Chuck, 3x02, “Chuck vs. the Three Words”

Episode Title: Chuck vs. the Three Words
Writers: Allison Adler and Scott Rosenbaum

Director: Peter Lauer

Originally Aired: 01/10/2010
Grade: B

This episode was marginally better than the previous one, but only because Karina was in it. I couldn’t stand immature moron Chuck who wouldn’t stop whining about his fucking feelings during a dangerous mission. The initial “Hey Sarah, can we talk?” type of overture was fine, but when she cut him off in favor of focusing on the mission, his wrong time, wrong place alarm should have gone off. And After Karina called him on it and he still kept trying? Ack, what an infantile douche. He was cut off four times by Sarah and once by Karina, and yet he still ended up yammering about he and Karina being spies on the security camera and almost ruining the mission. The writers managed to turn one of Chuck’s most charming and refreshing traits (his emotional honesty and willingness to open up) into something deeply obnoxious.

Also, during the above yammering, he still didn’t give the most obvious and understandable reason for turning Sarah down in Prague, but at least what he did say was legit and came off a bit less self-absorbed than the original reason.

Other Stuff

-How did Chuck and Morgan end up going to the same club as Sarah and Karina? In a city the size of Los Angeles?

-During the exchange about Casey posing as Karina’s father—no, brother; no, uncle!—I didn’t get the impression that the writers remembered that Casey and Karina have had at least a couple of rather intimate encounters. Chuck’s “Casey, I think you have dungarees that are older than Karina” comment didn’t even feel like a knowing wink at the audience. (Though that could be because Baldwin and Anden didn’t play their character reactions quite right.)