| Chuck Versus the Best Friend | |
| Season 02, Episode 14 | |
 | |
| Air Date | February 23, 2009 |
| Writer | Allison Adler |
| Director | Peter Lauer |
| Previous | Chuck Versus the Suburbs |
| Next | Chuck Versus the Beefcake |
- "I'm sorry, but the answer is no. It just is no. A flat out no."
- ―Chuck
Chuck Versus the Best Friend is the fourteenth episode in season two, which first aired on February 23, 2009. It is the twenty-seventh episode overall.
The episode was originally supposed to air before Chuck Versus the Suburbs. The airing order was swapped in the U.S. due to the show being preempted for a Presidential speech, and since Suburbs has a Valentine's Day theme, it was aired on the week of Valentine's Day.
Synopsis[]
When Anna's new boyfriend turns out to be connected to the Triads, Chuck is ordered to spy on him by using his social connections with Anna, thereby endangering his friendship with Morgan.
Meanwhile Jeff and Lester want to audition for Ellie and Devon's wedding with their band Jeffster!
Full Story[]
In a flashback, young Morgan Grimes is found and punched by a little girl named Suzie, who is angry that he was spying on her in gym. He yells for help, and a young Chuck, seen only in silhouette, saves him from the girl. He then advises Morgan to stay away from girls -- for at least fifteen years.
Chuck to the rescue, Middle School
Fifteen years later, Morgan is seen showing Chuck, Lester, and Jeff a picture of his ex-girlfriend, Anna. Morgan suspects that Anna is seeing another man, and he wants his friends to spy on her so they can learn more about the new guy. Chuck advises against stalking her, but Morgan insists he only does it because he cares about Anna.
Meanwhile, Ellie and Devon are discussing their wedding plans, she asks him to help her with the "To-Do" list and he agrees to help her with the flowers, the music, and the cake.
Chuck and the "spy crew" use Jeff's stalker van to follow Anna to a restaurant, where she is waiting for someone. Casey and Sarah follow Chuck. A man shows up at the restaurant and greets Anna with a long kiss. Chuck flashes on the man's car and learns that his name is Jason Wang.
Chuck reports his flash, and the team arrive at Castle, where General Beckman will soon be contacting them to talk about the Jason Wang situation. Chuck asks about the canisters of apparent tennis balls he finds. Sarah explains that they are thermal grenades that can melt iron. A case of apparent breath spay bottles is described as knockout spray; Chuck asks if he can have one of them, given that he is always vulnerable in the field.
Beckman appears on the main screen to debrief Chuck about Jason Wang, Anna Wu's new boyfriend. Though he has no criminal record, Wang is running with a group of Triads who have been smuggling guns and drugs in and out of Los Angeles. To learn what Wang is doing, Chuck will have use his social connection with Anna to get close. Chuck doesn't like the idea of betraying his best friend by socializing with his rival.
The next morning, when Chuck wakes, he finds Devon is watching him; waiting for him to wake, he wants Chuck to help him with one item on the list: the band.
At Castle, Chuck reiterates his objections to the plan, he absolutely does not want to betray Morgan's trust. Casey backs him up with the Marine term semper fidelis, Always Faithful. However, he points out that orders come before personal loyalty.
Lester and Jeff later learn that Chuck is looking for a band to hire for his sister's wedding. They tell Chuck about Jeffster!, and they would love to play at the wedding, but Chuck tells them no in no uncertain terms.
Morgan tries to get Anna to tell him where she was, but she avoids him. Finally, she talks to him about her new boyfriend. Just when Morgan starts to ask too many questions, Chuck enters the scene to save Morgan from embarrassment. Morgan leaves his friend with Anna, and Chuck takes the opportunity on invite her and Jason for a double date with Sarah and him, under Casey's prodding. She is delighted to invite them to a party her boyfriend is throwing that night.
At Casey's Apartment the brief is given; Sarah and Chuck will infiltrate the party as a couple while he tries to flash on anything useful, she will plant a bug to monitor. Chuck has an alternate idea, on top of the principal mission, he wants his friends to help him convince Anna of what she is missing without Morgan.
Chuck and Sarah enter the party at Jason's exotic automobile dealership. They meet Anna, and while Sarah is on her mission, Chuck starts his own trying to convince Anna that Morgan is her guy. Her new boyfriend arrives, and he is introduced to Sarah and Chuck. Meanwhile, Morgan is outside the building spying on Anna, and discovers that his best friend was invited to the party and is actually shaking hands with his ex's new boyfriend.
Jason Wang
Back at the Buy More, the Nerd Herd desk receives an urgent call from Ellie. She has a computer emergency and wants her brother to fix it, but he is not available. Jeff and Lester, however, want an opportunity to audition for Ellie's wedding, so they take the call and go to fix the computer just to have an audition. Jeff and Lester finish working on Ellie's computer and everything seems up and running. They start moving things around to set up their audition but at the last moment, Lester has an anxiety attack and leaves the house without singing.
Back at the party, Chuck flashes on three new arrivals, Triad members, led by Smooth Lau. Sarah gets involved in a conversation with Anna, who seems rather lonely, so Chuck has to take the lead. Chuck follows the Triad members to the garage and hears them talking about a shipment. Anna tells Sarah she isn't sure about her new boyfriend, so Sarah takes advantage of it and talks up Morgan. Security then receives an intruder code; Sarah and Casey think Chuck is caught but discover that it wasn't Chuck captured by the Triads, but Morgan. Chuck rushes to save Morgan's life, but in doing so, he has to humiliate him in front of his ex and her new boyfriend since he has to convince everybody that he is just a stalker, not a spy. Morgan's life is saved, but Chuck is crushed by what he had to do. When the Triad discovers the bug Chuck planted in the garage, they reconsider the stalker story, and assume Morgan was indeed the spy.
Back at the Buy More, Chuck tries to convince Morgan that he was only trying to protect him, and that he is sorry if he hurt his feelings, but since he cannot explain himself without blowing his cover, Morgan doesn't believe him. Jeff stops Chuck and asks him about the impression they made at his sister's house, but Chuck doesn't know what he is talking about, and tells him to figure it out for himself.
Chuck tries to explain to Sarah his friendship with Morgan; he tells her that Morgan is more than a friend, he's family. For over twenty years Morgan has been there for him, at the worst times in his life. Sarah can only listen before reminding him that if they don't find what's in that container, everyone's best friend could be hurt.
Jeff goes to Ellie's apartment to get another chance for an audition for the wedding. Devon promises him another try.
Chuck tries to talk to Morgan again and is surprised to find that Morgan is upset not by a perceived betrayal, but by the fact Chuck had to save him again. He tells Chuck that the situation was his fault, and he just wants to fight his own battles. The Triads then enter the Buy More looking for Morgan. Chuck hustles Morgan into the back, saying he might want to pick a different battle. He gives Morgan a shot of the knockout spray and puts him in a large Home Theater box to take him out of the store unnoticed. Anna stops Chuck on his way out to point out a TV interview with her boyfriend, Chuck flashes on a Rolls Royce the Chinese ambassador is buying, and alerts Casey and Sarah; the Triads are going to wire a bomb to the car. Meanwhile, the Triad members discover Morgan inside the box and throw him in a van and drive off.
Sarah and Casey take Chuck to alert the ambassador about the plot to kill him. Although Chuck was told to stay in the car, he is possessed with the need to save Morgan, so he follows the Triad members that kidnapped his friend. He sees them put Morgan in the ambassador's trunk, so he alerts Casey and Sarah to get to the car. He flashes on the hood ornament and realizes that the Triads are planning on blowing up the car. Chuck drives up in the Herder to warn the ambassador, but the man panics, thinking Chuck is Triad, and tells his bodyguards to drive away. With Casey clinging to the Herder's roof, Chuck chases the ambassador's car. Meanwhile, Sarah engages in a fight with Smooth Lau and eventually knocks her opponent unconscious.
During the car chase, Chuck refuses to let Casey inside the Herder, knowing that he'd only focus on the ambassador and not Morgan. Therefore, Casey strikes a deal; if Chuck lets him in, he'll help save "the bearded loser"; Chuck makes him promise. As soon as Casey gets inside, he accesses a remote control hidden in the glove box, saying he didn't promise to let Chuck drive. The ambassador's car stops when it is cut off by a truck. As Casey gets out, he announces to the ambassador's guards that he's NSA, but they push him to the ground. Meanwhile, Chuck removes the bomb from the ambassador's car and apparently drives away with it in the Herder. As Sarah arrives, she uses her CIA credentials to release Casey, and they see the Herder going a short distance away before the bomb explodes. Sarah and Casey are stunned, she is clearly on the verge of tears, when Chuck emerges from behind them with the remote he used to drive the Herder away. He then opens the Rolls Royce's trunk to find Morgan snoring. He gets Morgan back to the Buy More, before he regains consciousness. Morgan believes he fainted and Chuck rolls with that. Morgan apologizes to Chuck, and Chuck tries to tell Morgan what he means to him.
Sarah, Casey, and Chuck learn from Beckman that the Triads are all in custody, including Jason Wang. And because of their efforts, the ambassador is left with a renewed vigor to crack down on Triad activities in the US and overseas. Beckman then excuses herself, for she has plans. Chuck inquires what those are, the general says she is planning on meeting Condoleezza Rice for Cosmos; even she has friends.
Back at the Buy More, Ellie and Devon arrive to watch Jeffster, even though Devon's admits there's no chance they'll actually hire them, and are just being nice, why crush a guy's dream. Sarah apologizes to Chuck, saying she could have been more sensitive about the close bond between him and Morgan, admitting it's hard for her to see, knowing she doesn't really have someone in her life that cares for her. Chuck says, "Yeah, you do." and the two hold hands.
The band starts playing and Morgan talks to Anna about his feelings, Anna takes him back with a kiss.
Guest Stars[]
- Bonita Friedericy as General Diane Beckman
- Jack Yang as Jason Wang
- Jennifer Jalene as Smooth Lau
- Andy Pessoa as a young Morgan Grimes
- Alexis Raich as Suzie
Quotes[]
Chuck: I can't betray my best friend! How come nobody gets that?
Casey: Mmm. Semper Fidelis. It means always faithful in the Marines. In civilian life it means putting your friend's well being above your own. I salute you for that, Bartowski. Well done.
~
Casey: Bartowski, you're like the poster child for friendly fire.
~
Sarah: I wanted to apologize. I could have been more sensitive before about your friendship with Morgan. It's just - it's difficult. I don't really have anyone in my life who cares about me.
Chuck: Yeah, you do.
~
Morgan: I'm sorry, Chuck. I'm sorry you had to save me again.
Chuck: C'mon, Morgan, don't you know who you are to me? Don't you know what you mean to me? All that you've done?
Trivia[]
- Morgan and Chuck attended Elizabeth C. Stanton Middle School; presumably named for the 19th century suffragette and abolitionist.
- On the shelf behind Beckman you can see a cup that looks like the Holy Grail from the third Indiana Jones film.
- Jeff quotes the prologue to "Lose Yourself" by Eminem to fire up Lester before their 'audition'.
- The bug Chuck plants to spy on the triads is a GLG-20, the same model Lizzie Shafai planted in the Buy More in Chuck Versus the Marlin.
- Morgan describes Anna as 5'2 and 96 pounds, when in reality Julia Ling is 5'1, a reversal of the show's tendency to underplay the height of its stars (Chuck Versus the Tango, Chuck Versus the Beard)
Music[]
- Jane’s Addiction – “Been Caught Stealing”
- Pop Levi – “Wannamama”
- Toto – “Africa”
- Benji Hughes – “Why Do These Parties Always End the Same Way?”
- Chromeo - "Momma's Boy"