Chuck Versus the A-Team
Encyclopedia
"Chuck Versus the A-Team" is the eighteenth episode of the fourth season
of Chuck
. It aired on March 14, 2011. Chuck Bartowski
and Sarah Walker
suspect John Casey
is carrying out private missions. Chuck fears the CIA
's new operatives (Isaiah Mustafa
and Stacy Keibler
), who have downloaded the Intersect, will render him obsolete. Morgan Grimes
settles in with Casey, his new roommate. Devon Woodcomb becomes uncomfortable with Ellie Woodcomb's research.
interrogated by an unknown man for information on John Casey
, his new roommate. When Morgan refuses to reveal anything, the man reveals himself to be Casey and congratulates Morgan on passing the test. Chuck Bartowski
and Sarah Walker
are becoming bored with their lack of missions, and begin to suspect Casey is carrying out missions without them. Morgan refuses to tell Chuck anything, so Chuck and Sarah follow Casey on their own. Casey meets with Necati Acar a.k.a "The Turk" (Timur Kocak), posing as a messenger of Russian criminal Dragan Pichushkin (Jon Sklaroff). The Turk, however, reveals that he knows Casey's name and true occupation as an NSA
agent and has guards draw their guns on Casey. Chuck and Sarah reveal themselves in order to protect Casey, but several more of the Turk's guards then reveal themselves. Casey motions to the guards nearest him, who turn and kill the rest of the Turk's men. When they remove their masks and arrest the Turk, Chuck recognizes them as the second and third Buy More
employee named "Greta". The individuals are introduced as Casey's NCS
team, Captain Richard Noble (Isaiah Mustafa
) and Captain Victoria Dunwoody (Stacy Keibler
), who Chuck nicknames "Rick" and "Vicki".
Sarah worries that the CIA
is replacing them with Casey's extremely efficient team, but Chuck considers himself irreplaceable with the Intersect
. General Diane Beckman
reveals that Pichushkin has made a fortune dismantling the former Soviet
arsenal and selling it on the black market. The Turk is willing to lure Pichushkin onto United States
soil in exchange for asylum for his family. Chuck and Sarah travel to Tbilisi
, Georgia
, to retrieve "Jana" and guarantee the Turk's cooperation. Chuck and Sarah are glad to finally have a mission, but they soon learn that Jana is the Turk's beloved dog.
Unsatisfied, Chuck and Sarah decide to prove their worth. Hearing Jana's barking, they deduct that the Turk is in the NCS-restricted part of Castle. They break into Casey's apartment, tranquilize Morgan, and take Casey's handprint from his framed photograph of Ronald Reagan
, gaining access to the NCS area of Castle. They soon find Stephen J. Bartowski
's laptop Intersect. Rick and Vicki appear and try to remove Chuck from the area, but Chuck flashes to defend himself. After a brief fight, Chuck realizes that they are all using the same technique; Rick and Vicki have uploaded the Intersect. Chuck tries to retrieve the laptop, but Director Jane Bentley (Robin Givens
) arrives and stops him, warning him that her Intersects won't hesitate to "pull the trigger" like him.
Bentley reveals that the G.R.E.T.A. field test used the Buy More as proving ground
for prospective Intersect candidates. She also alludes the to the fact that the intersect software has been modified, possibly explaining the lack of emotion displayed by the two 'Greta' agents. She briefs the team, revealing that Pichushkin is en route to on a stolen jet. Rick and Vicki flash on a surveillance video, learning that Pichushkin is transporting a fully assembled bomb. Against Bentley's reservations, Casey requests that Chuck and Sarah be used as backup for the mission, as he does not wish for them to go "obsolete". Chuck is assigned to bomb disposal
to allow Casey and his team to arrest Pichushkin.
When Pichushkin arrives, Rick and Vicki shoot his bodyguards, before he reveals that he is carrying a suitcase nuke
and has possession of a remote arming device. As he flees, Sarah and Vicki pursue him, while Chuck joins Casey and Rick to disarm the bomb. Sarah finds Pichushkin, who informs her that the arming device is wired to his heartbeat to activate when he dies, drawing a gun on Sarah. Before Sarah can warn her, Vicki shoots Pichushkin, arming the nuclear device. Rick declares that the bomb is too complicated for the Intersect to disarm, but Chuck attempts to do so nonetheless. After flashing on the detonator, Chuck realizes the component is from a Chinese submarine and must have been designed to deactivate in the presence of salt water in case of hull breaches. He then uses the sodium
in his apple juice
to defuse the bomb.
After the botched operation, Beckman gives Chuck control of the Intersect program and has the Intersect extracted from Rick and Vicki's brain's - to the obvious relief of them both. Rick expresses symapthy for Chuck at being forced to live with the intersect. However, Bentley believes that the flaw is not with the agents in possession of the Intersect, but rather the laptop itself. She then returns it to Ellie Woodcomb.
", Devon calls Chuck and asks for the laptop back. Aside from wanting to keep Ellie out of the spy world, Chuck no longer possesses the laptop, believing it to be secure at in Langley, Virginia
. Chuck suggests telling Ellie that he sent the laptop to the Nerd Herd, so that Ellie would think Jeff Barnes and Lester Patel misplaced it.
Ellie goes to the Buy More, where Lester is testing Jeff's extrasensory perception with Zener cards. They unsuccessfully search for the laptop, suspecting that they may have returned it to the wrong customer. Lester tests Jeff's clairvoyance
by having him write down the location of the laptop, and Jeff correctly predicts that the laptop is in the possession of the CIA. However, Lester misreads the prediction, believing it to be a person named "Cia".
Ellie is then given the laptop by Director Bentley, posing as a Buy More customer who was given the laptop by mistake, in the hope that Ellie will be able to decode it.
" and "Chuck Versus the Cubic Z
", respectively. It was revealed on March 11, 2011, that their actual names would be Captain Rick Noble and Captain Victoria Dunwoody. This episode marked the return of writer Phil Klemmer, a writer from the original staff who departed to write for the series Undercovers
.
Devon addresses Ellie by her full name and two abbreviated postnominals, revealing for the first time that, in addition to her M.D., she earned a Ph.D. at some point.
When forced to disarm the bomb, Chuck says, "Just like old times," alluding to "Chuck Versus the Intersect
", where he is put in a similar situation.
This was the first time Chuck was willing to fight a woman.
gave the episode a B-, writing, "The last episode
was a fun one, which is at least partly due to the presence of Ray Wise
, one of those character actors who elevates material both great and crappy. This one, however, has the guy from the Old Spice
commercials. Perhaps he, too, is an excellent actor, but he doesn’t have much to do here besides look blandly arrogant."
Eric Goldman of IGN
gave this episode a score of 7 out of 10. Though he enjoyed having clarity about the G.R.E.T.A. program, Goldman was disappointed with the episode's impact writing that Rick and Vicki got "Intersects very quickly, and I think the impact was particularly diminished by the fact that it all seemed to wrap up just as quickly. Wouldn't it have been more interesting to have had these two, and their much more clinical, methodical approach to using the Intersect, stick around for a few episodes, as Chuck has to process what it might mean for his future?"
The episode drew 4.92 million viewers, the second-lowest number in Chuck history at the time of the episode's airing, after "Chuck Versus Phase Three
".
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 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...
. It aired on March 14, 2011. 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:...
and 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...
suspect 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....
is carrying out private missions. Chuck fears the 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...
's new operatives (Isaiah Mustafa
Isaiah Mustafa
Isaiah Mustafa is an American actor and former NFL practice squad wide receiver. Mustafa is widely known as the main character for a series of Old Spice TV commercials, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.-Early life:...
and Stacy Keibler
Stacy Keibler
Stacy Keibler is an American actress, model, and former professional wrestler and valet, best known for her work with World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment ....
), who have downloaded the Intersect, will render him obsolete. 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....
settles in with Casey, his new roommate. Devon Woodcomb becomes uncomfortable with Ellie Woodcomb's research.
Plot
The episode begins with Morgan GrimesMorgan 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....
interrogated by an unknown man for information on 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....
, his new roommate. When Morgan refuses to reveal anything, the man reveals himself to be Casey and congratulates Morgan on passing the test. 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:...
and 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...
are becoming bored with their lack of missions, and begin to suspect Casey is carrying out missions without them. Morgan refuses to tell Chuck anything, so Chuck and Sarah follow Casey on their own. Casey meets with Necati Acar a.k.a "The Turk" (Timur Kocak), posing as a messenger of Russian criminal Dragan Pichushkin (Jon Sklaroff). The Turk, however, reveals that he knows Casey's name and true occupation as an NSA
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
agent and has guards draw their guns on Casey. Chuck and Sarah reveal themselves in order to protect Casey, but several more of the Turk's guards then reveal themselves. Casey motions to the guards nearest him, who turn and kill the rest of the Turk's men. When they remove their masks and arrest the Turk, Chuck recognizes them as the second and third Buy More
Buy More
Buy More is a fictional big box electronics retail chain in NBC's action-comedy series Chuck. The Buy More is a parody of similar chains, particularly Best Buy....
employee named "Greta". The individuals are introduced as Casey's NCS
National Clandestine Service
The National Clandestine Service is one of the four main components of the Central Intelligence Agency...
team, Captain Richard Noble (Isaiah Mustafa
Isaiah Mustafa
Isaiah Mustafa is an American actor and former NFL practice squad wide receiver. Mustafa is widely known as the main character for a series of Old Spice TV commercials, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.-Early life:...
) and Captain Victoria Dunwoody (Stacy Keibler
Stacy Keibler
Stacy Keibler is an American actress, model, and former professional wrestler and valet, best known for her work with World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment ....
), who Chuck nicknames "Rick" and "Vicki".
Sarah worries that the 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...
is replacing them with Casey's extremely efficient team, but Chuck considers himself irreplaceable with 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...
. 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...
reveals that Pichushkin has made a fortune dismantling the former Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
arsenal and selling it on the black market. The Turk is willing to lure Pichushkin onto United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soil in exchange for asylum for his family. Chuck and Sarah travel to Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, to retrieve "Jana" and guarantee the Turk's cooperation. Chuck and Sarah are glad to finally have a mission, but they soon learn that Jana is the Turk's beloved dog.
Unsatisfied, Chuck and Sarah decide to prove their worth. Hearing Jana's barking, they deduct that the Turk is in the NCS-restricted part of Castle. They break into Casey's apartment, tranquilize Morgan, and take Casey's handprint from his framed photograph of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, gaining access to the NCS area of Castle. They soon find Stephen J. Bartowski
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 Intersect. Rick and Vicki appear and try to remove Chuck from the area, but Chuck flashes to defend himself. After a brief fight, Chuck realizes that they are all using the same technique; Rick and Vicki have uploaded the Intersect. Chuck tries to retrieve the laptop, but Director Jane Bentley (Robin Givens
Robin Givens
Robin Simone Givens is an American model and film, television, and stage actress. She is best known for her role as Darlene Merriman on the television series Head of the Class.-Early life:...
) arrives and stops him, warning him that her Intersects won't hesitate to "pull the trigger" like him.
Bentley reveals that the G.R.E.T.A. field test used the Buy More as proving ground
Proving ground
A proving ground is the US name for a military installation or reservation where weapons or other military technology are experimented or tested, or where military tactics are tested...
for prospective Intersect candidates. She also alludes the to the fact that the intersect software has been modified, possibly explaining the lack of emotion displayed by the two 'Greta' agents. She briefs the team, revealing that Pichushkin is en route to on a stolen jet. Rick and Vicki flash on a surveillance video, learning that Pichushkin is transporting a fully assembled bomb. Against Bentley's reservations, Casey requests that Chuck and Sarah be used as backup for the mission, as he does not wish for them to go "obsolete". Chuck is assigned to bomb disposal
Bomb disposal
Bomb disposal is the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the following fields:*Military:...
to allow Casey and his team to arrest Pichushkin.
When Pichushkin arrives, Rick and Vicki shoot his bodyguards, before he reveals that he is carrying a suitcase nuke
Suitcase nuke
A suitcase nuke is a tactical nuclear weapon which uses, or is portable enough that it could use, a suitcase as its delivery method. Synonyms include suitcase bomb, backpack nuke, mini-nuke, pocket nuke and snuke....
and has possession of a remote arming device. As he flees, Sarah and Vicki pursue him, while Chuck joins Casey and Rick to disarm the bomb. Sarah finds Pichushkin, who informs her that the arming device is wired to his heartbeat to activate when he dies, drawing a gun on Sarah. Before Sarah can warn her, Vicki shoots Pichushkin, arming the nuclear device. Rick declares that the bomb is too complicated for the Intersect to disarm, but Chuck attempts to do so nonetheless. After flashing on the detonator, Chuck realizes the component is from a Chinese submarine and must have been designed to deactivate in the presence of salt water in case of hull breaches. He then uses the sodium
Sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...
in his apple juice
Apple juice
Apple juice is a fruit juice manufactured by the maceration and pressing of apples. The resulting expelled juice may be further treated by enzymatic and centrifugal clarification to remove the starch and pectin, which holds fine particulate in suspension, and then pasteurized for packaging in...
to defuse the bomb.
After the botched operation, Beckman gives Chuck control of the Intersect program and has the Intersect extracted from Rick and Vicki's brain's - to the obvious relief of them both. Rick expresses symapthy for Chuck at being forced to live with the intersect. However, Bentley believes that the flaw is not with the agents in possession of the Intersect, but rather the laptop itself. She then returns it to Ellie Woodcomb.
Ellie and Devon
Ellie asks Devon Woodcomb for her father's laptop back, believing that he sent it to her for a reason. Having given it to Chuck in "Chuck Versus the LeftoversChuck Versus the Leftovers
"Chuck Versus the Leftovers" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of Chuck. It originally aired November 29, 2010. Chuck Bartowski's mother comes over for "Thanksgiving leftovers" dinner the day after the holiday...
", Devon calls Chuck and asks for the laptop back. Aside from wanting to keep Ellie out of the spy world, Chuck no longer possesses the laptop, believing it to be secure at in Langley, Virginia
Langley, Virginia
Langley is an unincorporated community in the census-designated place of McLean in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States.The community was essentially absorbed into McLean many years ago, although there is still a Langley High School...
. Chuck suggests telling Ellie that he sent the laptop to the Nerd Herd, so that Ellie would think Jeff Barnes and Lester Patel misplaced it.
Ellie goes to the Buy More, where Lester is testing Jeff's extrasensory perception with Zener cards. They unsuccessfully search for the laptop, suspecting that they may have returned it to the wrong customer. Lester tests Jeff's clairvoyance
Clairvoyance
The term clairvoyance is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception...
by having him write down the location of the laptop, and Jeff correctly predicts that the laptop is in the possession of the CIA. However, Lester misreads the prediction, believing it to be a person named "Cia".
Ellie is then given the laptop by Director Bentley, posing as a Buy More customer who was given the laptop by mistake, in the hope that Ellie will be able to decode it.
Production
It was announced on February 25, 2011, that Isaiah Mustafa and Stacy Keibler would reprise their role of the second and third Greta from "Chuck Versus the SuitcaseChuck Versus the Suitcase
"Chuck Versus the Suitcase" is the second episode of the fourth season of Chuck. It originally aired September 27, 2010. There are crimes of fashion when Chuck Bartowski and Sarah Walker go undercover in Milan for Fashion Week to seize a high-tech weapon, yet Chuck soon recognizes a flaw in his...
" and "Chuck Versus the Cubic Z
Chuck Versus the Cubic Z
"Chuck Versus the Cubic Z" is the third episode of the fourth season of Chuck. It originally aired October 4, 2010. A prison transfer delivers old foes, Heather Chandler and Hugo Panzer , to the Buy More, canceling Chuck Bartowski and Sarah’s romantic mission...
", respectively. It was revealed on March 11, 2011, that their actual names would be Captain Rick Noble and Captain Victoria Dunwoody. This episode marked the return of writer Phil Klemmer, a writer from the original staff who departed to write for the series Undercovers
Undercovers (TV series)
Undercovers is an American action spy television series created by J. J. Abrams and Josh Reims for NBC. They were executive producers of the pilot along with Abrams' frequent collaborator Bryan Burk....
.
Continuity
The episode reveals that the Gretas from earlier in the fourth season were prospective Intersect candidates, and that the Buy More was being used as a proving ground.Devon addresses Ellie by her full name and two abbreviated postnominals, revealing for the first time that, in addition to her M.D., she earned a Ph.D. at some point.
When forced to disarm the bomb, Chuck says, "Just like old times," alluding to "Chuck Versus the Intersect
Chuck Versus the Intersect
"Chuck Versus the Intersect" is the pilot episode of the American action-comedy television series Chuck. The episode was directed by McG and written by series co-creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak...
", where he is put in a similar situation.
This was the first time Chuck was willing to fight a woman.
Flashes
Throughout the episode, Chuck, Rick, and Vicki experience several of the same flashes, sometimes flashing on the same object multiple times each. The contents of these flashes include martial arts skills, marksmanship skills, and classified information.Music
Songs listed by Alan Sepinwall.- "Murder Weapon" by TrickyTrickyTricky is an English musician and actor. As a producer and a musician, he is noted for a dark, rich and layered sound and a whispering sprechgesang lyrical style. Culturally, Tricky encourages an intertwining of societies, particularly in his musical fusion of rock and hip hop, high art and pop...
- "You & Me" by Diamond RingsDiamond Rings (musician)John O'Regan is a Canadian artist and musician best known by his stage name Diamond Rings. In addition to writing, recording, and producing his own music, he is also noted for transcending traditional representations of gender and identity in his live performances and videos.-2003 - 2008: Early...
- "No Man is an Island" by Losers
- "Ticking Heart" by The One AM Radio
Cultural references
- The episode's title alludes to the series The A-TeamThe A-TeamThe A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
. Throughout the episode, Chuck and Sarah alternate between referring to themselves as the "A-Team" and the "B-Team" in relation to Casey's team. - Morgan says, "My only regret is that I have one life to give", nearly quoting the last words of Nathan HaleNathan HaleNathan Hale was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British...
. - Chuck and Sarah have several games, including TwisterTwister (game)Twister is a game of physical skill produced by Hasbro Games. It is played on a large plastic mat that is spread on the floor or ground. The mat has four rows of large colored circles on it with a different color in each row: red, yellow, blue, and green. A spinner is attached to a square board...
, OperationOperation (game)Operation is a battery-operated game of physical skill that tests players' hand-eye co-ordination and fine motor skills. Originally made by Milton Bradley, and currently made by Hasbro it has been in production since 1965, the year in which the game was invented by John Spinello.The game is a...
, MonopolyMonopoly (game)Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...
, Mousetrap, and Final Fantasy IIFinal Fantasy IVis a role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1991 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game was originally released for the Super Famicom in Japan and has since then been rereleased for many other platforms with varying modifications. An enhanced remake with 3D graphics...
. - Chuck says that using automatic doors is just like using the ForceForce (Star Wars)The Force is a binding, metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the fictional universe of the Star Wars galaxy created by George Lucas. Mentioned in the first film in the series, it is integral to all subsequent incarnations of Star Wars, including the expanded universe of comic books, novels, and...
. - Lester's experiments on Jeff allude to the opening scene of GhostbustersGhostbustersGhostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
. - Morgan quotes Jurassic ParkJurassic Park (film)Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...
when he says "Clever girl". - After hearing Sarah's explanation of how they will obtain Casey's handprint, Chuck says, "Ech... sounds like a CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
show." - Chuck fears he will suffer the same demise as Guy PearceGuy PearceGuy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian actor and musician, known for his roles as Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, Lieutenant Ed Exley in L.A...
's character from The Hurt LockerThe Hurt LockerThe Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war film about a three-man United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team during the Iraq War. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and the screenplay was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb...
. - Chuck compares Noble and Dunwoody to terminatorsTerminator (character concept)In the Terminator film series, a terminator is an autonomous robot, typically humanoid, originally conceived as a virtually indestructible soldier and assassin, as well as an infiltrator....
. - Noble calls the bomb a "FrankensteinFrankensteinFrankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
".
Reception
"Chuck Versus the A-Team" received positive reviews from critics. HitFix writer Alan Sepinwall wrote, "From the perspective of a continuity-obsessed fanboy, I appreciate the return of those old subplots. And it helped that they came in a strong overall episode, one that featured a good character arc for all three original members of Operation Bartowski - not to mention one that brought back the government's ongoing desire to have someone other than Chuck have an Intersect in his head." Hayden Childs of The A.V. ClubThe 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 a B-, writing, "The last episode
Chuck Versus the First Bank of Evil
"Chuck Versus the First Bank of Evil" is the seventeenth episode of the fourth season of Chuck. It originally aired on February 28, 2011. Chuck Bartowski encourages Vivian McArthur to get in touch with her inner villain for a mission; Morgan Grimes' search for a new roommate has unexpected...
was a fun one, which is at least partly due to the presence of 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...
, one of those character actors who elevates material both great and crappy. This one, however, has the guy from the Old Spice
Old Spice
Old Spice is a prominent American brand of male grooming products. It is manufactured by Procter & Gamble, which acquired the brand in 1990 from the Shulton Company.-History:...
commercials. Perhaps he, too, is an excellent actor, but he doesn’t have much to do here besides look blandly arrogant."
Eric Goldman of 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...
gave this episode a score of 7 out of 10. Though he enjoyed having clarity about the G.R.E.T.A. program, Goldman was disappointed with the episode's impact writing that Rick and Vicki got "Intersects very quickly, and I think the impact was particularly diminished by the fact that it all seemed to wrap up just as quickly. Wouldn't it have been more interesting to have had these two, and their much more clinical, methodical approach to using the Intersect, stick around for a few episodes, as Chuck has to process what it might mean for his future?"
The episode drew 4.92 million viewers, the second-lowest number in Chuck history at the time of the episode's airing, after "Chuck Versus Phase Three
Chuck Versus Phase Three
"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 , whose mission is to discover more about the Intersect, Sarah Walker, Chuck Bartowski, Morgan Grimes, and John Casey immerse themselves in the...
".