Chuck strives for normalcy, knowing that the chance for it has largely passed him by, at least for the time being.  As long as he is the intersect, and remains under constant surveillance, Chuck will be resigned to a life of sneaking around. This being the case, when there is the possibility of conducting an inter-personal relationship with someone wherein Chuck can be normal, open and honest, he is going to pounce on this.  The only possible person with which he can have this type of relationship is someone who a) knows that he is working for the government and b) doesn't also work for the government.  Jill, his ex-girlfriend from Stanford who returned last week, fits both of these requirements, and thus gave Chuck the opportunity for what he believed to be a fleeting sense of normalcy.  Unfortunately for Mr. Bartowski, he was oh so very wrong. 

The action picks up almost immediately from last episode.  Chuck, Sarah and Casey are informed that Guy LaFleur likely hid a list of all the secret Fulcrum employees who are acting as double agents somewhere in his hotel room.  The gang goes to investigate, and it turns into a Da Vinci Code-esque search for the list, thanks to Guy's affinity for puzzles.  Meanwhile, Chuck and Jill search futilely for some alone time in the face of constant surveillance.  They wish to perform the Happy Naked Dance, but only away from the wandering eye of Casey.   At the Buy More, Emmitt is on to Chuck and his constant disappearances, so he interrogates the employees.  Luckily, Morgan knows how to turn Emmitt's wine coolers against him. 

Tonight's Chuck had an Alias vibe going for it.  The hidden clues, the dueling women, the unnecessary yet glorious underwear scenes involving attractive ladies.  The first third of the episode felt unsteady to me.  The misunderstood phone call is a cliched story device that has no place in a show as smart as Chuck.  Also, it served no story purpose – Jill forgave Chuck almost immediately.  Although, it did lead to Yvonne Strahovski in the shower, so it wasn't all bad.  The writers are slowly peeling the layers of Casey away (“I didn't hatch!”) - who knew that Casey was a choir boy, with perfect pitch, no less?  I wonder if they're are going to very slowly humanize Casey over the series as sort of a personality-by-osmosis thanks to hanging around Sarah and Chuck so much. 

The Jill story was easy to predict.  The fact that they were looking for Fulcrum agents was an easy tip-off, and the random henchman's appearances were too coincidental.  Not that I mind the story-line.  It's going to absolutely destroy Chuck to learn the truth about Jill, and there will be much in the way of repairs to be made between Chuck and Sarah's relationship now. 

Speaking of Chuck and Sarah, tonight was the first episode I can remember where the tables were turned, in terms of their dynamic.  Chuck Klosterman, one of my favorite writers, once wrote that (paraphrasing) "all relationships are a power struggle, and the person who holds the most power is whoever likes the other the least."  Until last night, Sarah held the power.  Once Jill arrived, the power immediately shifted to Chuck.  When Jill leaves, will it stay there?  The way Sarah carried herself says a lot about her character.  She was polite, caring, but clearly a little broken.  She cares for Chuck, but would never do anything as insidious as try and sabotage his relationship with Jill, though she clearly could have.  You have to wonder if whether this situation will make her realize how much she does really care for Chuck, as we go forward.  Jealousy, I presume, is something that Sarah Walker doesn't often feel. 

Not a bad episode, though the real climax will come next week.  The Buy More scenes were fun, and Tony Hale finally got a meaty little episode to show off his comic charms.  I'm always a sucker for wine cooler jokes, so those final Buy More scenes had me rolling.

Best Quote of the Episode: “I've heard the loading dock is like a Five for Fighting concert.”


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of NBC)