Chuck, 2x08, “Chuck vs. the Gravitron”

Episode Title: Chuck vs. the Gravitron
Writer: Chris Fedak
Director: Allison Liddi Brown
Originally Aired: 11/24/2008
Grade: A-

I’m so incredibly happy to have this arc over with. I didn’t hate Jill, but I hated the way she affected Chuck’s behavior and his relationship with Sarah. Hopefully Chuck can now put Jill and Stanford behind him and we’ll never have to see this annoying version of Chuck again.

Jill and Bryce both being spies and Chuck having the genius information retention ability (or whatever it is) better be a deliberate part of the story, because it doesn’t work for me as coincidence. Although I guess if I remember my initial feeling about this show, which is that it functions almost like Chuck is writing himself into his very own fanfic, it makes perfect sense…

Oh, and why did Bryce never defend himself against Chuck’s accusations that he stole Jill? Maybe I’m misremembering, but I could swear that Chuck or Morgan actually brought this up pretty bluntly with Bryce and he didn’t deny it, so why? It’s not like Bryce knew Jill was Fulcrum and just didn’t feel like going into all the details, because I’d think that would be information that Sarah would need to have.

And good grief, it’s hard to believe Sarah and (especially) Casey were stupid enough to leave Chuck alone in the Castle with Jill, given how trusting he is and how much trouble he can get into. At least it was obvious that they wondered how they could be so stupid, as well.

Like I said, I’m glad this arc is over. On to more positive things.

Sarah’s “Jill role-playing” with Chuck was adorable. She was feeling insecure and needed to reaffirm that Chuck is “under her spell,” to use her own words.

I loved Morgan’s Ellie turkey-carving fantasy sequence because it perfectly complements Chuck’s goofy Sarah fantasies. Although Ellie throwing that turkey into the trash bugged the hell out of me—it was so wasteful that it almost seemed out of character. I know she was stressed, but she’s such a caring, thoughtful person that I felt like she would have offered it to Morgan, imperfect though she deemed it to be.

Overall, I didn’t think this was particularly outstanding episode, but it’s getting nudged into an A- by the fact that the Jill arc is finally fucking over, and good riddance.