Monsters of Television

“I love our little give-and-take. Classic Ross and Rachel.”

Nothing can be scary anymore unless it’s a technique developed in Asia.

Dear Chuck, pick a tone. Stick with it. Love, Nick

The highs and lows in this episode have been good (for this season anyway) but, when they start robbing effect from each other, that’s when you know your tone is off. With some of the episodes of late, I was just getting used to conceding that Chuck was going to become the Big Bang Theory of hour-long dramas: broad, broad comedy with a hot girl to anchor it. The spy stuff was going to be the buzzing bee that gave it separation from the rest of its broad comedy brethren, maybe even a bit of heart.

But then some of the Chuck’s mom stuff was good, if eye-rolling material at times. The stakes were raised, the deception and double-crosses created tension, and we had yet another time where the B-story fed into the A-story. People, this had the makings of continuing the good they did last week.

And then it went goofy. The stakes were blunted. And I think it was because they didn’t want to have to decide between their slapstick idea and their real drama. “We can do both, right?”

As I see it, no.

When you have Robert Englund in the production, you want to hint at his most famous character but you don’t want to name it outright. They did the same with Dolph “I break you” Lundgren and even Tony “No Touching!” Hale. Though his character, Dr Wheelwright, was a purveyor of nightmares, instead of being a dreamscape stalker with world famous claws, they went the Scarecrow route. Almost lifted straight from the Batman funny pages. His spray distorts the perception of the user into seeing his or her worst fears. Sure, it was copycat but I allowed it. There are some good possibilities that can come from this. They may stem from a writing crutch (walking in a gray area of “show, don’t tell” but just revealing the inner-workings of a character through superficial surreal symbolism) but they’re struggling to give these characters actual flaws.

When Chuck says he doesn’t like to watch scary movies and stays within the realm of PG-13, it’s a good description of the show itself. Despite the heavy concepts of deceit, redefined ethics, and what it means to not be consumed by the difficult things you have to do, it stays relatively light-hearted by keeping Chuck naïve, Sarah hopelessly devoted, and, when those things are threatened, sending in the Buy More clowns. Chuck’s core stasis is never in any immediate jeopardy with lasting consequences. Sarah is always going to be by his side, he will always have a family to return to, and, since we know the title of the show is Chuck, his position is to be pretty much bulletproof.

Now, the kid invites danger, I’ll give him that. Chuck’s major character flaw isn’t his naïveté or consistent need to trust people he probably should second-guess. It’s his being self-centered and dragging everyone into his crap. With Morgan now in on the spy team, Sarah getting naked with him on a nightly basis, and Casey reduced to a grunting role, Chuck has been given messianic carte blanche. He is the way and whatever he says is not only the truth but it is the Right Thing to Do. Sarah has suspicions about Frost’s intentions from the beginning but allows Chuck to carry out what might be (and what ends up being) a trap, despite Casey’s objection. Because, apparently, what Chuck says goes and he’s been known to do what he wants anyway.

But as far as character flaws go, that’s really it for the cast. Morgan is timid but that’s not a flaw as much as it is a quirk. Casey is ambivalent but, let’s face it, with this crowd, who wouldn’t be? And Sarah? Intimacy issues? Believing in Chuck too much? Otherwise, she’s Supergirl. So these kinds of plot devices, an agent that distorts reality and induces hidden truth, can be slanted to bring out the worst in a character, demonstrate some sort of inner-working we haven’t been privy too before but can free associate with later, connecting imaginary dots. “Oh, do you remember in second season when Casey went ‘mmph’ instead of ‘grmmph?’ That was the first time you see his dissatisfaction after his foresaken civilian life!”

The plot device fails, however. Instead, the Scarecrow only shows Chuck that he’s afraid of Sarah dying. So what? That’s not any development. That’s not anything. Then they take it back into the goofy, which I will admit was funny, but out of place. Listening to Chuck say “otters!” made me laugh out loud but wrapping up that plot so quickly, combined with Robert Englund’s over-the-top acting (which I feel was intentional for the scene), is such a large bruise to the rest of the drama of the episode. Why even bother with the line about the rival doctors? Although the scene created some laughs, it’s a disappointing end that didn’t match the timbre of the rest of the episode.

The “she’s my mommy, she’s a bad guy” head rattle that Chuck endures can be a bit eye-rolling at times, especially since he still calls her mom. After suddenly showing up after 20 years, pulling a gun on my girlfriend, telling me she doesn’t want to know anything about me, and then shooting me in the chest, I wouldn’t use terms of endearment. We’d be on a first-name, maybe a code-name basis. “You are Frost; I am Carmichael.” But how excited did you get when Frost actually shot Chuck in the heart-light? I was excited. Why? Stakes! Backstabbing! Double-cross! Intrigue! She probably should have asked him if he was wearing a vest in Klingon since the most influential absentee figures in his life love to pop him in the chest but whatever. It was great. And then: blunted stakes. It was all for Chuck and Ellie’s protection, an act for Volkoff. I want it all to be a lie so bad. I want Frost to be Volkoff. I want this all to be a ruse to snag the Intersect for herself (because, hi, she totally knows Carmichael is an Intersect? How’d that get out?). Because the more likely truth is too saccharine for me.

With Chuck demonstrating a blind side to another brunette this season, no wonder Casey has jumped on the Morgan bandwagon. People, this is where the show is going to be made. The scene where they communicate only in grunts and whiny grunts? It was like a papa bear talking to his little bear cub. The growth of that relationship may be what heals this show so that it doesn’t all have to ride on Chuck’s feeble shoulders. And the rise of another star on this squad, nurtured by Casey instead of Sarah, is just what we need. Besides, their give-and-take really is special.

Sarah likes to use covers to break out her skin-tight wardrobe, her librarian glasses, and her fierce. Do people say “fierce” anymore? Ferocity?

• Ellie and Devon are the only reason any sentimentality for Mary Bartowski is built at all. They keep referring to Chuck looking for his mother for “a long time” but it’s not really true. The summer is not a long time. The only reason why I care if Chuck brings her into the personal realm is because Ellie is negotiating her own feelings about motherhood. Her seeking guidance from a woman she doesn’t feel good enough around in the first place is a heartbreaking endeavor and folding Mary into that mix might be saving this part of the storyline. If it was up to Chuck alone to sell me on a maternal connection, I wouldn’t be able to see the screen through all my eye-rolling.
• Things we predict for the future: more situations for Chuck to ruin everything by conceding to his mother, a heart-to-heart between Sarah and Frost when they realize they’re the same, Frost is really Volkoff, Volkoff wanting the Intersect as the ultimate weapon, Morgan and Casey being awesome.
• The Jeffster haunted house was the biggest disappointment. And I think they knew that, too. Here’s what I want to believe: they knew we’d think that Jeffster was going to make such an amazing haunted aisle that there’s no way they could ever conceive of anything to satisfy that high expectation so they went the other way and made it a disappointing mess (that only served the bruise on an already squishy episode). Jeff and Lester themselves, however, were great as always, if not used very well.
• Yvonne Strahovski asked her Twitter followers this week what she should be for Halloween. That’s just asking for trouble. Besides, she should just ask her writers. They’ve made careers out playing dress-up with her. “Princess Leia!” “Ooh ooh! Maybe she’ll be call girl!” “Nerd Herd!” “I know! A cheerleader!” “She can’t be a cheerleader. Doesn’t fit her character. We’ll just get her all wet instead.”
• Did production invest in a SnorriCam and decide they need to use it as much as humanly possible? I’m not complaining but two weeks in a row now for stylized shots on Chuck is noticeable.