'Chuck' Season 4, Episode 14 Recap

['Chuck' – 'Chuck Versus The Seduction Impossible']

Seven days ago, I expressed some thoughts about how the once-again extended life of 'Chuck' had possibilities, but also potential roadblocks as well. Last week's episode functioned not only as an end to the Volkoff arc, but in many ways the show itself.

It makes sense, in that it was designed as such back when the producers didn't know if that would be the series' swan song. But with the show's death sentence staved off again, could 'Chuck Versus the Seduction Impossible' be anything other than a letdown after the nearly pitch perfect way in which so many things ended last week?

In a nutshell? Yes. How? By changing the pitch of the show or, rather, its tone. So much of the past two seasons has consisted of the increasing burden placed upon the show's titular hero, layered on ounce by ounce, week after week. The individual elements were almost imperceptible, until one day the show woke up to find our favorite Nerf Herder weighed down like Atlas, dragging the entire show down in the process with him. 'Chuck' never truly abandoned its comedic elements, but had a difficult time inserting old-school humor into a show that couldn't decide if it was a breezy spy show, a melodramatic soap opera, or an operatic family drama.

'Seduction Impossible' shook off all that weight like my dog coming in out of the rain, shedding all the excess baggage to produce one of the most singularly fun episodes since ... well, honestly, I don't know when. There have been some excellent episodes over the past two seasons, to be certain. But I can't remember one that desired nothing more than to simply and completely please its audience at every step along the way. Snappy dialogue! Yvonne Strahovski in a bellydancing outfit! A fun mission! Yvonne Strahovski in a bellydancing outfit! Characters ceasing to hide secrets from each other! And did I mention Yvonne Strahovski in a bellydancing outfit?

At no point was 'Chuck' ever going to be an entry in the Jason Bourne series. And yet, after the introduction of The Intersect 2.0, the show occasionally flirted with trying to accomplish just that. The problem was this: The writers know these characters fairly well, but know almost nothing about constructing legitimate, plausible spy missions. That made hackneyed attempts at humor during those missions (usually in the form of Chuck's mind being on his relationship with Sarah when it should have been on the baddies) groan-inducing, not to mention hurting audience opinion of these characters in the process.

So imagine my delight to hear Chuck tonight say, "All this interpersonal stuff on a mission? Very unprofessional!" NO KIDDING, dude. But having it in the context of a beret-wearing, all-female army that's minting something called "Super Notes"! No problem there. There's almost never been much in the way of tension during the missions on the show, in that we're rarely worried about the fates of our main trio at any point. So it's best to have missions like tonight, in which the worst thing Chuck can do in-mission is SNEEZE. That made all the bickering seem more internally consistent than normal, since it seemed more like banter, and less like ill-timed squabbles.

Likewise, I couldn't believe my ears upon hearing the new and apparently improved Ellie admit to her mother that she would be selfish to deny Mary the chance to return to the spy world. (Note to Awesome: Get her pregnant again quickly, so Chuck can come clean in another nine months or so.) Sarah Lancaster does the best with what she's been given on this show, but just a few episodes ago I was calling for her character to be written out. While pregnant, Ellie wasn't a character so much as a walking, talking obstacle for Chuck. It did her character no good whatsoever to simply be a wet blanket that forced the title character to hide his true identity. With Ellie's breakthrough tonight, let's hope she learns about Chuck sooner rather than later.



I think she will, in that the theme of "family secrets soon to be revealed" dominated the non-spy storylines for Sarah and Casey. Both recoiled, along with Chuck, as everyone started to plan the Chuck/Sarah wedding for them. But while they recoil, they also realize just how much they miss having their own families around to be able to embarrass them. The rest of Season 4 seems to be about Chuck's search for Sarah's family (because it wouldn't be 'Chuck' without missing parents) as well as Casey's increasingly complicated relationship with Alex. Sure, he had his "Stella!" moment at the end, seeing the love of his life happy with another man. But I can't help but think Kathleen will end up somehow at Chuck's wedding, dancing with the man she thought was dead.

These types of arcs aren't as epic as those involving The Ring, but know what? Small can be good. It certainly was tonight, as the tighter/lighter focus produced a 'Chuck' I look forward to seeing more of in the near future. (Even if it doesn't feature Yvonne Strahovski in a bellydancing outfit. Or a bazooka-wielding Beckman. Although it certainly could.) Our main trio might think they need a bad guy in order to stay sane, but personally, I'm happy just to spend a few more lighthearted weeks with characters that could have been gone after last week. The show's on borrowed time at this point. No need to reintroduce darkness into this world. I'm ready to have some fun again.

Luckily, it seems like 'Chuck' is as well.

'Chuck' airs Mondays, 8PM ET on NBC.

What did you think of 'Seduction Impossible'? Enjoy the engaged version of Chuck/Sarah? Do you want another big arc for the rest of the season, or would you rather keep things more intimate? Will you ever look at Beckman the same again after that Berlin flashback? Leave your thoughts below!

Watch the full episode here: