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'Chuck': Timothy Dalton is a master of deception
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Maybe we should've seen it coming when Timothy Dalton's character disappeared from the bank, or when Ellie heard about the blue leather seats in her dad's old car. But we wanted to trust Mary Bartowski the way her son does, and we were loving the way Dalton was playing against type so much that when the big moment came, this episode of "Chuck" left us with eyes popped and jaws hanging on the floor.
The revelation that Dalton is not, in fact, Mary's MI-6 handler was one of the best twists the show has ever thrown at us, and capped off an episode that had healthy doses of comedy (much of it furnished by Dalton himself), a couple of solid action sequences and a great emotional scene between Linda Hamilton and Sarah Lancaster. That, plus a sweet '68 Mustang adds up to probably the best episode of the season thus far and one of the better ones in all four seasons.
(Here come the spoilers for those of you who haven't watched yet.)
So Dalton is not MI-6 handler Gregory Tuttle, but none other than Volkoff himself. (Kudos to team "Chuck," by the way, for keeping the character's real identity under wraps.) Mary Bartowski, whatever her agenda may be, is working with him. Chuck is Intersect-less thanks to his mom, and as far as he knows, all his father's research has been blown to bits.
The key phrase in that last sentence is "as far as he knows": The car that Ellie and Awesome picked up is not just a well-preserved '68 Mustang convertible, but a well-preserved '68 Mustang convertible with some very sophisticated technology riding under those specially ordered blue leather seats. Did anyone else half-expect Ellie to get Intersected when she turned the key? (Not saying that would've been good for the show; just saying it wouldn't have been a shock.)
"Chuck vs. the First Fight" sets up an enormous number of possibilities for the remainder of the season. Mary and Volkoff are in the wind for now (Hamilton and Dalton aren't scheduled to be back on the show until the end of the month), and despite her plea to Sarah to "protect him," Mary's motives are very much in question now. How does Chuck deal with that, in addition to having to work without the Intersect? When's he going to find out about Ellie's car and whatever may be in it? Does this mean Ellie will get fully drawn into Chuck-world in the near future?
We can't wait to see how it all plays out (although we'll have to; the show is off next week before returning Nov. 15). Thank goodness we'll have a full season to see what happens.
Here's a clip from "Chuck vs. the First Fight" (it will go live after the 8 p.m. PT airing of the show). What did you think of the episode, and the big events at the end?
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Photo credit: NBC
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i knew Dalton was going to be Volkoff, they just kept his role to much a secret and such a major actor for the roll.
Thanks for the spoiler in the headline, douchebag.
I began to suspect Dalton was on the wrong side earlier in the episode, and by the time he was shot at the bank and Sarah said, as she and Chuck were leaving, "Let's take this to Orion," the look on his face confirmed it. I was surprised that he was Volkoff himself, though.
And I did think Ellie might become the Intersect somehow involving the car, but I am glad they didn't go that route, though they still may in the future. Hope not.
Great episode last night.
I paused the episode whe Ellie showed the newspaper add, so I kept looking for a reference to it for the rest of the episode and I guessed right that it was going to be Mary that would give Ellie the clue.
Almost cried when Orion's base exploded, but immediately thought that the mustang must have something important. Probably some sort of technology that will put the intersect in Chuck's brain again.
Timothy Dalton stole the show. I did not see that coming until the moment he was shot. After that, it became obvious to me he was with Volkoff, but was later surprised when he turned out to be Volkoff.
I was totally faked out!! Dalton is Volkoff!! The last 15 minutes of this episode is what TV is all about!!
Agree with you in that I wanted to believe in Chuck's instinct that Mom is a good person who just got her priorities mixed up. It was very upseting to see Daddy's spy lab blown to bits. However, Chuck is constantly growing, which is one of the things I love so much about the show. There are so few good shows on TV this season that it is so good to have a show that makes me want to come back every week for more. Can't wait for the next episode.
I was really hoping that Mama gave Chuck an Intersect upgrade... too bad, but you never know, maybe it was an intersect suppresant that just paused his abilities while she got away in order to fool Volkoff. I am still hoping Mama B isn't on the wrong side.
I have to wonder if the Alias referece was meant to be a hint about Mama B fliping to the dark side. On Alias, talk about a complicated Mother/child relationship. Loved Timothy Dalton first as Tuttle and then as Volkoff. He really brought a genuiness to his character. I'm sad that Tuttle was a lie.
I was freaking out when Dad's warehouse...with ALL THAT STUFF...blew up. Great episode. Morgan vs the glass of water had me laughing out loud. I love this show.
I suspected Dalton would be playing the "big boss" this season as soon as his involvement was announced, so I thought he would be playing Volkoff. I was thrown for a moment when he showed up as the handler, until he started dithering like an English schoolmarm. It's a good thing he dealt only with Chuck for a while, as Sarah or Casey would have seen through his overblown act in about 5 seconds.
It's important to note Volkoff still does not know Charles Carmichael is Frost's & Orion's son. The whole act in the lab was Mama B. protecting her young by letting Volkoff think he has both killed Carmichael & destroyed Orion's secret base.
The last two episodes have just thrown a huge amount of information at us and it's going to take weeks to untangle it all. I'm most curious about the modified PSP Frost flashed at Chuck. I lean toward it's being a new, super Intersect as Frost's comment was, "Your father didn't want you to see this..." If it were an Intersect remover, she would have said something like, "Your father didn't want you to have to see this..." or "Your father hoped you wouldn't have to see this..."
Oh my gosh I was totally thinking the same thing about Ellie & the car when she turned the key!! And about the intersect, I thought it was an upgrade or something, too bad it was the opposite. Gosh, I can't wait for the next episode!!