By Buzz Byrne
This week Chuck turns a top Chinese spy, saves her kidnapped brother and keeps a family tradition with his sister. This show is officially stalling out and the fact that there was no Captain Awesome in this episode only further grumpifies this critic.
Things start off with Chuck, Morgan and Sarah off for “An Evening of Morgan,” a nice little ritual between Chuck and his best friend that starts with sizzling shrimp at The Bamboo Dragon restaurant, a viewing of ENTER THE DRAGON and finished off with illegal fireworks. These geeks can par-tay. Before this little escapade a Chinese diplomat was kidnapped right in front of the Chinese embassy and the get-away truck was the take-out van of The Bamboo Restaurant. These script writers indulge in CO-incidence.
This gives Chuck the opportunity to uses the Intersect (the accidentally downloaded government computer program that pulls together data to form conclusions and patterns) when he sees a patron’s tattoo and recognizes her as Mei Ling, top Chinese spy. Team Chuck goes on their first stakeout. Chuck offers to make a stakeout mix for the occasion because he can offer more than just the Intersect. Agent Casey declines. They determine Mei Ling is targeting Ben Lo Pan, owner of The Bamboo Dragon and half of Chinatown, for assassination.
The team stops her in a shoot out that takes place on the same set as the show used three episodes ago in “Chuck versus the Helicopter.” They just changed the light gels from blue to red. The show has run out of budget as well as creativity.
Ben Lo Pan turns out to be the kidnapper and a mob boss and Chuck’s interference means Mei Ling may never see her brother, the Chinese diplomat, again. Helping her means he has to blow off his sister and Morgan. Major drama!
His team gets captured, his sister gets mad, Morgan almost gets fired and Chuck saves the day all around by being a nice guy. Have we seen this before?
Despite movie references to CHINATOWN, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, WHITE NIGHTS, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS and the aforementioned ENTER THE DRAGON, the show is vacant. Tough luck five episodes into the first season. Now you must suspend a certain amount of disbelief for this show, like the kidnappers using a van from the place they will hold the victim. I know I will sound like a broken record, that I said the same thing last week, but like THE A-TEAM, a heavy action/slight comedy 8pm show where no one really gets hurt and each week is a new adventure but they at least had some danger. The A-Team had a nemesis, Col. Decker, their own Ahab relentlessly pursuing them, always at their heels. Chuck needs this kind of urgency and he needs it quick.
It started off so strong too.