Chuck Versus the Santa Suit

The Grinch who (almost) stole Christmas!

Photo Credit: Mike Ansell/NBC

What a Christmas treat we got with last night’s Chuck! This is certainly my favourite episode of the season so far and one of my favourites of the series. It just goes to show how good an episode it was when the colossal spoiler in the promo that NBC aired two weeks ago had little impact on the enjoyment of it.

That being said, there is a bit of a large plot hole, so let’s get it out of the way quickly. Surely the CIA would have de-Intersected Shaw when they took him into custody, knowing how dangerous he and it can be. Since they apparently didn’t, the question arises; how did he survive for two years without a Governor?

Right, gripe out of the way, now I can get to the rest of the episode.

This episode was fantastically done, blending pretty much all of the elements that make for a really good hour of Chuck. It also featured the entire ensemble with Team B, Ellie and Awesome and the Buy Morons all getting to play their part.

For a change, Jeff and Lester proved instrumental in the payoff without it being dumb luck thanks to one of their schemes having wider repercussions. You could say that, for a while, they were an unofficial part of the Carmichael Industries team. Plus it was a great chance to have a Subway promotional plug (one of two – the second being a more subtle one at the CIA Christmas party) with Jeff doing a Big Mike and describing the ingredients of his delicious Subway sandwich.

Adam Baldwin got a little comedy, a little action and a lot of heart with this episode. His reaction to Chuck and Morgan finding out about his present for Alex was brilliant, and the scene where he begins to record his ‘final’ message for her on the bear was very moving. Of course he got to tell Alex in person and, caught up in his ‘lady feelings’, even gave her a nudge in Morgan’s direction – “You know, that.. that Grimes kid, he’s not that bad. You should maybe give him another chance.”

Shaw was unpopular during Season 3, even before he did his heel turn. Quite a bit of it was to do with him getting between Chuck and Sarah, and some of it was to do with the fact that he seemed so wooden. When he returned last night, there was a great desire form the fans to see him get his ass kicked up and down the Buy More. We weren’t disappointed, although I’m sure some of us would have liked to have seen him put down permanently.

After he regressed to the old Chuck last week, it was a relief to see Chuck back on form. He had a plan; he utilized everyone at his disposal, used his nerd skills and his physical training to win the day and save the world from Daniel Shaw.

I have to admit that from last week’s promo, I thought that maybe Chuck got the Intersect back, courtesy of Gen. Beckman. When we found out that Jeff and Lester had cracked the Omen code, I figured that Chuck would use it against Shaw. It was quite amusing and ironic that he used the bluff from Superman II, where Superman makes Zod think he has the upper hand when in fact he’s removed his powers.

I felt that the fight scene in the Buy More this time around was better than when both Shaw and Chuck had the Intersect. This fight was not between two guys with near superpowers, it was between two guys who hated each other. Plus we had Ellie get in on the action by clocking Shaw on the back of the head, bringing the fight to an end!

Now that Shaw is locked away you would have thought that his villainy could no longer affect our heroes, but then you get that final scene between Shaw and Sarah. Oh boy, that is a cliffhanger to ponder over Christmas! Whose baby do you think Shaw is referring to? Post your theories in the comments section.

Of course, now that the vendetta against Chuck has come to a close as far as the CIA are concerned, he should be getting back all of the assets that were frozen by Decker, meaning that Carmichael Industries should be rich once again. Having been offered open positions at the CIA means that there are a few options open to each of them.

Where will the story go after next episode? Few people know, but I am very interested to see how it all plays out.

 

Next time: Chuck Versus the Baby

SARAH’S PAST COMES BACK TO HAUNT HER AND THREATENS THOSE CLOSEST TO HER — CHERYL LADD AND TIM DEKAY GUEST STAR — Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) is forced to confront a secret from her past and feels she must do so alone, while Chuck (Zachary Levi) urges her to let him help. When Sarah encounters her original handler, Kieran Ryker (guest star Tim Dekay, “White Collar”), she fears that he will harm those closest to her, including her mom (guest star Cheryl Ladd, “Las Vegas”). Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster and Ryan McPartlin also star. 

Here’s the trailer, take a look: