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Chuck finds out he may not be as special as he thinks

This review may contain spoilers.

The success of “Chuck” always revolves around the idea that an ordinary person can actually be very special. But this episode smartly gets to the question of what makes Chuck special.

Now that Chuck completed hias first solo mission, he is assigned his first asset in the geek doppelganger of Manoosh (Fahim Anwar). Manoosh reminds us of Chuck when we, and Sarah in a flashback, first met him. As a target of the ring, Chuck is supposed to gain his confidence so that they can find out what he has that the ring wants. When he stumbles in his “seduction” skills, Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) comes in with the save wearing a t-shirt any geek would drool to see on a hot girl.

It turns out that Manoosh has more in common with Chuck than anyone would like. Unlike Chuck who wants to use his special abilities for good, Manoosh is willing to betray the ring to sell his abilities to the highest bidder at a weapon convention conveniently called Weap-Con. In typical fashion, Sarah, Casey (Adam Baldwin), and Chuck, using an Intersect flash to find the appropriate skills, save the day by overcoming ring agents, destroying the rogue Intersect software, and acquiring Manoosh. But this superficially basic plot isn’t what was interesting about the episode.

Chuck, overcoming his insecurities and feelings of vulnerability, is actually developing good spy skills. He lies to his sister easily. He lies to his best friend Morgan (Joshua Gomez). He lies to the new Nerd Herd girl Hannah (Kristin Kreuk). And in the end, he disposes of his usual compassion and neutralizes Manoosh to save the mission. In essence, everything that made Chuck special to Sarah is everything that he is betraying. At the same time, he is becoming a better spy, but at what cost? That is the question that has already been suggested in the first few episodes of this season, but is clearly now becoming part of the forefront. More importantly, those closest to him, specifically Morgan and his sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster), are starting to question what’s going on with Chuck. It seems that Chuck’s balancing act is going to be jeopardized more and more as the season moves forward.

What Worked

Although this show could be too predictable, it is the blend of action and emotion as well as the intentional slapstick and humor that gives the show its strength. Casey adds to the laughs in this episode whether it is as “Tranquinstein” because he used way too many tranquilizers on Manoosh or because he was way too excited to go to Weap-Con. In spite of the fact that we like to laugh at Casey, his hesitant acceptance of Chuck in the end raises an immediate flag about who Chuck is becoming.

The Chuck and Manoosh parallel as well as the pairing of Morgan and Ellie at the end were good choices to help us think about Chuck’s future. It was interesting to see a skills flash and martial arts use by someone other than Chuck. However, showing us the difference an Intersect could make in anyone else other than Chuck helps us to continue to root for our favorite geek. Setting up the changes in Chuck’s character as he evolves (or devolves) as a spy will also push the series to go outside its normal formula. For a show that had an unclear future last year, this season is setting up extremely interesting scenarios.

What Didn’t Work

Where did Shaw (Brandon Routh) go? If he was so pivotal in trying to make Chuck a better spy, it seems inconsistent to have him suddenly gone in this episode. Also, it feels as if there should have been more Hannah and Chuck interaction after their spark in the previous episode. Although she is the plot key for Morgan to suspect Chuck, she felt underused. This season’s use of special appearances by well-known actors, especially from other sci-fi shows, has been adding to the strength of “Chuck”. Hopefully, they’ll be used a little more effectively in future episodes, something that seemingly will be rectified in the future according to the previews for the next episode.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

“Chuck” stars Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Joshua Gomez, Ryan McPartlin, Vik Sahay, Scott Krinsky, Sarah Lancaster, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Bonita Friedericy, and Adam Baldwin. “Chuck Versus The Nacho Sampler” was directed by Allan Kroeker and written by Matt Miller and Scott Rosenbaum.

“Chuck” airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.