Friday, January 20, 2012

Chuck 5x11 "...vs. the Bullet Train"

I feel like I haven't said this in awhile: that was a great episode of Chuck! Honestly I've felt a bit lackluster about the last couple of seasons, but tonight things gelled in ways they haven't gelled in awhile. All of the various subplots intersected together with the main plot fabulously. Also, Ben Browder had a brief guest appearance, and if you don't know, I was a huge Farscape fan, so this was doubly exciting. Too bad he did not have a larger role, but oh well!

Recap/review of Chuck 5x11 'Chuck versus the Bullet Train' by freshfromthe.com
Standing and staring is our specialty at Carmichael Industries.
Okay let's get down to recapping business, shall we? If you don't recall, as of the last episode, Chuck was taken by new nefarious dude Quinn, and Sarah had to download the bad Intersect to try to save him. We pick up right where it left off, with Quinn loading Chuck onto a bullet train in Japan (why Japan? this was never explained), and Sarah and Casey in hot pursuit thanks to her new Intersect abilities. While they are after Chuck, Devon, Ellie and Alex are trying to see if they can figure out what the Intersect did to Morgan's brain so they can help Sarah when they get back. There's some kind of suppression device they can use to stop the effects, but not until they're back. Also, Lester and Jeff still remember that something weird is going on in the Buy More, but they don't particularly recall what exactly it is.

Back in Japan, the gang manages to lock Quinn up and Sarah finally tells Chuck that she has the faulty Intersect. Their plan is to just hang on the train until it gets to its destination, but of course we know how these sorts of plans go. Quinn has sent some people (including the aforementioned Ben Browder!) to pick up Alex and hold her hostage. He makes Casey be his lackey in the meantime, getting Chuck and Sarah back to see him face to face. He wants them to break into a secure facility and steal the pristine Intersect so that he can have it. But Sarah does some flashing and takes him out - only she throws him out the window, even though she tried to make herself stop. It turns out her brain is already starting to deteriorate. The more she flashes, the worse it gets.

Because Quinn had to keep calling his minions every half hour in order to keep Alex alive, Casey has to recruit Morgan and Devon to get her back before the time runs out. They, however, get caught by the minions in question, and locked up with Alex. Luckily, however, it just so happens that Lester and Jeff saw the whole kidnapping thing happen from the start. They find the dropped bluetooth device Casey is still on, and he tells them the schpiel - they're spies, etc. - and they end up saving the day in Burbank.

Back on the train, however, things aren't looking good for Sarah. Ellie and Chuck confab about it, and decide he has to figure out a way to build a suppression device there on the train. He manages to get a laptop and the necessary supplies and starts downloading the software, but the internet goes down thanks to Quinn, who of course, despite being thrown out of a bullet train window, survived and pulled himself back inside. That's what villains do, duh.

Quinn and Chuck get their fight on while Sarah hangs back with a blindfold over her eyes - any new flash could cause her memory to completely go. But Quinn manages to get away. Sarah feels/sees him go past, and goes after him. He locks them both in one of the luggage cars and starts a decoupling procedure. Sarah tries to get out, but he tranqs her, and whisks her away to points unknown.

Now it would've made sense to stop the episode there, but we still have one act left. Sarah comes to with Quinn, who wants to get the bad Intersect out of her, then use her to get him the good one. She refuses, but he's got some psychedelic cards to show her that make her brain go completely screwy. She manages to activate her homing beacon for the others, but they don't make it there in time. She wakes up in her old apartment, having no memory of the last three years, with Quinn showing up claiming to be her handler with instructions to kill one Chuck Bartowski.

Dun dun dun! Next week is the two hour series finale, if you can believe it. The amazing thing is not so much that the show is ending, but that it managed to get five seasons in the first place. Long live the Buy More!

Song Choices:

Days are Forgotten - Kasabian
She Tows the Line - Crooked Fingers

Quotes:

"It was stuffy in here, you know, so I thought I'd open the window, and then I thought maybe I'd escape." - Chuck

"The newly unimpaired you is a master of the obvious." - Lester

Lester: We need a plan.
Jeff: It should be keen and clever, utilizing our unique talents.
Lester: Do we have any of those?
Jeff: I think you are uniquely wasteful and destructive.
Lester: Let's build on that.

"We have something better than a Buy More, we have a train full of Japanese people." - Chuck

"I will not have my last words to Alex be a demand for pizza combos!" - Morgan

"Wow. Casey rolls strong, like raring for the apocalypse strong." - Devon

"You're outgunned, outmanned, and out...side. And it's a lovely day." - Lester

Jeff: Behold the flames of destiny!
Lester: What he said.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

6 comments:

  1. I think one of the problems with the last couple of seasons was the unknown factor if NBC and WBTV were gonna keep Chuck going so a lot of high paced action plots and Sarah and Chucks blossoming romance were the focus and character development beyond the simple bantering and family drama took the backseat. At least that's what I got with it.

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    1. That probably had something to do with it, but I also just felt a bit of fatigue at the same sort of "get the bad guy" episode every week, which is always a possibility after a show has been on awhile.

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    2. True, that was tiring but not so much like the recycling of old villians with new names. Volkoff and Shaw were exceptions because of how bloody brilliant Routh and Dalton played them. Oh how I loved the Superman gone bad plot or how Dalton mirrored Neville Sinclair perfectly. Plus we never really learned the full agendas of the Ring, Fulcrum, and what their intentions were with the intersect, We just know they're bascially Terrorists, smugglers, cattle branders and square dance callers you know seriously bad dudes.

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  2. This little exchange made me laugh:

    Casey: The Buy More, your friends, your country needs you.
    Lester: Canada?

    Which became even more icing on the cake when Jeffster saved the day, "O Canada" was playing throughout.

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    1. Ha I didn't even notice that O Canada was playing in the background - too funny.

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    2. Well Vik Patay is canadian, so it fits. hahaha

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