“Chuck” Recap: If You Are Beautiful, You Too Could Be A Secret Agent!

Two of the better shows this television season consist of underachievers whose love-lives suffer from the same shortcomings as their jobs. They’re guys who are capable of so much more, yet settle for so much less, simply because they don’t go after anything. I’m talking about the CW’s Reaper as well as NBC’s Chuck.

Enter some intervention, whether it’s the Devil himself on Reaper or the classified information that has been implanted into Chuck’s brain courtesy of a frenemy’s brain-hacking.

I’m hooked on Chuck and hope it hangs around this season. It’s like that kid in school who was never part of any one group. He wasn’t a geek. He wasn’t a jock. He wasn’t a drama member. He wasn’t a brain. But he was able to be friends with people in every single one of those groups. That’s Chuck. An action comedy with a romantic subplot.

Oh, and it’s a pleasure to spend an hour each week just looking at Sarah (played by Yvonne Strahovski) doing anything from dressing as a “Wiener Girl” for work to, oh I don’t know, just existing. Did I mention how adorable Sarah is with her pigtails and “Wiener Girl” uniform? It’s worth double-checking.

This week, just as Sarah is about to take a shower, male viewers everywhere get doused with metaphorical cold water as an assassin attacks just prior to her derobing. Things begin looking up when the assassin’s mask is pulled off to reveal that we’ve just witnessed a cat fight. Sarah’s foe is Karina, a DEA agent in town to score a diamond from a dangerous guy. But aren’t we all?

Sarah, Casey and Chuck are forced to work with Karina, even though she’s a wild card. Everybody remembers Prague. Well, except Chuck. And us. What happened in Prague? Nevermind. I don’t need to know.

Karina begins showing up at Chuck and Casey’s job, trying to learn everything she can about them … even though she won’t tell them anything about the diamond heist. Yeah. She’s one of those high-maintenance girls. Karina even goes on a date with Chuck’s friend Morgan, which should’ve been a telltale sign that she isn’t on the up and up. I mean, adults who live above their parents’ garage get more action than this guy. But nobody else seems to catch on.

This girl’s nothing but trouble. Karina fakes a computer problem to get Chuck, the on-call Nerd Herder to come to her hotel room … and takes the opportunity to first try seducing Chuck, and then to reveal to Chuck that Sarah and Bryce (frenemy) used to date. This, after Sarah told Chuck that she and Bryce were just “co-workers” and never dated.

As you recall – Bryce and Chuck used to be friends, until he stole Chuck’s girlfriend back in college. Woops.

It’s the Chuck/Sarah relationship, much like the first couple of seasons of Jim and Pam’s “Will they or won’t they?” on The Office, that keeps us watching.

The next day at lunch, this information from Karina produces Chuck and Sarah’s first real fight (in an otherwise bogus relationship) when Sarah tactically evades the question. See the “Best Lines” below.

Like any good agents, they have to put on their best faces the next day when it’s time to crash the party of the drug financier who has the diamond. The drug financier is hairier than Robin Williams with a Rogaine overdose. And while Sarah distracts him, Karina and Chuck manage to steal the diamond, setting off alarms and mayhem. This provides us with another chance to see hot agents running around in high heels and dresses, beating people up. Yes, a play right out of the Charlie’s Angels playbook … which shouldn’t be surprising as this is a McG-produced series.

They appear to get away, but just then, Karina double-crosses them and steals the diamond for herself with a remote-controlled jet-ski. Yeah, 55% of the storylines are a bit paint-by-numbers. But most of them are good-looking paintings.

It’s the comedy and the tender moments that propel the show when the action feels less than original. And that’s why the show works. Usually, the comedic moments would set up the action. But with Chuck, more often, we sit through the action to get to the comedy and drama.

We all know Karina isn’t going to get away with the diamond. And she doesn’t.

Sarah gets kidnapped and held as ransom for the diamond, which forces Karina to aid Chuck in what becomes another segment of attractive women beating up lots of guys. Finally in a non-cliché moment, Chuck manages to FedEx the diamond to safety. Yes. He FedEx’s it. Evidently covert diamond rescuing is the one thing brown can’t do for you.

Best Lines:

“Did you know that 55% of accidents occur in the kitchen? I’m sure most of them are accidents.” – Sarah to her boss when he tells her the ketchup isn’t going to fill itself.

“I thought you were supposed to be good at lying.” – Chuck’s response to Sarah, who says her and Bryce’s relationship was complicated.

Best Moment:

The final two minutes, as Chuck tries to pry anything that’s real from Sarah. He’ll take anything. He’d like her real name. But he’d settle for her middle name, even. Just as Chuck is prone to do, he refuses to push and walks away. Her response, outside of Chuck’s earshot, with “Lisa, my middle name is Lisa” is enough to bring me back next week.