Chuck – Recap & Review – Chuck Vs. The Living Dead

photo: nbc

Chuck
Chuck vs. The Living Dead

Original Air Date: May 17, 2010

Jeff L – Staff Writer
JeffL@thetwocentscorp.com

It looks like Chuck’s dreams of Superman being alive maybe more than just his subconscious bonding with the Intersect. Although everyone who matters (read everyone except Morgan) is certain Superman is dead – Chuck keeps having dreams about his girlfriend’s ex back from the dead.

Nobody checked his pulse? Chuck doesn’t want to tell Sarah about Superman and the dreams he’s having for fear that he’ll have to come clean about the Intersect eating his brain.

We open on a Unabomber-style shack in the middle of nowhere. Pops (Captain Archer?) Bartowski translates Ellie’s encoded message in the classified section of the newspaper and responds that he’ll be in touch. Ellie is still being lead around by the obvious to everyone-but-her Ring agent known as Justin.

Chuck tells Morgan about the Superman dreams and Morgan rushes to Castle to grab bulletproof everything. Sarah catches him looting the armory and forces him to spill it about what he and Chuck are up to. Casey catches Chuck downloading a bunch of data on Superman to his phone and asks is he’s reviewing all the people Chuck has killed. Casey does that from time to time. Great line! Just as she turns up at the Spy More to confront her boyfriend, Captain Archer Bartowski has also joined the party. Couple things you might need to know: Captain Archer Bartowski has no idea that his son downloaded the Intersect 2.0. He also doesn’t know that Chuck is now a real spy. Of course, despite the fact that Chuck tries to keep these things a secret, his father sees through the charade almost immediately.

Outside, on their break (so they don’t get any flack from Big Mike) Jeffster! is performing and being tipped to not play requests. Big Mike ignores the negative feedback customers are giving the band and decides to use his managerial skills to the boys’ benefit. Lester wants nothing to do with selling out to the man(ager). Jeff, however, quits the band and teams with Big Mike Management – forming his own band Jeff-? in the process. Lester has taken the “ster!”

In Castle, Ellie confronts Chuck. He apologizes for not telling her about his Superman dreams and she says there must be something to it, since the doctor told him last week that he was totally healthy (yeah right). Casey jumps in and says he’s checked out all of Superman’s known aliases with no luck. He’s reluctant, however, to go to General Grandma about Superman until the team has solid proof that he’s still alive. Casey suggests that Sarah, having been Lois Lane to Shaw’s Superman before Chuck stepped into the dead man’s shoes, is the best place to start. He questions her about all the things she did with Superman looking for any kind of lead as to his whereabouts. She offhandedly mentions Superman’s apartment in the Hoff Building setting of a flash. Chuck sees plans for a safe inside Superman’s penthouse apartment. Chuck and Sarah plan to break into the safe later after dinner with CA Bartowski.

At dinner, both Ellie and Chuck explain they can’t hang out as a family after dinner because they both have plans. Ellie has to “work,” and Chuck and Sarah have a “date night.” Ellie leaves for the “hospital/Ring” and Pops Bartowski has it out with his son. Chuck has to come clean about working for the CIA, but instead of telling his father the truth, he explains that he’s just an analyst in a cushy desk job for the government. Cut to Chuck’s “desk job,” as he’s scaling the side of the Hoff Building. Chuck and Sarah enter Shaw’s apartment they use some thermal goggles to get their own Superman-style x-ray vision and just as they find the safe, someone comes to the door. Whoever it is has a key so they’re sure it’s Superman. They hide in the closet and watch as the (Super?)man enters the apartment, goes straight for the safe, unlocks it and removes a briefcase. The man is about to leave when Chuck squeaks his sneakers (still with the sneakers Chuck?) and the man fires three shots into the closet before running out of the apartment. Sarah and Chuck give chase up to the roof where the man jumps between buildings, but loses the briefcase in the process. Chuck jumps after him and Sarah goes for the briefcase. Chuck doesn’t quite make it and he’s hanging off the side of the building when the man they were chasing comes to the edge and pulls of his ski mask to reveal he’s not Superman, but Justin the Ring agent currently grooming Ellie. He’s about to shoot Chuck when Sarah fires at him from the ground sending him running. Chuck slips a bit and Sarah’s not going to have time to get to him before he falls. Luckily, before Chuck can slip any farther, there’s his father to help pull his son to safety. CIA analyst huh?

Back at Castle, CA Bartowski wants to know why Chuck lied to him about being a spy. Chuck tries to keep his cover, but it doesn’t really work. Casey get’s Superman’s briefcase open and finds his “spy will” containing all his personal information and all the information he had gathered before his death on the Ring.

Ellie informs Justin (who’s all scratched up…hmmm wonder why) that her father is in town and Justin asks her to plant a tracking device on her father for his “protection.”

Back home, CA Bartowski has put all the information together and decided for himself that Chuck must have the Intersect. He tests his theory by hurling a knife at Chuck’s head, which causes Chuck to flash and catch the knife inches from his face. Now that he’s certain Chuck has the Intersect 2.0 in his head. He storms out saying he can’t watch his son die. On the way out, Ellie plants the tracking device on him.

Back home in his shack, Captain Archer Bartowski, reveals his secret workstation. He removes the back of his wristwatch and places a small piece of equipment into a slot in the machine. He does some analysis of the device and then removes it from the machine and places it back into his watch. Just then, some Ring goons on orders from Justin to retrieve the device the elder Bartowski is harboring show up at his house.

It turns out, Sarah has done a little tracking of her own. She’s been keeping the location of Chuck’s father just in case something like this occurred. The two head off to find Chuck’s dad.

Back at the cabin, the goons beat up Captain Bartowski quite a bit but they can’t get anything out of him. Chuck finally shows up and while Sarah is waiting in the car, and is captured by the goons himself. He decides to show his father what the Intersect 2.0 can do and just before he’s tied to a chair he flashes and begins fighting off the men. Sarah hears the commotion from outside and enters the cabin just in time to hurl an ax at another knife that’s headed for Chuck’s face. Chuck and Sarah take down the men and Pops Bartowski asks is Sarah has an Intersect in her head too. “No, dad,” responds Chuck. “That’s all her.”

Later, back home, Chuck and his dad discuss what the men were after. Pops explains that he’s built a “governor” for the Intersect. That was why he left. He wanted to rush home and make sure that the device he had built would work on the Intersect 2.0. It will work and he’s going to build one for Chuck. Why he wouldn’t just give him the one he has already and build himself a new one is a mystery to me, but then I’m not a highly paid television writer.

Over in the b-story, Big Mike talks Lester into coming back and reforming Jeffster! He even shows Lester a picture of himself back when he used to be in Earth, Wind, Fire and Rain.

Casey, still on his mission to figure out what’s going on with Ellie sneaks into her apartment and snoops around, but of course, she comes home early. Ellie hears Casey upstairs and she calls Justin who tells her to get out and come to his office immediately. She has to go through Casey to get out so when he comes around the corner she whacks him in the face with a frying pan. She rushes off to Justin’s office where she’s locked in. Uh oh.

Sarah give Chuck her own “spy will” and tell him that she loves him and that if she were to die he’s the only one she would want to have all of her information. Chuck leaves to start working on his own “spy will.” As Chuck writes about his death, Justin places a call to someone informing them that “this needs to happen now!” At the other end of the phone, a man with his back to the camera places his hand onto a palm scanner. The computer reads it and recognizes Daniel “Superman” Shaw. The walls of the room come to life just like the Intersect 1.0 use to look. UH OH. Superman starts downloading.

What did you think of the episode? Did you enjoy Chuck vs. the Living Dead? What about the introduction of the governor? Do you think it will stop the Intersect from eating Chuck’s brain. Are you excited for Chuck to have another Superman showdown? Leave your two cents below!

Check in with TheTwoCents.com for all of the latest TV news including the new fall season announcements. NBC has picked up Chuck for 13 episodes with a possibility for the back nine. Yay! Next week is the two-hour season finale so we’ll talk then.

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