# Chuck (3/29/2010): "Chuck vs the American Hero" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268 "2010-03-29T22:57:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/1 "2010-03-29T22:57:52Z")
Last week, Chuck made his first kill, with a little help from Casey, and earned his spy badge. Unfortunately, the supposed kill changes Sarah’s feelings for him. Plus Chuck is being sent to Rome on a solo mission, while Sarah and Shaw work together in Washington. Things seem to be headed to a big denouement, although there are quite a few more episodes left. Casey, Morgan, and Awesome try to help Chuck win Sarah back. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/2 "2010-03-29T23:38:47Z")
I’m really looking forward to this episode. I hated that Casey got the axe but at least he had some decent time in the last episode. Hopefully, he’ll have a similar role tonight. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/3 "2010-03-30T00:46:47Z")
It’s always that guy! ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/4 "2010-03-30T01:10:10Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > It’s always that guy! Badger! Really good episode, I thought. The “Sarah killed Shaw’s wife” twist was kind of obvious when they showed us Sarah’s red test earlier, but it has finally made Shaw an interesting character. Next week is the last of the original 13 episode order for this season (the network later ordered 6 more), so it may feel kind of like a season finale. By the way, I am a latecomer to the Chuck bandwagon, but I LOVE this show. I watched all of Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD in the last couple of months and I’ve caught up on this season online. I am worried that the ratings the last couple of weeks have apparently been pretty low, and it’s considered a “bubble” show for renewal next season. Hopefully things will pick up. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/5 "2010-03-30T01:31:25Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I am worried that the ratings the last couple of weeks have apparently been pretty low, and it’s considered a “bubble” show for renewal next season. Hopefully things will pick up. Chuck has lived its entire life on the bubble. If you google it, you can probably find articles still from late season one and two about renewal being iffy. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/6 "2010-03-30T04:39:31Z")
I had some doubts about letting more people know about Chuck’s secret, but Casey, Morgan and Awesome forming and unholy trinity to help Chuck get Sarah back was the funniest thing on the show in a while. And Ellie’s reaction to Awesome’s arrest was a great callback to an earlier episode, when Awesome used Casey as an excuse for his whereabouts. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/7 "2010-03-30T04:50:34Z")
Is this taking place in O2STK? I could have sworn that was Ida. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Awgrimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Awgrimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Awgrimm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/8 "2010-03-30T14:04:40Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > And Ellie’s reaction to Awesome’s arrest was a great callback to an earlier episode, when Awesome used Casey as an excuse for his whereabouts. Casey’s reaction to that was great. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/9 "2010-03-30T14:49:57Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Badger! > > Really good episode, I thought. The “Sarah killed Shaw’s wife” twist was kind of obvious when they showed us Sarah’s red test earlier, but it has finally made Shaw an interesting character. Does Badger ever get to play a non-bad guy? He’s been a tweener in _Leverage_, but still more bad than good. Who really believes the General? She’s going to be the big bad in the end, mark my words. (Not a spoiler, as I’m just hypothesizing). Don’t know how many more seasons this has, though I’ve heard that the delicious Anna Wu will return for an episode. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/10 "2010-03-30T19:52:36Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Does Badger ever get to play a non-bad guy? He’s been a tweener in _Leverage_, but still more bad than good. Sure - he was Romo Lampkin on Battlestar Galactica. Baltar’s defense counsel, and a reasonably good guy, although he did threaten to shoot Lee Adama when he had a bit of a nervous breakdown. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/11 "2010-03-30T23:47:38Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Sure - he was Romo Lampkin on Battlestar Galactica. Baltar’s defense counsel, and a reasonably good guy, although he did. From [Battlestar Wiki](http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Romo_Lampkin), emphasis mine: > [@](#): > > Romo Lampkin is a highly capable yet _ethically questionable_ lawyer in the Fleet. He is a _kleptomaniac_ with penchants for _deception_ and _psychological manipulation_. Sounds like a tweener again. Looking back over his roles, he was a good guy in _Soldier of Fortune, Inc._ from 1997, and he has a metric crapload of appearances in shows I’ve never seen. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/12 "2010-03-31T02:39:47Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > From [Battlestar Wiki](http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Romo_Lampkin), emphasis mine: Sounds like a tweener again. > > Looking back over his roles, he was a good guy in _Soldier of Fortune, Inc._ from 1997, and he has a metric crapload of appearances in shows I’ve never seen. Mark Sheppard is carrying on the family tradition of being “that guy.” His father, William Morgan Sheppard, played the Vulcan Science Minister in the latest _Trek_ movie–his fourth appearance in that franchise. His long, long resume includes the role of “Blank Reg”–in _Max Headroom._ ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/13 "2010-03-31T15:47:20Z")
“Chuck you are turning into a real spy so i don’t want to date you anymore, instead i’m going to date this real spy who’s everything i didn’t want you to be” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/14 "2010-03-31T17:39:23Z")
How do they find enough people for spy trainees to kill so they can graduate to real spies? Was that what happened to Sarah? It was a slow day as far as bad guy targets go, so that’s how she ended up being assigned Shaw’s wife. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/15 "2010-03-31T17:46:34Z")
I was expecting to see that the Ring doctored the tape, and I’m certainly surprised that Shaw didn’t weigh that as a real possibility instead of automatically jumping the gun and assuming the worst about Sarah. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/16 "2010-03-31T17:51:10Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > I was expecting to see that the Ring doctored the tape, and I’m certainly surprised that Shaw didn’t weigh that as a real possibility instead of automatically jumping the gun and assuming the worst about Sarah. Well we already knew they didn’t doctor the tape since it matched Sarahs memory from the last episode. What bothered me about the tape was the pov segment that looked to have been shot through Shaws eyes. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/17 "2010-04-02T05:17:49Z")
I think that first part of the tape was taken by Shaw using a videocamera. His wife says something about it being her turn to use the camera. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chuck-3-29-2010-chuck-vs-the-american-hero/534268/18 "2010-04-02T05:29:01Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Well we already knew they didn’t doctor the tape since it matched Sarahs memory from the last episode. What bothered me about the tape was the pov segment that looked to have been shot through Shaws eyes. shaw only knows that sarah shot a girl. so has every other spy in the history of spying, if all the spies go through the red test. if anything, shaw would think it too convenient that it was sarah and suspect a doctoring moreso.