Chuck Versus the First Fight
Encyclopedia
"Chuck Versus the First Fight" is the seventh episode of the fourth season
of Chuck
. It originally aired November 1, 2010. In the wake of his first fight with Sarah
, Chuck Bartowski
embarks on a rogue mission to prove his mother
's innocence, ultimately colliding with her MI6
handler, Gregory Tuttle (former James Bond
star Timothy Dalton
) and Dasha (Ana Gasteyer
), a nefarious Volkoff
operative. Meanwhile, Ellie
digs into her family's secretive past.
, Chuck
turns his attention to searching for clues from his father
about his mother's true identity. He confronts Ellie
about the matter and she reveals that she sometimes found secret messages from their father in the classified ads in the newspaper. Coincidentally, she unintentionally gives Chuck the idea to ask his mother (Linda Hamilton
), who is locked in Castle.
Determined to prove his mother's innocence, Chuck charms his way through an agent-infested Castle and secretly meets with her. She tells him that Casey
's findings on Project Isis were true and that she did leave the CIA
during her mission to take Volkoff Industries
down from the inside. Claiming she did it to protect her identity, she tells Chuck that she instead joined MI6
to complete her mission. She explains that Gregory Tuttle (Timothy Dalton
), her handler at MI6, can confirm her story and tells Chuck to meet him at local bar in her place. Instead of bringing Sarah along as he did last time, Chuck brings Morgan Grimes
with him to act as his back-up. While Morgan goes to restroom to fix his earpiece, Tuttle finds Chuck and they begin their meeting. However, they are both drugged and captured by Volkoff operative Dasha (Ana Gasteyer
). Morgan returns from the restroom only to find Chuck's phone and earpiece left behind.
Chuck and Tuttle wake up on board a private airplane where Dasha begins to interrogate them using torture. Eventually a fight breaks out between Chuck and Volkoff's henchmen. Despite Tuttle's bumbling personality, the two are able to escape by parachuting out of the airplane. Chuck wakes up to find Tuttle has hitched them a ride back to Los Angeles in a truck loaded with sheep.
Morgan tells Sarah and Casey about Chuck's rogue mission and the three of them interrogate Mary Bartowski. In exchange for visiting Ellie, Mary agrees to tell them about Chuck and Tuttle's rogue mission. Sarah takes Mary to Ellie's house where the two of them talk about old memories including the old 1968 Ford Mustang
that Ellie's father Stephen drove his family around in. Afterwards, Ellie searches the classifieds again and finds an ad for her father's car. She and Devon decide to go pick it up.
Chuck and Tuttle then arrive at a bank where Tuttle retrieves a package that will prove Mary Bartowski's innocence. Just as Sarah arrives with Chuck's mother, so do Dasha and Volkoff's henchmen. Confronting each other for the first time since the incident that spurred their fight, Chuck and Sarah argue while sneaking around the bank from the Volkoff henchmen. Chuck and Sarah resolve their fight while fighting off Volkoff's men. However, Dasha fires a shot at Chuck and Tuttle jumps in the way to take the bullet. Bleeding, Tuttle gives Chuck a triangular-shaped disk that requires a specific, defunct computer to use it, one of which is in London. Fortunately, Chuck's father has the same computer in the secret basement that contains all of his research.
Sarah, Chuck, and Mary head to the old Bartowski home to retrieve the files off the disk. However, when Casey and Morgan arrive at the bank, they find Tuttle has disappeared leaving behind only a pool of blood. Chuck inserts the disk into his father's computer, but the disk turns out to be empty. While attempting to ask why the disk is empty, Chuck is forced by his mother to view a video on her portable device that causes him to lose the ability to flash. Tuttle walks into the basement and reveals to Chuck and Sarah that he is really Alexei Volkoff, the mastermind behind Volkoff Industries. Mary ties Chuck and Sarah up and Volkoff lays bombs around the basement while explaining to Chuck that his father wasted his life and research on a woman who truly was a rogue agent.
As Volkoff and Mary leave the basement, Mary slips Sarah a razor and whispers to her to keep Chuck safe. After Volkoff and Mary leave, Sarah cuts herself and Chuck loose and they rush out of the old Bartowski home before the bomb detonates. Chuck watches in disappointment as he cannot use the Intersect and all of his father's research has been destroyed.
Meanwhile, Ellie and Devon pick up Stephen Bartowski's old Mustang. They read a letter from Stephen (Scott Bakula
in an uncredited voice cameo) where he says he trusts Ellie will know what to do. As they drive away, the Mustang is revealed to have one of Stephen's laptops in it.
Later, Chuck vents to Tuttle on the 123-mile drive to Los Angeles about his first fight with his girlfriend. At a bank in Los Angeles, Sarah and Chuck confront each other for the first time since the incident that spurred their fight, and they argue while sneaking around the bank from the Volkoff henchmen. Chuck and Sarah resolve their fight while fighting off Volkoff's men.
After being tricked into viewing a device shown to him in Stephen's base by his mother, Chuck loses his ability to flash.
gave this episode a score of 9 out of 10.
Television Without Pity gave the episode an A grade.
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 originally aired November 1, 2010. In the wake of his first fight with Sarah
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...
, 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:...
embarks on a rogue mission to prove his mother
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 innocence, ultimately colliding with her 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, Gregory Tuttle (former James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
star 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...
) and Dasha (Ana Gasteyer
Ana Gasteyer
Ana Kristina Gasteyer is an American actress of stage, film, and television. She is best known for her comedic roles when she was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002.-Early life:...
), a nefarious Volkoff
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...
operative. Meanwhile, Ellie
Ellie Bartowski
Eleanor Faye "Ellie" Bartowski Woodcomb, M.D., Ph.D., is the older sister of title character Chuck Bartowski on the television series Chuck. She is portrayed by actress Sarah Lancaster.-Biography:...
digs into her family's secretive past.
Main plot
Despite feeling betrayed by Sarah for capturing his motherMary 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:...
, Chuck
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:...
turns his attention to searching for clues from his father
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....
about his mother's true identity. He confronts Ellie
Ellie Bartowski
Eleanor Faye "Ellie" Bartowski Woodcomb, M.D., Ph.D., is the older sister of title character Chuck Bartowski on the television series Chuck. She is portrayed by actress Sarah Lancaster.-Biography:...
about the matter and she reveals that she sometimes found secret messages from their father in the classified ads in the newspaper. Coincidentally, she unintentionally gives Chuck the idea to ask his mother (Linda Hamilton
Linda Hamilton
Linda Carroll Hamilton is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Sarah Connor in The Terminator and its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Catherine Chandler in the television series Beauty and the Beast, for which she was nominated for two Golden Globes and an Emmy...
), who is locked in Castle.
Determined to prove his mother's innocence, Chuck charms his way through an agent-infested Castle and secretly meets with her. She tells him that 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....
's findings on Project Isis were true and that she did leave 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...
during her mission to take 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...
down from the inside. Claiming she did it to protect her identity, she tells Chuck that she instead joined 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...
to complete her mission. She explains that Gregory Tuttle (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...
), her handler at MI6, can confirm her story and tells Chuck to meet him at local bar in her place. Instead of bringing Sarah along as he did last time, Chuck brings 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....
with him to act as his back-up. While Morgan goes to restroom to fix his earpiece, Tuttle finds Chuck and they begin their meeting. However, they are both drugged and captured by Volkoff operative Dasha (Ana Gasteyer
Ana Gasteyer
Ana Kristina Gasteyer is an American actress of stage, film, and television. She is best known for her comedic roles when she was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002.-Early life:...
). Morgan returns from the restroom only to find Chuck's phone and earpiece left behind.
Chuck and Tuttle wake up on board a private airplane where Dasha begins to interrogate them using torture. Eventually a fight breaks out between Chuck and Volkoff's henchmen. Despite Tuttle's bumbling personality, the two are able to escape by parachuting out of the airplane. Chuck wakes up to find Tuttle has hitched them a ride back to Los Angeles in a truck loaded with sheep.
Morgan tells Sarah and Casey about Chuck's rogue mission and the three of them interrogate Mary Bartowski. In exchange for visiting Ellie, Mary agrees to tell them about Chuck and Tuttle's rogue mission. Sarah takes Mary to Ellie's house where the two of them talk about old memories including the old 1968 Ford Mustang
Ford Mustang (first generation)
The first-generation Ford Mustang is the original pony car, manufactured by Ford Motor Company from 1964 until 1973.It was initially introduced as a hardtop and convertible with the fastback version put on sale the following year...
that Ellie's father Stephen drove his family around in. Afterwards, Ellie searches the classifieds again and finds an ad for her father's car. She and Devon decide to go pick it up.
Chuck and Tuttle then arrive at a bank where Tuttle retrieves a package that will prove Mary Bartowski's innocence. Just as Sarah arrives with Chuck's mother, so do Dasha and Volkoff's henchmen. Confronting each other for the first time since the incident that spurred their fight, Chuck and Sarah argue while sneaking around the bank from the Volkoff henchmen. Chuck and Sarah resolve their fight while fighting off Volkoff's men. However, Dasha fires a shot at Chuck and Tuttle jumps in the way to take the bullet. Bleeding, Tuttle gives Chuck a triangular-shaped disk that requires a specific, defunct computer to use it, one of which is in London. Fortunately, Chuck's father has the same computer in the secret basement that contains all of his research.
Sarah, Chuck, and Mary head to the old Bartowski home to retrieve the files off the disk. However, when Casey and Morgan arrive at the bank, they find Tuttle has disappeared leaving behind only a pool of blood. Chuck inserts the disk into his father's computer, but the disk turns out to be empty. While attempting to ask why the disk is empty, Chuck is forced by his mother to view a video on her portable device that causes him to lose the ability to flash. Tuttle walks into the basement and reveals to Chuck and Sarah that he is really Alexei Volkoff, the mastermind behind Volkoff Industries. Mary ties Chuck and Sarah up and Volkoff lays bombs around the basement while explaining to Chuck that his father wasted his life and research on a woman who truly was a rogue agent.
As Volkoff and Mary leave the basement, Mary slips Sarah a razor and whispers to her to keep Chuck safe. After Volkoff and Mary leave, Sarah cuts herself and Chuck loose and they rush out of the old Bartowski home before the bomb detonates. Chuck watches in disappointment as he cannot use the Intersect and all of his father's research has been destroyed.
Meanwhile, Ellie and Devon pick up Stephen Bartowski's old Mustang. They read a letter from Stephen (Scott Bakula
Scott Bakula
Scott Stewart Bakula is an American actor, known for his role as Sam Beckett in the television series Quantum Leap, for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama in 1991 and was nominated for four Emmy Awards. He also had a prominent role as Captain Jonathan...
in an uncredited voice cameo) where he says he trusts Ellie will know what to do. As they drive away, the Mustang is revealed to have one of Stephen's laptops in it.
Chuck and Sarah
Feeling betrayed by Sarah for capturing his mother, Chuck tells Morgan that he is in his first real fight with Sarah. Despite being in his first fight with his girlfriend, Chuck turns his attention to searching for clues from his father about his mother's true identity.Later, Chuck vents to Tuttle on the 123-mile drive to Los Angeles about his first fight with his girlfriend. At a bank in Los Angeles, Sarah and Chuck confront each other for the first time since the incident that spurred their fight, and they argue while sneaking around the bank from the Volkoff henchmen. Chuck and Sarah resolve their fight while fighting off Volkoff's men.
Morgan and Casey
When Chuck vents to Morgan about his and Sarah's fight, Morgan admits that he is experiencing the same thing with Casey. Morgan confronts Casey about lying to him about Project Isis. Later, their fight is apparently resolved when Casey allows Morgan to participate in the bank mission rather than wait in the van.Production details
- The safety deposit box Volkoff opens is labeled "407", which is this episode's number (seventh episode of the fourth season).
- The song that plays during the destruction of Stephen's hidden base is also played when Stephen was shot and killed by Daniel ShawDaniel ShawDaniel Shaw is a fictional government agent on the television series Chuck. Shaw is introduced in the third season episode "Chuck Versus Operation Awesome" as a government agent specializing in the terrorist organization known as the Ring, and who becomes a mentor to Chuck Bartowski and ultimately...
in "Chuck Versus the SubwayChuck Versus the Subway"Chuck Versus the Subway" is the 18th episode of the third season of Chuck. It originally aired on May 24, 2010 in a special two-hour block with "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II." As the Intersect continues to malfunction Stephen hurries to complete the Governor for his son...
". - A TRS-80 Model 4 portrays the fictional Phalanx XR-12 computer in the episode.
- The "Eurybia" device Mary uses to suppress the Intersect is a SonySony, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
PlayStation PortablePlayStation PortableThe is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
.
Continuity
- Stephen's habit of placing coded messages in the classified ads is referenced.
- "Tuttle" frees his hands from the ropes on the plane using a Swedish slip, then says "and I didn't have to break my thumbs!" This references "Chuck Versus the SuburbsChuck Versus the Suburbs"Chuck Versus the Suburbs" is the thirteenth episode of the second season of Chuck. It originally aired on February 16, 2009. General Beckman sends Chuck Bartowski, Sarah Walker, and John Casey to an Los Angeles suburb on an undercover mission, with Chuck and Sarah posing as a married couple...
" and "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part IIChuck Versus the Ring: Part II"Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II" is the 19th episode and season finale of the third season of Chuck. It was originally aired May 24, 2010 in a special two-hour block with "Chuck Versus the Subway." Team Bartowski escapes execution by Shaw, thanks to Morgan and Devon...
", where characters are forced to break their thumbs to do so.
Flashes
- On the plane, Chuck flashes on martial arts to fight a Volkoff henchman.
- Chuck flashes on martial arts to help Sarah during the fight in the bank.
After being tricked into viewing a device shown to him in Stephen's base by his mother, Chuck loses his ability to flash.
Cultural references
- When discussing the fight with Sarah, Morgan tells Chuck he needs to "clear the [...] mechanism," a reference to For Love of the GameFor Love of the Game (film)For Love of the Game is a 1999 American drama sports film based on the novel of the same title by Michael Shaara...
. - As he enters Castle to interrogate his mother, Chuck greets two standby agents as "Tom, Jerry," referencing the classic cartoonTom and JerryTom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
. - "Tuttle" compares his and Chuck's situation to "that great episode of AliasAlias (TV series)Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006...
." - In the fight scene in the bank, at approximately 32:23, the Wilhelm screamWilhelm screamThe Wilhelm scream is a film and television stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the film Distant Drums. The effect gained new popularity after it was used in Star Wars and many other blockbuster films as well as television programs and video games...
is played as Sarah uses a flag pole to knock over a shotgun-wielding henchman.
Music
- "Snake" by Frightened RabbitFrightened RabbitFrightened Rabbit are a Scottish indie rock band from Selkirk, formed in 2003. The lineup consists of lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and lyricist Scott Hutchison, guitarist and bassist Billy Kennedy, guitarist Andy Monaghan, drummer Grant Hutchison and guitarist and keyboardist Gordon Skene...
- "Ghosts n Stuff" by Deadmau5Deadmau5Joel Thomas Zimmerman , better known by his stage name deadmau5 , is a Canadian progressive, electro, and house producer based in Toronto...
- "We Don't Eat" by James Vincent McMorrowJames Vincent McMorrowJames Vincent McMorrow is an Irish folk music singer-songwriter. His debut album Early in the Morning was released in February, 2010. He wrote the album during a self-imposed seclusion in a beach house in Ireland. His music has been compared to Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, and Ray LaMontagne. ...
- "Kiss With A Fist" by Florence + The Machine
- "One October Song" by Nico StaiNico StaiNico Stai is a musician singer/songwriter based in Los Angeles Ca. Born and raised in Spain, Nico relocated to Los Angeleswhere he formed and fronted various bands before embarking on a solo career in 2006....
Critical response
Eric Goldman of IGNIGN
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 9 out of 10.
Television Without Pity gave the episode an A grade.