Identity.
‘Everything you think and feel. Even your innate reflexes have to change.’
So Sarah and Shaw inform Chuck as he is prepped to take the place of hitman – Rafe(as wraith as in ghost) Gruber. Being a spy has a heavy price. Taking on the identity of another person is much more than that of merely playing a part. The immersion into a new persona has to be all encompassing. Your own identity has to be submerged. One slip could cost lives.
Do enough of these covers for long enough and you begin to lose who you really were. Or are. This is the subtext which runs through Chuck Vs The Fake Name. In this episode we are clearly shown the opposite paths that Chuck and Sarah are running on. Chuck is losing himself while Sarah is desperately trying to retain her identity. Something she was able to do when she had Chuck as her anchor.
‘I can pass for an cold blooded killer.’

For Chuck, the game is still so new and his desire to become a spy is so strong that he does not yet see the downside. He does not see that he is losing those intangibles that made him the person to whom Sarah was attracted to in the first place. Chuck is on so much of a tunnel vision express he cannot see how it is affecting his relationships with his family and friends.
All around Chuck are warning signs like the Ellie/Hannah encounter, the dinner he did not prepare, the lies he is telling to Hannah, his total ignorance of the state of his friendship with Morgan, and even the fact that he is dating Hannah, a civilian, in the first place. He is very much a person with blinders on. Unaware of the consequences that inevitably will arise.
‘The way he lies to Hannah. Lives are being affected.’
Sarah sees Chuck doing and saying things in the real and spy world that are stripping away the better parts of him. There is a price to these actions and we see one of the results when Chuck breaks up with Hannah. The hurt and the pain he has unwittingly inflicted on Hannah are the actions of a person that Chuck would have never sanctioned before. Now he has become that person and Hannah rightly calls him on it. He is no longer that nice guy.
‘I barely remember who I am anymore.’
For Sarah being an alias goes even further than that. She has been in the game for so long now that her grasp on who she is, is slipping away. Just the simple act of saying her real name now feels unnatural. When you reach that point the sense of loss must be great indeed. For names have power. Names are the tool by which people are identified.
With Chuck being so focused on becoming a spy, Sarah has lost the anchor she was using to cling onto. In a revelatory moment Chuck overhears Sarah telling Shaw all of this. It is a paralleling of Chuck’s speech to Sarah in the vault back in Chuck Vs The Three Words. If nothing else Shaw has become Sarah’s confidant. A sounding board for her concerns. With Shaw, Sarah has someone who can understand the issues that spies deal with when they are living the lie. They have both been there and back again. Chuck has not.

Episode Flashes:

• Casey sniping the assassin with a tranq dart
• Chuck sliding down the Castle rail bringing donuts
• Chuck’s first crush Mrs. Seaver – the mom from Growing Pains
• Chuck flashing on Alex Coburn in regards to Casey – someone else with an alias?
• Casey’s urging Chuck on to torture him by taking out his tooth
• Chuck’s reaction to the torture tools – ‘Is this stuff sterile?’
• Casey telling Chuck how proud he is at Chuck’s ability to play the part
• Sarah’s cheese knife throw
• Hannah’s toast during dinner coupled with Sarah’s reaction to watching it
• gangsters voicing fan concerns and giving Chuck relationship advice
• Casey sniping the assassin for real; making the shot only 5 other people could do
• Chuck and Ellie talking as brother and sister
• Hannah calling Chuck on being a very good liar and not being a nice guy
• Sarah trying to create something real

This is a strong episode that features great performances by the leads. Zac kicked ass inhabiting the role of a hitman with zeal bringing menace and humor to the role. He was equally adroit at handling character moments most of which involved painful revelations. It was great to see Chuck and Ellie share a brother and sister moment again too.
Yvonne turned in another stand out performance and continues to express Sarah’s struggles not just in dialogue but through her amazing ability to emote through body language and facial cues.
Adam Baldwin was badass as Casey. Again. The revelation that he too has a potential alias will no doubt have payoff further along. The respect that John Casey has for Chuck’s abilities as a spy was most welcome to see.
The BuyMore stuff was a mixed bag. While Jeff and Lester being perplexed by Chuck’s prowness with the fairer sex is in line with their characters their use as a Greek Chorus to point out the magic of Chuck and Sarah’s relationship did not work for me. Those two are the BuyMore equivalent of snipers. Using them for them for meta statements was a choice due to the budget restrictions the show is under but that moment would have worked much better using Morgan and Big Mike instead. Or better yet, dropped altogether. In contrast, the use of the gangsters to discuss, ‘Will they? Won’t they?’ relationships and give Chuck relationship advice was a hoot and a humorous wink to the fans.
‘I thought you were a nice guy!’
Chuck has hit rock bottom. The pain he inflicted on Hannah and the revelations from Sarah have been a hard slap of reality. Chuck is positioned to find his way back. But what a difficult balancing act it will be to keep his identity and yet be able to function successfully in the spy world.
Ali Adler has written another great episode.   Chuck and Sarah are struggling in unfamiliar territory.  They are making mistakes and are searching to find the right answers.  Never have the two of them been more vulnerable; more human; more real.
I love that.

Note: the moments in question may reside in this episode but that is a matter of circumstance. There are preceding story telling decisions that led up to this point. It is not an issue that can be analyzed in isolation.


Chuck: ‘Sarah and I have a very unique relationship.’
Indeed they do. Relationships are what drive this show. Not just Chuck and Sarah but all of them. More precisely it is the characters. This is the crux of the matter about the unhappiness being expressed by what transpired during the last 8 mins or so of the show. It is not about  WHAT of the show. It is the HOW.
When a piece of creative work is put forth to be experienced by an audience there is an unspoken bond taking place between the two parties. The creators are offering a story telling experience via the use of dramatic tokens. In turn for these tokens the audience gives the creator their willing suspension of belief. The creator sets up the premise of the show and within the first half dozen episodes build up an array of dramatic tokens for the audience to use to suspend that belief.
These creative tokens come in various forms via characters, plotting, show mythology, story telling logic, internal consistency, etc. Those tokens create ‘buy in’ for the audience. They know from episode to episode the show will be worth investing in because the tokens will be be in play. The more dramatically and empathically these tokens are woven into each episode the more engrossed the audience becomes. Synergistically so does their suspension of disbelief. The better the creators can get the audience to suspend their disbelief the stronger the audience’s involvement becomes. There is a symbiotic relationship going on between the two parties.
The amount of initial suspension of disbelief is dependent on the type of show. Obviously shows grounded in the reality of our world require less suspension. Comedies and shows with fantastical elements require a greater suspension of disbelief. The creators of such shows must compensate for this by offering up bigger storylines, bigger characters, bigger action and so on.
While Chuck may take place in a real world setting, it is one rife with fantastical elements. The show’s basic premise, that a computer database can be downloaded into a person’s brain, allowing them to access information, and now physical abilities, is a big step for the viewer to take. In turn the show offers a mix of entertainment that includes comedy, action, drama, pop culture/nerd references, romance, music, wish fulfillment, spy world vs real life conflicts, and characters.
Out of all of these tokens the show offers, the bedrock one is the characters. Chuck is blessed with an awesome cast and the chemistry between the two leads is captivating. This has turned out to be both blessing and curse. Double-edged sword as it has been referred to elsewhere. For the character/romance token has become so powerful and so dominant that the other tokens pale in comparison.
What it has allowed the show to do is skate around most tokens with a greater degree of freedom. The tokens of story logic, internal consistency, and story mythology are not scrutinized to the same degree we would with other shows because the entertainment payoff is well worth it. We get some great laughs, action, music, spy intrigue, romance, wish fulfillment, and character interaction because of the cross genre show pedigree.
But the caveat is all of our suspension of disbelief hinges on the characters and, by extension, the Chuck and Sarah romance. They are the realest things in the show. They are the anchor for the viewer’s suspension of disbelief. The moment the show wavers on that token then everything else built around it comes crashing down like a house of cards.
The show has set up the dynamics of a, ‘Will they, won’t they?’ tension that has been carried over the 3 seasons of the show. The longer that tension is maintained the more mass it acquires. The more mass it requires the bigger the elephant it becomes in the room. I liken it to a dramatic ball of inertia, or DB for short.
The longer the show runs with this DB, the more history and emotional investment by the viewers it acquires. So it becomes more and more of a complex story telling exercise that the writers must address if they want to bring in other romantic parties to the mix. The days of having a guest star show up for 1 or 2 episodes and strike up a romantic relationship with Chuck or Sarah are long past.
Now it requires several episodes to set up a storyline that can overcome the inertia that the DB has accumulated. It is not just an operation of injecting the new characters into the storyline. That is the easier part of the equation. The more difficult part is positioning the two leads where the new characters can be integrated into their lives in a manner that is not contrived. To add to the difficulty, all this must be done in a manner that the viewers will find plausible and dramatically interesting.

Extremely vital is the storyline being told, must be told honestly. This means that story points, character traits, etc established previously must be adhered to going forward. With Chuck this comes down to being true to the characters. A difficult one to maintain too as character evaluation is subjective and varies from individual to individual. We may agree on the broad strokes but beyond that there are many interpretations on the finer points.
When it was announced that the third season PLIs were going to be around for 4 and 8 episodes it appeared that the story requirements would be addressed. However as we have seen that has not been done entirely successfully. Of the two, the Chuck and Hannah one has been the more successful. Hannah has been in consecutive episodes and it can be seen that her character is a perfect match for Chuck. Though in 3.06 little was done to advance her arc with Chuck.
(Total aside here – I find it hard to believe that Chuck would be interested in striking up a new relationship given his focus on becoming a spy. He, more than anyone, is aware of the danger he is putting Hannah’s life in by mixing civilian and spy worlds together. This is one of those out of character issues that arise based on previous character history. To date the show has given me little to remove this objection.)
Matching Chuck up is easier than it is for Sarah because of the fundamental nature of the characters. Chuck is open emotionally and provides many doorways to new relationships. Sarah is the opposite and hence requires a lot more story finesse to do so. So when Shaw is MIA in episode 3.06, any momentum built up between him and Sarah is lost. This was a tactical error.
Shaw’s absence places the Shaw/Sarah storyline in a difficult spot. Sarah may have expressed concerns over Chuck turning into a spy in 3.06 but, again, nowhere enough story time is allocated on this point to make the necessary dent in the DB. Especially when Shaw does return in 3.07 and Sarah spurns him for three quarters of the episode. This makes telling the story honestly no longer possible if the goal is to initiate these new pairings by the end of the episode.. What happens then is a rush to move the characters to a targeted position. An exercise in artificiality. In this rush corners have to be cut. This means corners that involve story logic concessions and the use of out of character behavior.
This is the overhead the show must carry when it decides to sustain the, ‘Will they, won’t they?’ dynamic over time. If the Chuck showrunners want to use that device then they must be willing to pay that price. A price that has to be based on honest story telling instead of rushed story telling.
Rushed story telling is what happened in the last 8 minutes of 3.07. That is the HOW that is the issue.
Rushed story telling takes away the capacity for true storytelling and diminishes the most critical dramatic token the show has to offer; that of the characters. That is why the reaction is the one that resulted from fans.
It is not about telling the showrunners what to do.
It is not about objecting to injecting new PLIs into the storyline.
It is about whatever the show does, it does so by being true to the story telling and the dramatic tokens it gave us.
It is about the implicit bond of trust between creator and audience.
A speedbump was encountered on the third season journey. We saw it, we hit it, and we have gone passed it. It was a bump. Not a supernova. Let’s look forward instead of back, shall we? Because the road ahead is oh so, very inviting!

Wow.
If 3.06 was Chuck’s watershed episode then 3.07 seems to be the one for the fans.
Sometimes it is better to sit back and let the dust settle before offering up one’s thoughts. Since this episode aired the internet; via forums, tweets, and blogs has been indundated with thoughts negative and positive; covering the range from well thought out to impulsive and silly.
Given the fallout from this episode I will forgo the normal review structure to throw my hat into the Ring – sorry could not resist that one – and speak my piece.
So I apologize for the length up front. I tried to condense things as much as possible but found it impossible to do so and get this out in a timely manner. Due to length it will be posted in two parts. Don’t freak out! They will all be posted at the same time. Look for the link at the bottom of the page.
Here we go: a combination review/soapbox piece. Enjoy
Some quick clarifying statements that hopefully will prevent discussion about issues that have been hashed on the internet already and keep attention on the points being made in this article:
1) calls for boycotting the show because of one episode are silly and counter-productive
2) Chuck as a series has a very superior batting average(in the high .900’s easily) when it comes to the quality of its episodes
3) every series, every season has an episode or two that does not sit well with viewers
4) fans are not entitled to dictate to the showrunners how to conduct their business
5) fans are entitled to voice their opinions both negative and positive about the finished product *
6) the issue with this episode is not what is being done but how it is being done
* – and do so in civilized ways. Communicate with the recipient in the same manner you expect someone to do with you.
Overall this episode falls within the bounds of what can be expected from a Chuck installment and it hums along pretty well for about 34 minutes of its 42 minute running time. There are some great action scenes centered on the musuem vault, some great comedy moments as well – the opening and closing vault doors taking the prize, and some entertaining beats between Chuck, Sarah, Hannah, Casey, and Shaw depending on the scene and whom is in it.
The ‘B’ story line with Morgan and Ellie is fun too; loved the secret knock that took Ellie awhile to master. In fact if I was Devon I would be a tad jealous of the chemistry that exists between Morgan and Ellie.
There is a beat earlier where Sarah raises a concern about using a civilian in a mission that is a Chuck line. Even after the point is made, Chuck remains in total spy mode. A little moment that shows how much the roles have switched between Chuck and Sarah.
Then the gas gets released and things start to get a little stinky.

Episode Flashes:

• Opening action scene with Shaw – nice Mission Impossible nod
• Casey sporting writer Phil Klemmer’s last name on his work overalls ID aka Klemmer Fine Art Movers
• Chuck and Hannah to the rescue using their brains
• Chuck’s abilities as a spy increasing
• Morgan and Ellie’s secret knock
• Casey’s coffee – black and bitter, what other way would he have it?
• Casey cutting the mics in the van under the guise of annoying gabbing to protect Chuck and Sarah
• Chuck and Sarah jealously mocking each other’s PLI or LI now
• Sarah and Chuck as a team breaking into the vault
• the opening and closing vault doors while Chuck dangles upside down
• Sarah kicking ass while Chuck dangles
• Chuck making the catch in the vault that Shaw could not – and upside down to boot!
• Casey’s chagrin at not being able to blow something up
• Morgan’s devestation seeing Chuck and Hannah together
• Ellie’s elation seeing Chuck and Hannah together
• Casey’s disapproving grunt at Sarah and Shaw as he leaves the Castle

It is up to Chuck to save the day and he does with aplomb; saving not only Shaw and Sarah but Hannah too. Team Bartowski regroups at the Castle. Chuck is told he is well on his way to losing the training wheels ie his team mates. This comes out of the blue and hits the floor with dramatic thud not because we know that Sarah and Casey are not going anywhere but because Casey and Sarah would not be so nonchalant about it. It appears to link back to Shaw, who is doing his best to accelerate Chuck’s training. This drive by Shaw to get Chuck out on his own and away from Team Bartowski for purposes foul or fair is yet to be determined.
Then Chuck and Sarah talk about their situation and within short order he and Sarah are on their way to exploring new relationships. This switch in show dynamics is played too quickly. It is these moments that have become the flashpoint of fan discontent.
Click here for Part 2 of MidSeason Melodrama – Episode 3.07: Chuck Vs The Mask

Awesome is as Awesome does. And Awesome pretty well can do it all.
With the Angel de la Muerte the payoff for Devon finding out about Chuck being a spy last season is realized. Must be tough being Devon aka Captain Awesome. Everything comes to him so easily. From scoring with Ellie shortly after they first meet to becoming a doctor to mastering extreme sports to speaking other languages to being a straight arrow that accepts his gifts as matter of fact without being an insufferable cretin as would be expected. It is this mixture of awesomeness and matter of factness that has made Devon a fan favorite when he could have easily be turned into a caricuture.

What is so tough about so many high levels of competencies? Finding new challenges. In the grip of post wedding blues Ellie and Devon are fumbling looking for ways to reignite their zest for life. Devon finds his chance in the spy world when he treats a Premier from Costa Gravis – a fictional country named after the writer – played with hammy zeal by Armand Assante. Grateful for his treatment Goya invites Devon and Ellie to his embassy for a gala dinner. Insinuating himself as an invitee allows Chuck and Sarah to attend the ball with the hidden purpose of providing protection.
Devon informs Chuck that the Premier was poisoned and this intel sparks Beckman to assign Team Bartowski to protect Goya as the country is in the process of being a democracy. Casey has to stay in the car as he is known as the Angel of Death in Costas Gravas – even though he has three failed previous assasination attempts on Goya.
If there is any doubt that the showrunners have been strolling through forums and blogs word browsing this episode puts it to rest. The simultaneous conversations between Chuck and Devon on one side of the room and Sarah and Ellie on the other take many fan complaints and has fun with them. Particularly Devon’s, ‘Excruciating,’ comment to Chuck about no sex. What is really great about this sequence is how at ease the four actors are with each other. Plus we finally get a long overdue Sarah/Ellie scene! Hopefully only the first of more to come.
The ball proves to be a slightly more complicated protection detail when Goya displays an open attraction to Ellie that puts her in harm’s way of a would be assassin. Chuck flashes on some mad dancing skills and he and Sarah twirl their way across the dance floor to intercept him only to find out it is a false alarm. They are kicked out of the embassy forcing Casey out of the van. Misreading the situation and mistaking a Mario Brothers lookalike disguised Casey, Devon takes him out blowing Casey’s cover.
This leads to the rescue of Casey and the saving of the twice poisoned Ambassador via a reluctant blood donation from Casey. Thus the Angel of Death becomes the Angel of Life. Too bad the Premier’s thanks was done in a voice over instead of having Assante on stage to do this scene with Adam Baldwin. The interplay between the two would have been priceless.
Episode Flashes:

• Devon/Ellie closet makeout scene including Ellie’s lucky sweater

• Devon/Ellie making out within moments of meeting each other. Poor Chuck and Sarah.

• Chuck returning from an unseen mission with the helicopter flying too close to home

• Devon switching effortlessly from English to Spanish during a news conference

• Devon scaring Chuck in his bedroom and Chuck unable to do so later on in the courtyard

• Armand’s letcherous ways and dance scenes with Sarah Lancaster

• shirtless sweaty Devon for the ladies again.

• sweaterless Ellie for the guys – for the first time! No sweat though.

• Casey’s fight scene with hypodermic needle filled with poison stuck in his leg

• Casey listing Goya’s favourite movie and showering habits

• Sarah putting weapons in a bag and Chuck taking them out as she plans to storm the embassy in a solo rescue mission to save Casey

Finally this episode sets up the relationship landscape for the third season. The handshake scene near the end between Chuck and Sarah is rife with multiple emotions and bears much rewatching. Compare this one to the one from S1. In S1 it is a handshake between two giddy children. In this one it is between adults. There is an air of maturity, loss, and recently learned lessons. For the first time in the series the two of them seem like adults.
There is regret in that handshake. Sarah wants to keep it simple. She is willing to try again but wants to start from a real place this time. She needs time to heal and she needs to be in this place for now so she can properly protect Chuck and the world from Intersect 2.0.
Chuck accepts her offer but there is an air about him of a lost opportunity and the realization that his calling has come at a high price.
This is borne out in the final scene when Sarah brings Chuck bad news about Devon. She gives him a hug that is simultaneously intense, gentle and intimate. It is not quite a gesture of comfort from a life partner but it is much more than that of just a friend.
It is a moment of sobering reality and Sarah acts accordingly.
All in all a very solid episode that only disappoints by not having a proper closing scene for Armand Assante.

• Casey ragging on Chuck – one solo mish does not an agent make!
• Weap – Con!
• Chuck’s first Johnny Walker Black
• the drooping laser pen and Chuck’s aim
• Sarah Seduction of Manoosh
• great callback to the pilot Vicki Vale scene to bookend the episode
• Sarah’s sadness at watching Chuck become a spy
• Casey’s quiet pride at Chuck becoming a spy
• Hannah telling Morgan, in his broom closet office, about Chuck’s Paris trip to the climatic strain of Swan Lake
• Jeff & Lester – professional stalkers that do solid spy work on Hannah’s background
• Sarah’s Frak Off T-Shirt
• Morgan in a smoking jacket replete with cravat
• Weap-Con floorshow models complete with automatic weapons