| "Chuck Versus the Dream Job" | |||
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| Chuck episode | |||
Stephen J. Bartowski and Ted Roark in "Chuck Versus the Dream Job" |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 19 |
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| Directed by | Robert Duncan McNeill | ||
| Written by | Phil Klemmer Corey Nickerson |
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| Featured music | "High School Hoodlums" by The Datsuns "Around The Bend" by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour "Luisa's Bones" by Crooked Fingers "Daddy's Gone" by Glasvegas |
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| Production code | 3T7269 | ||
| Original air date | April 16, 2009 | ||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of Chuck episodes | |||
"Chuck Versus the Dream Job" aired on April 6, 2009. It is the 19th episode of the series' second season. Chuck interviews at Roark Industries to investigate a possible virus, while his father, Stephen J. Bartowski, (Scott Bakula) returns home.
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The episode opens with Chuck and Sarah meeting with Chuck's father. Stephen catches up on his and Ellie's life, and Chuck confronts him about coming to Ellie's wedding. Stephen is reluctant, but finally agrees to return home. Chuck brings him back to the apartment, but the reunion with Ellie doesn't go as planned. She retreats to her room after being overwhelmed by seeing their father again, but Chuck convinces her to forgive him for leaving. The reunion becomes more awkward when Stephen rants about many things he claims to have invented that were stolen by Ted Roark (Chevy Chase). Among his father's possessions is an advertisement for a major tech show where Roark's latest computer operating system is to be released, which Chuck flashes on.
At Castle, Beckman briefs the team. Chatter has led them to believe a virus is being released in the operating system, and she orders them to investigate. A job interview is arranged for Chuck, under his own identity, which Sarah encourages him he's more than qualified on his own for, even though it's just for the mission. The next morning Chuck arrives at Roark Industries and performs well at the interview. He is immediately hired and introduced to Roark, whom Chuck had dreamed of working for since Stanford. As he's leaving, he's spotted by Jeff and Lester, who will be attending the launch. They tell Morgan they just saw him leaving Roark's headquarters as a new employee. That night at dinner, Morgan lets slip about Chuck's new "job," which upsets Stephen as he believes Roark destroyed his life.
At the launch the next day, Casey and Sarah attempt to break in to stop it, but are unable to bypass security. The situation becomes more serious when Chuck flashes on a Fulcrum agent on stage with Roark. With no other options, Chuck bursts on stage in an effort to warn Roark that his operating system is believed to contain a virus, but he doesn't believe him. Chuck grabs the controls that will initiate the launch and attempts to escape, but fails. Stephen and Ellie were watching the conference on Stephen's laptop when Chuck attempts to disrupt the launch, and Ellie is angered because she believes Chuck threw his dream job away for his father, even though Stephen denies putting him up to it.
Upset with the way the Intersect has ruined his life, Chuck goes through the documents left to him by Orion to piece together what he was supposed to do to free himself of the Intersect. Stephen interrupts to tell him he didn't want Chuck to ruin his own career just for him, and if he wants to work for Roark it's ok with him. As he leaves, Chuck notices that the layout of Roark's offices matches the diagram in Orion's documents. He realizes that Roark is building a full-scale Intersect system for Fulcrum, but Casey and Sarah don't believe him without solid proof. He takes it upon himself to infiltrate the office to investigate himself after tranquilizing Casey when he tries to stop him.
Chuck breaks into Roark's campus, but before he can get far, he has to take cover when his father barges in demanding to speak to Roark and set things right for his son. Roark tells the Fulcrum agent Chuck flashed on earlier that he'll deal with Stephen personally. After the agent punches Stephen in the gut Chuck bursts from cover and starts shooting with his tranquilizer guns. He runs out of ammunition, with Roark's security staring at him for a moment before they all collapse. Chuck tries to get his father to leave when they encounter Vincent, (Arnold Vosloo) who tells them it's good to see them both again. Stephen then takes control of the security door with a wrist-mounted computer and uses it to incapacitate Vincent before revealing the truth to Chuck that he was Orion all along, and left Chuck and Ellie to protect them once he realized what the government wanted the Intersect for, and that there were others who wanted it just as badly.
He leads Chuck deep into the heart of Roark's complex, and teaches Chuck that he can flash intentionally to open a door locked with a cipher. There they find the nearly complete Fulcrum Intersect. Stephen prepares to use it to remove the data from Chuck's brain but they are interrupted by Roark and Vincent. Roark is about to have Chuck killed when Stephen steps in on his behalf, telling Roark that Chuck is his son, and promises to help as long as he's allowed to walk away. Roark agrees and lets Chuck leave while Stephen is taken to a helicopter. Just before the door shuts between them Casey and Sarah arrive, and Stephen tells him he was wrong when he told him not to trust his handlers.[1] Back at Castle, Beckman makes clear the consequences of Roark escaping both with the Intersect and Orion, but tells them that she will put the government's best team on it. Chuck stands up to Beckman and tells her that Operation Bartowski is her best team, and demands to be part of the effort to rescue his father. Beckman relents when Casey sides with Chuck, but warns him not to allow his personal feelings to get in the way.
Back at home, Ellie is heartbroken thinking that their father has left them again, but Chuck tells her not to give up on him.
"Chuck Versus the Dream Job" continues on the arc begun with "Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon," particularly referencing Orion and furthering Chuck's quest to have the Intersect removed from his head. It also advances the general arc of season two, which has focused heavily on Fulcrum's desire to obtain the Intersect for its own purposes. Additionally, Arnold Vosloo reprises his role of Vincent from "Chuck Versus the Predator."
Bakula and Chase were announced to be playing the roles of Stephen Bartowski and Ted Roark, respectively, in January, 2009 as part of an extended arc to close out the season.[2] Besides their resemblance to each other, Bakula was cast for Stephen Bartowski because Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak consider themselves "huge Quantum Leap fans, and found Bakula's ability to jump from comedy to drama to action reminiscent of Zachary Levi's.[3]
Numerous small references are made to previous episodes, especially the pilot:
Roark's company is called two different names during the episode. The majority of the time, Ted's company is called Roark Instuments. For example, when Morgan first confronts Chuck over his 'new job', he calls the company Roark Instruments, as does the side of the file Chuck received when he started at RI. At the unveiling of RIOS, the caption of Ted's presentation on the webcast Ellie and Stephen watch says Roark Industries.
"Chuck Versus the Dream Job" has received overall positive reviews.
IGN.com rated the episode a 9/10, praising the gravity Chase brought to Ted Roark, and the offbeat and semi-crazy angle Bakula uses to approach Stephen Bartowski. Chuck's proactiveness in taking control of his situation was also appreciated, as were the character-building moments between Chuck and Ellie, and that the events of Devon's bachelor party weren't just thrown out.[6] The Futon Critic also praised the renewed focus on Chuck and Ellie's relationship, and the additional complications of Stephen Bartowski's return,[7] while Televisionary similarly praised Bakula's performance, citing him as ideally suited for the role.[8]
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