Chuck Review: Chuck Versus The V-Bomb

It was double V-day on this week’s episode of Chuck. Double “V” meaning Valentine’s Day and Volkoff. Just when I thought both subjects had been done to death, they find a way to bring them both back up. I assumed the last two episodes prior were Valentine references but, I guess I was wrong as the show starts out with Chuck and Morgan’s elaborate schemes to woo their honeys with V-day activities at home. This does not go according to plan (surprise, surprise!).

In Chuck, you can never just have love in the air and have the rest of the free world be at ease. The dangerous Russian, Boris Kaminsky (David Lee), is on the hunt for a “key” that once belonged to Volkoff and has killed everyone close to the arms dealer who could have the piece, or just anyone with information to surrender it seems. The trail leads to a mysterious woman named Vivian, believed to be the successor to Volkoff Industries, and the team is off to England to bring her back to the Castle. The rest of Valentine’s Day is cancelled. It wasn’t a bad episode at all, I have to say, but it can be summed up pretty easily. As it turns out, Vivian (Lauren Cohan) is Alexei Volkoff’s daughter and all this time she’s had no clue that her father was the crazy man everyone’s painted him as. Actually, it was a surprising twist. I admit that I didn’t see that one coming, so good job, Chuck!

As the crazy Volkoff family saga unfolds, Morgan decides to develop a “poor me” complex and says it’s time to move on and move out of Chuck and Sarah’s love nest due to feeling like a constant third wheel. Chuck makes it overly clear that he wants Morgan to stay. Morgan is after all Chuck’s Chewy to his Han Solo, so to speak, and what good would Han be without his right-hand man? We’re left at the end of the episode not knowing whether Morgan will ultimately stay though.

In an attempt to keep Ellie and Devon’s less exciting storyline chugging along, we’re shown the hardships of becoming first time parents to a shrieking infant. It’s mostly the two of them walking around disheveled and staring at each other with the “what have we done?!” look periodically throughout the episode. Casey has a small side story, as well, where another agent, Jane (Robin Givens) tries to convince Casey to leave his team and reach his full potential with her own crew. I’m not really sure what she’s up to, but I’m keeping my eye on her…

Getting back to the main storyline, Vivian offers herself up as bait to lure Boris in and it turns out she has more Volkoff in her than she thought when she blows Boris away with a shotgun all by herself. The key that he was searching for turns out to be a charm that Vivian wears around her neck that her father gave her as a child. Now that a vacant Volkoff Industries belongs to her, she takes the charm/key to the building and plugs it into a statue on Volkoff’s desk which then opens a mysterious door….or window…or something with a lot of light coming from it. They never really show you at the end but more than likely it’s what Boris had been searching for. So we’re left with a major cliffhanger here. I have a feeling Vivian is not as innocent as she wants everyone to believe and it’s definitely not the last we’re going to hear from Volkoff Industries. Nice job, Chuck, on having some substance this week- now let’s keep the momentum going!

 

For opinion on the episode: Chuck vs. The Plot Development by Mallory Ellis

Season 4, Episode 16: Chuck versus The Masquerade (original air date February 21, 2011)

Mondays at 8/7C on NBC

Images courtesy of Byron Cohen/NBC