CHUCK: ‘Chuck vs. The Suitcase’

Two super hot chicks fighting it out on a runway in Milan. Captain Awesome in nothing by spandex. Lester in a hoodie. Who says sex doesn’t sell?

Just one week after vowing to come together in order to save Chuck’s mom, Team Bartowski seemed to forget all about her. But I suppose with an assassin posing as a supermodel on the loose — who was wielding GPS-guided bullets — they had other things to worry about.

“Chuck vs. the Suitcase” really delivered on the laughs and the romance tonight with plenty of action thrown in for good measure.

Although Zac Levi usually does the heavy lifting when it comes to the laughs, Yvonne Strahovski once again showed her comedic strength (and no that’s not a euphemism for what she showed us in the closet) in this episode. From Sarah’s obvious jealousy over Sofia catching Chuck’s eye, to her bitchy “Put some clothes on,” Yvonne really brought out the big guns (nope, still not a euphemism).

Although I’m sure it’s not the best for national security, it was nice to see Sarah loosen up a little bit and let her relationship issues with Chuck seep into the mission. We all know that Chuck isn’t really the best when it comes to keeping his personal life separate from his life as a spy, but Sarah has always been adept at compartmentalizing the two distinct parts of her life. Chuck has changed her. He’s made her more of a fully realized woman, and even the best spies can’t always keep their feelings truly at bay. I know that from personal experience: I have many friends that are spies. Don’t tell anyone, OK?

Tonight’s mission kept Casey at home in Burbank, but don’t let him hear you call it home. Nope, spies don’t have roots. It’s the reason why Sarah won’t unpack her suitcase despite living with Chuck for eight months. And it’s one of the reasons that Casey is hesitant in developing a relationship with his daughter, Alex. He’s not sure how he’s going to fit into her life and I’m sure he’s equally concerned with how she will fit into his.

It’s going to be great to see more of Alex this season. Just as Chuck brings out the best in Sarah, I think Alex will do the same for Casey. This is a man who has always put country first, but now he has a daughter and he has no idea how to balance love of country and love of family. He’ll find out.

Tonight, Morgan dropped the first hint that he has been spending time with Alex. As Give Me My Remote readers know, Chris Fedak has already revealed that Morgan might develop an interest in Casey’s daughter this season. Talk about a great storyline, right? Anything that brings together Casey’s grunts with Morgan’s fear of Casey’s grunts is all good with me.

I found this episode to be especially touching. It all started with Devon’s nervous excitement over the baby. The guy was all business and insisted on being as fully prepared as he could be, despite Ellie being newly pregnant. Later it was revealed that Devon was overcompensating for Ellie not having a mother to take care of her during this time. Aw. Has anyone ever told this guy that he’s awesome?

Chuck and Sarah also shared some ‘awwww’ moments. Tonight’s episode hit the right balance between Chuck and Sarah as a couple and the two of them as a spy team. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive and I’m hoping that “Chuck vs. the Suitcase” serves as the blueprint for constructing their adventures — both home and on missions — at least for the immediate future.

Sarah’s reluctance to unpack and move in with Chuck is the result of not only of her lonely life as a spy, but also as the daughter of a con-man always on the run. Hanging up her clothes in the closet was a big step forward for Sarah. And I think we can all agree that her “You’re my home, Chuck. You always have been” speech was just as sweet as sweet could be.

It seems Morgan was wrong. Sarah’s suitcase was not going to prove to be the Achilles heel in Chuck and Sarah’s relationship. Nope. That heel will most certainly be Sarah’s hesitance to settle down, get married and have babies. (The girl took eight months to unpack her suitcase, Chuck. Ixnay on the baby talk.)

One thing Morgan did get right tonight was his suggestion that the Buy More be a little less ‘spy central’ and a little more like the old Buy More. If Awesome could tell that the place was being run by the CIA, then the cover needed a cover. Leave it to Morgan to know how to really bring it. To make sure things ran as inefficiently as possible, Morgan fetched Jeffster from their van and their self-inflicted exile and brought them back to the Buy More. Now we just need to bring back Big Mike and all will be well in the world (of home electronics at least).

But with Morgan named the new store manager, does Big Mike have a place at the new Buy More? Will he play second fiddle to Morgan? Now that’s something I’d like to see.

As much as I enjoyed last week’s season premiere of CHUCK, I think this episode was just that much better. The comedy, the action, the romance and the heart were all kicked up a notch this week. That’s just how I like my CHUCK. (Now just make sure Ryan McPartlin is half naked every episode, OK? Thanks.)

A few more thoughts on tonight’s episode while I’m trying to erase the vision of an almost shirtless Jeff from my memory…

• Despite having a bigger role than Olivia Munn did last week, I think Isaiah Mustafa was underutilized as Greta. I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping we get to see Greta get into a little action over the course of the season.

• I suppose if I’m talking about being underutilized, I need to mention Bronson Pinchot.  What? You blinked and you missed him? I don’t blame you.  I’ll admit to being excited when his name appeared as a guest star in the opening credits, but was surprised to see he was only in one scene — and he didn’t have any lines.  I’m thinking there was a whole ‘she thinks I’m gay and romantically involved with Balki Bartokomous‘ storyline that got left on the cutting room floor.  Too bad, I would have liked to see more of Pinchot.

• Really hoping Morgan’s promotion to store manager doesn’t mean we’re going to see less of General Beckman.  Running the Buy More op from the inside meant we got to see more of Bonita Friedericy and that was a good thing. It’s good to get her out from behind that desk and giving orders from inside the Buy More and Castle.

• That catwalk fight was damn good.  There were some close-ups of Yvonne and it looked like she was doing her own stunts. Wow. As for how it played out in the episode, funny how no one seemed to care that an undercover CIA agent was being photographed and that her face showed up on the cover of a fashion magazine. The things we let slide in the name of love for this show…

• Only Casey would be benched due to the ‘Yves St Laurent’ incident. It involved a stiletto and I can tell you from personal experience that those are never as fun as you think they’ll be.

• Devon: “I was in the Buy More. Everyone there was super attractive and highly skilled. It was like I worked there.”

• I’m not sure if they used real photos of Scott Bakula, Linda Hamilton and their respective real-life children in that photo album, or whether it was photoshopped, but given the really shitty photoshopping that the CHUCK creative team has given us in the past (exhibits A and B), I’m going to go out on a limb an say they were real pics.

• Anytime Zac Levi wants to sport a really bad fake mustache, it’s fine by me.

• You don’t often get to see the sensitive side to Lou Ferrrigno. I told you it was a sweet and soft episode.  Oh wait, but the Hulk did slap Chuck Bartowski hilariously across the face. Too funny!

• A warm welcome back to all the Buy Morons. I knew Jeff and Lester would be back, but I didn’t expect the old gang to reunite. I didn’t think I would ever see them again, so YAY!

• I remember a few years back, ALIAS had the coveted post-Super Bowl slot on ABC. Promos for the episode were shown at every Super Bowl commercial break, and you know what those promos showed? Jennifer Garner walking slow-no in nothing but a bra, matching undies and a garter belt.  CHUCK brings us fighting models and Yvonne Strahovski in her skivvies and yet only one quick promo was shown during a day full of football on NBC? For shame, NBC. For shame.

Sorry for the long post, but there was just so much to love.

C’mon CHUCK fans, time to weigh in on “Chuck vs The Suitcase.” Did you like it as much as me? (I hope so.) Any standout moments for you? Are you liking the direction of Sarah and Chuck’s relationship? Excited to have the Buy Morons back?  Sound off below.

In case you missed it…

CHUCK Versus G.R.E.T.A. – Help The Producers of CHUCK!

During our recent sit down with CHUCK Executive Producer Chris Fedak, it was revealed that “Greta” is not the name of the CIA agent, but rather an acronym. So just what does G.R.E.T.A. stand for? Well according to Fedak and Josh Schwartz, the answer might just come from CHUCK fans. Nearly 150 of your fellow CHUCK fans have shared their best G.R.E.T.A. suggestion. Have your shared yours?

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