"Chuck" Chuck Versus the Truth (2007)

Director:

Robert Duncan McNeill

Writers:

Josh Schwartz (creator) &
Chris Fedak (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Chuck" (2007)

Original Air Date:

12 November 2007 (Season 1, Episode 8)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Chuck meets a pretty girl with an unusual name, which causes an internal conflict. At the same time, his sister falls prey to someone the government seeks to apprehend.

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | CIA | Secret Agent | Slacker | One Word Title

Cast

Zachary Levi	...	Chuck Bartowski
Yvonne Strahovski	...	Sarah Walker
Joshua Gomez	...	Morgan Grimes
Sarah Lancaster	...	Ellie Bartowski
Adam Baldwin	...	John Casey
Rachel Bilson	...	Lou
Kevin Weisman	...	Reardon Paine
C.S. Lee	...	Harry Tang
Bonita Friedericy	...	General Diane Beckman
Emy Coligado	...	Poppy Tang
Ryan McPartlin	...	Devon 'Captain Awesome' Woodcomb
Mark Christopher Lawrence	...	Big Mike
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sanjay Chandani	...	Mason Whitney (as Sanjaya Chandani)
Chris Dotson	...	Scooter
Scott Krinsky	...	Jeff Barnes
Julia Ling	...	Anna Wu
Monika Ramnath	...	Lauren
Vik Sahay	...	Lester Patel

Certification:

USA:TV-14

Trivia:

WILHELM SCREAM: (At 34:55) When Reardon Paine gets shot in the knee.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Chuck and Sarah drink their antidotes, Sarah's vial has significantly more in it when she lowers it than it had when she had finished drinking it in the previous shot.

Quotes:

Sarah Walker: [about the antidote] Here, Chuck, take it.
Chuck Bartowski: What? No way, I'm not gonna take it knowing Ellie's been poisoned, and you guys!
Sarah Walker: I'm sorry, Chuck, there's no debating this. It has to be you.
John Casey: Right, now take it, or I'll force it down your throat!
Chuck Bartowski: Alright. I'll pretend to take it, then run like hell to my sister, and make her take it. Why did I just say that out loud?
Sarah Walker: It's the poison. It makes you tell the truth!
John Casey: If you do that, I'll give chase, put a gun to your head and threaten to pull the trigger!
Chuck Bartowski: Would you really shoot me?
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) (VG)

Chuck Versus the Truth is the first real excellent episode of "Chuck"

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

What an excellent episode Chuck Versus the Truth is! Lots of hilarious stuff involving Chuck and Sarah's cover of being a "couple", of Morgan buying a present for assistant manager Harry and his wife (whose hugging of Morgan so close to her is filmed by his cohorts and brings out jealousy in Harry), of Devon's ("Captain Awesome") talking of "riding the bike" with Sarah, and of everyone talking frankly while inhaling a poisonous truth serum. That last part is courtesy of a former gymnast villain Reardon Paine played by Kevin Weisman (you know, comic relief good guy inventor Marshall Flinkman from "Alias"). While very convincing in his different role, I kept thinking of his character from the former Jenifer Garner-ABC series and the contrasts in between. Also guest starring is Rachel Bilson, formerly of The O.C., playing Lou, a girl from a sandwich shop who Chuck obliges in fixing her cell phone. Both see a spark in each other, so much so that Chuck "breaks" up with Sarah so he can pursue her. So besides great laughs and action, there's also some nice drama not just concerning the triangle of Chuck, Sarah, and Lou but also of Ellie and Chuck's concern for her health after Weisman put the poisonous serum in her ear. This show just keeps getting better! Can't wait for the next one!