Chuck -3x07 -"Chuck vs. the Mask"-Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS>

[Ryan]

That was the worst product placement I've seen yet!

I don't think it was supposed to be a product placement. They didn't even mention the game.

 

[RoJoHen]

I think Temis just needs dorkier friends.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I think Temis just needs dorkier friends.

Whaddya think you people are?

The only reason I recognized that thing is because of the product placement on Heroes.

 

[RoJoHen]

Really?

I think almost every single person I know owns Guitar Hero!

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Really?

I think almost every single person I know owns Guitar Hero!

Hell, I have Guitar Hero and I hate rhythm games. Didn't even occur to me that this was product placement, any more than Chuck playing xbox or wii, it's just something he would do.

 

[Checkmate]

It may have been product placement, but it was neither jarring nor blatant. It was perfectly in character for Chuck, as many others have already said. He's a young adult and a top notch gamer geek. Why wouldn't he have Guitar Hero?

 

[the Dagman]

It may have been product placement, but it was neither jarring nor blatant. It was perfectly in character for Chuck, as many others have already said. He's a young adult and a top notch gamer geek. Why wouldn't he have Guitar Hero?

Exactly. What is his employee discount at the BuyMore for anyways?

 

[Sci]

I felt last week like it was getting a lot darker with Chuck lying and turning into kind of a bastard. I almost want it to go down a path like that.

Good God, no. No no no no no no no no no. There are more than enough dark, angsty, morally ambiguous shows out there. I have no desire to see Chuck turn grimdark.

Chuck will never be a CIA field agent. It's ridiculous to think he could do that without having a killer instinct or even a frakkin' gun.

I don't think that's where the show's going. Sarah's question about whether or not it's a good thing that Chuck's becoming consumed by the espionage world from "Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler," I think, is supposed to be foreshadowing. Something's coming up that's going to make Chuck realize that he's made the wrong choice by wanting to become a spy -- that there's something fundamentally corrupt about the entire spy business. I wouldn't be too surprised to see the entire series premise turned upside down by the end of the season.

He'd have to have Sylar-type telekinesis to overcome the advantage of foes who have any kind of weaponry they can lay their hands on.

You know, this is a show about a guy with a magic computer database inside his brain. It's not like they'd be stretching their creative conceits too much for that.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Something's coming up that's going to make Chuck realize that he's made the wrong choice by wanting to become a spy -- that there's something fundamentally corrupt about the entire spy business.

That would be fine by me - anything to just get the story moving somewhere. There are just two directions for it to go: Chuck realizes what it takes to be a spy and embraces it (the dark version you object to); and Chuck realizes what it takes to be a spy and rejects it.

But if they choose the latter path, the story is over (unless they go back to the "Chuck the reluctant spy" premise but they already did two years of that). So most likely they'll choose the former path with the latter as the ultimate ending.

I don't see how the spy biz has been depicted as particularly corrupt. General Beckman hasn't been selling secrets on the side or anything. The main characters do their jobs honestly. But it has been depicted as not the right career for a guy who refuses to carry a gun, which seems perfectly accurate and reasonable to me.

For Chuck to keep this career and not carry a gun would require delving into Heroes territory for more outlandish powers than kung-fu. Somehow I don't see this show going in that direction - they are walking a fine line between reality and fantasy but that would probably be over the line.

 

[Sci]

There are just two directions for it to go: Chuck realizes what it takes to be a spy and embraces it (the dark version you object to); and Chuck realizes what it takes to be a spy and rejects it.

There's a third option: Chuck realizes what it is to be a spy, and forces the CIA/NSA to change.

I don't see how the spy biz has been depicted as particularly corrupt.

Really? I mean, how many times do they have to portray the CIA/NSA as being two seconds away from killing Chuck if it suits their purposes, or manipulating people with no regard for decency, or show how thoroughly infiltrated the CIA has been by Fulcrum/the Ring, or have the characters sit there and wonder if there's any real difference between the CIA/NSA and Fulcrum/the Ring, before it becomes fair to say that Chuck has a somewhat cynical view of the espionage world (even if it portrays some individuals within it as being heroic)?

 

[hyzmarca]

I just got around to watching this episode and the first thing I noticed is that the museam is Zordon's Command Center from Power Rangers.