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Chuck Rundown: Episode 21, "Chuck vs. the Colonel"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 09:30:34 -0700

How many kinds of awesome (and Awesome) can you cram into one episode of Chuck? I think we found out this week, as "Chuck vs. the Colonel" finds Chuck running off with Sarah, Casey assigned to find them, Fulcrum hot on their tail, and some serious drama going down at the Buy More. The episode left me wondering: how could the finale - supposedly so good that we'll want to burn our living rooms if the show doesn't get renewed - possibly top this? To chat about it, just read more.

Let us now praise Captain Awesome. Ever since Devon caught that glimpse of General Beckman on Chuck's computer screen, I'd been wondering how long it would take him to find out about Chuck's spy life. It starts out as concern (Chuck hasn't been coming home) and grows into suspicion (why, that John Casey seems downright obsessed with Chuck!). Jeff and Lester give Devon the rundown on Casey's stalker-like behavior - which even an accomplished stalker like Jeff thinks is sick - and before long, Devon's trapped behind gates in Casey's apartment. There's no explaining that away, really, so Chuck confesses: he's a government asset, Chuck and Sarah are his handlers, and right now, he needs Devon to be, you know, Awesome. Devon accepts his mission with a jaunty salute, but he can barely get words out when Ellie confronts him. Good thing he's got prewedding jitters to blame.

Speaking of which: Chuck returns with Ellie's "wedding present," one Stephen Bartowski. But that doesn't come without a fight - one complete with government bombers. Fulcrum's had Chuck's dad locked up underground working on the new Intersect; little does anyone - including Chuck - know that he's actually building a program to get the Intersect out of Chuck's brain. The scene at the drive-in had so many wonderful moments: Roark taking his Steve Jobs-esque keynoting to the big screen; the identical agents in their identical cars; Stephen telling Chuck it's OK for him to open his eyes ("It's all for you"). I love the scene of them driving away as the theater behind them goes up in a wave of flames and the small smile on Chuck's face when his dad tells him he's really free.

Meanwhile, Emmett's fully installed in Big Mike's old job at the Buy More, even arranging for marlin removal. He tries to woo the now-friendless Morgan to the dark side (love the callback to the "ass man" gag), and it takes Anna's urging to get Morgan to admit he has dreams beyond the Buy More: being a Benihana chef in Hawaii ("I'm way past my prime, I'm not Asian, and I don't even know where to get the knives!"). Ultimately, he falls on his sword, takes off his shirt(s), and walks out in a blaze of glory to a slow clap. Dude.

Some other thoughts:

Chuck and Sarah make out! For real! And they'd totally have done more if not for Morgan swiping Chuck's wallet condom some indeterminate amount of time ago.
That's the best part of the hotel scenes, but there's also Casey getting chained to the radiator, then pulling the radiator out of the wall to get free, and then using the radiator as a weapon/shield. ("You can't kill me with that radiator. It is far too confined in this car for you to get the appropriate torque.")
Aww, all Casey wanted was to be invited to the mission!
So does Casey still get to be a colonel? It was sweet of him to praise (and protect) Sarah, but I hope he still gets his promotion! And will he ever kill that guy who keeps coming back?
Not only did Sarah and Casey get some good "stay in the car, Chuck" moments, but Chuck got one of his own, telling Sarah to stay put in the motel and then having her disappear out the bathroom window.
Really, the power goes out and all the holding cells in the Castle open?

Argh, you guys! One more week! I can't take it - what if it's the last Chuck ever?

Photos courtesy of NBC

Chuck Rundown: Episode 15, "Chuck vs. the Beefcake"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:30:51 -0800

Oh man - and we thought Bryce Larkin was competition. On this week's episode of Chuck, we meet Cole, an undercover MI-6 agent who shows up right when Chuck is having some serious doubts about continuing his cover relationship with Sarah. Meanwhile, Big Mike and Morgan's mom are having no doubts whatsoever about the state of their new relationship, which drives Morgan to take shelter in the Bartowski house. This episode definitely sets some interesting things up for the rest of the season, so to chat about it, just read more.

So, what do we make of Cole? My first reaction on this show is to never trust anybody - that's how they got us with Jill, after all. But we saw Sarah looking through his spy dossier, and it seemed sound. Well, more than sound - he's a super spy. And not surprisingly, Sarah (who has a real problem getting romantically involved with her work partners, it seems) finds that hot. I love how Cole is written as this dashing, sweep-you-off-your-feet romantic hero: He takes torture with barely a wince! He promises to whisk Sarah to safety with a cheesy "come with me if you want to live" line . . . until Casey shows up to snap us out of the spy version of Gone With the Wind! At first, Sarah's not buying it; she thinks his pickup lines are pathetic and just laughs when he talks about taking her to Fiji. But then they kiss, and there's something there, some kind of passion.

It's interesting timing, because Chuck has decided - partially at Ellie's urging to take control of his life - that it's time to end the "relationship" part of his cover relationship. This episode was originally supposed to air right after "Chuck vs. the Suburbs,", which would have made the timing of this revelation make more sense, but it still mostly works: If Sarah can protect Chuck just as well without pretending to be romantically involved, why should they drive each other crazy all day by bringing up feelings they know they can't act on? That all might have worked, at least for a little while, had two things not happened: One, Cole finds out Chuck's the Intersect; two, Cole gets captured. That means Chuck needs round-the-clock protection. So, not only are Sarah and Chuck not breaking up, they now have to move in together. Which puts a crimp in Chuck's plans to move in with Morgan, two buddies finally breaking free of their families. I wonder what will happen to Morgan now that he's out a roommate and has already worn out his welcome at Chez Bartowski. I guess back home with Mama and Big Mike? Poor guy. Maybe it's wishful thinking - and probably impossible because of the surveillance - but I'd love to see Chuck, Sarah, and Morgan get a place together.

Some other thoughts:

Jeff and Lester's "Buy More Girl" plot seems like an afterthought, and it took the show's "slobby men lusting after beautiful women" thing a bit far. But it did serve a purpose, plot-wise: When a cop-looking woman shows up looking for Chuck, nobody's surprised.
I'm pretty sure Chuck's "something really strong" at the bar is an appletini.
Hey, I was impressed that Chuck managed to kick in the door of Sarah's hotel room. He's not all wimp.
Good point from Alan Sepinwall: Do you think the writers titled this episode before they cast a guy whose last name is Cake to play Cole?
Little moments I loved: Sarah perfectly slicing the banana, Lester with his Polaroid camera, Casey just showing up (he did a lot of just showing up in this episode) right as Chuck is ending things with Sarah.

Do you trust Cole, or are you suspicious? Did Chuck overreact in breaking things off with Sarah? And why can't Sarah stop falling for her partners?

Photos courtesy of NBC

Chuck Rundown: Episode 14, "Chuck vs. the Best Friend"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:30:14 -0800

Ever since Chuck first started, I've been wondering what would happen if Morgan joined Chuck on a mission. Well, this week, it sort of happened. Morgan had a spy caper of his own to carry out, tracking Anna (Anna!!) with her new boyfriend - who then ended up playing a part in Chuck, Sarah, and Casey's real mission. What's a best friend to do? Meanwhile, we meet the most awesome wedding band of all time: Jeffster! To chat about it, just read more.

I'm always impressed when Chuck finds a way to bring both the emotion and the funny, and this episode's among the best for it. Chuck's secret spy life has put his friends and family in danger before - most recently at Christmas - but this mission jeopardized Chuck's friendship with Morgan in a whole new way. "You want me to befriend my best friend's ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend?" he gulps at one point. It would have been bad enough for Chuck just to hurt Morgan emotionally, by appearing to side with Anna or even be chatting up Jason - but then Chuck's job ends up putting Morgan in physical danger, too. It's an interesting spotlight not just on Morgan and Chuck's friendship (and the fact that Morgan wants Chuck to stop protecting him) but also on Chuck and Sarah's relationship. Sarah dons new aliases and moves from fake life to fake life. The entire idea of a best friend is foreign to her; she doesn't have anyone who cares for her the way Chuck cares for Morgan.

Except . . . she does. It's Chuck. And she cares for him like a best friend - if not more than that. Kudos to Yvonne Strahovski; that look on her face when she watches the Nerd Herder blow up (before she knows that Chuck isn't inside at all but rather is driving it to destruction with a remote control) shows so much pain.

Meanwhile: Jeffster! Of course, Jeff and Lester have a secret band; of course, Jeff sees a way to break into the big time by playing Ellie and Awesome's wedding. And he actually does a pretty good job of engineering the whole tryout, thanks to a lucky computer meltdown on Ellie's part. I loved Lester freaking out about the path he'll go down if the band experiences any success whatsoever (right up to his shameful accidental death), which also gives Jeff a good avenue to beg Awesome for a second chance. (Jeff: "Have you ever had a dream that's never come true?" Awesome: ". . . No.") And just tell me this: Has there ever been a more perfect use of Toto's "Africa"?

Some other thoughts:

Sarah's car fight is up there with the best fight scenes Chuck has ever done. It must have been tough to pull off all those moves in such close quarters, and it was cool to watch every part of the car (the seatbelt, a CD in the stereo) become a weapon.
This episode gives us some more details about the foundation of the Chuck/Morgan friendship and Chuck's mom's departure: She took off when Chuck was in fifth grade, and Morgan helped him through it with cherry cheesecake and Zelda.
I'm somehow not surprised that Jeff has a stockpile of spy gear. Also, so funny that not even the Buy More crew thinks Chuck has any spy potential.
The Morgan/Anna reconciliation cracked me up: "Anna Wu, I luh- I like you. Very, very much."
Even the General has a friend: Condoleeza Rice!

Did you correctly predict Jeffster's musical genre? Was it nice to have an episode that focused on the Chuck/Morgan bromance? And does John Casey have friends?

Photos courtesy of NBC

Chuck Rundown: Episode 13, "Chuck vs. the Suburbs"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:30:04 -0800

On this week's post-Valentine's Day episode of Chuck, faux romance is in the air when Chuck and Sarah are asked to pose as a married couple and move to the suburbs to suss out which neighbor might be a sinister Fulcrum agent. But what will living in such close quarters do to the real-life dynamic between Chuck and Sarah? Meanwhile, Emmett dons the ugliest pompadour of all time, and Big Mike decides to get his groove on through online dating. Ready to chat about it? Just read more.

All season, there's been a little bit of will-they-or-won't-they with Chuck and Sarah. Chuck knows it's in his best interest not to get involved with someone who has to keep so many secrets, and Sarah would never let her CIA role take the backseat. But in this episode, it's obvious how hard it's getting to maintain that distance. From their "real Valentine's Day" (sitting far apart on the couch while Chuck halfheartedly plays video games) to the eeriness of the portraits from their made-up marriage, Chuck and Sarah's relationship is about as far from normal as it can get. And yet, in the Stepford suburbs, they get a few tastes of what it might be like if they were just regular folks. I loved the way Chuck's face got all melty when he realizes Sarah's actually cooking breakfast in her nightie for him. ("You better be careful, Sarah. One day you might turn into a real girl.") But as always, work prevails; when Chuck comes home, he tells Ellie that he and Sarah will never be anything more than what they are now.

That's largely because this mission is the closest Chuck's really come to being found out. After being fake-seduced by his cougar neighbor (Jenny McCarthy, ha!), he runs a program on her computer and ends up with the Fulcrum version of the Intersect in his brain. Suddenly, he realizes that all of his neighbors have sinister purposes; even the happy-go-lucky Fred (Andy Richter) ends up sedating him and taking him to the special Fulcrum test center in the subdivision. Fun fact: Everyone else who's ever seen the images has become a vegetable, but Chuck apparently has a very special brain. That's what eventually gets them out of their mess: Casey runs the program while Chuck shields Sarah's eyes from the flashes before the agents have time to get away. But how long will it be before Fulcrum finds another way?

Finally, back at the Buy More, Big Mike gets divorce papers on Valentine's Day - ouch! - but with the help of the Nerd Herders, he sets up an online dating profile and hops right back in the game. Love his double-breasted suit and general nervousness ("She's going to take one look at me and realize I'm not a 185-pound shipping magnate!"). Turns out the date goes well, but there's one little problem: When he confesses he works at the Buy More, she reveals that her son works there. In the words of Morgan, "You're bangin' my mom!"

Some other thoughts:

"Charles Carmichael always comes quickly"!
Speaking of great lines "There's got to be someone who's having a worse Valentine's Day" is a perfect setup for Casey drinking alone and watching the History Channel.
Naturally, Chuck thinks Casey's crazy for suggesting he break his own thumb to get out of handcuffs; naturally, Casey doesn't think twice about doing it himself.
Nice: Chuck's Cowbell Hero shirt (it's real!) and Tron poster.
So is there something really special about Chuck's brain that keeps him from getting fried by the Fulcrum images?
Furthermore, did Bryce perfect the technology on his own before he slipped the Intersect to Chuck?

Are Chuck and Sarah destined to be apart forever? Will Chuck get to keep the Fulcrum intelligence? And Big Mike + Morgan's mom, sitting in a tree . . . ?

Photos courtesy of NBC

Get Those 3-D Glasses Ready for Chuck Tonight

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:30:39 -0800

I hope you didn't pitch your 3-D glasses after the big Monsters vs. Aliens ad during yesterday's Super Bowl, because you'll need them to tune into tonight's special episode of Chuck. Well, you won't need them, per se; the episode will still make sense in just the regular ol' dimensions. But if you want to see knives spinning out of your TV - and the most awesome shot of Big Mike eating a donut ever - you'll want to don the geeky specs like Zachary Levi and Joshua Gomez do in this cute video to watch along.

Tonight's episode is the first since December, and in addition to special effects, it's also full of guest stars: Lost's Dominic Mongahan plays a rock star who stops by the Buy More for a promotional visit, while former Pittsburgh Steelers star Jerome Bettis plays a thuggish new Buy More employee. Chuck's used its guest stars better than any show I can think of (well, besides maybe 30 Rock), so I'm expecting these folks to fold in seamlessly to the show's wacky world.

As I heard from Josh Schwartz a while back, there's some big stuff coming up for Chuck in the second half of its second season. The show isn't a lock for renewal - especially not with Jay Leno moving to primetime - so I'm hoping this special episode gives the show the ratings boost it deserves. To check out a preview, just read more.

Photo courtesy of NBC

Chuck Rundown: Episode 10, "Chuck vs. The DeLorean"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:20:26 -0800

Ever since we got our first glimpse of young Sarah Walker (or, I guess, then young Jenny Burton) earlier in this season of Chuck, I've been curious to know more about what it was like to grow up in the shadow of a con man. Well, this episode takes care of that, as Sarah's dad shows up to run a heist and wreak havoc, just like the old days. Chuck gets thrust into the middle of it, of course, as Jack's visit brings some of his own daddy issues to the surface. Ready to chat about it? Just read more.

First of all, young Sarah/Jenny/whatever is so adorable as a little con-child, throwing herself in front of an armored van so daddy can make away with the money and hightail it to the nearest ice cream parlor. To Chuck, Sarah's childhood is one full of wild and dashing adventures - though all the crimes and charges he saw when he flashed on Jack's scar should probably make him realize it wasn't all fun and games. But hey, at least she had a dad who loved her, right?

So now Jack's turned back up, and his latest heist is a biggie: He's "sold" a building in LA for millions to a sheik whom the government has had its eye on for a while. It's "his Mona Lisa," the perfect crime - except now Sarah, Casey, and Chuck are roped into it, and Sarah has to try to do her job while not revealing to her father that she works for the CIA. (Also: I think the funniest possible rebellion if your dad is a con man would be to go into law enforcement.) This leads to lots of tensely funny moments, like Chuck pretending to be the German-speaking faux businessman ("Lichtenstein!") and Casey working security as "Cop Face." But none of it would have worked had Jack not trusted Chuck with the $10 million - a very expensive bet that Chuck loves Sarah.

Meanwhile, Anna (she lives!) asks Morgan to move in, which Morgan treats like it's the absolute end of his wild bachelorhood (which, so far as we know, involves playing video games with Chuck and pining after Ellie, so . . . yeah). Awesome ponies up the money for the apartment, but Morgan has a pre-midlife crisis and buys a junky DeLorean instead. I love his DeMorgan plates - and the fact that it ends up factoring into the case, providing an escape vehicle, a way for Morgan to repay Awesome, and a stepping stone for Morgan into real adult life.

Some other thoughts:

I love Jack taking off after the heist with his laptop, money, and the cigar he'd just put in Casey's pocket. Between that and ripping off Chuck's ATM card, he's pretty good with the sneaking around.
Captain Morgan! Duh, obviously! Also, it's funny that Awesome's idea of punishment is plucking Morgan from head to toe.
The scenes of Chuck spying on Sarah on his own are hilarious. For all the advances he's made in his government work, he's just awful at being stealth on his own - especially considering that he didn't take off his GPS watch.
Casey: "Aw, that's sad. You've confused me with someone who cares about your life before the Intersect."
Also, Casey has a heart, suggesting that Jack should do less prison time for being helpful with the mission.
So, Chuck's dad was an engineer. Does anyone else think he might turn out to be a spy/con man of some sort himself?

Kind of a downbeat episode overall, but this show has really been rocking the weighty, emotional stories this year. And next week, it's a very Chuck-y Christmas! What did you all make of this visit from Sarah's dad?

Photos courtesy of NBC

Chuck Rundown: Episode Five, "Chuck vs. Tom Sawyer"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:42:20 -0700

Wow, this week's episode of Chuck was one geek-iriffic hour. At one point, I asked my boyfriend, "Is Missile Command a real game?" He responded by burying his head in his hands (and bringing up a Wikipedia entry about kill screens). So maybe this one tested the outer limits of my geek cred; I think it's a tribute to Chuck that it didn't matter one bit. To talk about it, just read more.

Of all the Buy More folks who have gotten a spotlight episode of Chuck, Jeff is definitely my favorite. Who knew he was once a mulleted videogame champ, surrounded by beautiful women (were they part of the prize package?) and with "so many tasty options" for the rest of his life. Of course, 20 years later, the not-so-tasty option he's taken is the one where he's a Nerd Herder with a stalkerish fondness for Anna. Buy More: where ambition goes to die.

Jeff's not the No. 1 person I'd choose to be in control of the fate of the world, but that's exactly what happens. Embedded within every game of Missile Command are the codes for controlling a satellite that could launch World War III - and nobody, not even Jeff, has gotten that far in the game. Chuck's mission, then, is to bond socially with Jeff ("Great, so it comes down to either torturing him or torturing me") and convince him to make a Missile Command comeback. Fueled by red cough syrup, M&Ms (but no brown ones), and Anna dressed as a hula girl, he decides to do it . . . until the pressure of being on stage surrounded by his paunchy, nerdy, very single fans gets to him and he passes out cold.

Not to despair: Chuck takes the controls, realizes that the rhythm of the game matches that of Rush's "Tom Sawyer", and plays all the way to the kill screen, getting the satellite code, averting mass global destruction, and becoming a geek hero. Chuck saves world! I loved the scene of him standing by the game console, beaming, as he gets applause from a room full of nerds who knew they'd just witnessed greatness - but didn't realize just how great it was. And there's another triumph to come: Sarah and Casey arrange for Chuck to receive a Stanford diploma. A college graduate and savior of the world? Everything really is coming up Bartowski.

Some other thoughts:

For all the drama, this episode is also truly funny, from Awesome telling Chuck his special smoothie "does wonders for your wang energy" to Chuck getting out of a trip to Jeff's place by claiming an allergy to "every member of the polecat family."
Tony Hale's here! He's Emmett, the new Buy More assistant manager, and he clearly has it out for Chuck. Loved him reporting a "lewd use of a musical montage."
Jeff has drinking pants! And a "My name is Jeff and I'm lost" card.
Lester and Morgan are hilarious as they mourn the potential loss of their best friends. Chuck would never really reject a guy who owns a smoke machine and was a roadie for Mamma Mia! though.
Casey looks super awkward in his version of the Buy More uniform; Sarah just looks hot.
Nice random Zune diss! "No, I'm kidding. I'll get my iPod."
The episode ends on something of a wistful note, with Chuck making a wish on a burning-up satellite and Jeff approaching the Missile Command console, quarter in hand.

Are you looking forward to more Tony Hale? Surprised by anything in Jeff's past? Happy to learn that Chuck's middle name is Irving? Discuss!

Photos courtesy of NBC

Chuck Rundown: Episode 13, "Chuck Vs. The Marlin"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:30:29 -0800

Alright, it's time to put that last slice of bread on top of our Chuck sandwich. "Chuck Vs. The Marlin" was the last episode finished before the strike shut down production, and that's a bummer, because I adored this one. Normally, I like Chuck best when it's heavy on the goofiness and light on plot, as "Chuck Vs. The Undercover Lover" was earlier in the night. But "The Marlin" was all plot, and I absolutely loved it.

Rather than the normal Chuck-flashes-on-something-evil setup, this one was much more of a goofy caper. After the previous episode's anniversary debacle, Awesome decided it was time to prove to Ellie that he was ready to commit by proposing with his great-grandma's ring. In one of the worst decisions ever, Awesome decided to give Chuck the ring so Ellie wouldn't "smell diamond" in their apartment. That would have been dicey under any circumstances, but given what happened next, it was a true disaster, so read more.

Given all that happened with Bryce Larkin a few episodes back, I'm surprised the Buy More wasn't bugged earlier in an attempt to get to Chuck. It quickly became clear that Pita Girl had been dumping bugs with each of her deliveries, and lecherous Jeff and Lester were only making that easier by continuing to order her pitas ( . . . if you know what I mean. Mammary cam!).

As a result, Sarah and Casey had to have their people strip the Buy More bare - from the video games to the appliances to the marlin on Big Mike's wall. I loved that the hundreds of thousands of dollars of missing electronics didn't seem to bother Big Mike, but the plastic fish he paid $200 for on eBay was a top priority. Too bad it had become the victim of a drunken Nerd Herd prank and ended up at Chuck's place before the robbery even occurred.
Even so, the ring might have been fine if Morgan hadn't gone all snoopy in Chuck's locker, freaked out, showed it to Ellie, and then stashed it in the marlin. And that might have been fine if the marlin hadn't also contained the receiver for all the Buy More bugs. So basically, Chuck's entire existence came down to finding a plastic fish.
Interesting that Casey disobeyed government orders by sending Sarah after Chuck. Someone has a heart!
Some of my favorite moments in this episode came from Big Mike's interrogation scenes: shining a desk lamp in a suspect's eyes, literally turning the heat up on Chuck . . .
The scenes where Chuck tried to say goodbye without explaining why were sweet, and they reminded me how much Zachary Levi makes this show work.

Sarah seemed pretty overmatched by the Pita Girl, didn't she? It all worked out, but I was worried that Sarah might have finally met an opponent she couldn't out-ninja.
Love that Chuck's priority after learning he wouldn't be sent to a dank hole underground was finding Ellie's ring - "even if it's covered in coffee grounds and miscellaneous DNA." Also, Awesome seemed remarkably cool about the whole situation, even though it was obviously not awesome.
Despite the cuteness of Ellie accepting Awesome's proposal, we were left with an ominous ending: Casey telling Sarah she can't keep Chuck here forever as the music turned creepily dark.

And that's it for now - though NBC's promise of new Chuck soon seemed optimistic (if not overly so). Which part of the Chuck sandwich was your favorite?

Photos courtesy of NBC

Chuck Rundown: Episode 12, "Chuck Vs. The Undercover Lover"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:30:12 -0800

Hey, it's part one of my own Chuck sandwich! Since NBC decided to toss its final two episodes of Chuck on TV last night (bracketing the latest installment of The Celebrity Apprentice), I've decided to serve up my own Chuck rundown sandwich. First up, "Chuck Vs. the Undercover Lover." The second episode, "Chuck Vs. The Marlin," will be coming soon (update: here it is) - but I have to put something in between. You know. Sandwich.

Anyway. Man, it was good to have this show back; I missed its goofiness. And this episode was particularly fun, as two very different relationships played out in strangely parallel stories. How hilarious was it to learn that Casey could feel passion? I suppose it wasn't much of a stretch for Chuck to believe Casey was "built like a Ken doll, you know, down there" - but then Chuck suddenly flashed on Ilsa, Casey's one true love (other than his Crown Vic). The reveal of that relationship led to all sorts of wild, spy-genre-parodying developments, so just read more.

The Casey/Ilsa story was as convoluted as Chuck's weekly cases always are, with faked deaths and assumed identities and lots of lying. But the moral was clear: Spy love just doesn't work. Someone's always having to disappear in an explosion or pretend to be a photographer or get 17 guns pointed at them when things go south.
Not that regular-people relationships are so much easier, as evidenced by Ellie and Awesome's fight over the washing machine vs. big-screen TV anniversary gift. (Awesome does seem like the kind of guy who would get all jazzed about clean clothes, doesn't he?) Morgan played therapist, and Ellie started feeling like she was banking on a future with "a giant, muscle-y child." In the end, though, all it took was a night of playing strip poker with the Nerd Herd for Awesome to come running back, TV in tow.

Sugar Bear is the best possible nickname for Casey. I wonder how many the writers went through before they finally hit on that.
Also: How wonderful that his fantasy is drinking more Scotch in his underwear while listening to Neil Diamond?
As Morgan was playing therapist with Ellie and Awesome, Chuck did his own Dr. Phil act with Casey. Loved him pointing out that while nice girls don't marry corrupt Russian oligarchs, they probably don't marry highly trained government hitmen, either.
There were some hilarious spy sendups in this episode, but I'm not sure anything can compare to the fight scene with Chuck and Casey tied back to back, flailing around to take out bad guys.
Another fantastic line: Chuck's "I don't want to die a man stewardess."
I loved Casey's soaking-wet, tuxedo-clad self emerging from the swimming pool during the wedding, seeming every bit the dapper hero about to get his woman - until about seven guys pulled guns on him simultaneously. "I hope I'm not too late to object to this union."
Morgan was surprisingly sweet with lonely, drunken Ellie. "You're like a sister to me . . . a sister I want to have sex with so bad." Well, he was almost a gentleman.

All that said, I think my favorite moment of the first part of the Chuckwich actually came during one of the commercials: Yvonne Strahovski's "I think I ordered the slowly back away from the uncomfortable situation on rye." That one, I might have to start using in my daily conversations. So, how did this episode work for you?

Photos courtesy of NBC

TV Tonight: Chuck

BuzzSugar — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:30:43 -0800

Hey, remember when NBC had a show called Chuck? It was about some spies and a nerdy guy who gets a computer downloaded into his brain and has to save the world?

You can be forgiven if you've forgotten all about Chuck. After all, it's been six weeks since the last new episode aired. But now, the network is bringing the show back with a vengeance tonight, airing not one but two episodes - the final two completed before the writers' strike shut down production. And they're not even playing back-to-back; instead, they're sandwiched around an episode of The Celebrity Apprentice.

Why NBC would want to blow two episodes of Chuck at a time when scripted series are dropping like flies completely baffles me, but here we are with our Chuck sandwich ("in the reuben family"). The first episode introduces an ex-girlfriend of Casey's, while the second finds the CIA taking drastic measures to find the Intersect. Hey, the timing may be terrible, but at least the show itself sounds good. If you don't still have your season pass set, the episodes air at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. EST and PST. To watch previews for tonight's sandwich, just read more.

Photo courtesy of NBC