In retrospect, I kind of wish I could go back and change a few of my previous Chuck grades. Because this was, by far, my favorite episode of the show to date, and all those other A's feel like A-'s in comparison. How great was this episode? Let me count the ways Chuck fired on all cylinders, as others have done before me:
The guest stars ruled.
Not only does Scott Bakula sort of look like a blood relation to Zachary Levi, he was the perfect figure to play Chuck's father in all sorts of capacities. First off, he nailed Steven Bartowski's nervous spaciness, as evidenced from scene one. See, the big cliff hanger from last week was the reveal of Chuck's dad (though those who stayed through the previews saw him immediately), so we open on the man's trailer, out in the middle of nowhere. He's happy to see Chuck and Sarah, but tells his son that there's no way he's about to head back home—all the while fidgeting with whatever he can find within arm's reach. This continues for quite some time: When he comes to the house and finally sees Ellie, who's none-too-pleased to see the man who denied her pancakes for dinner so many years back; while spouting insane theories about how billionare software mogul Ted Roark stole all his good ideas; even imparting sage advice to Chuck about his career. Of course, there's a lot more to Bakula, which I'll get to in a bit, but needless to say, he was the perfect casting choice.
Then there was Chevy Chase, playing Steve Jobs–like deity Ted Roark, head of Roark Industries. Part of Chuck's mission is to infiltrate the company (he learns that a new operating system release might contain a virus), so he applies for a job using, well, his own credentials—Stanford and all. There he meets Roark, a man who has the power to make a million computer nerds do his bidding. Naturally, he's got to have a sense of humor about himself, and Chase nails the sort of deadpan, affable cockiness necessary for such a figure. ("No sirs around here, except for her.")
The Buy More stuff wasn't distracting, and it actually aided the story.
Even though a few Buy More characters cropped up here and there, most of the scenes involving them took place outside its sacred halls. Jeff and Lester, actually, are wild about Roark, so they beg Big Mike to attend the grand OS unveiling, which aid the episode in two respects: While in line for a seat, they spy Chuck getting a handshake for his new job—and immediately alert Morgan. The ensuing family dinner, attended by Morgan, contains some amazing glances between the two best friends—first Morgan's knowing, wry grin, followed by Chuck's desperate wide-eyed plea for Morgan not to reveal the fact that he's working for his dad's arch enemy. But secondly, Jeff and Lester are present at the conference, and see Chuck make one of the grandest gestures of his short tenure with the government. See, with the push of a button on a remote, Roark will officially launch the buggy OS to the world, and since Casey and Sarah are having trouble hacking in to steal the source code, Chuck rushes onstage—and into the webcam feeds—to stop him. This moment made that much better with some familiar faces in the audience.