Chuck

You know what inevitably kills a show? When the sexual tension is resolved. I mean if one of the chief reasons you tune in is to see if the guy gets the girl, why tune in after it happens? Did you watch another episode of "Who's the Boss" after Tony and Angela hooked up? Especially if your show is already on the renewal bubble, why do something to reduce viewership?

Well if you don't know what I'm talking bout Chuck finally got together with Sarah. In fact they decided to quit the spy-game and run away together. They are on a train in Europe making plans for their new life when a plot twist approaches, excuse me I meant bad guy. They both recognize him but don't tell the other because they both agreed to get out of the game. Making excuses to each other they separately do some re-con and find out the guy's identity but get in each other's way and discover that they are both working on the same case. They decide to work together to neutralize the bad guy.

Meanwhile, Casey and the bearded one are back at the Buy-More trying to track down Chuck and Sarah. Morgan uses his encyclopedic knowledge of all things Chuck to track him down and the dynamic duo depart for Europe. The manage to find Charah (Man I hope that doesn't stick but it's better than Suck) just as they slip a mickey to the bad spy that manages to knock out his bodyguards but leave him free to run off. Casey handcuffs Chuck and Sarah and they respond with the most ridiculous moment of the night. They punch Casey with they're handcuffed hands and knock him out! That's right they knock out Green Beret Casey with a short jab to the face. That's believable. But it allows Chuck and Sarah to chase down the bad guy and learn that they have totally misread the situation.

Turns out the bad guy was turning himself in and the two bodyguards were Interpol. Whoops! Well now they have to tell the General what happened, she's not happy, and they have to babysit the spy until they can hand him over to replacement Interpol agents. But that's OK because it gives everyone a chance to talk. Morgan is heartbroken but understands and Casey won't stand in their way. So they leave to start their new life together and Morgan and Casey wait for Interpol.

Heading back to the train, they learn that the Interpol agents had been switched for more bad guys and Casey and Morgan need saving! So they run back and long story short they save the day. The spy gets handed over to the real Interpol, the bad guys are arrested, everybody's happy. In fact Chuck and Sarah have so much fun they decide to tell the General about their relationship and throw caution to the wind. The General's reaction? "About time" Indeed.

This is a fun show and another great episode. You really couldn't ask this show to have more heart, more thrills, or more humor. They hit just the right mix every week and do a wonderful job telling very good stories. And as much as I like Chuck and Sarah together I sincerely hope that it doesn't damage their chances for renewal.

What did you think? Leave me a comment.

Chuck

Chuck is great TV. Week in and week out it delivers humor, action, an intelligent plot, and characters that are tons of fun to watch and tonight's episode was no different. Chuck and the team are a mission to break into the CIA vault to test the security but unbeknownst (is that a word?) to everyone Casey is approached by his old handler and given a secret side mission.

Casey is tasked with retrieving a secret drug from the vault and delivering to his handler played by Robert Patrick whom it is always nice to see. (I still think one of the biggest mistakes CBS ever made was cancelling The Unit.) After being found out and arrested for treason, Chuck and Sarah take it upon themselves to rescue Casey but before they can The Ring come and take him from his cell first and we find out that Casey knows that his mission was given to him by The Ring.

So Casey knowingly betrays his team and his country? This is where the story falls apart a little. Even though The Ring has threatened his ex-fiancee as leverage I can't help but think that Casey should have brought the situation to his superiors and figured out a way to turn the plot around and not had to commit treason. But I guess that wouldn't have moved the plot forward so Casey had to act a little out of character. A small quibble but one that bugged me as I kept watching and waiting for the reveal that Casey was actually on orders to infiltrate The Ring but it was not to be.

One powerful motif in the episode was Sarah walking in on both Casey and Chuck as they have a bad guy in a helpless position. Casey kills his guy but Chuck lets his live illustrating the difference between the battle-hardened Casey and the softer naive Chuck. One of the more difficult things this show is going to have to do as it moves forward and Chuck gets more and more spy experience is keep that kind streak in Chuck at the forefront and not let him get as jaded as Casey and even sometimes Sarah is.

The last thing that kind of surprised me is after the bad guys are captured and the team is back at the base for debriefing, Casey isn't rearrested for treason! He still broke into a government vault and voluntarily left with the bad guys when they came to his prison cell but no jail for Casey? The magic of TV I guess. He does booted from the military and made a civilian but that seems a small price to pay for what he did.

Despite a few things I had issues with, this episode was very good. The writing and acting have always been top-notch and it's great to have a show like this that's fun to watch every single episode.