CHUCK
Season 1 Episode 12
“Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover”
Written by Phil Klemmer
Directed by Fred Toye
(WARNING: SPOILERS)

While a significant portion of the past 11 episodes has been dedicated to Chuck’s suddenly complicated love life, this installment shifts the focus to the love lives of Casey (yes, he actually has one of those), and, in the episode’s subplot, Ellie and Awesome.

The episode opens in Chechnya, 2004, and Casey is sleeping with AP photojournalist Ilsa Trinchina (Felicity‘s Sensa, Ivana Milicevic). But Ilsa apparently dies in a bomb blast, breaking Casey’s heart.
We then return to the present, where Chuck flashes on a whole list of Russian baddies in the registry of the swanky Grand Seville. And, no big surprise, he also sees Ilsa’s name there. Mentioning this to Casey only gets him throttled though. (Calling Casey “Sugar Bear,” Ilsa’s endearment for him, probably wasn’t the smartest idea.)
Chuck and Sarah are instructed to check out the Seville to try and determine why a—as Chuck so eloquently puts it—“douchebag convention” is going on there.

At the Seville, not only is Casey reunited with Ilsa (who claims to have been injured by the bomb and also initially lost her memory, a likely story), but Chuck also flashes on Victor Federov (Deadwood‘s Pasha Lychnikoff), apparently the top man in this Soviet baddie totem pole.
And wouldn’t you know it, but Ilsa’s about to get married to him…
Chuck is convinced Casey has been crushed by this turn of events and, dogged and determined, is eventually successful in getting Casey to talk to him. He also manages to convince Casey that he should fight for Ilsa, that maybe Ilsa doesn’t know that her fiancée is an evil sumb!tch (just as she apparently thought that Casey was an “energy consultant” during their Chechnya liaison).

Casey and Chuck end up crashing Sarah’s stake-out, and while Chuck gets Casey to talk to Ilsa (who’s by herself at the hotel bar), Chuck ends up having to plant a bug in the honeymoon suite. While there, he snoops around and sees a file on Ilsa, and apparently she isn’t really a photojournalist. (At this point though, I need to ask, why is she lugging around her own file?)
Chuck gets trapped under the bed though when Casey and Ilsa show up and start to get freaky, where else, but naturally, on the bed. Chuck’s discovered though, when his ringtone blasts out. Even as Chuck is warning Casey that Ilsa is a very bad girl, she pulls out a gun.
Apparently, Ilsa’s French secret service, but before she can explain anything to Casey, Victor arrives and both Casey and Chuck end up under the bed. Victor’s just about to get freaky with Ilsa, when the Soviet schmuck falls asleep.
She shoos both Chuck and Casey out before Victor wakes up.

The following day, Ilsa visits Sugar Bear at the Buy More, and explains that she’s undercover, trying to take down Federov‘s operation. She also returns a necklace Casey once gave her all those years ago.
Just hours before the wedding, Casey’s getting good and drunk when Chuck checks up on him. When Casey drops the necklace though, a bug pops free. Someone’s been spying on Ilsa, and whoever it is, they know she’s a spy (since they heard her conversations with Casey). So since Casey’s just a wee bit smashed, Chuck drives him to the hotel.
Barging into the honeymoon suite, they’re caught by Victor and his crew, and tied up. It’s Victor’s plan to kill Ilsa, Casey, and Chuck, but after the wedding though; he doesn’t want to disappoint all his Russian friends who’ve come here for the celebration.
Victor leaves, and Casey and Chuck get into a fight with the two goons, a fight that leads to both—still tied to each other—going over the hotel room balcony and into the swimming pool, and the middle of the wedding, which is being held poolside.
Sarah’s there, and with the help of Ilsa, they bust the whole wedding party.

All’s well that ends well, as Ilsa and Casey spend the night together, but part the next day, Ilsa now off to adopt another identity.
To try and cheer Casey up, Chuck tells him, “Well, I’ll always be here,” which is an ironic thing to say, considering what Casey has been tasked to do to Chuck once that new Intersect is up and running…

Meanwhile, in this episode’s subplot, it’s Ellie and Awesome’s anniversary, and they’ve decided to get one big expensive gift, instead of two small ones. They head on down to the Buy More, where it turns out that Ellie has her eye on a big-a$$ TV (so they can spend time together snuggling on the couch), while Awesome has his eye on a washer and dryer (so they can spend time at home washing their clothes, instead of going off to the Laundromat).
Morgan plays retail therapist, but before they can get to the root of the matter, Ellie’s called off to the hospital, so she tells Awesome to go ahead and choose what to buy, and surprise her. He does, by of course, buying the washer and dryer, which pisses Ellie off and they get into a tiff.
While the doghoused Awesome tries a poker game at the Buy More, Ellie ends up drunk and miserable, and tries to open up to Sarah. Ellie’s afraid that Awesome’s scared to truly commit, and really wishes she could confide in Sarah, but Sarah’s called away (to bust up the wedding at the Seville). Morgan shows up to check on Ellie and winds up taking care of her.
Nothing happens, if you’re wondering.
The next morning, Awesome apologizes and buys Ellie the TV. All’s well that ends well here too.

So this is a nice break from the whole Chuck-Sarah thing, and getting to see that personal side to Casey was a pleasant surprise. It’s also a plus that the subplot ties in well to the main one, and also affords Ryan McPartlin a chance to flesh out Awesome’s character a little bit. That’s good since as I mentioned before, the character sometimes tends to be a little too sitcom-y for my tastes.
So it’s great that both Casey and Awesome can be people too, and hopefully, we see more of that for both characters in subsequent episodes.

(Image courtesy of nbc.com.)

CHUCK
Season 1 Episode 6
“Chuck Versus the Sandworm”
Written by Phil Klemmer
Directed by Robert Duncan McNeill
(WARNING: SPOILERS)

It’s Halloween and Chuck and Morgan are about to observe a long-standing tradition of wearing a sandworm costume (what Ellie refers to as a “two man sea cucumber”), but first Chuck has to deal with rogue prodigy Lazslo Mahnovski (American Dreams’ Jonathan Sadowski), who’s built many a gadget for the intel community, including Chuck’s watch, and Nerd Herd mobile. (Think scruffy post-millennial Q.)
There’s also the small matter of an interview with Buy More HR, for the assistant manager position. Big Mike wants Chuck for the position, as Harry Tiberius Tang has “the charm of a prostate exam,” but Morgan and his screw-ups could be the anchor that’ll weigh Chuck down to a watery fate.

There’s some good stuff in this episode, as issues of trust pop up when Lazslo makes Chuck aware of the fact that in all likelihood, he’s being bugged. This ties in to a framed photo Sarah gives Chuck, of both of them (Sarah in a slave Princess Leia outfit) at the Comic-Con. Of course, they’ve never been and it’s a Photoshopped deal.
There’s a nice poignant moment as Chuck considers this piece of fiction, of a couple that doesn’t exist, a moment that becomes even more poignant when Chuck finds a bug behind the picture.

There’s also Chuck needing to come down hard on Morgan at work, when Big Mike reminds Chuck of his duties. In a personal crisis, Morgan is tutored by Capt. Awesome in a neat montage, as Awesome teaches Morgan to grow up, to be a “tucker” and to “tame the mane.”
Then, when Chuck misses the HR interview since he has to stop the Santa Monica Pier from going boom, Morgan makes a great speech to try and get Chuck the job (stating that Chuck is “brave,” “loyal,” “has a great vinyl collection,” and “can quote The Wrath of Khan”). Despite the Trek knowledge though, Tiberius Tang gets the job.

The episode winds down with a send-up of the romantic comedy climax, as Chuck races to the Halloween party, as Morgan sits there, a morose half-sandworm, till Chuck arrives, Morgan saying “I thought you wouldn’t make it.”
Sarah then shows up in her slave Leia outfit and takes a picture with Chuck, so they can preserve a real moment in their relationship.
The episode closes with Chuck and Morgan continuing an inane, rambling conversation about what kind of sandwich one would take to a deserted island, since Chuck wants to torture Casey, who he knows is listening in on the bugs that are certainly somewhere in his room.

(Images courtesy of nbc.com.)