and Casey anything other than what they need to know, abandons the team to tackle Ryker solo. Even though she’s captured, she is able to ascertain that Ryker has no idea where the baby is. Chuck and Casey tackle (literally) one of Ryker’s henchmen and interrogate him with the assistance of a deli lady in a real CHUCK moment. They are able to come to Sarah’s rescue and carry her off to safety in Burbank.
Meanwhile, Ellie and Devon cheat while playing “The Game of Life,” and leaving Morgan and Alex alone go off to play spies in one of the Castle interrogation rooms. Once again we are reminded that they were never meant to be secret agents as we see Ellie, a.k.a. Cobress, get her earring stuck in Devon’s flak jacket. Alex gets upset with Morgan, and is stopped from leaving by Devon who tells her about a rocky patch that he and Ellie had when they were first dating. Ellie does the same with Morgan and goes so far as to tell him that Alex will realize that Morgan is a “catch.” Ellie said that? To Morgan? Didn’t Morgan take Ellie’s pillow to the eighth grade prom as his date? Ellie seems to understand the little bearded man is not the same pathetic nerd he was.
The evil Ryker learns of the existence of Sarah’s mom and the location of the house by planting a bug on Sarah. But our heroes arrive first and ambush the baddies. Sarah’s fight in the kitchen with Ryker gives credence to the belief that the kitchen is the most dangerous room in the house. Ryker tosses Sarah through the wall (was this a parody of a currently running cable company commercial?) but it’s not enough from preventing Sarah from killing him in the end. Mission accomplished!
Everyone is safe and back at Chuck and Sarah’s where Morgan has charmed little Molly (and Alex as well) by being himself and playing video games. Alex realizes that she does, in fact, love Morgan.
MISSION ANALYSIS – Let’s talk about Sarah’s mom. It’s easy to see where Sarah got her inner strength. You can also see that Sarah is like her mom in the sense that beneath that hard and icy CIA exterior lies the tenderness that makes her tell her mother to give the baby all the things that Sarah never got — soccer games and proms and a normal life.
When Ryker comes to the house, the first thing we see is a soccer ball lying in the grass and then it’s booted away. Symbolism here, folks.
And finally we have the sub-story of “the little white house of my dreams.” Sarah and Chuck carve their names into the door frame. Now they’ll have to buy the place! Want to bet the last episode of the series fades out on the happy Bartowski family in the place of their dreams?
This was a great episode for Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah). Meeting Sarah’s mom and getting some more of Sarah’s backstory was interesting. Another strong job by cast and crew.
POINTS TO PONDER –
- “I, for one, had no idea the Rubic’s Cube was invented there” – Chuck
- “I’m going to kill him, Chuck” – Sarah
- “How about a game of Sorry?” – Morgan to Alex
- “Tell me where the nukes are!” – Ellie (Cobress)
- “This is your sister, Sarah” – Sarah’s mom to little Molly
- “Don’t worry, I know where Sarah keeps the scotch” – Alex to Casey
- “Nice.” – Casey
YOUR INPUT – What did you think of this episode?
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Filed under Chuck, Chuck Recaps
What a great episode! Tim Jones’ lovely Charah love theme ‘A Question And An Answer’ was on display last night, being used several times. Don’t you think Tim’s done a great job the last five years? His music adds so much!
This season has been solid all of the way! You didn’t mention the return in flashback of Sarah’s CIA boss, the late Langston Graham. While it was nice to have him show her the “Chuck” file, personally I would have preferred a clue as to why Sarah was asked to murder Eve Shaw as her Red Test, to the “Chuck” case, which plays havoc with the timeline. Whatever! Wonderful episode!
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for tv news