Orion's Belt: Chuck Evades Predators, Becomes Prey on "Chuck"

Oh, Chuck, you didn't really think that Beckman would just let you have the Intersect taken out of your head, now did you?

On this week's fantastic episode of Chuck ("Chuck Versus the Predator"), written by series co-creator Chris Fedak, Chuck continued his search for the man codenamed Orion, the original creator of the Intersect software, so he could have the images removed from his brain and return to a normal life. A life that he hopes to share with his CIA handler Sarah Walker.

It's nice to see the overarching plot take a turn for the decidedly serialized while still maintaining the sense of fun and quirky humor that we've come to know and love from Chuck over the past two seasons. This week's installment pulled off another fantastic parallel plot between Chuck's spy life and his life at the Buy More and gave Big Mike, Morgan, Emmett, Jeff, and Lester something to do between breaking into the Buy More and retaliating against the Beverly Hills branch of Buy More, where the motto is "Helping You Spend Your Parents' Money!" (Like I said: spy-based action AND whimsy.)

I am glad that Chuck is being more blatantly open about his feelings towards Sarah and his desire for a normal relationship with his smoking hot handler, if he's able to find Orion and get the Intersect removed. But Sarah is also a federal agent and following direct orders comes with the territory, so her hands are somewhat tied when General Beckman orders to stop Chuck from his search for Orion. Which explains why she's being quite so guarded when Chuck asks her in the opening scene if Beckman has told her if they've made any progress on the search for Orion. Ah, mistrust rearing its ugly head once again. (Why else would Orion show Chuck the footage of Sarah and Beckman talking about him?)

For Chuck, locating this man is the end all, be all of his life and he represents the one shot at getting his old life back. Just what that would mean for him and Sarah remains to be seen; I think he's being slightly naive to think that there would be a future for the two of them together. It's more likely that she'd be whisked off to a new assignment the second that Chuck stopped flashing. Can they get past the distrust that has invaded their once sunny friendship? It's possible but the tension between them is clearly mounting these days.

I loved the fact that Chuck, Sarah, and Casey started this episode at the tail end of a mission that involved them posing as plumbers... and then actually had to perform plumbing work. And that Chuck has been doing more to track down Orion than making a nifty flow chart on the back of his beloved Tron poster: he's been actively looking for the Intersect creator on his own, launching a rogue mission that puts him and everyone around him in jeopardy.

Orion himself is pretty kick-ass. I loved the scene in Hong Kong when he first contacted Chuck via his computer and then used his amazing wrist computer to... teleport out of the building? Turn invisible? I'm not quite sure what Orion managed to do here--in addition to sending a Predator drone mission flying towards the building, but I'm already intrigued by this guy, who in the course of one episode has managed to become one of the most pivotal characters on the series. I also loved the fact that his voice modulator equipment seemed to be failing somewhat at the end of the episode, making it pretty darn clear that Orion is played by one Scott Bakula.

There's no way that Orion died in that helicopter explosion; he's far too clever and unpredictable to die quite that easily. The explosion does however stop the CIA/NSA from continuing to find him, allowing him to lay low until things calm down a little bit. And he did manage to get that information about the Intersect under Chuck's pillow, which took more than a little planning. (Love how the surveillance doesn't manage to see that moment nor when Chuck takes out the dossier.) Just as Orion is reaching out to Chuck with information, so too are his methods rubbing off on Chuck. I don't think we would have seen Chuck in Season One manage to conceal the flow chart... or the Intersect specs within the pages of Brian K. Vaughan's awesome comic book "Ex Machina." Could it be that they are more alike that it seems like on the surface? (Ahem.)

I haven't been the biggest fan of Bonita Friedericy's Diane Beckman thus far but I have to say that this episode really won me over. Perhaps it was the fact that the characters got to interact with Beckman in the flesh for a change, rather than via a two-way video conference call, but I liked having Beckman around; she added an additional threat layer as it became clear that she has her own agenda for keeping the Intersect inside Chuck and preventing him from locating Orion (whom she has spent the better part of three years attempting to find with a crack team of analysts).

I like that Casey and Sarah are suddenly accountable to someone standing right there in front of them rather than on East Coast: it adds a nice dimension of tension as they'll likely begin to chafe under the constant scrunity of an on-site supervisor. And, funnily enough, I am hoping that Beckman does stick around in Los Angeles for at least a little while. Given that the CIA and NSA spend a small fortune building the Castle underneath the Orange Orange, perhaps it's time that some other agents--even a boss--were installed in said secret headquarters? Plus, I also loved the fact that Chuck said what we were all thinking and made a comment about how little Beckman is, especially compared to Casey and Sarah.

And what of Beckman's intentions to make Chuck a spy? Could this be leading towards the "game-changing" season finale that creator Josh Schwartz keeps referring to? It certainly would be a major plot twist if Chuck suddenly underwent CIA training and actually became not just an analyst but an actual full-blown intelligence operative. Personally, I'd love to see him fulfill his full potential in Season Three and take his rightful place out in the field with Casey and Sarah rather than be stuck in the car every time there's a dangerous mission.

What else worked for me? The double break-in at the Buy More and the case of confused identities stemming from a mutual penchant for wearing balaclavas; the creepy Fulcrum gathering; Jeff's bathroom stall office (which is really pretty cushy); Emmett's use of pepper spray and Lester's efforts to stop tearing up; Big Mike ruffling Morgan's hair and then wiping the hair gel on Morgan's shirt; the feud between Burbank Buy More and their snooty Beverly Hills counterparts; the Fulcrum agent (guest star Arnold Vosloo) "coming back to life" and unzipping his body bag from the inside; the shout-out to The Right Stuff; Chuck leaving a clue for Sarah and Casey to find on the surveillance feed; Casey elbowing Emmett; Big Mike's "fiddle" and Emmett taking out all of the display units... accidentally; Jeff and Lester targeting their own location with a Predator missile; the Mission Impossible-style self-destructing disc.

All in all, a fantastic episode that set up what is likely to be the most dramatic and tense storyline on the series to date. I for one am completely riveted to Chuck and hope that NBC comes to their senses soon and renews this heartfelt, hilarious, and nail-biting series for another season straightaway.

Next week on Chuck ("Chuck Versus the Broken Heart"), a heartless female agent named Alex Forrest (guest star Tricia Helfer) is brought in by Beckman to evaluate Sarah's performance as Chuck's handler after he admits his complicated feelings for Sarah; Morgan, Jeff, and Lester try to weasel their way into getting invited to Awesome's bachelor party at the Buy More.