Tonight, Chuck finally finds his father, who turns out to be an involuntary time traveler, er, a starship captain, oops, another spy…maybe.
Yay! Scott Bakula said “Oh, boy!”.
…Orion.
Sigh. Not surprised, but still disappointed. A good episode, otherwise.
I thought it was a great episode. So what if Chuck’s dad being Orion is little cliche? The whole series is a whole bunch of cliches put through the hilariously awesome blender. Genius casting of Chevy Chase as the affable software tycoon/villain. You just know that there’s something nefarious going on in Cupertino or Redmond or the Googleplex.
I loved the “oh boy” moment.
How does Chuck explain to his boss asking for time off of work to get another job and then appear on national tv attacking a CEO?
I liked that even though Dad was Orion, he wasn’t the one who put the intersect in Chuck.
I’m hopeful he’ll get to walk Ellie down the aisle.
I really enjoyed it. Yes, it’s a cliche, and they’re having fun with it.
But it really bums me out that Ellie gets a punch to the gut in every episode. They’re illustrating the toll it takes on Chuck’s family and friends, but I hope she gets everything made up to her sometime soon.
I third the “Oh boy” geek moment. Although I was slightly disappointed that it was out of place: it should have been Bakula’s line just prior to rolling the opening credits. 
My wife was smug all night, she gave her “Chuck’s dad is Orion” theory last week.
It’ll be interesting to see if the writers keep the “flashing on purpose” function of the intersect, or if they never mention it again…
I’m curious about other people’s theories on the pancakes at the end, though. Did Dad make them as a “I’m sorry for leaving again”, or did Awesome make them for Ellie to soften the blow of being walked out on for a second time?
I figured Chuck fakes some Nerd-herder work orders (or the CIA/NSA does) to prove he was working but not on the premises. I seem to recall him having one such paper to prove he was working elsewhere on at least one instance. Also, the boss doesn’t seem that concerned about what his employees are doing.
Dad being Orion was cliche’? But I figured it out in advance so surely it was a very subtle plot device that I was able to uncover, right … right? lip quivers
Is Scott Bakula short or is it just that most of the other males on this show are very tall?
You’re right, and Awesome still believes that he cheated on her at the bachelor party.
Well, of course Chuck’s father is Orion. We had figured out he would be a spy from the moment Chuck decided to look for him back before Christmas.
Chuck and Awesome are pretty tall. They even made a point of it at the job interview with the chair-balls–he was too tall for them. (You have to get the right size; my 8yo daughter uses one at her desk and it’s too small for me.)
I do like this show. Another good episode for all the reasons mentioned. However, as far as I can suspend disbelief for the cause of entertainment, I cannot believe that the government could set up a job interview with a major private company within a few hours.
The image of Casey as a geek was classic!
As for the pancakes, I think it was awesome being awesome. At first I thought it was the dad, but then when Awesome came into the scene, I changed my thoughts.
Anybody else think that this story line is going to turn into a multi-episode season ending arc?
Just had a wild speculation pass through my head, and want to share it.
It’s been made clear that Chuck’s brain has something special about it–He survived the Fulcrum imprinting process when they said that it had killed everyone else who’d tried it.
It may be that the special brains are a genetic trait. When Bartowski Sr. designed the system, perhaps he used his own brain as a model, not realizing that what he was making wouldn’t work for other brains. That could mean that Ellie’s gray matter is also Intersect-compatible.
I have no idea how the writers might use this concept. Maybe have Ellie programmed by Fulcrum into a super-agent for an episode. Then, at the end, she’d get the data wiped by Dad, proving it’s possible.
My guess is that Chuck and Ellie’s mother will also be introduced into the story at some point. Anyone want to guess who they will get to play her?
Don’t care who just so long as both Chuck and Sarah don’t say “Mom!” at the same time.
That’s my theory, as well. It would certainly go a long way towards explaining the huge coincidence that Chuck’s father made the Intersect… which then just happened to be downloaded into his son’s head.
Did anyone notice the previews for next week? I paused during the scene where you can see someone looking through the slit of a jail cell door- I swear it’s Richard Dean Anderson.
That sounds really, really familiar.
Well, we know that Chuck is going to rescue his dad, so both Scott Bakula and Chevy Chase are going to be back for that. Plus there’s no way dear old dad won’t be back for Ellie and Awesome’s wedding, which will probably be the season finale. Don’t forget, Awesome’s parents were played by Bruce Boxleitner and Morgan Fairchild so we’re sure to see them back for the wedding as well.
They do like their stunt-casting on this show, so my wish list for Mom Bartowski – if she does ever show up – would include **Kate Mulgrew **(Chuck’s parents were both Starship captains!) or else TRON alumna Cindy Morgan.
I thought Mom Bartowski was dead?
'Course, so was Orion. But still, it seems unlikely.