Monday November 1, 2010

SPOILERS: Chuck and Castle

Who's awesome? This guy...

Oooh, it's November. Hope you all had a good Halloween and maybe even made it to the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear like me! According to lots of fancy websites, November is sweeps month. I'm not sure quite what that means, but the result is that we'll be seeing all our favorite shows trying to pull out all the stops to woo us over the coming weeks.

And I totally love pandering. Bring it. Guest stars, plots twists, and cliffhangers galore.

Episode of the Day: Chuck, "Chuck versus the First Fight" because of this guy [above]. Timothy Dalton. Aka James Bond (The Living Daylights and License to Kill), albeit for a short period of time. 

By the way, when I say "Spoilers", this time I really mean it. There is a massive Chuck spoiler after the jump. Really. Don't ruin this episode for yourself by reading it if you plan on watching the show soon. I'll put the Castle review first. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Castle, "Almost Famous": This episode was absolutely hilarious. And honestly, after last weeks dramatic episode, it was totally what I needed. Just pure humor for one episode. And what's funnier than a case about a stripper? Not much.

As always there's two parts to a Castle episode - the case, and whatever Alexis' story is. Usually this bothers me, but this week, unless I really really missed something, Alexis' story about auditioning for Grease had absolutely nothing to do with the case. Great. I enjoyed it, and I wasn't throwing stuff at the TV for the poser-House epiphany Castle sometimes gets. To be honest, I knew it was a good start when Castle started talking about the Swedish bikini team reciting positive reviews of Naked Heat. 

The case itself was also full of hilarity. Look no further than Ryan as Edward Cullen as his stripper persona. The case itself was interesting, as it's tracked back to the very guilty looking sugar mama who is in turn being set up by her lawyer.

Some great moments:

• Beckett gets to take Castle to a strip club [above] and is mobbed trying to talk to Hans (Castle with the fire extinguisher)
• Castle's great woven story about Rebecca as the possible killer
• Alex and Martha rehearsing in costume

Quotes:

• "That's tequila [on the muzzle of the fake gun]...cheap tequila"
• "Ladies, I am not a stripper, though I can understand why you'd make that mistake"
• "As the person in this room who has scene everything under the sheet....bargain"
• "Shut the front door!"

Chuck, "Chuck versus the First Fight": So there's basically three highlights here - Sarah/Chuck, Mama Bartowski, and Tuttle.

Sarah/Chuck: Gotta say, for once the constant drama and issues between them didn't drag down the episode, and instead made it better. I love a good action fight/emotional fight combo scene, and the one in the bank was very well done. However, the end was a little unbelievable. Just because Sarah says she'll take Chuck's side on trusting his mother shouldn't mean that she acts stupid. Not keeping an eye on Mama B was just stupid.

Mama Bartowski [below]: Where to begin? She had so many great scenes. Her moment with Ellie was rather poignant; so much awkwardness, that they have trouble beginning the scene, but there's this continual sense of love and of trying. Both actresses were really great. Then her scenes with Morgan were just hilarious. Finally the end, her "turn face" for the, what? 5th time? WHAT DID SHE DO TO CHUCK? My guess, is an Intersect upgrade, not a removal. She mentions that it was something Orion didn't approve of, and Steve Bartowski wanted to remove the Intersect from Chuck in season 2.

Timothy Dalton [above]: Finally, Tuttle. Or should I say Volkoff??? I did not see that coming. It was somewhat reminiscent to Alpha's first appearance on Dollhouse, except this one was so incredibly well setup. Timothy Dalton was absolutely hilarious as a (believable!) field-newbie handler from MI6. He was earnest, funny, and just plain adorkable. And then, as the episode wound to a close, when he vanished from the bank, my heart just skipped a few beats. I was sure that he didn't want to be found by the CIA but why....why....OH MY G-D HE'S GOT AN ACCENT! What a killer twist. And I'm just plain thrilled we're going to see more of him. 

...Plus, he's a fan of Alias! (That one particular line about the Alias episode made me crack up)

Finally, there is the glowing green box of ominosity underneath Ellie's car. There I have to admit, I'm totally at a loss for what it might be. Ideas?

Quotes:

• "Morgan how long have you been hiding behind that door... Morgan, please don't touch my chest."
• (When Mama B finds out about the Chuck/Sarah fight) "Do you want to...talk...about it?" "No, no, that's ok."
• "My first sexual experience while watching Lawrence of Arabia...I'm not proud of it." ALSO "Oh cool, a tiny weapon standoff!"
• The question from Tuttle to Chuck about if he was "giving her one" to Mama B
• "Honey, people stopped using friendster 5 years ago."
• "Morgan Grimes, I haven't seen you since you were nine years old." "You know what? I haven't had a decent rice krispie treat since."

~ Sarah