Chuck vs. The Broken Heart

Hey, it’s another episode of Chuck. Be still my beating heart. And the big conflict this week comes from General Beckman, who swoops in on her nefarious monitor screen and decrees that she is bringing in an agent to ascertain as to whether or not Chuck’s relationship with Sarah is compromising his security and job performance. She calls in Agent Alex Forrest (Tricia Helfer, fresh off her much better stint on Burn Notice), a sultry, cold, no-nonsense efficiency expert. Are the writers aware that Alex Forrest is the name of the psycho Glenn Close played that scared the bejesus out of every man in America in Fatal Attraction? Is that supposed to be funny? I don’t know, but of course, every government agent looks like a supermodel. And of course, this isn’t enough conflict for a whole episode, so there’s also a mission.

And that mission is: confirm that there is a terrorist named Ahmed having a procedure done at a local hospital under the alias Harry Lime (dear god…is Chuck really referencing The Third Man? Really?). Chuck is supposed to use his Intersect flash magic to confirm that Mr. Ahmed is really Mr. Ahmed. And the catch: it’s not just any hospital…it’s the one where Ellie and her nimrod boyfriend work at!! Can Chuck infiltrate the hospital without being seen by his family?

The plan is for Chuck to get in and confirm the bad dude’s true identity so that Casey can put a tracking device in the dude’s pacemaker. Then the team can locate Ahmed’s boss. It’s an especially weak setup, but I’m numb to the “plot” mechanics of this show by now anyway. Chuck completes his mission and confirms the identity, but there’s a problem! Casey needs a special keycard to access the hospital’s most secure area. And guess who has a keycard?! Ellie’s nimrod boyfriend! Are you really telling me that the NSA can do all kinds of hi-tech computer voodoo and break into bank vaults but they can’t get past a card reader at a hospital? This whole thing is just a transparent setup to raise the stakes for Chuck by getting his family involved in a mission. But how will they possibly get the nimrod boyfriend’s keycard?

And the answer is: get him plastered at his bachelor party and take it from him without him knowing. That’s where Morgan-and the B storyline-comes in. Morgan has arranged for the bachelor party to take place at the Buy More after hours. All they have to do is get the nimrod boyfriend there and get him drunk. Easy enough, right? Well no, because then there would be no conflict.

And speaking of conflict, Ms. Forrest quickly reports to Beckman that Sarah is too emotionally involved and should be pulled off the Chuck detail. Cue the tearful goodbyes and pulling of heartstrings…but don’t worry, everything will all work out in the end. Milbarge and Big Mike are not in this week’s episode for no apparent reason. It’s okay, they’re not missed. We also get some post-bachelor party turmoil between Ellie and her nimrod boyfriend…er, ah, fiancé. And Sarah does some illegal computing and tracks down Chuck’s father. We don’t see him this week, but I already know that Quantum Leap‘s Scott Bakula fills the role. Why Scott? Why? Are you really this desperate for work?

Yeah, that’s all I got. How many more episodes of this show are left?

Season 2, Episode 18: Chuck vs. The Broken Heart (originally aired March 30, 2009)

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