Loading...
Follow Zap2it:
Z-Cap
'Chuck': The courtship of Sarah's father
Twitter
Google
We're likely to get heavy doses of drama and action in the final three episodes of "Chuck's" season in May. So consider Monday's (April 18) sweet, funny, affecting episode the relative calm before what we expect will be the storm of the end of the season.The setup for "Chuck vs. the Wedding Planner" -- Chuck and Sarah get conned out of their wedding money by a shady planner, overreach in using national-security resources to find her and then stumble on an actual national-security issue -- was kind of an eye-roller. But the return of Gary Cole, a heart-tugging B-story involving Casey and good comedy all around more than made up for it.
That setup served mostly as a reason to bring Sarah's dad, Jack Burton (Cole, last season in Season 2's "Chuck vs. the DeLorean"), back into her life for a little while. Jack hasn't really changed, which both he and Sarah know, and because they both know that the fact that she didn't invite him to the wedding is underplayed. Instead, we get to see the two of them come to appreciate one another a little bit more: Jack gets to put his skills to use to help his daughter and Chuck win Beckman's confidence back, Sarah gets to see her dad in a (slightly) different light, and Jack, even though he leaves again, gives Sarah and the schnook a pretty lovely wedding present.
And we don't mean the money (although that's nice too). Jack's note to Sarah, left with her old piggy bank, is probably the most honest expression of love he's able to give, and even if he doesn't actually come to the wedding, Sarah knows how much he likes seeing her happy.
That final scene of Sarah reading the note was one of a couple moments where the room suddenly got dusty. The others involved Alex's mom Kathleen finally confronting Casey. As he predicted, she doesn't get why a guy would fake his death to become an electronics salesman/part-time security guard. Then she sees him doing what he really does, and she at least starts to understand.
One of Adam Baldwin's best traits as an actor is his ability to convey a lot without actually saying much. It's usually employed for comic effect on "Chuck," but this was a time when Casey was genuinely at a loss for words, and Baldwin played it extremely well (his reaction when she said "You have everything you ever wanted" slayed us a little bit). With Kathleen now knowing about Casey, we sort of fear for her safety, but we're also looking forward to seeing the big guy let her into his life the way he's done with Alex.
"Chuck" is off next week (grr), but it returns on May 2 to close out the season. This episode was a great way to get geared up for the final run.
Other notes from "Chuck vs. the Wedding Planner":
- Yvonne Strahovski got to play the full range of emotion this week, balancing that touching final scene with a lot of good comedy. Her accent while impersonating Daphne Peralta was good, but her imitation of Chuck's flash face? Brilliant.
- The flashbacks to Jack and little Sarah were also very effective. We particularly liked watching her teach the shell game to her stuffed giraffe.
- The Chuck who got on the Super Shuttle (and really, Sarah doesn't know what that is?) seemed more like the Chuck of Season 1 or 2 than the guy we know now. Seems to me he could have handled Daphne's fake freakout a little better. And why the fake beard? Once they were both in the van, did it really matter whether she recognized him?
- Angry Gen. Beckman is awesome Gen. Beckman. We'd be scared too if she looked at us the way she did Chuck and Sarah after the Daphne incident.
- One of the best lines of the night, courtesy of Morgan: "Thanks for including me. I always wanted to run a con."
- So, after the team captured the Hungarian scientists' dad and recovered the device, do you figure they went back to the ballroom and reset it for Tammy's bat mitzvah?
- Speaking of the dad: He was played by Timothy V. Murphy, aka the "I am epic win" super-rich Russian guy in the DirecTV ads. Even though his character here was established as being from Hungary, we're going to choose to think of him as the same guy from the commercials.
What did you think of "Chuck" this week?
Follow Zap2it on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest news and buzz
Photo/Video credit: NBC
Related pics
Zap2it Elite Sheet Must Reads from the Web's In-Crowd
Advertisement
What's Hot Right Now
Sign in to connect with Zap2it:
Rewards Challenge Members
Top Users from the Past Week | All-time
Zap2it Elite Sheet
Must Reads from the Web's In-Crowd
Our Partners
I think Yvonne really showed her acting chops tonight. You have a Aussie actress who does American every week and now she does Jersey. I thought she did an great job.
I concur. This was one of the best episodes of Chuck ever. Kudos to the show's management for putting the spotlight on Sarah and Casey in such an effective manner.
And, while I'm at it, Memo to NBC: Don't pull an ABC on disappoint your network's loyal fans!! Renew Chuck, as it's the best show on television.
This was a really entertaining, fun episode. More please!
Lots of great acting without dialog here: Sarah's flash face, Chuck's facial reaction to her flash face, Casey's I-don't-really-have-everything-I-wanted face. Kudos to a great job done by this cast who are far better than the material they're given to work with.
After a hard day at work on a Monday, my pleasure and stress reliever is to watch Chuck. This show never fails to lift my spirits and give some good laughs.
In my opinion one of the, if not the best, show on television since Lost. Great actors and in my opinion great writers!!!!
I like "Angry Beckman", but what I don't like is "Reckless Beckman", going from 0-100 mph, "risk be damned!", that we saw both tonight and in "Family Volkoff". I'd like to think she was a little smarter than that!
That being said - "Rocket Launcher Beckman" from "Seduction Impossible? Priceless!!
I really enjoyed that episode. It was lots of fun, I laughed a lot. It didn't forward any big story lines like "agent x", but it was lots of fun.
Sarah's Flash face was awesome.
Great episode! One quibble, and not just with this episode, but as a whole, and that is, have they ever explained where Sarah's mom is? I've seen every episode, but I missed the first ten minutes of this ep, so maybe it was revealed. But if it wasn't I have to say I'm somewhat annoyed with the fact that it hasn't.
"have they ever explained where Sarah's mom is?"
She's probably Agent X.
This show does what none of the others has dared to do. It successfully blends relationships, family, drama and comedy into a very entertaining program. Look at all the different storylines that they are able to write about because of this great combination. The writers are creative and the actors deliver in every episode. This episode was another fine example of everything that makes it my favorite show on television. The writers on Bones, NCIS & Castle need to watch this show and see how it is done!