What Does TV Guide Say?
Chuck gets jealous when Sarah has to seduce Fulcrum agent Cole Barker, codename "Beefcake". In the meantime, while Big Mike continues dating Morgan's mother and Morgan takes refuge at Chuck's place, Jeff and Lester start looking for the "Buy More Babe" as a way of finding a new employee.



Who Stars This Week?









Who Guest Stars?
Jonathan Cake is the “Beefcake” in question: a sophisticated MI-6 agent who vies for Sarah’s attention. He has bounced around television over the years, but you can review that for yourself here.

What’s The Episode Really About?
We open in the middle of a forest late at night. There is a man, digging in the ground. Hey, it’s our guest-star, Jonathan Cake! What’s he doing? Well, it seems he is digging up good ol’ Andy Ricther’s body from episode 2.13 (though you never see Andy’s face – an obvious body double!). He looks over the body and removes his pants belt. Is this getting kinky now? Nope, not yet, as we cut to our Hero Headquarters.

The General is on screen informing Sarah and Casey that the man in question was digging up a CIA dump-site and that he took some information that is a potential “game changer.” As such, Sarah and Casey are not to let Chuck out of their sight.

Chuck is having breakfast with Captain Awesome and Ellie. His phone rings and we see it is Sarah. He decides not to answer it. Awesome compliments Chuck on playing hard to get, while Ellie recalls the conversation she had with him two episodes back. If he doesn’t think they will be together, he should break up with Sarah. Chuck agrees and tells them he’s going to break up with her.

At the Buy More, Morgan is lamenting to Chuck about Big Mike dating his mom. It seems that they are getting along quite well, and practicing a lot of the horizontal mambo. As Morgan puts it, Big Mike sounds like a wounded sea lion. Chuck’s phone rings – Sarah again. He loks at it, thinking not to answer, when we see Sarah over his shoulder. Caught! Sarah then invites Chuck to get a frozen yogurt so they can talk.

Over at the frozen yogurt shop, Sarah is cutting up some bananas with a very sharp knife. This does nothing to help Chuck’s nerves. But, he stumbles around, until she asks him if he wants to break up. It seems that she overheard him at breakfast; eavesdropping is an occupational hazard. Chcuk starts in with the “it’s not you, it’s me” line, when Casey pops up at the door and reprimands Chuck for using that track with a trained assassin wielding a knife. Casey then steps back out, and Sarah suggests they tell everyone they are taking it slow and who knows what the future holds. But, to Chuck, this isn’t good enough, as it is still a lie. So, she asks if breaking up is what Chuck truly wants (obviously querying about their future together outside of a cover). Chuck replies that yes, he does. Casey pops back up and exclaims “great!”

HQ. The general is briefing our heroes on the mission. It seems they have identified the digger and he is quite a bad agent. We are to imagine a rogue or evil James Bond as images of him with ladies all over the world are show. Chuck flashes on the belt the agent is wearing – it seems that the belt is what he took from the dead body. It is a data device, and has information on it. The mission is to intercept him before he can meet his FULCRUM contacts and deliver the belt. Casey smiles at Sarah: “You’re gonna have to get his pants off. Good thing Bartowski dumped you.”

Opening credits.

Buy More. Big Mike, Morgan , Jeff and Lester are hanging out at the Nerd Herd desk. Big Mike asks Morgan to do some interviews for him, as he needs to go over to Morgan’s house and help his mom “lay some pipe.” Morgan, and the others, and mortified by the double-entendres that Mike spews forth. Once Mike leaves, Jeff and Lester offer to help Morgan out by doing the interviews themselves. Of course, we find out that their reasons are not altruistic: they are looking to enjoy the time-honored “casting couch” as they interview models for the job of “Buy More Babe.”

At the hotel bar, Chuck and Sarah are at the bar (not together), while Casey is the bartender. Our mark walks in and sits down in one of the chairs off to the side. Meanwhile, at Chuck’s house, Morgan is in the kitchen when Ellie and Awesome get home. They are surprised to see him as it seems that Chuck failed to inform them that Morgan would be staying over for a few days. As they seem disappointed, Morgan comes through as the perfect house-guest. He has fresh Martinis for them, has drawn a hot bubble bath they can go soak in, and has dinner in the oven. Perfect!

Meanwhile, at the bar, Sarah tells Chuck as Casey that she’ll call for some Cristal champagne if she’s in trouble. She leaves the bar and sits down with the mark. After some brief chatting, she successfully picks up the rogue agent and they leave to go to his room.

Back at casa del Chuck, Morgan is serving Ellie and Awesome dinner. During their conversation, Awesome lets slip that Ellie told Chuck to break up with Sarah. Why?! Morgan says that is a bad idea. Morgan thinks that Sarah is the one for Chuck because whenever Chuck is with Sarah, he is the Chuck we all know and love. Ellie starts to see Morgan’s view and fears that she has told Chuck bad advice. What if he’s already broken up with her? Awesome replies, telling her to look at the bright side – Chuck said he’d move out years ago, so it’ll be a while until he breaks up with Sarah.

At the hotel, Sarah is in the mark’s room, getting all hot and heavy. In the bar, Chuck flashes on some men getting in the elevator. Casey tells Chuck to stay put as he races to catch the elevator with the guys. Casey makes it, getting in, along with a woman and he baby. Meanwhile, in the room, Sarah gets the belt off of our rogue agent, but he uses it to bind her wrists. It seems that things are getting a bit kinky! She tells him she’s not too comfy with being tied up. The elevator stops, and the doors open. Before the men get out, Casey puts a gun in the back of one of them and tells the woman to slowly get out and away, as to stay out of danger. As she starts to, she grabs her baby and hits Casey with it. She’s FULCRUM! A shoot-out ensues. All the while, Chuck is at the bar, having removed his earpiece as he didn’t want to hear Sarah and the Beefcake making out. As a result, when she asks for Cristal, he don’t hear.

After the commercial, a waiter comes up to the new bartender and asks for a bottle of Cristal champagne to be delivered to Beefcake’s room. Chuck makes the connection and knows Sarah is in trouble! Chucks radios Casey, who tells chuck that he is a little busy right now, as he’s in a shoot out. Chuck races up stairs, hoping to save Sarah himself. In the room, Beefcake pulls Sarah’s gun from her purse. She is standing in her lingerie (yes!), helpless to what he may do. Just in time, Chuck knocks on the door – room service! Distracted, Sarah kicks the gun out of Beefcake’s hand and a fight ensues. Chuck tries to bust down the door, finally succeeding, only to find Sarah, still in lingerie, having subdued the Beefcake. She has her gun draw as he is on the ground, her knee in his back.

Up to the roof we go.Sarah and Chuck are escorting Beefcake way, as he tells them they are making a serious mistake. Just then, a military helicopter rises about the rooftop and begins to fire on the trio. Sarah ducks behind one car while Chuck and Beefcake duck behind another. Sarah is pinned down. Beefcake turns to Chuck and tells him that he is MI-6, undercover. Chuck has to trust him so that they can get out of this alive. Chuck does, giving Beefcake a gun. Beefcake gets up and runs over to Sarah, firing at the helicopter, and then, more importantly at the gas tanks on the roof. They rupture and BOOM – no more helicopter. Beefcake stands over Sarah and say, “come with me if you want to live.” (Love the Terminator reference!). Just then, WHACK! Casey decks him and knocks him out cold.

Back at HQ, the General apologizes to Agent Cole. They didn't know he was MI-6. Agent Cole is understandably upset, as they interfered in a long-running undercover assignment. What's worse, the chip in the belt is useless without the playback device, which he was going to get that night at the hotel. The General orders him to stay locked down at HQ until they can talk to his superiors and determine their next move.

Meanwhile, back at Chuck's house, Morgan awakens. It seems that it is time for a midnight snack. He throws back the blanket and arises…in the nude. Yes, Morgan sleeps au natural. He gets up and goes to the kitchen. Back in the bedroom hall, Ellie is up, worried and looking into Chuck's room. Captain Awesome comes up and she tells him that she is worried that she was wrong in telling Chuck to break up with Sarah. As Captain Awesome points out, he's not home and that is a good sign. He offers to make her some tea. And as they stroll into the kitchen, they come face-to-face with a naked Morgan (who is not shy about his nudity). As Captain Awesome puts it: "talk about your low-hanging fruit."

Over at the HQ, Chuck offers to Sarah to stay and help her watch Agent Cole. Seems he is a bit nervous to leave them alone for a whole night. Could he be…jealous?! Sarah defers and tells Chuck to go home. As she walks away, Agent Cole comes up to Chuck and asks if anything is going on between he and Sarah. Chuck says there is nothing going on, much to Agent Cole's delight. As he so eloquently puts it, he's going to try and "butter that muffin."

Chuck arrives home that morning. Hey, where is Morgan? Well, as Captain Awesome tells him, Morgan sleeps in the buff. Now, that is a fine thing, just not on their couch. Ellie and Awesome ask Chuck if he did break up with Sarah. Chuck says yes, to an audible "oh" from Ellie. Oh? Oh, what? Well, they fear that he was premature in breaking up with her. She is a great girl and won't stay single for long. Chuck may have missed his best shot with her.

Over at HQ, Sarah is looking at Cole's file. It seems that he is a real hero, having done many brave and daring things, saving many lives. Just as Cole comes up, Sarah hides that she was viewing his file. He is curious as to why she didn't come to bed last night. She wasn't tired. He smiles and says that they wouldn't have gotten any sleep. Meanwhile, upstairs Chuck is hanging out in the Orange Orange yogurt shop, and takes the opportunity to view the security cameras through the secret console in the check out screen. He sees Sarah and Cole chatting in the HQ below.

Over at the Buy More, Jeff is decked out in a bath robe, as he and Lester interview girls for the open position. Jeff is blatant and repulsive in his come-ons to the women, much to Lester's chagrin. Lester thinks he is more suave, however they are both utter failures. Each and every woman in the montage resists the casting couch, threatening to call the cops and/or their boyfriend to get back at them.

At HQ, Cole has the idea to set up a new meet to get the playback device. This mission is very dangerous, as his cover might be blown. Chuck offers to hack the chip, but everyone blows off that idea. Sarah says that taking the chip to a new meet is too dangerous, to which Cole says that he'll do it without the chip. This mission just keeps getting more and more dangerous!

At the new rendezvous point, Agent Cole is in a casual suit with Casey (with a smoothie!)  and Sarah dressed as business people. It seems they are at a busy hang out for professionals on their lunch break. Agent Cole sees his contacts and approaches them. He says he has the chip and asks for the playback device. From a nearby car, additional FULCRUM agents, led by a smoking hot woman, watch the deal. Suddenly, their computer screen lights up — it seems that someone has activated the homing device on the computer chip. Chuck! They know Cole doesn't have the chip, so they grab him. Sarah tries to intervene, but is nabbed before she can make a move. Casey hangs back, being sure not to have his cover blown.

At the Buy More, Chuck is in the chip. See, he can hack it! Mad skills! He opens the files and sees that the chip has a movie files of his FULCRUM experiment from episode 2.13. As he is watching this, the FULCRUM agents from the car come into Buy More. Jeff and Lester se that one of them ha a gun, and think he is an undercover cop called by one of the models. They duck down and scoot off. Chuck also sees them coming, and smashes the chip before they arrive. The female lead FULCRUM agent comes up to Chuck and immediately sees the smashed chip on the counter. Why do we have to do it the hard way?

Cut to Chuck, Sarah and Agent Cole are in a warehouse, hanging from the ceiling. Sarah and Agent Cole chat, assessing the situation and that Chuck is a 1 on the 1-10 torture scale. Chuck disagrees until he realizes that they are just in the pre-torture stage. He then agrees: he's a one. Chuck tells Agent Cole and Sarah that he cracked the chip and knows what is on it: it’s him. The chip contains the identity of the intersect. They can’t let FULCRUM know. Just then, the female FULCRUM arrives, and asks, machete in hand, who is going to talk first.

Casey rushes into the Buy More, decked out in his suit. He finds Jeff and Lester and wants to know where Chuck went. They don’t respond until he applies some physical persuasion. They sing like canaries, telling him how a hot female cop came by and arrested Chuck. Casey bolts out.

Back in the warehouse, the female agent is torturing Agent Cole. Chuck is begging her not to hurt him, but she refuses. Chuck breaks and tells her that he is the intersect. She pauses, considering this. Cole then pipes up and say that he is lying, that Cole himself is the intersect. He reasons that Chuck is too weak – the CIA would never make him the intersect. Sarah agrees. Chuck disagrees, saying he is tougher than he seems. In fact, he spies a giant needle on the instrument table and tells her he could withstand her putting that in his eye. She smiles and picks it up. This needle? She moves towards him and brings it to his eyeball. Chuck passes out.

Casey rushes into HQ and informs the General that Chuck has been taken, along with Cole and Sarah, by FULCRUM. They need back up now, as Chuck would never stand up to torture.

Cut to water splashing on Chuck, waking him up. The female FULCRUM agent tells Chuck to talk or Sarah is going to die from a needle full of poison on the count of three. 1. 2… In the nick of time Casey and the back-up arrive. The female FULCRUM agent runs, as Casey and the men secure Chuck, Sara and Cole. Casey runs after her, cornering her in another part of the warehouse. Nowhere to run. She smiles and jambs the needle of poison into her own neck, killing herself.

Decompressing, Casey tends to Chuck. Chuck says that his fainting was all part of his plan; it’s his move. Casey smiles. So, Chuck’s move was to faint, while Agent Cole’s was to endure torture? It looks like Cole’s method is working, as they turn as see Sarah tending to him, helping him with his wounds.

Back at HQ, Chuck and Sarah talk. Chuck makes light of the torture and the situation. I mean, growing up, he endured his sister tickling his toes – that got him to talk every time. Sarah smiles. She is going to miss the relationship. Chuck starts to say that maybe he made a rash decision when Agent Cole interrupts. Chuck excuses himself to let them talk. Agent Cole then invites Sarah on a vacation with him – they both could use one. She defers.

Upstairs at the frozen yogurt store, Chuck decides he cannot resist and pulls up the security camera on the monitor screen. The image comes up and he sees Cole and Sarah kissing passionately. He leaves and goes over to Buy More. Inside he is met by Morgan, who is saying how Ellie seeing him naked was a blessing. “Not for Ellie,” Chuck replies. Seriously, it made Morgan realize he needs to move on and quit living at home. Chuck sees the serendipity of the situation: he asks Morgan to get a place with him. Morgan is ecstatic! Then Big Mike comes up and wants to talk to Chuck about all the complaints they are getting about the interviews.

Agent Cole is being chauffeured away to the airport. As he rides in the car, we see a black-clad motorcyclist pull up beside the car and shoot the driver. The care swerves off the road and into a tree.

At Chuck's house, Morgan and Chuck are there to tell Captain Awesome and Ellie the big news: they are moving in together. “No!” Ellie says. She is mortified. She wants Chuck moving forward, but not moving in with Morgan. Just then, Sarah knocks on the door and comes in. She asks to speak to Chuck outside. They go into the courtyard, while the others crowd the window to see what is going on. Sarah tells him that Agent Cole was captured. Unfortunately, what this means is that they have to go into 24-hour protection; Sarah and Chuck have to move in together. (OMG!)

What are Casey and Sarah’s Covers?
First, Sarah is a girl looking for a fling at a hotel bar, while Casey is a bartender. Then, later, Casey and Sarah are business people, hanging out on break in a non-descript business quad.

Is Awesome in This Episode?
Yes. Awesome is front and center with Ellie as they do a little meddling in Chuck’s personal life. Unfortunately for our female fans, Awesome does not sleep in the buff, unlike Morgan.

Does Casey get shot, poisoned, or otherwise injured?
Casey gets it from a most unusual place this week: a baby. More specifically, he is hit in the head with a fake baby. He survives, unscratched.

What’s the state of the Chuck / Sarah romance?
Well, this episode is a bit wacky. Looking at it, this should have followed directly from episode 2.13. So, with that said, the relationship between Sarah and Chuck has cooled, though not in a bad way. In fact, it opens with Chuck decided to break-up with Sarah (his pretend girlfriend). Of course, a new love interest comes into play for Sarah, thus creating a nice love-triangle for Chuck. But, the episode ends with the two having to up their cover, and move in together (for Chuck’s safety, of course).

Where is FULCRUM?
They are front and center in this episode.  They are continuing the nefarious plans hatched in episode 2.13:  they want Chuck!

And the status of a new Intersect?
Not mentioned in this outing.  Good news for Chuck.

Who Guest Stars?
Jack Yang is the only major one this week, playing Anna’s new boyfriend.  Who?  Exactly!  I wasn’t sure myself. Feel free to look him up here on imdb. He’s been around the TV world quite a bit.

What Does TV Guide Say?
While helping a depressed Morgan spy on Anna, Chuck flashes on her boyfriend; Jeff and Lester beg Ellie to hire them to play at her wedding..

What’s The Episode Really About?
Tarzana, California. 1992 (What is this, Psych?) We are outside at an elementary school.  A kid in an ALF shirt is running.  He turns the corner and is grabbed and shoved against the wall.  Smack! He is hit right in the face and goes down.  Who hit him?  It’s a girl!  It seems, Morgan here was spying on her in gym class.  Morgan yells “help” and a silhouetted figure comes up to him (the sun inconveniently behind him).  It is Chuck!  He tells Morgan he has his back and he tells then girl to leave.  He then tells Morgan that maybe he should stay away from girls for 15 years or so.

15 years later (give or take a few). Chuck, Jeff, Lester and Morgan are all in the home theatre room in Buy More.  Morgan has called them there to talk about Anna.  Yes, Morgan needs Chucks help with a spy mission.  Not to spy, mind you, but to provide moral support. Jeff and Lester are there to spy.  However, Chuck’s not entirely comfortable with stalking someone…

Cut to Ellie in her bedroom, freaking out about the wedding.  Captain Awesome is there, decked out only in a towel, being nice a flirty.  However, Ellie is too stressed out with the wedding and everything else.  So, she gives Awesome half of the to-do list for the wedding.  He agrees to help, gives her a nice kiss, and closes the door to help relieve some of her stress…

Outside, it seems that Jeff has a very modern, tricked out spy van.  Quite impressive…in a creepy way. The guys pile in and wait for Anna to get off work.  She comes out, gets in her car and they follow.  Close behind, casey and Sarah follow to keep tabs on Chuck.  They go to a restaurant where Anna meets up with a nice looking guy (Wang).  “Could be her brother.”  Then she kisses him.  “Still could be her brother.” Chuck looks at him, then his car, and he flashes on the license plate.  It seems, Anna’s new guy isn’t a good guy. Morgan has seen enough.  It’s over for him.

Back at headquarters, Chuck is looking around as they wait for the General.  It seems they now have Q working for them, as there are grenade tennis balls and mint knock-out spray.  Chuck palms one of the latter.  The General comes on and informs them that Anna’s boyfriend is a weapons smuggler and works with the TRIAD. The mission is to find out what they are moving now.  Chuck is to get close to him to try and find out. “You want me to befriend my best friend’s ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend?”

Cue credits.

After the credits, Chuck’s alarm goes off.  It is 7:00 am and time to get up for work.  Chuck reaches out and hits the snooze, and settles in. Then we hear “sleep well, Chuck?” from Captain Awesome. He is sitting in Chuck’s room, reading a comic book as Chuck sleeps. Creepy! It seems that Captain Awesome needs Chuck’s help.  See, he needs to find a band for his and Ellie’s wedding.  So, he asks Chuck to cover this task.

Back at headquarters, Casey, Sarah and Chuck are discussing the mission.  Chuck can’t go through with it.  Morgan is his best friend and he cannot betray that. Remarkably, Casey says that he understands Chuck’s loyalty; Semper Fidelus. Yes! Finally, Chuck has an ally in Casey. But, not so fast. As much as Casey admires this code, orders come before honor. Drat!

We move to the Buy More, where Chuck is calling on wedding bands, without much luck.  Jeff and Lester overhear him, and have the perfect solution: their band.  Yes, Jeff and Lester have a band: Jeffster! While Chuck is flattered by their offer of help, he turns them down. Meanwhile, Morgan is quizzing Anna about what she was doing last night.  That is when Anna tells Morgan she is seeing someone else.  Her and Morgan are through and he needs to get over it.  Chuck comes up to help save his friend from further embarrassment (and also to try and get his mission on). With Morgan go to help elsewhere in Buy More, Chuck starts to chat up Anna. As Casey eggs him on with his powerful stares, Chuck saves the floundering conversation by asking if Anna would like to double date with he and Sarah.  Anna is surprised and flattered by this.  She invites them to a party her boyfriend is throwing this evening.  The mission is set!

Down in headquarters, Sarah and Casey talk about the need to plant a bug to find out exactly what Anna’s new boyfriend is doing. Chuck takes the opportunity to add a little side-mission: to get Morgan and Anna back together, which is not so well-received… 

We cut to the party, which is filled with flashy cars and plenty of well-dressed people.  This is a nice gala auction for some choice guests of the city. Anna is there (looking quite nice, I must add).  Chuck and Sarah chat up Anna, and start to sing the praises of Morgan.  Anna is shocked: she didn’t think that Sarah ever even noticed her. (now, was I the only one getting some strong lesbian undercurrents to Anna’s interest? Anyhow, back to the episode…) While they are inside of the nice, glass-encased showroom, we are with Morgan outside.  He is decked out in black with his binoculars (and bicycle!), spying on Anna.  He sees Anna, and her new boyfriend, Wang, comes up.  They are all talking to someone else.  Some other guests move away, and he sees Chuck!  “Judas” he whispers.  Cut to commercial.

We are at the Buy More that same evening.  The phone rings at the Nerd Herd desk and Lester answers it.  It’s Ellie, Chuck’s sister. It seems that her computer has frozen and she needs help immediately. Lester begins to tell her he’ll pass along the message to Chuck when he returns, but Jeff takes the phone from him and tells Ellie that they’ll be right over.  Score one for having a connection at the Nerd Herd! But Jeff has alternative motives: they’ll audition for her. Jeffster lives!

Back at the party, a group of Asian gang members arrive, led by a stern female.  Chuck flashes on all of them. They are members of the TRIAD. Sarah and Chuck decide to follow them – this is the perfect opportunity to find out Wang’s connection to them.  However, Anna interrupts to chat with Sarah.  To keep to the mission, Chuck follows them alone, as Sarah chats with Anna.

Over at casa de Ellie-Awesome-Chuck, Lester has fixed the pc.  There should be no problems now.  Ellie though is a little confused by Jeff – what is he doing?  Well, he is setting up their gear to audition for their wedding! Ellie turns to Captain Awesome: “did you outsource your to-do list?”  He is caught!  Meanwhile, Lester starts to have cold feet.  He sees this gig starting them on the road to fame and success, only to lead to a bitter break-up and a lowly end.  He bolts out the door, too nervous to actually perform.

At the party, Chuck has followed the TRIAD to a back garage room where they meet with Wang.  Chuck plants the bug on a cart – within easy listening for Casey in the van.  Unfortunately, Chuck pulls on a cord, which sets in motion a series of items knocking into each other, culminating in a lug nut plinking onto the floor, and across the way to the TRIAD people.  Casey, listening in, can’t believe Chuck’s carelessness and gets out of the van to rescue him. Chuck cowers behind a car, hoping he won’t be found when…the TRIAD’s walkie talkies spring to life.  It seems that they have found the intruder and have them in custody.  Oh no!  Sarah listening in thinks it’s Chuck, and she races towards the garage.  Chuck in the garage thinks it is Casey. But, no!  The TRIAD have caught Morgan!

Chuck and the gang arrive to see the TRIAD holding Morgan outside in the parking lot.  The female leader is quizzing him on who he works for and why he is there.  Chuck knows they will torture or kill him unless he does something.  So, quick thinking, he goes off on Morgan for stalking Anna.  He calls him a sick, obsessed freak and tells Morgan to grow up and to quit stalking Anna.  The TRIAD buys it, and let Morgan go. Looking crushed and dejected, Morgan grabs his bike and peddles off. Chuck looks after him, hoping he didn’t totally destroy their friendship.

Back inside the garage, a TRIAD thug comes up to the female leader and shows her the bug he just found.  Well, it seems that Morgan isn’t just a stalker – he’s a spy.  She orders them to find him and kill him!

Inside the Buy More back room, Chuck catches up with Morgan, who is struggling to move a very large home theatre system by himself. Chuck offers help, but Morgan refuses and carries on.  Jeff then pops in and asks Chuck what Ellie thought of Jeffster. Chuck, obviously frustrated at the entire situation, goes off on him.

Down at headquarters, Sarah asks Chuck to look through a few photos.  Chuck sits down with her and asks how she can just be so cool.  Doesn’t she understand what Morgan means to him?  Morgan is his family.  He was there for him after his mom and dad were gone.  And, long after she and Casey are gone, Morgan will still be there for him.  Sarah is a bit cool and focused on the mission.  Loosing site of the container endangers the lives of many more best friends in the world.

Meanwhile, Jeff has gone over to Ellie’s house to beg for another chance to audition.  He knocks on the door, and a shirtless, sweaty Captain Awesome answers.  Cue the screams from girls everywhere!  Captain Awesome at first refuses, but Jeff pleads to him to allow Lester the opportunity he has always wanted: to sing before an audience.  Awesome acquiesces and says that they can audition.  He’ll find a way to get Ellie to hear them.

Back at the Buy More, it seems that Morgan is mad – but not at Chuck.  Morgan is mad at himself.  He is tired of Chuck being right all of the time and having to save him. He needs to stand up for himself now; he needs to fight his own fights.  Just then, two TRIAD thugs come into the store.  Chuck and Morgan duck down and sneak into the back room.  But, Morgan is adamant: he needs to be his own man.  He is prepared to go out there and get a beating, not knowing that these TRIAD thugs really just want to kill him.  Before he goes out, Chuck tells him that he should be nice and minty fresh.  So, he hits him with the mint-flavored knock-out spray.  And down he goes.  Chuck then puts Morgan into a home theatre box and wheels him out through the store, hoping to get him to safety. The thugs recognize him and ask if he has seen Morgan.  Chuck says that he saw him duck out back, and the thugs go off to look. 

Chuck breathes a sigh of relief, but a bit too soon.  Anna grabs him and tells him he needs to come with her.  Despite his protests, she pulls him away, leaving the home theatre box behind. It seems that Anna’s boyfriend is on the television. Chuck flashes on the news story, realizing that they are going to try and kill the Chinese Ambassador.  While Chuck is at the televisions, flashing, the TRIAD come in from the back, having not found Morgan.  But, to their surprise, here he is, in a box for them.  Score! They grab the box and go.  Sarah and Casey come in and Chuck informs them of the flash and the assassination plan.  They just need to grab a sleeping Morgan and…Morgan is gone! The TRIAD load Morgan into a car and drive off just as Chuck darts out the back door to see them go.

After a well-placed commercial break, Casey, Sarah and Chuck are in the Nerd Herd car, pulling up to the charity auction.  Chuck is about to go and help, when Casey tells him to stay in the car.  Chuck does stay, and he sees the SUV with Morgan drive around back.  He gets out and sneaks around to see that TRIAD has put a bomb in a Rolls Royce.  It is a long rod-shaped bomb, attached to the bottom of the hood ornament.  The Chinese Ambassador has bought the Rolls Royce and is about to take possession of the car.  The TRIAD decide to use one bomb to kill two people: Morgan in the trunk, and the Ambassador. The Rolls is driven around to the Ambassador to pick up.  Casey and Sarah are alerted to the plan. Sarah goes to the garage and Casey out to the Nerd Herd car. Sarah arrives too late – the car is gone.  But, the female TRIAD is there and an extended, rather rough girlfight ensues.  Meow!

Casey arrives as Chuck is pulling away to chase the Rolls.  He jumps onto the roof of the car as Chuck speeds off.  Casey tells Chuck to let him in, but Chuck refuses because Casey will stop him from rescuing Morgan.  Once Casey promises that he’ll help Chuck get Morgan, Chuck rolls down the window and lets him climb inside.  Casey then opens the glove box and takes out a remote control for the car.  Casey may help Chuck follow them, but he didn’t say he’d let him drive.  A chase ensues, before they are able to stop the Rolls.  During this chase, Sarah is fighting the female TRIAD member inside of a parked car.  She final gets the upper hand and deploys the airbag to knock her opponent out.  She then checks the locator to find Chuck. But, how to get there?  Then she eyes a very sweet, blue convertible…

At the stopped Rolls Royce, the Ambassador’s guards get out, and aren’t entirely trusting of Casey, even as he shows credentials.  While they are distracted with Casey, Chuck sneaks around and unscrews the bomb from the Rolls.  Everyone sees the bomb and is understandably nervous.  Chuck takes it and puts it in the Nerd Herd car and drives off.  As the car pulls away, Sarah pulls up.  Where is Chuck?  Casey lets her know he took the bomb and went off in the car.  They stand there, looking at the car as it drives off into the distance, and…BOOM.  The car explodes in flames.  Sarah screams and tears come to her eyes.  How can Chuck be gone?  Well, he isn’t! (not much of a show without him, y’see).  He steps into frame behind her, a smile on his face and the remote control in his hand.  She turns and he is shocked – what, you thought I was in there? No. He then asks for help getting something out of the trunk. They open the lid, and Morgan is soundly sleeping inside.

Back at the Buy More, Chuck is wheeling Morgan into the back room.  As he is doing this, Morgan wakes up.  He is bummed – he can’t believe he fainted before the fight and Chuck had to save him again.  Chuck just marvels at Morgan. “Don’t you know what you mean to me?” he asks. Morgan is Chuck’s family. Inside the Buy More, Awesome and Ellie walk into the store.  Awesome is telling Ellie that “partnership is trust.”  He has made up for outsourcing the music by doing both his half, as well as Ellie’s half, of the to-do list.  She then asks why they are there.  Why, to see Jeffster of course! The Nerd Herd kiosk is decked out and people are gathered.  It is now or never.  The music comes up and Jeffster starts to play “Africa” by Toto.  Lester’s vocals are…aweful!  But even so, people are rocking out to the sounds.

Sarah comes up to Chuck and she tells him that it’s hard for her to understand as she doesn’t have someone in her life like Chuck has Morgan.  Someone who cares for her like he does him. Chuck simple tells her “yes, you do” and smiles. In the break room, Morgan sees Anna. He goes up to her to confess something that he should have long ago.  He really, really loo…likes her.  She smiles and they make up. 

Out on the retail floor, our crew are there watching Jeffster butcher Toto.  Morgan stands next to Chuck, holding Anna’s hand.  He tells him how they both have girlfriends and that it doesn’t get any better than this.  Chuck looks over at Sarah and squeezes her hand.

What are Casey and Sarah’s Covers?
This is business as usual.  Sarah is Chucks girlfriend (and new friend to Anna), while Casey is a simple Buy More employee.

Is Awesome in This Episode?
Oh, yes, he is.  And, the hospital must not be paying too well, as he is sans shirt for most all of this episode.  Yes, ladies, I hear your cheers. I mean, look at that shot. Right? Right?!

Does Casey get shot, poisoned, or otherwise injured?
Casey escapes this episode surprisingly injury free.  He does take a brief car ride…outside of the car, but remains unscuffed.  It seems like Sarah drew the short straw this week, as she gets put through the wringer.

What’s the state of the Chuck / Sarah romance?
Well, it seems strictly business for most of the episode.  Last week’s episode left us thinking it would be Chill City for the rest of the season. However, we do get a few highlights: Chuck opening up about his family to Sarah and her confessing that she has never had any friends like he has with Morgan.  It seems, there is some deeper trust being formed.  The real changes come towards the end, when Sarah believes Chuck is killed and lets her feeling for him show through.  Finding him okay, she recovers her composure, but the display was there (for us to see at least).  In the epilogue, as everyone watches Jeffster perform, Chuck and Sarah hold hands, and it seems that they might be warming back up to each other.

Where is FULCRUM?
Obviously, they are recovering from the stinging ass-whooping that Chuck gave them last week.  They are nowhere to be found in this episode.

And the status of a new Intersect?
Not mentioned in this outing.  Good news for Chuck.

The Good?

• “I worry about the other 20 percent.”
• The tricked-out spy van owned by Jeff.
• Captain Awesome is in this episode throughout. Even as a straight man, I enjoy seeing his character on screen.
• Casey: “Good job.” Chuck: “I hate you.”
• “See if the skin-covered robot flashes on anything.”
• “Cut the infomercial on the bearded moron.”
• The use of the mint-flavored knockout spray.
• “You’re the poster child for friendly fire.”
• Girl on Girl fight! Yes! (Now, where was the broken water main, spraying them down…?)
• Fernando, the curly-haired employee!

The Bad?

• Not much. I think it was a solid episode. Does your opinion differ? Post about it…

Who Guest Stars?
Andy Richter (not saving the universe), Jenny McCarthy (with clothes, without Jim Carrey), Brian Thompson (That creepy Alien Bounty Hunter guy from the X-Files)

What Does TV Guide Say?
Chuck and Sarah go undercover as a happily married couple in suburbia. There, they meet colorful community denizens, including a merry neighbor (Andy Richter) and a seductive siren (Jenny McCarthy), who sets out to win Chuck's affections. Meanwhile, Big Mike's wife files for divorce, spiraling the Buy More leader in an overly foul funk. As such, the store staffers set him up on a dating Web site.

What’s The Episode Really About?
Well, they are pretty good at giving you the nuts and bolts.  But, here’s what really happens…

We open with an A Clockwork Orange eyeball as a guy is strapped in (voluntarily, apparently), preparing to be “tested.” Red “intersect-type images begin to flash over his face and he screams.

Cut to the interior of Buy More.  It is Valentine’s Day, and while people are not screaming like the guy we just saw, they are having just as bad a day inside of the store. It seems that Big Mike is in a very bad mood and is coming down hard on everyone to work, work, work! Chuck and Sarah don’t want to be forced into doing something this evening, but Morgan presses them and they make plans. The staff are speculating on what is wrong with Big Mike, when Chuck just offers to go and ask. Inside of Mike’s office, we find out the answer – Big Mike’s wife served him with divorce papers today. Ugh!

That night, we are at Chuck’s house.  There are plenty of open Chinese food containers and Sara is watching a movie while Chuck plays a hand-held game.  Sarah asks if they are having the worst Valentine’s Day, to which Chuck replies that there must be someone, somewhere having a worse one.  Cut to Casey at home, drinking alone while watching an old war documentary.  General Beckman cuts in to his program and informs Casey that one of there lost agents turned up in the valley (the same A Clockwork Orange guy from the opening).  Unfortunately, they don’t know what he was doing or why, and his mind is a bit on the scrambled side, so they can’t ask him.  He is strapped to a bed, simply saying the word “salamander” over and over.  All the agency knows is where he was living: a cul de sac division called Meadow Brook. So, our heroes must go undercover to find out on what our crazy agent was working. Casey delivers the good news to non-love-birds Chuck and Sarah: they’re playing a married couple!

After the commercial, Chuck is packing for the mission – choosing more mature, “dad” clothes. He tells his sister that Sarah and he are house-sitting for a week, and we are off! “Once in a Lifetime” by the Talking Heads sets the perfect stage as Chuck drives in to the new neighborhood and sees all of his new neighbors.  Literally. They are all outside of their respective houses.  How Stepford of them. It continues as he walks into his perfect house and see photos of his perfect life with Sarah, including a family dog! Sarah then steps in, holding the world’s biggest bowl of potato salad.  It seems that Chuck is just in time to go cook for the house-warming party they are throwing. Here, Chuck meets all of his neighbors by name, though the ringleader of the block seems to be Andy Richter.  He plays the over-bearing-neighbor-you-hope-you-never-have to perfection.

Meanwhile, back at the Buy More, the staff decides to hatch a plan to get Big Mike laid using the internet.  So, they create a profile on a dating website, lying about everything possible – from his height and weight to his job (A shipping magnate!).  Mike is reluctant to partake until he sees the hotties that come up as potential matches for his profile.  Let the dating begin…

Back at the party, Chuck is milling about off to the side, looking quite bored.  That’s when Jenny McCarthy finds him, and shares that she doesn’t like parties either.  Then, some unabashed prowling ensues as she propositions Chuck to come to her house anytime for a little fun on the side.  She is married to the Alien Bounty Hunter, but he travels a lot, so she is free.  Being Chuck, this unnerves and scares him, and he flees to take a sidebar with Casey and Sarah.  It seems that he didn’t flash on any of the neighbors.  Maybe they are all clean.  Nope. Not so fast. It seems that Casey has found a bug in one of the entrees that the neighbors brought over.  And not just any bug, one that was stolen from the CIA in 2006 by FULCRUM.

The next morning Chuck comes downstairs to find Sarah playing domestic diva and cooking him breakfast.  She is quite at ease in this “normal” setting and Chuck wistfully admires her and thinks of all the future possibilities.  The perfect couple continues as Chuck goes off to work, Sarah giving her “sweetie” a grocery list and a peck in the driveway.  All is great with “I Can See Clearly Now” playing as Chuck drives off and arrives at Buy More.  And abruptly, it ends, as Casey takes the note to reveal invisible ink on it – a covert note from Sarah to Casey. It seems the Alien Bounty Hunter is an ex-CIA psi-ops officer who has also be purchasing some high-grade technical equipment.  They need Chuck to get into his house and see what’s on his computer. How?  Why, use the open invite for sex that his wife gave Chuck of course!

Chuck goes to the house and our cougar is pleasantly surprised to see him.  She takes him upstairs and proceeds to take off his clothes (down to a t-shirt and boxers – no skin ladies. sorry!) and handcuff him to the bed (with fuzzy red ones!). Only Chuck’s incessant chatter stops them from jumping into it right away as he asks for a drink.  Jenny leaves and Chuck asks for help (via his ear piece device – all good spies have them) getting out of the handcuffs.  Casey says it’s easy, just break a small bone in your hand and slip out.  Uh, no!  Chuck isn’t into that.  Instead, he spots the keys on the nightstand and grabs them with his feet and escapes.  He finds the computer in question, but it is password protected.  Looking around he sees some salamanders – the same word out crazy agent was saying.  He types it in and access is granted.  The pc says it is running a test sequence and bam – the same red-tinted images flash over Chuck as we saw in the opening.  Looks an awful lot like an intersect to me.  The stop and Chuck drops.

Alien Bounty Hunter arrives home and Casey moves towards the house to rescue Chuck.  Inside ABH asks his wife is she’d tested Chuck yet. He knew! She says no, but he is handcuffed upstairs.  They get upstairs, but no Chuck! They go the computer room and – no Chuck! But, they do see he ran the test and survived.  He IS their man. Outside, Casey approaches the house to see Chuck, in his underwear, on the roof, climbing down and away.  He then walks around the cul de sac, in full view of ALL the neighbors (don’t these people work?!) until he gets home.  Sarah is waiting for him and gives him a slap before turning around and going inside of the house.

Debriefing at the sub-basement HQ, the General pulls Chuck off the mission, but sends Casey and Sarah to lock down the neighborhood.  Chuck protests, but to no avail.  Cut to the Buy More, where Big Mike is readying to go out on his date.  The staff guys are all encouraging him to lie to close the deal.  He is hesitant and asks Chuck, who just strolled in from the HQ, dejected from being off the mission, if he should lie to this woman. Chuck asks if he wants a relationship founded on lies.  The staff answer a resounding yes.

Chuck is now at his locker and a paper falls out with the name of the suburban development on it.  He flashes. It seems that the whole neighborhood is a FULCRUM front.  The test download he received from the ABH computer gave him this new info, allowing him to flash. He immediately calls Sarah to warn her, but she is busy talking with Casey, so he must leave a message.  Outside, Casey is in the cable truck when Andy Richter comes up to him to express worry over some interference he is getting with his cable.  Distracted, Andy tazers Casey.  At the house, Andy’s wife brings Sarah brownies…and a gun. It seems Chuck’s warnings are just a tad too late.  Chuck then arrives at their house and Andy is waiting for him.  Chuck flashes on him, then turns and sees all of his neighbors (no, I don’t think they do work jobs after all), flashing on each one as a FULCRUM agent. Andy tazers a distracted Chuck, and down he goes.

Chuck awakens in the opening scene lab, strapped in like another A Clockwork Orange subject.  It seems that FULCRUM is completing an abandoned CIA project that allows encoded data to be streamed into an agent’s brain via digital images.  Hey, they’re building an intersect!  Sarah is handcuffed off to the side, helplessly watching Chuck. Chuck says he’ll do whatever they want, but just let Sarah go.  To this, our FULCRUM agents laugh and tell Chuck that Sarah’s feelings for him aren’t real – it’s all part of her job.  They the leave Chuck and go to the control room, preparing to give him the full blast of their program.

In another holding room, Casey is handcuffed and alone.  He presses on his hand and breaks the small bone he told Chuck about earlier.  What do you know – it does work!  He gets the cuffs off and is out the door, looking for the control room.  But, while he is looking for it, FULCRUM blasts Chuck with their program, seemingly overloading his brain. Once the program is over, they come is and Chuck looks like “toast.” FULCRUM is preparing to dump him, when he suddenly wakes up! It seems that it worked! Chuck is now FULCRUM-infused. As they talk with him to determine how he is, Chuck sees Casey sneak into the control room. He plays up that he is with FULCRUM and assents to them testing the device on Sarah next.  However, before they do, he wants to tell "Agent Walker" one thing. He leans in and says “close your eyes.”  He covers her ears and Casey runs the program, frying the brains of all the FULCRUM agents in the room. After the program is done, Casey comes in and asks: “somebody call the cable guy?”

The epilogue shows the CIA cleaning up the lab, taking agent bodes and other red shirts away. At HQ, Sarah is being debriefed by the General, who tells her that FULCRUM is dangerously close to creating their own intersect.  This means Chuck’s life is in even more danger now than before.  She understands this and leaves to find Chuck upstairs in the yogurt store waiting for her.  He asks her if she’d like to go back to the house, since they should still be house-sitting, and enjoy a nice, quiet night hanging out together.  Sarah shuts him down, telling him the mission is over and she and Casey need to clean everything there up.  To add insult to injury, as he is about to leave, she asks for his fake wedding ring back. Ouch!

Having a better time in the Buy More, Big Mike is flying high from his date.  It seems that everything went extremely well and they did things “that are probably illegal.” So well, in fact, he invited his date to the Buy More to come clean so that they can have an honest relationship.  She arrives, a bit nervous as to why.  Big Mike confesses that he works here and asks for her forgiveness.  She grants it and says she lied a bit too: she has a 26 year old son.  In fact, she thought he asked her there because he knew her son worked at the store.  Big Mike looks nervously about, hoping that her son in Chuck. Close, but no cigar.  Her son is…Morgan! Morgan looks shocked, seeing Big Mike and his mom kissing.

Chuck arrives home and talks with his sister, Ellie.  She is eager to hear how the house sitting went.  However, Chuck tells her that it was a disaster.  He and Sarah are good, but they are not going anywhere.  She looks sad, but he tells her: “Sarah and I will never be anything more than we are right now. And I am good with that.”

What are Casey and Sarah’s Covers?
With a mission that takes them into the suburbs, our resident spies have appropriate covers: Sarah is Chuck’s wife. Casey is the Cable Guy.

Is Captain Awesome in This Episode?
Sadly, this episode is Awesome-less.  He doesn’t appear and is not referenced.

Does Casey get shot, poisoned, or otherwise injured?
Casey gets tazered unconscious.  After that, he has to break a bone in his own hand to escape some handcuffs.

The Good?

• This episode is directed by Broken Lizard mastermind, Jay Chandrasekhar
• Milbarge wearing a toupee.
• “To suck his…will to work out of him.”
• The Stepford aspect of suburbia is skewered quite nicely.
• Sarah reveling in the domestic side of life.  It suits her!
• Casey as a cable installation tech.
• The internet hotness conversion factor
• “Dirty, nasty, filthy love.”
• “I’ve got a chain, too.”
• “If the cougar gets a little hairy, you can always tap out.”
• “I don’t even know what your affiliation is, Elvis” “What does he mean, affiliation?”

The Bad?

• I just don’t get the suburban development set-up.  So, FULCRUM has created this suburb as a cover to develop technology that implants information directly into a person’s mind.  And, what, they always leave one house vacant for the CIA to post agents so they can test them?  It just didn’t make logical sense to me.
• The neighbors were all, always outside.  Anytime anything happened outside, not just one or two neighbors saw it – they all did.
• Can’t Sarah and Chuck talk?! All of their missed romance/feelings is from the fact that they just don’t say what they are thinking.  Of course, it wouldn’t be as good if they did…