Chuck Versus Phase Three

"Chuck Versus Phase Three"
Chuck episode
Chuck evades Phase Three as glass from exploding windows flies around him
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 9
Directed by	Anton Cropper
Written by	Kristin Newman
Original air date	November 22, 2010 (2010-11-22)
Guest stars
James Lew as Anand Chanarong Torsten Voges as Dr. Mueller Richard Chamberlain as Adelbert "The Belgian" de Smet
Episode chronology
← Previous "Chuck Versus the Fear of Death" Next → "Chuck Versus the Leftovers"
List of Chuck episodes

"Chuck Versus Phase Three" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of Chuck. It originally aired November 22, 2010. In order to escape the Belgian (Richard Chamberlain), whose mission is to discover more about the Intersect, Sarah Walker, Chuck Bartowski, Morgan Grimes, and John Casey immerse themselves in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Ellie and Awesome dive into the secret Stephen Bartowski left behind.

Plot

Main plot

In Thailand, Adelbert "The Belgian" de Smet (Richard Chamberlain) orders Dr. Mueller (Torsten Voges) to activate the Intersect in Chuck Bartowski's brain. Chuck experiences several lucid dreams where his friends and loved ones beg him to flash, and although he tries his hardest to do so, he manages to realize that they are just dreams. The scientist moves to "Phase Three", effectively lobotomizing Chuck and removing everything in his brain not pertaining to the Intersect.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, General Beckman orders Sarah Walker and John Casey to stop the Belgian from selling their government secrets, but Sarah begs Beckman to forget the intelligence and focus on rescuing Chuck. Morgan Grimes reveals that Anand Chanarong (James Lew), the man who does the Belgian's "dirty work", is at the Thai Embassy in Los Angeles. After capturing Chanarong, Sarah threatens him for the location and almost hits him before Casey tells her to cool off at home. There she finds Chucks proposal plan and is motivated more than ever to find him. She threatens to kill Chanarong for information, and when he talks she goes on a rogue mission to Thailand.

Sarah reaches a bar filled with mercenaries and asks about the specific location of the Belgian, quickly earning the moniker of "giant blond she-male", as she fights her way through its patrons. The bar's owner offers the location, but only if Sarah can defeat his best fighter. After trading blows, the fighter throws dirt in Sarah's eyes and knocks her to the ground. As he grabs a knife and moves in for the kill, Casey and Morgan arrive to intervene. The fight is resumed, and Sarah manages to win.

The team reaches the Belgian's facility, defeats his guards, and incapacitates the Belgian and Mueller. Sarah wakes Chuck before Phase Three takes effect. Beckman debriefs the team at Castle, and tells Chuck she is deciding how he will serve the CIA without the Intersect.

Chuck and Sarah

In Chuck's dreams, he faces his fear that Sarah will not love him without the Intersect. However, she risks her entire career searching for him in the real world. After Sarah finds a map in Chuck's pocket protector, Morgan reluctantly reveals that Chuck was planning on proposing to her. This motivates her to find Chuck, and she wakes him by telling him that she would marry him if he asked. Chuck later asks Morgan to help him surprise Sarah with the proposal.

Woodcombs

Ellie and Devon Woodcomb find Stephen's laptop in the Ford Mustang he left them, but they find that it does not work. While Ellie works a 36-hour shift at the hospital, the Buy More employees fix the laptop in exchange for free medical care from Devon, though by the end, the entire staff has become involved. But once the computer is activated, it displays the words, "Knock, knock", asking for a password. Devon tries "Who's there", but it doesn't work. When Ellie returns home, she figures out that the password must be "I'm here", due to her childhood habit of mixing up the joke. As soon as she types it in, the computer comes to life, and the episode ends with Ellie's stunned reaction to the results (which are not shown to the viewer).

Production

Continuity

• Lester misidentifies the laptop Stephen left for Ellie as a "Roark 7". He made the same mistake with a similar laptop Stephen sent to Chuck under his alias of Orion in "Chuck Versus the Predator".

Cultural references

• Chuck compares his dreams to "The Manchurian Candidate or that episode of either Family Ties or Hogan's Family."
• During the pit fight, Sarah's opponent throws sand in her face which causes blurred view. The effect is similar to the one from the final fight in Bloodsport.
• The scene where Chanarong mocks Sarah about her biological clock by saying, "Tick, tick, tick, tock." has been likened to Jordan Chase from Dexter.^[1]
• When Sarah rises from the river to fight The Belgians' mercenaries is a nod to Apocalypse Now when Martin Sheen's character Captain Willard comes from the river to kill Marlon Brando's character Colonel Kurtz.

Music

• "Creator" by Santigold (vs. Switch & Freq Nasty)
• "Miss Friday" by Nico Stai
• "Woman" by Wolfmother
• "J'ai Claqué La Porte" by Chromeo
• "Excuses" by The Morning Benders

Critical response

Eric Goldman of IGN gave this episode a score of 8.5 out of 10.^[1] Myles McNutt of A.V. Club gave this a grade of B+.^[2] The Fien Print wrote that "If they gave Emmys for the things Strahovski's doing in this ep, this would be Strahovski's Emmy episode," while Alan Sepinwall of HitFix.com called the episode "awesome. And that's not even factoring in the usual heart-on-sleeve genius Strahovski brings to scenes like Sarah smelling Chuck's shirt, or two very different visions of Sarah trying to send the same 'I love you' message to Chuck."^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Eric Goldman (2010-01-23). "Chuck: "Chuck Versus Phase Three" Review". IGN. http://tv.ign.com/articles/113/1136351p1.html. Retrieved 2010-02-23. 
2. ^ http://www.avclub.com/articles/chuck-versus-phase-three,48017/
3. ^ http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/chuck-chuck-vs-phase-three-sarah-vs-the-world

External links

• "Chuck Versus Phase Three" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Chuck Versus Phase Three" at TV.com