Chuck Review: Home Is Where the Packed Suitcase Isn’t

Chuck has heart. Oodles and oodles of it. I contend that the funny separates it from all those other spy shows on TV, but a funny spy is still a dime-a-dozen. This spy has relationships – real ones that matter. It’s not about vendettas, being a renegade or making a ton of money. For our Chuck, it’s about doing something that makes you feel worthwhile with the person you love. It’s about making sure, no matter what, that you never stray too far from those who’ve been there for you the whole of your life. Am I seriously getting a little teary here?!

This week, there were as many guttural laughs as ‘aw shucks’ moments, but every episode has a focal point. (Hint: Each episode’s title always has a little clue.) In “Chuck vs. the Suitcase,” the suitcase stood as a metaphor for his relationship with Sarah. Though he finally joined her back in the spy game, she has lived her whole life on the go while Chuck is a newbie and has always made it clear that family and home are important. They’ve been living together for eight months, yet Sarah still hadn’t unpacked her one suitcase. To Chuck, this symbolizes that she doesn’t feel at home with him. To Sarah, it’s only about the spy life and being able to fly easy and breezy.

It was a small tiff, and to be honest, I’m extremely impressed by how the writers are handling this romance. (Well, at least until the final minutes I was.) If every fight turned into a blowout, they’d no sooner turn all the shippers into haters. Instead we got something more along the lines of cutesy squabble, the ones with no clear right or wrong side. But more on that later…

The lovers got their first mission, as a reunited spy team, to track down a model named Sophia. Played by Karolina Kurkova (former Victoria’s Secret Angel and wannabe actress), Sophia’s been using the guise of Milan Fashion Week to deal in super-stealth weaponry. This time it was a microchip. Kurkova definitely got the stealthy, slinky and sexy part down. She also made me laugh once with her best line of the night to Chuck. “Your hand is still touching my perfection.” Her perfection being her taut (I hate you Karolina), angel bottom. But kudos, I laughed with you at least one time this evening.  A lot of the snafus Chuck and Sarah run into are typical, easy guffaws, like when Chuck ends up taken hostage by a naked Sophia who’d just stepped out of the shower. You know the mission’s a little bit more complicated when there’s still 20 minutes to go, and they’ve “recovered” the weapons. No, of course not. Sophia was always one step ahead of them, and they’d recovered decoys.

Back at home, Sarah attempted to unpack one dress, but Chuck asked her not too. He said she’d just be doing it to alleviate the situation, and truthfully, he loves her for their differences. One dress won’t make or break them. But it would give them a clue to solve their mission. While Sophia had unpacked everything in her own, very anti-spy closet, they’d seen her pack up one lone dress, one they’d seen her pictured in before. Why would a model wear the same dress twice?! She wouldn’t, unless…(and say this really fast with me) it was used to camouflage the deadly microchip and sneak it by customs in some unassuming designer’s collection. DUH DUH DUH!!!

They quickly jetted back to Milan before the last show where Chuck used his nifty new tranq gloves to take out the dress’s bodyguards. Sarah managed to slip the dress on, but the two got separated when the bodyguards awoke from their naps. They call the head bodyguard and obviously the best bodyguard since it was THE INCREDIBLE HULK. But what’s going on here? He’s not green, and he sounds sooooo sweet, confessing his love for Miss Sophia. Who is this Lou Ferrigno imposter?! No, really. This guy is big but adorable and completely defeatable. Chuck kicked some sweet butt with a pole before Lou Ferrigno swatted it away like a pesky fly, and then Chuck took him down. With tranqs of course because his wrist would be all floppy if he even tried to use those things against the Hulk.

Sarah, on the other hand, came face-to-face with Sophia, and their fight takes them all the way to the catwalk. That stunt work looked truly painful, and those front row attendees, just looking for a good show, got an even better one. Sarah knocked Sophia off the runway, leaving herself sweaty and bloody and gawked at. Chuck thinks fast with a round of applause and a bravo yell to back up the fact that it was all fantastic acting and just like that, the crowd goes wild. (Unbelievable CIA plot made five percent more plausible.)

Back at home, it’s no surprise that Sarah finally unpacked. Then, Chuck found a picture of them that Sarah takes everywhere she goes because it makes her feel safe. I don’t want to point out that, if ever captured, that picture can be some pretty damming leverage. Then again, where there’s a Sarah in trouble, Chuck will never be too far behind. Anyway that little tidbit was sweet.

The end killed me because it was such a perfect episode. Chuck had to go ruin a sweet moment by saying that he should have never let Morgan get to him with his Achilles heel theory. He, for a quick moment, entertained the idea that the suitcase could be their heel. Yet, he actually believes they have a real future…maybe even marriage and babies. From the look on her face, this is an idea that will clearly leave Sarah up all night. Why go this route?! I think marriage is doable with time, but why would Chuck ever believe that Sarah the Spy is anywhere near ready for babies like say Charlotte in Sex in the City? Not to mention look at his own life. Or Casey and Alex?! He and Ellie were practically parentless due to both parents being tied up in the spy game. So quickly I went from going wild with that crowd to throwing my hands up in the air in frustration. We’ll see if they keep playing the romance as wonderfully as they have been or if they’ll start trying too hard like with this baby thing. They’ve only been officially together for about 8 months, writers. Please…take…it….slow. We all know how those hot and heavy things usually turn out.

SIDELINED
Not to be forgotten were our sidelined compadres who, even at home, are never mission-less. After seeing Awesome’s reaction to the new Buy More, Morgan charged Beckman to give the Buy More a better cover. “I was in the Buy More. Everyone was super attractive and highly skilled…like I worked there. But why would I work in the Buy More? Unless I was a spy!” So to cover their bases, Morgan tells Beckman that things have to get a lot less efficient to pass for a true Buy More. And with Casey staying home because of that Yves Saint-Laurent incident, the two get to bond while they search (quite easily) for our old friends Jeff and Lester on the lam. (Inner wahoooooo!) Their return, along with a ton of old Nerd Herders, was best summed up by their slow-mo walk with the wind (fan held by Morgan) blowing through Jeffster’s hair followed by a nerd pile up as one slips and takes everyone down with him. Hysterical.

There weren’t any unnecessary moments for the Buy More crew but there was the perfect amount of funny. Morgan has also been in touch with Casey’s estranged daughter Alex and pushed him to try and be a part of her life more. Casey acted like didn’t hear the advice, but we saw him happy to use it in the end when he’s phones her up.

Another plus was our newest Greta, played by Isaiah Mustafa. From what I saw, he’s got a future in comedy. He had some great lines and some fantastic physical humor. (This rotating Greta for guest stars is also genius, especially since so far, they haven’t used it as a ploy.) And Awesome went a little baby crazy. Eardrums develop by week. The baby can hear everything Ellie’s saying. Is the baby lying on her spleen? They haven’t decided on Spanish, French or Japanese as a second language! Awesome just didn’t want Ellie to feel like anything or anyone was missing. (Like the soon-to-be mommy’s mommy.) Still, he had reason to worry since Ellie got out a box of childhood memories from the closet while he was sleeping. Someone’s not exactly not missing her mom.

It didn’t quite top last week’s but still, Chuck is on a nice roll. Thoughts?

BEST LINES
“Drinks on me. (Chorus of Woohoos.) Well drinks and happy hour.” – Due to Morgan’s smart and effective thinking, Beckman gives him the keys to the Buy More and makes him Manager.

“I don’t want to be an astronaut, I want to work at the Buy More.” – Kid after seeing the wonder that is a CIA-run Buy More

“Spider-Man kiss?” – Chuck

“Feels good to be back at work.” – Chuck
“Feels good to be home.” – Sarah

“Rumor has it you’re pregnant. Is there room in that womb for two?” – Jeff to Ellie

Season 4, Episode 2: Chuck vs the Suitcase (originally aired September 27, 2010)

For more on Chuck, click here.

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Images courtesy of NBC and Dean Hendler.