Chuck Versus the Ex

"Chuck Versus the Ex"
Chuck episode
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 6
Directed by	Jay Chandrasekhar
Written by	Zev Borow
Production code	3T7256
Original air date	November 10, 2008 (2008-11-10)
Guest stars
Tony Hale as Emmett Milbarge Bonita Friedericy as Brigadier General Diane Beckman Jordana Brewster as Jill Roberts William Abadie as Guy Lafleur
Episode chronology
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List of Chuck episodes

"Chuck Versus the Ex" is the sixth episode of the second season of Chuck. It originally aired on November 10, 2008. Chuck Bartowski runs into his ex-girlfriend Jill Roberts (Jordana Brewster) while on a Nerd Herd call. In an attempt to save face, he lies to the girl who broke his heart and tells her that he is more successful than he really is. When Chuck flashes on Jill's boss, a research scientist who may have developed a deadly bio-weapon, he, Sarah Walker, and John Casey must find out if Jill is involved. Meanwhile at the Buy More, Big Mike nearly chokes to death, which leads company efficiency expert Emmett Milbarge (Tony Hale) to implement a mandatory CPR course taught by Devon Woodcomb.

Plot

In 2003, having been expelled from Stanford University and hired at the Buy More, Chuck Bartowski walks along a row of sorority houses wearing a green shirt. He stops at the house where his girlfriend Jill Roberts (Jordana Brewster) lives to explain that he was expelled under false accusation of stealing tests. Jill refuses to talk about their relationship, before her roommate callously tells Chuck that Jill is dating Bryce Larkin.

At the present-day Buy More, Chuck listens to a playlist before being sent by Emmett Milbarge (Tony Hale) to respond to a technical support call for a biotechnology conference at a nearby hotel. As Chuck sets up the conference network at the hotel, Jill arrives, in need of technical support for her lecture. They briefly catch up about the past five years, with Jill explaining that she got a doctorate after graduating from Stanford. In an effort to save face, Chuck says that he runs a large computer repair business. As Jill reminisces about how she would change things about their past, her boss Guy Lafleur (William Abadie) arrives, and Chuck flashes on him.

At Castle, Chuck reports his flash to the other members of Team Bartowski, who believe that Lafleur may have created a bio-weapon. General Beckman (Bonita Friedericy) orders Chuck to reconnect with Jill and determine if she is involved. Chuck protests, as Jill was the one who broke his heart and destroyed his confidence, but Sarah Walker convinces him to take on the assignment to gain closure, and John Casey remarks that he can get his "mojo" back.

Chuck is assigned to go on a date with Jill at a five-star restaurant, entirely operated by the CIA. Going in under the guise of his billionaire alter ego, Chuck attempts to learn more about Jill's boss. However, the date is botched when she realizes that Chuck is lying about his job when Jeff Barnes and Lester Patel interrupt and reveal that Chuck still works at the Buy More. Chuck attempts to call Jill on her phone countless of times, where Casey mocks him for it.

Later, the team decides to send Chuck to Jill's apartment, where they are to bug her phone. When Chuck apologizes to her for lying, Jill later opens the door for him and allows him in, where he successfully plants the bug. During a conversation about their past, however, Chuck turns off the bug, but Casey accesses it through an override from the team's van and switches it back online. Sarah is conflicted by Chuck's reestablished relationship with Jill.

Later, Casey and Sarah visit Lafleur's apartment, where they find him attacked and thrown off a balcony to his death by an assassin who escapes them. The team brings Jill to Castle to question her on everything she knows about her boss, and she confirms that he is working on a deadly bio-weapon. Jill is curious of Chuck's involvement with the CIA at first, but Casey denies it. They decide to have her deliver the speech on the influenza at the conference, but Chuck heavily refuses to have the love of his life put at risk for an assassin. Sarah, under frustration and jealousy of Chuck's feelings towards Jill, agrees to take the role of delivering the speech for her instead.

Chuck receives an urgent message from Casey, who is in the conference room as Sarah prepares to give her speech. Casey and Sarah two wait to find the assassin who killed Lafleur. The assassin then releases the bio-weapon in the conference, weakening everyone except for Sarah, who is already in pursuit of the assassin. Chuck rescues Jill, being forced to reveal his involvement with the CIA and NSA, and surprises her by bringing an entire squad with him.

The two arrive at the conference, where Chuck volunteers to be given the antigen to the virus, so he can cure the civilians and an angry Casey. Chuck fumbles and fails to inject the antigen into Casey, and Casey is too weak to hold the syringe himself, thus breaking the only antigen left. While waiting for Jill to arrive in the conference room, Chuck conjures up a possible cure to the virus with saliva. He then defies Casey's wishes to "die with dignity" and kisses him on the lips. Nothing happens, and Chuck realizes he was wrong as Casey grunts angrier than usual. Jill retrieves bits of the antigen from Chuck's body and injects them into the exposed people.

Meanwhile, Sarah pursues the assassin, and, after a long chase and gunfight, manages to kill him. She checks the corpse for his identification and learns that he was a rogue CIA agent. After all the people are cured with the antigen, they are allowed to exit the building, and Chuck and Jill share a long kiss, as Sarah watches in frustration. Chuck and Jill rekindle their relationship and being dating again.

At Castle, Beckman informs the team that the assassin Sarah killed was a Fulcrum agent, as the organization mainly consists of rogue CIA elements.

Buy More

Emmett delivers a box of donuts to Big Mike, causing Big Mike to start. Emmett quickly uses the Heimlich Maneuver to dislodge the donut, which is caught by Lester. Big Mike assigns Emmett to teach the entire Buy More staff CPR, and Devon Woodcomb agrees to be their instructor, preparing them for a test. Emmett warns Chuck that he too has to take the test and will not be dodging it, but Chuck leaves anyway at Casey's signal.

As Devon teaches the staff how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver, Jeff and Lester mock Chuck by staging a catfight with a brunette mannequin as Jill and a blonde mannequin as Sarah. Lester then proposes that Morgan should help stealing the answers to the CPR test, as Morgan is Chuck's best friend, and Devon is engaged to marry Chuck's sister Ellie.

Morgan arrives at Chuck's home and attempts to steal the answers to Devon's CPR test. When Ellie walks in on him when he holds her panties, Morgan claims that his intention was to steal the answers for Devon's tests, but not to raid through her things. Suddenly, Devon walks in on the two and brags that he is always carrying the answers to the test with him.

When they are forced to take the test, Morgan, Jeff, Lester and the rest of the Buy More staff attempts to copy off of Chuck's test, but Chuck leaves when he receives an urgent message from Casey. Emmett throws Chuck's test in a trash can, and the staff panics. Lester conjures a brilliant plan to quickly get the answers: Jeff is to choke on a pen as Devon performs the Heimlich Maneuver. Emmett realizes their plan as they immediately answer their tests while watching Devon perform the maneuver, but Emmett cannot stop them as it was technically not cheating.

Production

Jordana Brewster was prominently featured as Jill Roberts, the episode's eponymous "ex".

This episode marked the first appearance of Jordana Brewster in her recurring role of Jill Roberts. It was also the first time Yvonne Strahovski used her native Australian accent as Sarah.^[1][2]

Flashes

• Chuck flashes on Lafleur.
• Chuck flashes on the assassin.

Cultural references

• Guy Lafleur's name is an homage to the Hall of Famer who played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques.^[3]
• In the scene where Jeff, Lester, and Morgan attempt to cheat on the CPR test, Emmett's line "You may begin... now" is an homage to the cheating scene in Spies Like Us, the cold-war comedy from which Emmett's name is derived.

Music

• "Pumpin' For Jill" by Iggy Pop^[2]
• "Papa Loves Mambo" by Perry Como
• "It Makes My Heart Break" by Your Vegas
• "Time And Space" by The Accidental

Critical response

"Chuck Versus the Ex" received positive reviews from critics. Eric Goldman of IGN gave this episode a score of 8.5 out of 10, writing, "A much-discussed but never seen bit of Chuck history was attractively fleshed out this week, as we finally met Jill, Chuck's college girlfriend", calling Chuck's attempts to get close to Jill a "well done arc for the episode". Of the episode's conclusion, Goldman wrote, "Chuck's attempts to save the way led to some very funny situations, culminating when he had a would-be ingenious plan to use saliva to process the cure Jill had put within him, and kissed Casey. The fact that Chuck was totally wrong about his plan was great and a nice twist on 'the crazy plan that just might work!' idea."^[1]

Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+, writing "This was a pretty terrific episode even by the high standards of this second season. The spy plot worked. The Buy More stuff worked. The Chuck-and-Sarah (or, more accurately, Chuck-without-Sarah) thread led to some interesting places. And we got hot Chuck-on-John action. That's a full hour of Chuck, all right. But there was one central element that didn't work for me at all. This is a story about Chuck's romantic life, past, present, and possible future." Unlike Goldman, Phipps found the character of Jill flatly-written and awkwardly-conceived.^[2]

Viewer response was also positive, with an 9/10 user rating at TV.com.^[4] The episode drew 6.338 million viewers.^[5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Golman, Eric (2008-11-11). "Chuck: "Chuck Versus The Ex" Review". IGN. http://tv.ign.com/articles/929/929151p1.html. Retrieved 2011-02-25. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Phipps, Keith (2008-11-10). "Chuck Vs. The Ex". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/chuck-vs-the-ex,13341/. Retrieved 2011-02-25. 
3. ^ Guy Lafleur – Legends of Hockey.
4. ^ "Chuck: Chuck Versus The Ex Episode Summary on TV.com)". TV.com. 2011-02-25. http://www.tv.com/chuck/chuck-versus-the-ex/episode/1220454/summary.html?tag=episode_header;next. Retrieved 2011-02-25. 
5. ^ Seidman, Robert (November 18, 2008). "Top NBC Primetime Shows, November 10-16". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2008/11/18/top-nbc-primetime-shows-november-10-16-2008/8365. Retrieved December 5, 2010. 

External links

• "Chuck Versus the Ex" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Chuck Versus the Ex" at TV.com