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Chuck Season 4 Episode 16

Chuck Versus the Masquerade

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AIRED: Feb 21, 2011

8.5

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EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

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Valentine's Day is interrupted when Chuck and the team are sent on a mission to England to protect a reclusive young heiress, Vivian McArthur. Meanwhile, Casey gets an offer from the mysterious Jane Bentley. Back at home, Ellie and Awesome find an unlikely solution to a parenting problem, as Morgan ponders a big move.moreless

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (3)

Another great installment!

9.0

By woodpigeon66, Dec 06, 2011

I loved this episode. The main storyline with Chuck and the team was really well-developed, while we got to see some of Chuck and Morgan's adorable little bromance again. There was some great action - it had the typical physically-impossible-and-vaguely-ridiculous-but-totally-awesome-to-watch Chuck action bit which we seem to be seeing many of, which is great.

Best bits: Vivian (I know her as Bela Talbot from Supernatural, so it was great to see her back on TV), the entire 7 minutes before the title sequence (the Valentine's day bit - it made me cry laughing), and the fact that some of it was set in England (that's just me I'm afraid, being a Londoner. I love seeing other countries' stereotypes/views of us, and Chuck's blatantly fake accent was genius).

Worst bits: Can't really think of anything, but I guess that fact that no music was featured that I wanted to buy for once. Ah well, my iTunes bill will be smaller because of it.

If you haven't already, go watch this episode. It's probably one of the season's best, in a subtle way. It's the usual Chuck: hilarious, sad and happy all at once. You won't be disappointed. There are also some serious cliffhangers at the end which will keep your brain buzzing 'till next week. :)moreless
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What is should be...

9.0

By bobfrapples8, Apr 12, 2011

This episode was fantastic. They lead-in to the credits was 7 or 8 of the best minutes of TV I've seen in a while. They did an outstanding job with the Valentines festivities and then add in the awkwardness of Chuck and Sarah seeing Morgan doing his vibe with John walking in was great.

I really enjoyed our guest star too. She was intriguing. I only hope that if she is indeed going to restart Volkov's businesses that we won't get so much of Chuck's mom. I really don't like her character. Let's hope we get more episodes like this.moreless
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Definitely the better of the last three standalone episodes.

9.5

By Theseanstaa, Apr 12, 2011

After the previous two episodes of light-hearted Chuck adventures, it was refreshing to watch Vs. The Masquerade, which not only balanced the suspense and comedy perfectly, but also gave use to most of the characters, and had some great moments.

It's like the writers understood everything I was complaining about on last week's episode, and fixed it perfectly. Bad premise? Not only did the episode's story work perfectly, blending that all the side stories into one smooth hour, but it was engaging, hilarious, and just great to watch. Bad guest cast? I just loved and enjoyed watching Vivian's personality and charm, and I especially loved that stealthy transition to possibly set her up as one of this season's biggest antagonists. Predictable? I didn't see that one coming.

There was just so much that worked well this week, specifically Morgan. It's nice to see the character seen as, "flat," at the beginning of Chuck become one of the only consistent aspects this show has going for it. Counting down on all the Morgan scenes, Valentine's Day was just HILARIOUS, the rare Sarah-Morgan part was adorable, and something they should do more often on this show, and Morgan moving out was memorable, engaging, and overall a great showcase of him advancing as a much more mature person, although it may have been more of a step if they'd been living together the whole time, with Ellie as their neighbor, showing they were truly giving up a big part of their lives. Chuck and Sarah were their usual, the attention shifted to other relationships, thankfully, for once. Casey had a good stand-off scene, and it was good to see the question of him becoming a third-wheel like Morgan answered, although I'm dying to know what's behind that door. Volkoff? And Ellie/Awesome had a great side-plot too, and it fit perfectly with the theme of growing up.

Overall, they put alot more into Chuck that usual, and it still felt paced and exciting. Another amazing episode.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Zachary Levi	Charles 'Chuck' Bartowski
Yvonne Strahovski	Sarah Walker
Joshua Gomez	Morgan Grimes
Adam Baldwin	Colonel John Casey
Bonita Friedericy	General Diane Beckman
Sarah Lancaster	Eleanor 'Ellie' Bartowski

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Robin Givens	Jane Bentley	Guest Star
David S. Lee	Boris	Guest Star
Mekenna Melvin	Alex McHugh	Guest Star
Lauren Cohan	Vivian Volkoff	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski and Laur...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski on Chuck...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Lauren Cohan as Vivian and Zachary Levi ...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker on Chu...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- Featured Music:
  "Felicia" by the Constellations (Chuck and Morgan go over their Valentine's Day plans)
  "Love Insurance" by Mike James Kirkland (Chuck and Sarah begin their Valentine's Day)
  "Immunize" by Pendulum featuring Liam Howlett (Chuck and Sarah arrive at the masquerade)
  "Send Me On My Way" by Rusted Roots (JEFFSTER! covers the song that puts Jeff, and Clara, to sleep)
  "Crinan Wood" by Alexi Murdoch (Chuck and Morgan discuss the end of an era)
  "No Time for Dreams" by Last Days of April (Morgan reveals that he kept Han Solo and Chewbacca in the family)
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- When Boris kills the German in Bremen 'Knallender Mais' is written on the microwave in the background. 'Knallender Mais' is a German translation for 'popcorn', but Germans don't use it at all, we haven't even heard of it, we simply use 'popcorn'.
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QUOTES (3)
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- Vivian: I can't stop thinking about that scene from Eyes Wide Shut.
  Chuck: Yes. Right?
  Vivian: And I like the idea of a theme party, but you put these people behind masks and it just gets...
  Chuck: Creepy?
  Vivian: Yeah. And a little sexual.
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- Chuck: Where are you going to go?
  Morgan: I don't know. I got to finish packing up, and then I'm going to head out that door, dude, and I'm just going to open myself up to the universe.
  Chuck: So, moving to your mom's?
  Morgan: Yeah, yeah. Pretty much straight over.
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- Big Mike: Good Lord! What happened to you two? You smell like vomit and Cheerios.
  Ellie: We had a baby.
  Devon: We need help.
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NOTES (2)
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- International Episode Titles:
  Czech Republic - Chuck a maškarní ples (Chuck and the Masquerade Ball)
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Canada: February 23, 2011 on SPACE
  United Kingdom: May 5, 2011 on Sky LIVING/Sky LIVING HD
  Turkey: April 18, 2011 on CNBC-e
  Australia: June 24, 2011 on FOX8
  Czech Republic: October 22, 2011 on Prima COOL
  Sweden: October 26, 2011 on TV6
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Morgan: (discussing the Valentine's Day coordination) At precisely 9:30 Alex and I will saunter off to our room leaving you and Sarah ample time to watch Love Actually.
  Chuck: Ah, yes. A hit with ladies around the world.
  
  Love Actually is a 2003 romantic comedy telling the story of ten loosely linked stories leading up to Christmas set in London. It starred Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, and Liam Neeson among others.
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