FanGirls: Chuck "Versus the Helicopter" (102)

Chuck

“Chuck Versus the Helicopter” (Ep 102)
Chuck ends up in a fight for his life when a doctor that might be able to remove the Intersect files from his brain turns up dead and Sarah and Casey each accuse the other of the murder.
Original Air Date: Monday, October 1, 2007

This time we open with every retail worker’s wet dream -- chasing down a shoplifter and beating the snot out of him. Well sort of. Chuck has to chase after Casey and said young punk before Casey does an NSA on the kid. Still, Morgan gets a nice “Not So Tough Now” quip in.

On the creepy front, the bosses want the big secrets out of Chuck’s head so they arrange for one of their best to play doctor. This doctor was one of the brains behind “The Intersect” (aka the giant file of secrets now in Chuck’s brain). Sarah tricks Chuck into meeting the doctor by asking him out on a date but taking him to the Buy More where she can Casey have tricked out the Home Theatre display room to use as a spy zone. In a pop culture bit of fun, one of the secrets in Chuck’s brain is the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.

The doctor practically has an orgasm when he realizes that Patient X (who he was not allowed to actually see) can see everything in the Intersect, something no one thought possible. Which leads one to wonder if he would really want to get the secrets out of Chuck’s head or turn Poor Chuck into a lab rat. In the end, the question isn’t answered cause the good doctor and his car go boom. And not accidentally. Both Sarah and Casey suspect each other of being the one behind the murder. Which leads to a fight scene that would on any other show likely lead to sex.

Then there’s the serious paranoia when Chuck is called out of the store by Casey who spins a crazy story about Sarah being rogue, trying to recover the secrets Bryce was stealing to make them both rich, using black market NSA technology to set up Casey.

Chuck, believing his sister to be in danger, races home to his ‘family meets the girlfriend’ dinner, which is more than a little weird since he thinks Sarah is there to kill all of them. Double weird when John, the new guy from work that just moved in next door (aka Casey) shows up intending to keep Chuck safe from Sarah, who now has to keep Chuck safe from Casey. Sister Ellie thinks Chuck’s weirdness is nerves since he really likes Sarah (she thinks). In the end, the not so dead doctor is the culprit. Chuck, Casey and Sarah save the world with Morgan, Ellie and ‘Awesome’ none the wiser.

And as if having a few terabytes of government secrets in his head wasn’t bad enough, Chuck is in competition at work for the single vacant assistant manager position. And part of his test of worthiness is training undercover Agent Casey in customer service while “Big Mike” watches. The results of which are left to be seen but if Casey is any sign, it doesn’t look good for Chuck.

While the story is entertaining. it is the supporting cast that gets some of the best moments. Big Mike is amusing, but Harry Tang (played by Dexter’s CS Lee) is a riot. He’s perfect as the little guy that makes up for his lack of size by being a total dick and a power happy one at that. Lester and Jeff, Chuck’s fellow nerds, play off the “Macs are better” disdain with all the snottiness PC users previously had for them (which makes Casey’s home install ploy actually work). And Ellie is a doll as the sister that just wants her baby brother to be happy.

Still, one can’t say that Chuck is an Emmy winner, but who cares. There are worse ways to spend an hour than laughing.

Episode

itunes

Amazon

Songs

“Challengers” The New Pornographers

“Don’t Make Me a Target” Spoon

“Lust for Life” Iggy Pop

“Gone Daddy Gone” Gnarls Barkley

Official Site

Season Sets

Season One DVD, Blu-ray, iTunes

Season Two DVD, Blu-ray, iTunes

Season Three DVD, Blu-ray, iTunes

Theme Song

“Short Skirt/Long Jacket” Cake

Soundtracks

Season One CD, iTunes

Season Two CD, iTunes

Season Three CD, iTunes

Books