Morgan and Casey have officially become my favorite bromance on television; they are far ahead of Chuck and Morgan. Now that Chuck has Sarah, it is nice that Morgan has Casey. One of the reasons I love Chuck so much is because it is an action-filled spy show like Alias (loved the similarities tonight and the call out to it even more), but it has heart. There were several emotional scenes — yes, my eyes watered while watching (both times). I was happy to see Ellie finally get some closure with her family, instead of being left in the dark as usual.
The Sarah-Chuck fight was a great first fight for them, but Chuck whining about it to every one almost crossed the line, but didn’t. I loved his chat with his mother about Sarah. She was almost a real mom to him. The payoff of the fight was brilliantly done with them fighting Volkov’s men while working out their trust issues. What better way to let out your frustration then beating up the bad guys instead of your partner?
With all the relationship stuff out of the way, now to the spy stuff. I’m not sure what to make of it. I am really just left with a lot of questions, which were all blown away with the big reveal….
Volkov!
I never saw that coming. And, it made me question everything that had happened. I watched again and everything from the capture, to the bar meeting, to the airplane, to the bank, to Chuck’s dad’s house — all of it- – was a trap, right?
The question remains: is Mama Bartowski good or bad?
Good:
Bad:
I lean towards her being good, but only because this is Chuck and not Alias. But, I think it will be more gray than black or white.
So, what do you think? Is Mama Bartowski (Frost) good or evil? Answer the poll below. And, share other Good/Bad thoughts in the comments. Either way, each episode continues to get better and better! I am loving the story this season.
Notes and Quotes:
Clacked by Carla Day 
on Nov 02, 2010 @ 00:19 EST5EDT
See, I didn’t like all of the allusions to Alias tonight. Way overkill. I mean, Spy Momma is enough, but invoking Phase Two with the plane bit, and then referencing the show was just too much.
I think that’s why I’m so frustrated with the answer to your question … I’ve seen this story before, I don’t care to deal with the back and forth that will be the rest of her tenure on the show.
*POST AUTHOR*
While there are similarities to Alias, I don’t see it as the same story at all. Similar – mothers that left their child to be a spy (and potentially a traitor). But, the tones of Chuck and Alias are so different. And, I presume the motivations of Mama Bartowski will be much different than those of Bristow’s mom.
I am enjoying this storyline.
I was loving Dalton so much as the goofy MI6 agent who is finally seeing some action that I didn’t even stop to consider that he could of been the big bad.
As for Chuck’s Mom: Bad, but not willing to sacrifice her son at the same time. Villains can love family members too. Plus it would give Linda Hamilton an easy out if the show gets renewed for a 5th season.
This was a great show. I slowly lowered my expectations after the first couple eps this season, but it returned to the Chuck I know and loved. The one thing I disliked is Chuck telling Sarah she needed to trust him as her boyfriend in work, not just outside of work. Yes, Sarah needs to trust him as an operative more, but if she thinks he’s doing something wrong, it’s her job to stop him.
I always hate when shows urge female significant others to ‘trust their guy’ when it’s their job not to (‘Haven’ did that briefly with smuggler Duke telling FBI agent Audrey Parker not to question his doings if she visited him while on the clock).
I’m still on the Good side, but I can see AC’s point that villains can love family too. I might be coming around to that side, but I do think it will never be super clear. I’m still waiting for Morgan do turn that switch in his brain that says “Mission Mode”, but for now I’m enjoying watching the little hairy goofball.
In answer to your first question, the thing under Ellie’s seat in the Mustang was a laptop identical to one that was in Orion/Steven’s ops base. They showed it when they did the quick look around the room after the bombs were set and Chuck and Sarah were racing to get out. I’m pretty sure it was another intersect. They showed
It has to be another intersect since all the research was blown to bits, including the “Intersect 2.0″ which was shown on a shelf in a passing shot. Without it, there’s no Chuck as we know him. While it could be written in that after using all those physical skills so many times his brain has retained them, without the intersect there would be no more flashing on information.
No matter what, it’s going to be fun watching how all this plays out. I never thought I’d say this, but I can’t wait for Monday!
I think the thing under the car is dad’s research. Mom probably knew that. There is no way she is going to be a bad guy.
Great post, Carla – you do it justice!!
I had my suspicions about “Volkov” when he gave the parachute to Chuck in the plane (don’t ask me why, it was just a feeling). But the triangle-shaped disk sealed the deal for me. It was way too obvious.
Concerning the goog/bad question, I think she’s a bad guy. Everything she has done in the good department was concerning her own family. Mainly Chuck’s and Ellie’s safety. In my opinion every 08/15-henchman cares about his family, no matter how “evil” the person is.
Love hearing your ideas about the episode. Gave me some things to think about. Pondering a follow-up post!