Posted by Janie Logan Nov 30, 2010, 22:00 GMT
Volkoff (guest-star Timothy Dalton) puts the pressure on Chuck and Sarah in "Chuck vs. the Leftovers." Photo courtesy of NBC.
With the return of Timothy Dalton and Linda Hamilton, "Chuck vs. the Leftovers" was another highpoint for Season 4, and another excellent directing job from star Zachary Levi. Last week showcased Yvonne Strahovski beautifully, giving her some of the best action sequences and most emotional moments on the series to date. This episode was more lighthearted fare--an enjoyable post-holiday treat to carry us into the midseason break, with new episodes resuming in January.
After the scare tactics from Agent Rye in "Chuck vs. the Fear of Death" and the mind-probing from the German scientist in "Chuck vs. Phase Three," Chuck had to face the fact that he might not be able to retrieve the Intersect 2.0. He had the affirmation he needed from Sarah that she would still love him even without his special brain, as well as from the General Beckman that the CIA would still find a way to use him on missions.
Desperate to regain some of his combat skills, Chuck was even willing to go through with the "Strip Kick" class Morgan signed them up for. The two of them swinging around on the stripper pole to Lady GaGa's "Bad Romance" is an image I won't soon get out of my head (not that I would want to).
Chuck didn't seem too upset anymore over what happened with his mom…that is, until she appeared again out of nowhere, saving Chuck and Sarah from Volkoff's assassins: "Come with me if you want to live."
His calm acceptance over her betrayal gave way to a flood of questions--how could he ever trust her when every time he let his guard down, he got stabbed or almost blown up? why did she remove the Intersect from his head? how can she claim to want to protect him? and most important of all, why did Volkoff show up demanding that they turn over his beloved?!
While all of this was happening, Morgan was hiding out in an air duct. He had been soaking his feet in a bath to relax after the chaos of Black Friday shopping when Volkoff's men arrived. (Side note: I love that he's the kind of guy who wouldn't even think twice when a beautiful woman, albeit an enemy spy, offered to do "anything" if he let her in to buy a phone: "Not that I'm not flattered, but who has two thumbs and is taken? This guy!")
Casey got captured while rescuing Jeff and Lester, who were being held captive in the Buy More cage, and Morgan exhibited his characteristic courage-mixed-with-failure when he tried to recreate the "Yippee-ki-yay" scene from Die Hard.
Meanwhile, Volkoff realized that Frost had been lying to him for 20 years about Chuck and Ellie: "You didn't think I could have a relationship with your family? Kids love me." Cue the most bizarre Thanksgiving dinner ever, as Volkoff led a game of Charades and Chuck tried to subtly let Devon know what was going on: "Yeah, he's something else, isn't he? You know what else he is? An international arms dealer and a very, very bad man. We are in terrible danger right now, don't freak out."
Terrible liar though he is, Captain Awesome managed to get Ellie away, but Volkoff wasn't fooled. He pulled a gun on Sarah and Chuck, until Mama B pulled one on him--she kept up the pretense that she's loyal to him and that there's a chance she'll reciprocate his feelings, but if he ever hurt her son, she would end him.
So even though Mary left with Volkoff, Chuck understood why she had to go this time. She truly was protecting him by staying away all these years. Now he knows that the only way to get his mom back is by helping her from afar to bring down Volkoff's organization.
And after everything he's been through, Chuck finally gets the Intersect back, thanks to that computer in Ellie's car. It seemed almost too easy: the answer to the riddle, "1 or 11?" was "Aces, Charles," and then the images flash and suddenly Chuck feels that familiar surge: "Guys, I know Kung Fu…again."
I think there's more to this story, though. There has to be a reason that Daddy B wanted Ellie to have the computer first and had to answer the "Knock, knock…I'm here" riddle and solve that memory problem with the brain scans. Like perhaps Ellie is going to venture into the spy life for some Bartowski sibling action?? I know it seems crazy, but this family is unique, to say the least. Whatever happens, I imagine the Chuck team has some big plans for the latter half of Season 4.
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