Chuck - "Chuck Vs. The Santa Suit"

Season 5, Episode 7

At this point in the show’s run, I’m often struck with a fairly simple yet confounding question: What makes Chuck work? We all know that Chuck more or less peaked in season two, and there are enough recurring complaints about the show – mostly along the lines of the characters acting irrationally, emotionally, and/or stupidly – that we know what Chuck should avoid, but that isn’t really the same as identifying what makes the show work well. But to that end, I believe that “Chuck Vs. The Santa Suit” reveals that sometimes it’s just best for the show to keep it simple, stupid.

Last week, I discussed at some length how the show’s transformation from comedy to spy drama was an overall boon to the show’s quality, while simultaneously creating some of the chronic flaws that we’ve come to expect from the show at this point. But one of the positives of the spy genre is that when it’s going full-throttle, the action can carry a lot of the storytelling weight and keep things from getting dragged down too far into those burdensome details or emotions.

Enter Shaw.  While I’m not entirely sure that I buy his reappearance now – he really only seems to be here because hey, this is the show’s final hurrah – I have to admit that he does make for the best antagonist since, well, his last appearance. As much as the show’s fanbase may have hated Shaw during his first arc – mostly because he was yet another roadblock between Chuck and Sarah, natch – I think most people (and the show, really) realized end potential when he got to play a smarmy villain in the back end of the third season, and it was that smarminess that fueled a lot of the action tonight. We believe in Shaw’s desperate and instance plan because we know the character, and it’s that same reason that we believe Chuck’s (and everybody else’s) reaction to him. This is a plot that could have felt shoehorned in, but by using established stories, it allowed the show to fit in more action, to great effect.

In fact, I would say that this episode wasn’t just great in that action, but how it swiftly and effectively deployed the character moments around the action, as opposed to the action stopping to make time for them. Even better, the character moments on display here were perhaps the best for each character. I don’t necessarily mean that the episode gave them moments that showed only their good sides – although that’s what happened in this case, and it’s not that surprising – but that they were deployed in a manner that they showed a/the side of the character which makes for the most enjoyable viewing experience. Let’s break them down:

Chuck: Manages to trick Shaw into shorting out his Intersect using only his smarts, and then was able to beat him down using his traditionally-learned fighting skills.

Sarah: Even when tied up, beaten, and freezing, she still manages to escape from the constraints (the first time, anyways).

Casey: Leaves a heartfelt message for Alex on an electronic talking bear, before using said toy to override a lock. Nudges Alex to get back with Morgan.

Morgan: The human version of the Brave Little Toaster manages to sneak down to Castle to try to free Sarah.

Stan Lee: He’s actually a spy!

Beckman: Winningly comes to Team Bartowski’s aide. Is able to let her hair down, and scores the episode’s funniest moment when she kisses Chuck to protect his cover.

Jeffster: The hyper-caffeinated duo manage to take down the Omen Virus. Also name-dropped Subway a lot, because the show has to stay on the air somehow.

Ellie: Brain Shaw, knocking him unconscious and providing Chuck with the assist.

It’s mainly the last three characters here that interest me, if only because the first four showed beats that we know they are capable of, and the fifth one was just a jokey cameo. (I’ll admit that I’m happy to see “competent Chuck” back after last week’s fiasco, but at this point it’s a little sad that we still have to congratulate the show for doing something that critics have been complaining about for multiple seasons now.) But Jeff and Lester’s role in things, thought relatively small in screen time, was unproportionally significant, and for the first time in a long time, the Buy More plot felt fully integrated into the rest of the action. (It probably helps that “Santa Suit” felt like a throwback/continuation of season’s two “Chuck Versus Santa Claus” which also had all the character holed up in Buy More/Castle. Of course, the closing fight scene was obviously meant to ape the showdown in “Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II”, so it’s equally possible writers have just run out of ideas.) Ellie’s actions meanwhile hold their own significance, as they continue that oh-so-welcomed sense of agency that she displayed last week.

But it’s Beckman that I’m most interested in, even though her part was relatively small, as usual. (Actually, most of the characters had small roles tonight, but that’s the cost of including the entire cast in an episode, and – apart from Awesome – giving them something important to do. It’s something that should be irritating, but considering how well-oiled of a machine this episode was, it works.) Beckman’s really only had one beat to play throughout the series run as the “stern boss” type, and even though the show has given some indication of a personality beyond this (I seem to recall hints at a romantic past, but specific episodes/scenes escape me at this point), it was never enough, and her upgrade to series regular is season four never made sense to me. Tonight however, Bonita Friedericy got to add two more angles to that façade, and though it’s probably not enough to make up for four seasons of one-notesmanship, it’ll do for a last hurrah.

                                                                 

as good as this hour was, I do however have to question just what exactly Shaw’s presence means for what we thought was going to be the season’s overall plot. The premiere seemed to suggest that the whole season was going to be about a mysterious someone taking Chuck down, so revealing that it’s Shaw, here at the half-way point seems to take away a lot of tension/momentum all at once. I will admit that Shaw’s overall plan was quite brilliant – especially his way to frame Chuck for theft of CIA property – and it made for an exciting individual hour. But considering that next week’s episode has something to do with a secret baby, well it’s quite possible that this was the best hour Chuck will give us as it heads out the door. I hope you enjoyed it.

Next Week: A Chuck episode on New Year’s Eve Eve? And there’s a baby involved? This one might be a little rough to watch.

Quotes and Other Thoughts:

“Ask yourself: What would the baby Jesus do?”

“It’s an immature response, I know, but I too am feeling under-incentivized.”

“Are you with me? No, you’re not. If you were, you would have brought a coat, silly.”

“Are you sure I’m her type?” “You’re drawing breath and you’re in a Santa suit.”

“And eggnog and cheer. Spreading lots of cheer.”

“Water can only dilute this feeling.” “Plus? Fish have sex in it.”