History Recap / ChuckS2E19ChuckVsTheDreamJob

Chuck and Sarah bring Stephen Bartowski back to [=LA=] for Ellie's wedding, but it doesn't go smoothly. Ellie isn't as ready to meet her absent father as she thought, and Stephen is just as eccentric as his children remember, whipping out a pamphlet for Roarke Indiutries' upcoming expo while talking about how Ted Roarke stole all his inventions. But when Chuck flashes on the pamphlet and realises something is up with [=RI=], he's sent in as a new employee to see if the new line of computers is being hacked for nefarious purposes. However, Jeff and Lester spot Chuck leaving his interview and alert Morgan, who's hurt that Chuck is getting a new job without telling him and brings it up when he comes over for dinner. Ellie is delighted, but Stephen is hurt that his son is going to work for his rival.

Back at home, Chuck studies the Intersect plans Orion left for him, convinced it ties back in some way to [=RI=]. Stephen comes in to talk about the expo, but when he leaves Chuck spots the site map on his [=RI=] employee manual and realises the building layout matches Orion's plans exactly: Roarke has an Intersect! However, he's unable to convince Sarah and Casey and is forced to go rogue, sneaking into [=RI=] alone to find the Intersect.

While there, he has a surprise; his father is at [=RI=] as well, demanding to see Roarke and get Chuck his job back. The Fulcrum agent he spotted earlier turns up to "get rid of" the intruder, forcing Chuck to act by shooting the security team with tranq darts. Before Chuck can explain, Fulcrum agent Vincent reappears, recognising both Chuck ''and'' his father, who uses a previously-unseen device on his wrist to neutralise the agent. Chuck finally realises the truth: his father is Orion!

The two make their way through the building as Stephen explains how he built the Intersect and then left to protect Chuck and Ellie from being targeted, but came back - first as Orion and then as himself - when he realised Chuck had been forcibly recruited. He confirms that there is an Intersect at [=RI=], and that it can be used, that very night, to help Chuck. However, when they reach Roarke's office and try to use the Intersect, it doesn't work. Worse: Ted Roarke and a team of Fulcrum agents enter the office and take the pair prisoner, intending to force Stephen to make an Intersect that works.

Roarke orders Chuck killed, but Stephen refuses to work if anything happens to him. Roarke relents and agrees to let Chuck go. Stephen leads Chuck to the door over his protests, assuring him that he can remove the Intersect without him. He also tells Chuck that he might have been wrong in telling him not to trust his handlers, as Sarah and Casey appear to protect him. Outnumbered by the Fulcrum agents, they're forced to haul a screaming Chuck away as his father is taken.

* TheCloudCuckoolanderWasRight: Chuck and Ellie's dad is full of tall tales, for example that he was in college with famed industrialist Ted Roarke, who stole his inventions and used them to get rich. Chuck and Ellie are understandably embarrassed by these assertions, but as Chuck learns by the end, Ted Roarke is everything he said and more.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Ted Roarke seems friendly and personable, even taking time to greet a starstruck new employee. He sounds just as friendly when he orders his goons to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness kill Chuck]].
-->'''Roarke:''' Kill the [=CIA=] agent.\\

'''Roarke:''' Really? Congratulations! I had no idea! [''{{Beat}}''] Kill his son.

* FromBadToWorse: Chuck and his father reach the office where the Intersect is accessed, meaning to use it, then and there, to de-Intersect Chuck. Only, when they boot it up, it doesn't work. Then Roarke comes in with his Fulcrum cronies and takes Stephen prisoner, intending to force him to make an Intersect that ''does'' work.
* IdiotBall: On learning he has both Orion and his son hostage, Roarke agrees to let Chuck go when Stephen Bartowski refuses to work otherwise. It doesn't seem to occur to him to take them ''both'' and then leverage Stephen by threatening Chuck, which seems like the obvious supervillain thing to do. But then, the rest of the season would go pretty differently if he did that.

* ObfuscatingInsanity: Stephen Bartowski cleverly steers Chuck towards Roarke Industries, using his bumbling eccentric persona to shove relevant materials under his nose. First it's a pamphlet advertising the expo that Chuck flashes on, leading to the mission. Later, he leaves the site map on Chuck's employee manual ideally placed for Chuck to notice the building layout exactly matches the Intersect plans.
* SarcasticConfession: Ted Roarke's whole style of humour seems to involve making supervillain-worthy references to his wealth and influence in such a light-hearted way he just ''has'' to be kidding... right?

** At the expo, he tries to tell Roarke that his new computer line has been hacked, but is dismissed.
** After realising Roarke is building an Intersect, Chuck takes his theory to Sarah and Casey but they don't believe him. He appeals to Sarah to help him, but she doesn't budge, forcing him to break in alone.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Much as Chuck and Ellie have both wanted to see their father again, they both have unresolved anger towards him for abandoning them. When he initially refuses to come, Chuck [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness snaps]] "I don't want to hear what you can't do! I've [=SEEN=] what you can't do!" and Ellie's reaction to seeing him is to blurt out "Pancakes! You said you were gonna make pancakes!"

** After realising Roarke is building an Intersect, Chuck takes his theory to Sarah and Casey but they don't believe him. He appeals to Sarah to help him, but she doesn't budge, forcing him to break in alone.

* AdultFear: Years after being forced to abandon your children for their own protection, you find out that your DarkAndTroubledPast has caught up with them anyway.

* RealityEnsues: Much as Chuck and Ellie have both wanted to see their father again, they both have unresolved anger towards him for abandoning them. When he initially refuses to come, Chuck [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness snaps]] "I don't want to hear what you can't do! I've [=SEEN=] what you can't do!" and Ellie's reaction to seeing him is to blurt out "Pancakes! You said you were gonna make pancakes!"

* {{Tearjerker}}: Two of them. And they are ''brutal''.
** Chuck having to watch the father he's only just reconnected with being taken away by Fulcrum. Sarah and Casey have to lift him by the arms and literally haul him away as he fights them and screams for his dad.
** Chuck having to face Ellie after their father is taken. The horrible irony is that they're both having to be TheStoic to protect the other, with Ellie gently breaking the news to Chuck that their father has run out on them again, while Chuck has to pretend he didn't already know. Knowing their father is a hero who's only ever protected his children, Chuck is forced to let Ellie think he's just a flake as he can't tell her why he's gone. Creator/ZacharyLevi's acting is superb here: it's clear that lying to Ellie about the [=CIA=] part of his life has never hurt more. All he can do is tell her not to count their father out yet.

'''Stephen:''' No, no. [''Beat''] Not the ''whole'' Intersect. Just the really cool stuff.

* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Stephen Bartowski, a.k.a. Orion, was a high-level intelligence asset who realised his invention was being used wrongly. He destroyed all government records of himself, but also had to leave his children and disappear from their lives for their own protection.

* {{Tearjerker}}:

* FromBadToWorse:
* IdiotBall:
* InnocentlyInsensitive:
* ObfuscatingInsanity:

**
* YouAreBetterThanYouTHinkYouAre:

While there, he has a surprise; his father is at [=RI=] as well, demanding to see Roarke and get Chuck his job back. The Fulcrum agent he spotted earlier turns up to "get rid of" the intruder, forcing Chuck to act by shooting the security team with tranq darts.

Chuck and Sarah bring Stephen Bartowski back to [=LA=] for Ellie's wedding, but it doesn't go smoothly. Ellie isn't as ready to meet her absent father as she thought, and Stephen is just as eccentric as his children remember, whipping out a pamphlet for Roarke Indistries' upcoming expo while talking about how Ted Roarke stole all his inventions. But when Chuck flashes on the pamphlet and realises something is up with Roarke Indistries, he's sent in as a new employee to see if the new line of computers is being used. However, Jeff and Lester spot Chuck leaving his interview and alert Morgan, who's hurt that Chuck is getting a new job without telling him and brings it up when he comes over for dinner. Ellie is delighted, but

* FauxAffablyEvil:

-->'''Stephen Bartowski:''' I've had to "die" quite a few times. It's one of the hazards of being Orion.

** The episode follows on directly from [[{{Recap/ChuckS2E18ChuckVsTheBrokenHeart}} Chuck Versus the Broken Heart]].

* TheCloudCuckoolanderWasRight: Chuck and Ellie's dad is full of tall tales, for example that he was in college with famed industrialist Ted Roarke, who stole his inventions and used them to get rich. Chuck and Ellie are understandably embarrassed by these assertions, but as Chuck learns by the end, it's all true.

* FiveSecondForeshadowing:
* SarcasticConfession:

** Ceator/ArnoldVosloo is back as Fulcrum agent Vincent
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