Chuck: Chuck Versus the Predator

(S02E17) Oh my my. It seems that things are really starting to shift on Chuck. Relationships are being reassessed, Chuck is being forced into certain directions, and before this season (and hopefully not the series) ends, I expect Charles to be forever altered by the events that occur.

And I think Big Mike and Morgan have bonded like father and son, which may or may not be such a good thing. More on all the developments on Chuck after the jump -- just in case you haven't watch yet.

The more I think about Chuck and his Tron poster, the more I feel that at some point Chuck is only going to get the Intersect out of his head by going into the computer to face it. I'm not sure what "it" is, but there's some connection and in the movie, Jeff Bridges had to become part of the machine.

Using all the clues he's collected on the back of said Tron poster, Chuck went rogue this week -- and good for him! It's about time he asserted himself. He didn't go all The Prisoner -- "I am not a number!" -- but he did think and act for himself. Without permission or reporting to Sarah and Casey, he launched a computer search for Orion. Orion, who may or may not be related to Chuck responded in a sort of War Games style, typing messages onto the computer screen. What little we saw of Orion sort of looked like the black spy from Mad Magazine's Spy vs. Spy.

Unfortunately for Chuck, he's the only person motivated to get the Intersect out of his brain. It's became abundantly clear that to the General (who's probably shorter than Judge Judy) that he's only an asset. A valuable asset that she doesn't want to lose. Casey will follow the General's orders without question (that means the picture of Ronald Reagan should be going into mothballs), and Sarah will question, but ultimately follow orders, too. Chuck, therefore, knows now more than ever that he has to pursue Orion on his own from now on.

Yes, yes, it seems that Orion is a goner, but I don't believe it. (After all the Fulcrum agent faked his death with the pill that wasn't cyanide but looked like it.) Orion may or may not have been on the chopper that the predator zapped. We didn't see him get on the helicopter and, call me crazy, but I have the feeling that he's going to turn up again. Maybe it's the Mission: Impossible reference -- "this disk will self-destruct in five seconds" -- but he could have faked his death or escaped somehow. That's how they did it on Mission: Impossible. If he is gone, he left behind a whopper of a gift for Chuck, all those schematics and plans pertaining to the Intersect.

Chuck's double life is bound to get even more complicated now because as the last shot confirms, he's keeping the Orion information to himself. Meanwhile, the General has decided to make him a full-fledged spy. Note that she didn't offer to make him a spy; she commanded it. Chuck didn't get a vote. So much for democracy.

On the Buy More front, a TP attack from the Beverly Hills store prompted a skirmish between the stores over the release of a new gaming computer that was then exacerbated by a covert ops mix-up in the store after dark. Then, in a bow to The Right Stuff, Big Mike, Emmett, Morgan, Jeff and Lester marched out in formation and attacked the Bev Hills store. While the destruction was unexpected -- but impressive considering that Emmet swings like a little girl -- nothing in the show could top seeing the inside of Jeff's office. Can you imagine how it smelled? Ew.