After two very light-hearted, pure comedy episodes, this week's Chuck decided to take a dark turn with "Chuck Versus the Tooth."  While we've definitely loved some of the darker episodes this season, this particular hour just didn't do it for us.

The episode was loaded with guest stars galore including Christopher Lloyd, the return of Brandon Routh as a dead Shaw, Julia Ling as Anna, and even our favorite Allan Louis from Privileged.  Unfortunately with just so much going on, it just didn't feel like they took advantage of their guests.

The premise of the Intersect causing nightmares and messing with Chuck's brain definitely had amazing potential.  However, it quickly turned into an advantage for Chuck with no real downside or impending peril for our hero.  We were just left with Lloyd ominously telling Chuck it will cause problems. 

If we're going to believe the Intersect is going to destroy Chuck's brain we're going to need a little more than a few accurate nightmares.  We love the idea of the show taking more bold, creative directions like this, but they just have to be better fleshed out.

Maybe we're being too harsh on the show, but we've come to expect a lot more entertainment from the show we look forward to the most on Mondays.  And that says a lot giving the night's impressive lineup.  At least next week thanks to Ellie's stupidity we have to look forward to the return of Stephen Bartowski.

Our favorite Chuck quotes from the disappointing episode after the jump.

Casey: I've had malaria maybe four or five times. Those meds aren't gonna help, what he needs is African snake herb. | permalink

Jeff: You're leaving me with home appliances? It's filled with lumpy housewives... my favorite. | permalink

Eric Hochberger is the programmer of TV Fanatic, so please forgive his mediocre writing. His programming is far better. Follow him on Twitter and/or email him. Just don't request threaded comments. They're coming.