Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Chuck: "Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff"

Season 4, Episode 20
A welcome return of Alexei Volkoff makes everything better

“I feel like I’m about to have some fun.”
-Alexei Volkoff

While there really is no excuse for falling down on my (admittedly non-professional) critical duties, it has been difficult for me to write about the past few episodes of Chuck due to my increasing frustration with the direction of this season, the most irritating factor being Vivian Volkoff. Given how quickly we have seen her grow from “helpless daughter” to “super villain,” it’s been rather difficult to become invested in her development, even when you include the fact that her rise to villain-hood was supposed to have an effect on Chuck, something that the show has just completely forgotten at this point. Vivian is vague and uninteresting, nothing sets her apart as an antagonist; she is the worst kind of villain – a boring one.

But Alexei Volkoff, as played by Timothy Dalton, is the perfect kind of villain. He’s intelligent, funny in a very scar sort of way, and ever so slightly unhinged. Every scene he’s in pops with the hammy kind of energy that only he – and this show – can get away with. Volkoff is played with such ambiguity by Dalton that it is often hard to know what he’s going to do next, even if other clues are evident. Indeed, Dalton’s presence tends to force the writers to bring their A-game, as they attempt to create scenes worthy of his talent.

Yet for all of Dalton’s delicious scenery-chewing, and despite what was a fairly enjoyable standalone case which also happened to play into the show’s serialized nature, the ending left me feeling a little colder than I would like. I can understand why Vivian would be pushed to the extremes that she was gone after being abandoned by men both good and bad. Yet as powerful as that scene was where she laid it all out (in fact, that was probably the first good scene she’s had in her whole three episodes on the show), I can’t shake off the fact that her rise has been so illogical; due to poor setup, the show has essentially ruined this plotline for me, future developments be damned.

(Admittedly, there could be one way out of this – if the show were delve more into the fracturing of Vivian and Alexei’s relationship – but given that the show probably doesn’t have the money for more Dalton, and given that Alexei was carted back off to prison at episode’s end, that doesn’t seem likely.)

“Can you please stop being so cool?”
-Sarah Walker

It’s no secret that the show has had a problem keeping Chuck’s emotions in check when it comes to his missions. Yet, as I have said before, I have yet to be bothered by the show having Sarah start to become emotionally vulnerable, even if some may view it as a “weakening” of her character. I have long viewed the spy-lover relationship to be a two-way street between Chuck and Sarah, where she teaches him to be a better spy, and he teaches her to be a more open person. So while I can see why certain people may have been irked by the all of the talk of pre-nups in this episode, I found in right in line with Sarah’s growth as a character, even if it was obviously meant as set-up for the return of her father later this season.

(And while we’re on this note, I would actually be happy if the show decided to make all of the spied emotionally vulnerable like Chuck is and Sarah is becoming. It’s already happening to Casey, and if Volkoff’s presence was any indication, a world full of emotionally dysfunctional spies could actually be kind of fun. Plus, if the show just embraces this element a little bit more, maybe it will be able to stop changing how “effective” our spies are (vis-à-vis their emotions) from episode to episode. Just a theory.)

“Elle, we’re not spies.”
-Capt. Awesome

I am of two minds when it comes to the recent developments of Ellie via Stephen’s old laptop. On the positive side, the story itself has remained engaging throughout, mostly by playing on out fears of what will happen to Ellie when she finally figures out the Intersect. (Plus, I get the feeling that she’s Agent X. Anybody else?) More importantly, this development should hopefully offer some long term relief of her character, as she will no longer be burned with the more boring non-spy/non-Buy More related plotlines, and it will finally end the excruciating cycle of family secrets on this show. (Expect for the fact that she just lied to Chuck, but I’m just assuming that’s a short-term thing.)

Yet these developments also hold some negative consequences for the series as whole. There is a contemporary piece of TV logic, one that is applicable to most genre shows, that goes something like this: “If everyone is special, then nobody is.” I deeply fear that Chuck is approaching that point. Sure, there’s only one person on the show that has an intersect in their head (FOR NOW!), but as more and more people from Chuck’s life become involved in the spy world, the less inclusive and flashy and, theories of a world dysfunctional spies aside, the spy elements – and thus the show – begins to lose their luster, which will cause the writers to have to go bigger (read: broader) with the stories, and before you know it the show is jumping the shark.

“In her eyes you’re mostly dead.”
-Morgan Grimes

For the beginning of its running time, I wasn’t too enthused about the Alex/Casey plotline, mostly because it didn’t make sense. Sure, Alex has every right to feel distanced from the father, yet that’s not what we’ve seen from her so far. She has been extremely welcoming to this strange man (perhaps too welcoming), and despite the illogical nature of her actions, I was willing to go along with it, because Chuck exists in the kind of world where people are this warm and welcoming to one another. So for the show to renege on this approach, for them to take Alex’s alienation from her father (see the awkward hug she gave him), just feels a little…off.

Luckily, this wasn’t what this plotline was about, at least not really, as it instead focused on Casey reconnecting with his ex-wife. Though there’s not much to say about this plotline yet, but it does seem full of potential. In fact, this episode seemed to finally instill a good deal of potential going forward, something that the show had lacked in these back eleven episodes. Let’s just hope they don’t screw it up.

What did everybody else think?

Additional Thoughts:

“It’s true. I cut in front of William in the cafeteria line. I have entitlement issues.”

“It’s all my fault. Absentee parent.”

“Really? No alarm bells ringing here? No sense that we’re being played for suckers?”

“Everyone hates me. I accept that.”

Words to live by: “You can’t trust a limey with good teeth.”

“You are a villain, sir. Your name still strikes fear in the hearts of swine!”

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