Chuck Review: Next Stop, Vecas Please

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With only a couple episodes remaining in the season, and its future in jeopardy with continuously falling ratings, Chuck did a number of things in "Chuck Versus Agent X" that reminded me of why I bought so many Subway sandwiches a couple years ago. This is still a fun show that has the ability to do a substantial story line well when it tries to.

Ellie taking forever to figure out that Chuck was still a spy, and Chuck continuing to keep it from her, was a plot that was running rather old this season. The heartfelt chat between Chuck and Ellie about the fact that she was using the Orion computer and he was still a spy was sweet.

Chuck's Bachelor Party

But we all knew that was coming. What was great was that they wrapped that up quickly, figured out who Agent X was, surprised me in that moment, and then created an entirely new heartfelt conversation between brother and sister about how their dad wanted them to not only find Agent X but help him.

And because we are running out of time on the season, I'm not sure if it would be a good idea or not to have Chuck and Ellie team up and seek out Volkoff so that they can turn him into a good guy.

If they get another season, I would gladly watch Alexi Volkoff internally battle between the evil persona his original intersect turned him into and the scientist gun-hating guy he grew up as.

While the ideas for the future of Chuck made "Agent X" interesting, the episode itself was filled with entertaining material as well.  We will take a look at how the Chuck Triple Threat played out, but first go chase some tail.

Action
There was a bit of a change of pace from the past few episodes, as plenty of action was put on screen.  The conversation begins and ends with the crazy old lady that ended up being Alexi Volkoff's mother.  The woman wasn't afraid of anybody, or maybe she was.  Why else would she have such heavy artillery everywhere you look?  Watching the old lady fire that machine gun, while Casey fed her the bullets with a smile, was absolutely fantastic.

Casey also took out every member of Volkoff's crew - minus Ray Wise - one by one while Awesome and Morgan chatted and made spears.  The mud on the Colonel's face was a nice touch.  And then there was Chuck showing Ellie his flashing ability with a sword.  To quote Rob Schneider in Surf Ninjas, "He could get a job as a sushi chef, no problem."

Comedy
Well all of the obvious mix ups between Las Vegas and Las Vecas worked beautifully.  Once they ended up in the woods, it made a lot of sense.  Awesome did not seem like the Vegas type, and the fact that Jeff was pleased with the mix up made the whole thing that much better.

Before they made their way to the wonders of Las Vecas, Lester was on fire.  His entire discussion about making it rain, or snow, because it was Canadian style, was hilarious.  Obviously he's too cheap for dollar bills, so he was throwing up "dolla, dolla, coins y'all."

And while I am not a fan of the clichéd move to have the strippers dressed up like cops seem like they are actually cops, it almost worked here.  It's never funny, but it was much more difficult to hate on Chuck, because the fact that they were dressed as spy operatives made it that much more believable.

Heart
Like I mentioned at the top, there were a couple of good conversations between Chuck and Ellie.  I do hope that they become a bit of a duo at some point, because it will be a nice new dynamic for the show.

Other than that, the only other heartfelt moment was when Morgan came up with the perfect excuse for Big Mike so that he could go on the bachelor party with them.  It was the greatest thing a white person had ever done for Big Mike, and it was nice to see the step father and step son bond a bit.

Moving Forward
While Gary Cole killed it last week on "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner," this week's "Chuck Versus Agent X" gave us a lot more to work with. The final two episodes of the fourth season suddenly seem a lot more interesting.  What did you all think of "Agent X?" And will the season end with anything other than a Bartowski/Walker wedding?

Chuck Versus Agent X Review

Editor Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.8 / 5.0 (50 Votes)

Dan Forcella is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.

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Chuck Season 4 Episode 22 Quotes

She knows I tapped Vegas dry back when I was with Earth, Wind, Fire and Rain.

Big Mike

May I ask the best man what casino we're going to be hitting first? I got a fat stack burning a hole in my crotch.

Lester