Chuck Versus Agent X
Encyclopedia
"Chuck Versus Agent X" is the 22nd episode of the fourth season
of the American action-comedy
television series
Chuck
, and the 76th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by Phil Klemmer and Craig DiGregorio and directed by Robert Duncan McNeill
. It originally aired on May 2, 2011.
In the episode, Chuck Bartowski
's (Zachary Levi
) bachelor party
turns up some uninvited guests. Meanwhile, Ellie Bartowski-Woodcomb (Sarah Lancaster
) discovers the true identity of Agent X while investigating her father Stephen
's computer.
"Chuck Versus Agent X" received generally positive reviews from critics. According to the Nielsen ratings
system, it drew 4.097 million viewers, the second-lowest number in Chuck history, after "Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff
". It had a 2.5/4 share among all households and 1.4/4 share among those aged 18–49.
(Zachary Levi
) contemplates confronting his sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster
) about her secret research into their late father Stephen
's laptop, Chuck and his fiancée Sarah Walker
(Yvonne Strahovski
) prepare for their bachelor
and bachelorette parties.
At her bachelorette party, hosted by Ellie, Sarah is notified by General Diane Beckman
that Stephen's laptop is being tracked by Volkoff Industries
agents Riley (Ray Wise
) and Jasmine (India de Beaufort
), who, due to the imprisonment of international arms dealer Alexei Volkoff
, are now under the leadership of Volkoff's daughter Vivian. Thinking that Riley and Jasmine are going to arrive at Ellie's apartment, Sarah tells Ellie that Chuck knows Ellie lied to him and still has the laptop. However, Ellie and Sarah then realize that the laptop has been mistakenly taken by Ellie's husband Devon Woodcomb (Ryan McPartlin
) to Chuck's bachelor party.
Meanwhile, despite Chuck and his guests' belief that Devon was hosting Chuck's bachelor party in Las Vegas, Nevada
, they are taken to Las Vecas National Park. As some of the guests attempt to escape the camping trip, they are ambushed by Riley's mercenaries
, who are tracking the laptop Devon unknowingly brought with him. Chuck and his friends escape, but the laptop is stabbed by Jasmine in the process.
When Chuck returns, he and Ellie tell each other the truth, with Ellie revealing that she is still investigating her father's research, and Chuck revealing that he is still a CIA
agent. Chuck then brings Ellie to Castle and demonstrates martial arts skills from the Intersect
. When Chuck claims to be Agent X, the first human Intersect, Ellie informs him that, according to the laptop, someone had originally uploaded the Intersect to their brain before Chuck's birth. After Chuck repairs the computer, they find a redacted file on British scientist Hartley Winterbottom.
Chuck, Sarah, and John Casey
(Adam Baldwin
) travel to Winterbottom's home in Somerset
, UK
, and confront Winterbottom's mother (Millicent Martin
), who blames the CIA for corrupting her son. However, Chuck is revealed to be Stephen Bartowski's son, earning her trust, as Hartley and Stephen were once colleagues and close friends. When Riley and Jasmine arrive with an assault team, Mrs. Winterbottom sends Chuck and Sarah to retrieve Hartley's "spy will" while she and Casey fight back the assault team. When they run out of ammunition, Winterbottom sets a trap that explodes and kills Jasmine and the assault team.
When Ellie, Chuck, Sarah, Casey, and Morgan Grimes
(Joshua Gomez
) open Hartley's spy will, they discover a photograph of a young Alexei Volkoff (Timothy Dalton
), revealing the arms dealer to be the true Agent X. Hartley's upload of the Intersect prior to an undercover mission for Stephen Bartowski had malfunctioned and overwritten Hartley's personality with that of his cover identity, Volkoff. Casey recognizes the danger of what the group has learned and hides the spy will and its key to protect them from government retribution. However, Ellie decides that Stephen intended for her and Chuck to help Volkoff on their own.
, and was written by Phil Klemmer and Craig DiGregorio. It originally aired in the United States
on May 2, 2011, on NBC
as the 22nd episode of Chucks fourth season and the 76th episode overall.
Chuck cast members revealed at the 2011 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo
that the season would include a "funny, camping-themed" bachelor party episode featuring Casey
, Big Mike, and the fictional band Jeffster!
. The cast also confirmed that Ray Wise
would reprise his role of Alexei Volkoff
's lawyer, Riley. India de Beaufort
guest starred as Jasmine, and Millicent Martin
as Hartley Winterbottom's mother. Sarah Lancaster
revealed to IGN
that the Snakes of Toluca Lake, the strippers which Ellie hires for Sarah, were played by the real-life Hollywood Men. Lancaster enjoyed filming the scene, which took hours to perform, solely due to Yvonne Strahovski
's discomfort. Strahovski stated that the men became "bolder" with each take, gradually moving closer to her. Principal photography
for "Chuck Versus Agent X" ended on April 10.
Series co-creator Chris Fedak
stated in a later interview that the inspiration for Volkoff's true identity being a gun-shy British scientist was Timothy Dalton
's portrayal of Gregory Tuttle, Volkoff's guise as Mary Elizabeth Bartowski
's MI6
handler, in his first appearance on the series. A photograph of Dalton before his portrayal of James Bond
is used to represent a young Hartley Winterbottom.
" by Kesha
, "Line in the Sand" by Mackintosh Braun, "Keep It Coming" by Pixie Carnation, "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car
" by Billy Ocean
, and "Codex" by Radiohead
.
In the episode, Osama bin Laden
's image is featured on a target for Casey's shooting range
. Coincidentally, bin Laden was killed
in a raid on May 1, 2011, around 16:00 Eastern Daylight Time
, one day before the episode was aired.
". According to the Nielsen ratings
system, it had a 2.5/4 share among all households and 1.4/4 share among those aged 18–49.
The episode received positive reviews from critics. Ryan McGee of The A.V. Club
gave the episode an A- on an A+ to F scale. He found the episode's "reconfiguration of previous mythology" successful, and, though he found it obvious that Volkoff was Agent X, McGee wrote that "seeing a pre-Bond Dalton inside that spy will was great payoff all the same." However, McGee continued, "Much less successful was anything involving Chuck's bachelor party and Big Mike/Jeffster's subsequent desire to save their manly weekend." Eric Goldman of IGN gave this episode a score of 8.5 out of 10, writing that "the best element in all of this was the introduction of Volkoff, or make that Hartley Winterbottom's, mother and the bonding that occurred between her and John Casey." HitFix
Senior Editor Alan Sepinwall, however, wrote that the episode "was kind of a hodge podge. It's a transitional episode setting up the end game with Volkoff that the season's final 2 episodes will focus on, but it also felt like an hour two or three different ideas that nobody could quite flesh out to fill up an entire episode, and so were compressed together." Like McGee, Sepinwall enjoyed Wise's return, though he felt that the actor was given little to do.
Chuck (season 4)
The fourth season of Chuck was announced on May 13, 2010. Having initially ordered 13 episodes, NBC ordered an additional 11 on October 19, 2010 for a total of 24 episodes....
of the American action-comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Chuck
Chuck (TV series)
Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...
, and the 76th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by Phil Klemmer and Craig DiGregorio and directed by Robert Duncan McNeill
Robert Duncan McNeill
Robert Duncan McNeill is an American actor, producer, movie director, and television director who is best known for his role as Lieutenant Tom Paris on the television show Star Trek: Voyager.-Acting:...
. It originally aired on May 2, 2011.
In the episode, Chuck Bartowski
Chuck Bartowski
Charles Irving "Chuck" Bartowski is the main and titular character of the American fiction television show Chuck on NBC. He is portrayed by Zachary Levi.-Character profile:...
's (Zachary Levi
Zachary Levi
Zachary Levi Pugh , better known by his stage name Zachary Levi , is an American television actor, director, and singer known for the roles of Kipp Steadman in Less than Perfect, Chuck Bartowski in Chuck, and Flynn Rider in Tangled.- Early life :Zachary Levi Pugh was born in Lake Charles,...
) bachelor party
Bachelor party
A bachelor party , also known as a stag party, stag night or stag do , a bull's party , or a buck's party or buck's night , is a party held for a man shortly before he enters marriage, to celebrate his "last night of freedom" or merely to spend...
turns up some uninvited guests. Meanwhile, Ellie Bartowski-Woodcomb (Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster is an American actress. Since the show's inception in 2007, she has co-starred in the NBC comedy-spy series Chuck, as the title character's sister, Ellie Bartowski....
) discovers the true identity of Agent X while investigating her father Stephen
Stephen J. Bartowski
Stephen J. Bartowski is a recurring character on the television series Chuck portrayed by actor Scott Bakula. Stephen is the estranged father of Chuck and Ellie Bartowski, and under the government codename "Orion" was the chief designer of the Intersect....
's computer.
"Chuck Versus Agent X" received generally positive reviews from critics. According to the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
system, it drew 4.097 million viewers, the second-lowest number in Chuck history, after "Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff
Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff
"Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff" is the 20th episode of the fourth season of Chuck, and the 74th overall episode of the series. The episode was directed by Robert Duncan McNeill and written by Nicholas Wootton and Amanda Kate Shuman. It originally aired April 11, 2011.The episode has several...
". It had a 2.5/4 share among all households and 1.4/4 share among those aged 18–49.
Plot
As Chuck BartowskiChuck Bartowski
Charles Irving "Chuck" Bartowski is the main and titular character of the American fiction television show Chuck on NBC. He is portrayed by Zachary Levi.-Character profile:...
(Zachary Levi
Zachary Levi
Zachary Levi Pugh , better known by his stage name Zachary Levi , is an American television actor, director, and singer known for the roles of Kipp Steadman in Less than Perfect, Chuck Bartowski in Chuck, and Flynn Rider in Tangled.- Early life :Zachary Levi Pugh was born in Lake Charles,...
) contemplates confronting his sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster is an American actress. Since the show's inception in 2007, she has co-starred in the NBC comedy-spy series Chuck, as the title character's sister, Ellie Bartowski....
) about her secret research into their late father Stephen
Stephen J. Bartowski
Stephen J. Bartowski is a recurring character on the television series Chuck portrayed by actor Scott Bakula. Stephen is the estranged father of Chuck and Ellie Bartowski, and under the government codename "Orion" was the chief designer of the Intersect....
's laptop, Chuck and his fiancée Sarah Walker
Sarah Walker (Chuck)
Sarah Lisa Bartowski is the alias of one of the main characters of the fictional television show Chuck on NBC. She is portrayed by Yvonne Strahovski and is one of two agents assigned by the NSA and CIA to protect Chuck Bartowski after he unwittingly downloads the secret government computer known...
(Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Strahovski is an Australian actress. Born in Australia to Polish immigrant parents, Strahovski speaks Polish and English...
) prepare for their bachelor
Bachelor party
A bachelor party , also known as a stag party, stag night or stag do , a bull's party , or a buck's party or buck's night , is a party held for a man shortly before he enters marriage, to celebrate his "last night of freedom" or merely to spend...
and bachelorette parties.
At her bachelorette party, hosted by Ellie, Sarah is notified by General Diane Beckman
Diane Beckman
Brigadier General M. Diane Beckman, USAF is a fictional character in the NBC television series Chuck. Beckman is a senior official of the National Security Agency, working within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. She holds her rank of brigadier general in the United States Air...
that Stephen's laptop is being tracked by Volkoff Industries
Volkoff Industries
Volkoff Industries is a major organization on the television series Chuck. It is a public business front owned by an international arms dealer named Alexei Volkoff, portrayed by Timothy Dalton. Volkoff Industries is introduced in the third season finale as a threat against which Stephen J...
agents Riley (Ray Wise
Ray Wise
Raymond Nicolas "Ray" Wise is an American actor, known for his roles as Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks, as Leon C. Nash, right-hand henchman to villain Clarence Boddicker in the science fiction classic RoboCop, and recently as the Devil in the CW television series Reaper.-Life and career:Wise was...
) and Jasmine (India de Beaufort
India de Beaufort
India de Beaufort is an English actress and singer/songwriter from London whose appearances include roles in Basil Brush and Run Fatboy Run. She played Aneka, a pagan warrior maiden, in the 2009 series Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire...
), who, due to the imprisonment of international arms dealer Alexei Volkoff
Alexei Volkoff
Alexei Volkoff is the alias and alter ego of Hartley Winterbottom , a fictional character on the television series Chuck. Volkoff is the head of Volkoff Industries. For the first six episodes of the fourth season, he was an unseen character, directing his operatives from behind the scenes...
, are now under the leadership of Volkoff's daughter Vivian. Thinking that Riley and Jasmine are going to arrive at Ellie's apartment, Sarah tells Ellie that Chuck knows Ellie lied to him and still has the laptop. However, Ellie and Sarah then realize that the laptop has been mistakenly taken by Ellie's husband Devon Woodcomb (Ryan McPartlin
Ryan McPartlin
Ryan McPartlin is an American actor, best known for his role as Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb on NBC's Chuck.-Early life:...
) to Chuck's bachelor party.
Meanwhile, despite Chuck and his guests' belief that Devon was hosting Chuck's bachelor party in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, they are taken to Las Vecas National Park. As some of the guests attempt to escape the camping trip, they are ambushed by Riley's mercenaries
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
, who are tracking the laptop Devon unknowingly brought with him. Chuck and his friends escape, but the laptop is stabbed by Jasmine in the process.
When Chuck returns, he and Ellie tell each other the truth, with Ellie revealing that she is still investigating her father's research, and Chuck revealing that he is still a CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
agent. Chuck then brings Ellie to Castle and demonstrates martial arts skills from the Intersect
The Intersect
The Intersect is a fictional secret technology appearing in the television series Chuck. Within the series, it is used to house and analyze large quantities of encoded data...
. When Chuck claims to be Agent X, the first human Intersect, Ellie informs him that, according to the laptop, someone had originally uploaded the Intersect to their brain before Chuck's birth. After Chuck repairs the computer, they find a redacted file on British scientist Hartley Winterbottom.
Chuck, Sarah, and John Casey
John Casey (Chuck)
Colonel John Casey is portrayed by actor Adam Baldwin on the television show Chuck on NBC. Prior to the episode "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac," he was partnered with CIA agent Sarah Walker to protect Chuck Bartowski....
(Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin is an American actor, known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard, Knowle Rohrer in The X-Files, and Marcus Hamilton in Joss Whedon's Angel...
) travel to Winterbottom's home in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and confront Winterbottom's mother (Millicent Martin
Millicent Martin
Millicent Mary Lillian Martin is an English actress, singer and comedienne.Martin was born in Romford, England. She made her Broadway debut opposite Julie Andrews in The Boy Friend in 1954...
), who blames the CIA for corrupting her son. However, Chuck is revealed to be Stephen Bartowski's son, earning her trust, as Hartley and Stephen were once colleagues and close friends. When Riley and Jasmine arrive with an assault team, Mrs. Winterbottom sends Chuck and Sarah to retrieve Hartley's "spy will" while she and Casey fight back the assault team. When they run out of ammunition, Winterbottom sets a trap that explodes and kills Jasmine and the assault team.
When Ellie, Chuck, Sarah, Casey, and Morgan Grimes
Morgan Grimes
Morgan Guillermo Grimes is a major character on the television series Chuck. He is portrayed by actor Joshua Gomez, and is the best friend of Chuck Bartowski....
(Joshua Gomez
Joshua Gomez
Joshua Eli Gomez is an American actor best known for his role as Morgan Grimes on Chuck. He is the younger brother of actor Rick Gomez....
) open Hartley's spy will, they discover a photograph of a young Alexei Volkoff (Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
), revealing the arms dealer to be the true Agent X. Hartley's upload of the Intersect prior to an undercover mission for Stephen Bartowski had malfunctioned and overwritten Hartley's personality with that of his cover identity, Volkoff. Casey recognizes the danger of what the group has learned and hides the spy will and its key to protect them from government retribution. However, Ellie decides that Stephen intended for her and Chuck to help Volkoff on their own.
Production
"Chuck Versus Agent X" was one of many episodes to be directed by producer Robert Duncan McNeillRobert Duncan McNeill
Robert Duncan McNeill is an American actor, producer, movie director, and television director who is best known for his role as Lieutenant Tom Paris on the television show Star Trek: Voyager.-Acting:...
, and was written by Phil Klemmer and Craig DiGregorio. It originally aired in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on May 2, 2011, on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
as the 22nd episode of Chucks fourth season and the 76th episode overall.
Chuck cast members revealed at the 2011 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo
Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo
The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo is a Chicago fan convention dedicated to comics, pop culture, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television...
that the season would include a "funny, camping-themed" bachelor party episode featuring Casey
John Casey (Chuck)
Colonel John Casey is portrayed by actor Adam Baldwin on the television show Chuck on NBC. Prior to the episode "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac," he was partnered with CIA agent Sarah Walker to protect Chuck Bartowski....
, Big Mike, and the fictional band Jeffster!
Jeffster!
Jeffster! is a fictional cover band on the television series Chuck. Its principal members are Jeff Barnes and Lester Patel , both of whom work in the Nerd Herd division of the Buy More...
. The cast also confirmed that Ray Wise
Ray Wise
Raymond Nicolas "Ray" Wise is an American actor, known for his roles as Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks, as Leon C. Nash, right-hand henchman to villain Clarence Boddicker in the science fiction classic RoboCop, and recently as the Devil in the CW television series Reaper.-Life and career:Wise was...
would reprise his role of Alexei Volkoff
Alexei Volkoff
Alexei Volkoff is the alias and alter ego of Hartley Winterbottom , a fictional character on the television series Chuck. Volkoff is the head of Volkoff Industries. For the first six episodes of the fourth season, he was an unseen character, directing his operatives from behind the scenes...
's lawyer, Riley. India de Beaufort
India de Beaufort
India de Beaufort is an English actress and singer/songwriter from London whose appearances include roles in Basil Brush and Run Fatboy Run. She played Aneka, a pagan warrior maiden, in the 2009 series Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire...
guest starred as Jasmine, and Millicent Martin
Millicent Martin
Millicent Mary Lillian Martin is an English actress, singer and comedienne.Martin was born in Romford, England. She made her Broadway debut opposite Julie Andrews in The Boy Friend in 1954...
as Hartley Winterbottom's mother. Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster is an American actress. Since the show's inception in 2007, she has co-starred in the NBC comedy-spy series Chuck, as the title character's sister, Ellie Bartowski....
revealed to IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
that the Snakes of Toluca Lake, the strippers which Ellie hires for Sarah, were played by the real-life Hollywood Men. Lancaster enjoyed filming the scene, which took hours to perform, solely due to Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Strahovski is an Australian actress. Born in Australia to Polish immigrant parents, Strahovski speaks Polish and English...
's discomfort. Strahovski stated that the men became "bolder" with each take, gradually moving closer to her. Principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
for "Chuck Versus Agent X" ended on April 10.
Series co-creator Chris Fedak
Chris Fedak
Chris Fedak is a co-executive producer of Chuck. He has also co-written several episodes with Josh Schwartz.Chuck is Fedak's first television credit.Schwartz says that the idea for Chuck originally came from Fedak:-External links:*...
stated in a later interview that the inspiration for Volkoff's true identity being a gun-shy British scientist was Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
's portrayal of Gregory Tuttle, Volkoff's guise as Mary Elizabeth Bartowski
Mary Elizabeth Bartowski
Mary Elizabeth Bartowski is a character on the television series Chuck. Mary is the estranged mother of Chuck and Ellie Bartowski. She is portrayed by Linda Hamilton.-Biography:...
's MI6
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
handler, in his first appearance on the series. A photograph of Dalton before his portrayal of James Bond
James Bond (character)
Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...
is used to represent a young Hartley Winterbottom.
Music and cultural references
The episode's soundtrack includes the songs "BlowBlow (song)
"Blow" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha, from her first extended play , Cannibal. The song was released as the EP's second single on February 8, 2011. It was written by Kesha, along with Klas Åhlund, Lukasz Gottwald, Allan Grigg, Benjamin Levin and Max Martin, with...
" by Kesha
Kesha
Kesha village is a small village nestled in the mountains of Yongshun County, northwestern Hunan province, China, located at latitude 29 05' 50", longitude 109 57' 9". The name is pronounced in Standard Chinese. The official language is Manderin Chinese....
, "Line in the Sand" by Mackintosh Braun, "Keep It Coming" by Pixie Carnation, "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car
Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car
"Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" is a number one single by singer Billy Ocean. Part of its popularity lay in its cutting-edge video, which featured cartoon mixed with live-action sequences. The song went to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot Black Singles chart. It also...
" by Billy Ocean
Billy Ocean
Billy Ocean is a Trinidad-born English Grammy Award winning popular music performer who had a string of rhythm and blues international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British-based R&B singer / songwriter of the early to mid-1980s...
, and "Codex" by Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
.
In the episode, Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
's image is featured on a target for Casey's shooting range
Shooting range
A shooting range or firing range is a specialized facility designed for firearms practice. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, called variously a range master or "RSO – Range Safety Officer" in the United States or a range conducting officer or "RCO" in the UK...
. Coincidentally, bin Laden was killed
Death of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local time by a United States special forces military unit....
in a raid on May 1, 2011, around 16:00 Eastern Daylight Time
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
, one day before the episode was aired.
Reception
"Chuck Versus Agent X" drew 4.097 million viewers, the second-lowest number in Chucks history, after "Chuck Versus the Family VolkoffChuck Versus the Family Volkoff
"Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff" is the 20th episode of the fourth season of Chuck, and the 74th overall episode of the series. The episode was directed by Robert Duncan McNeill and written by Nicholas Wootton and Amanda Kate Shuman. It originally aired April 11, 2011.The episode has several...
". According to the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
system, it had a 2.5/4 share among all households and 1.4/4 share among those aged 18–49.
The episode received positive reviews from critics. Ryan McGee of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
gave the episode an A- on an A+ to F scale. He found the episode's "reconfiguration of previous mythology" successful, and, though he found it obvious that Volkoff was Agent X, McGee wrote that "seeing a pre-Bond Dalton inside that spy will was great payoff all the same." However, McGee continued, "Much less successful was anything involving Chuck's bachelor party and Big Mike/Jeffster's subsequent desire to save their manly weekend." Eric Goldman of IGN gave this episode a score of 8.5 out of 10, writing that "the best element in all of this was the introduction of Volkoff, or make that Hartley Winterbottom's, mother and the bonding that occurred between her and John Casey." HitFix
HitFix
HitFix, or the HitFix.com is an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information and providing reviews and critiques of film, music and television...
Senior Editor Alan Sepinwall, however, wrote that the episode "was kind of a hodge podge. It's a transitional episode setting up the end game with Volkoff that the season's final 2 episodes will focus on, but it also felt like an hour two or three different ideas that nobody could quite flesh out to fill up an entire episode, and so were compressed together." Like McGee, Sepinwall enjoyed Wise's return, though he felt that the actor was given little to do.