Monday, February 01, 2010

Chuck vs the Nacho Sampler: Mish with the Manoosh

Fresh off last week's solo "mish," the evolution from Geek to Spy again moves quickly* this week for Chuck. For an episode that is still really meant to set up future episodes, there was a lot of fun to be had, and I keep thinking how much I enjoyed this episode, and yet it's the lesser of the first six we've seen in the show's third season.

*The opening scene with flashback to the pilot, while initially a setup for Kristen Kreuk's entrance (to Datarock's "Amarillion"), was a great illustration of just how far Chuck (and, for that matter, Chuck) has come.

Acting like a parallel to season one highlight "Chuck vs. the Sandworm," "Nacho Sampler" not only has Chuck helping a fellow geek, Manoosh (played by aerospace engineer, standup comedian, end fellow Seattle native Fahim Anwar), but also revisiting similar geek cultural touchstones (Battlestar Galactica, Y: The Last Man). In the end, though, Chuck is a long ways from season one, perhaps too far from it.

Musically, besides the Datarock opening, hearing my old karaoke stand-by "Rock the Casbah" backing (the hilarious) Weap-Con was delightfully reminiscent of the Clash's video for it. Also noticed some of Tim Jones' score harkened back to "Chuck vs the Cougars," the Tangerine Dream-like ominous bits that semed like an homage to Risky Business.

Playlist: Chuck - Ep3.06
1. "Amarillion" - Datarock
2. "Danny Trejo" (feat. NiƱa Dios)" - Plastillina Mosh
3. "Merrymaking at My Place" - Calvin Harris
4. "Rock the Casbah" - The Clash
5. "40 Day Dream" - Edward Sharp & the Magnetic Zeros

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