'Chuck' Bartowski, secret agent of the FDA

Again, it's a good news/bad news situation with Chuck. The good news: Great episode, lots of drama, Buy More hilarity, character development, clever lines, and kick-ass spy stuff. And finally, Chuck is happy and content with life. The bad news? It's all about to change.

What's in the box? Spoilers!

Chuck is blissfully happy -- and steaming up the Nerd Herd car -- with Lou. Sarah, less so -- and the NSA higher-ups aren't thrilled, either. Chuck thinks all is well until he flashes on a sign in Lou's shop that leads him to the mission of the week: Lou's ex is involved with smuggling, and he and his father are bringing in some biological nasty from Finland. Tainted reindeer? Wild Santas? Non-compliant narwhals? We'll find out soon enough.

The ex, Stavros, runs a club, and Chuck gets drafted into going in with Lou to try to get intel. He succeeds in his mission, dropping the 80s-inspired flying V guitar pin/bug where it can pick up the smugglers' conversation, but he pisses off Lou something fierce, and it looks like he's going to lose her. Alas.

Sarah and Casey track down the shipment that the smugglers were talking about, but it's a decoy -- there's just a surveillance camera in the shipping container. (I'll confess to being slightly confused at this point -- why was it a decoy? Do smugglers do that all the time? Did I miss something?) It's back to square one -- and square one seems to involve Lou, who the spies have caught meeting with Stavros on the dock under shady circumstances. Is Lou  some sort of criminal mastermind?

Not so much -- she's smuggling in fabulous dried meat products for the deli, meats that would get held up in customs and go bad. After she storms off, Stavros jumps Chuck and Sarah and drags them back to daddy, who demands information. Casey managed to track them down with Lou's help -- he tells her he and Chuck are undercover FDA agents -- and the two are saved. But there's still the matter of that biological bad stuff that's set to expire. As the timer counts down, Chuck and Sarah fight over who can stay and try to defuse whatever is inside. They argue too long, and with two seconds left on the timer, Sarah flings herself at Chuck and kisses him passionately. At least they'll die happy.

Yeah, about that -- nothing goes boom. Sarah is uncomfortable, Chuck gleeful. He and Lou break up (she can't date a secret FDA man), and Chuck prepares to get back together with Sarah, for real this time. But unbeknownst to him, the spy guys have figured out how to open the container. The timer tracked oxygen supply, not explosives. When they open the box, they find Bryce. He's not dead. Doh!

Buy More hijinks
With Chuck "dumping" Sarah, Lester makes his move. Jeff announces he's ready to go after Anna, who shoots him down with "I'd rather hook up with Morgan!" Morgan takes this as an invitation. He shouldn't have. Anna keeps it quiet, but Morgan blurts it out. Now his humiliation is known throughout the mall.

But wait! Anna sees how miserable poor wee Morgan is, and decides that maybe he's not so bad after all. There is much kissing, and my brain sort of hurts -- Anna is way to fabulous for Morgan! But when Chuck announces he broke up with Lou, Morgan decides to publicly, via store intercom, break up with Anna. Idiot. I hope she makes him suffer.

Highlights, quotes and odds and ends

• Lester and Jeff are flabbergast when Morgan tells them Chuck is breaking up with Sarah. She, of course, sells the break-up, walking out in tears (and Chuck is adorably flustered watching her get in character.) This leads to the Pat Benatar quoting, which I heartily approve of.
• Casey is loving that Sarah got dumped. He's equally funny when Sarah gets peevish when Chuck is in the club -- ok, falling for guys she works with is her thing. "Just so we're clear, sister -- not interested." Thanks, Casey!  Good to know!
• Was anyone surprised that Lou made Chuck a "very happy man" with a sandwich, not with nookie? Much better was Chuck's tough-guy act winning Lou back by ordering a hard-core Rueben. Even the deli guys were smitten.
• When Lester approaches Sarah the day after the dumping with an offer of a date, she retaliates by playing the man-eater. Lester's panicked, flustered reaction "Uh, I think your foot slipped... is that Jeff calling me?" is priceless.
• Morgan is back on the annoying tip with me. "[Chuck] hasn't mentioned me?" he asks Lou. "Probably means he doesn't think you're going to be sticking around for a while." And then he takes Chuck's lunch. Sigh.
• Chuck on a rose that Casey gives him -- "Oh, of course! Let me guess -- this is equipped with some kind of microscopic, infrared tracking device that determines her mother's communist affiliations?" "No, idiot," replies Casey. "It's so you can get laid." Hee!
• Chuck is shocked that Morgan kissed Anna -he had no idea Morgan liked her? What is this "like" you speak of? Asks Morgan. "Occasionally, on Planet Earth, men will consider their feelings for women before jumping atop them." Morgan has no idea what Chuck is talking about -- he just wants to belong! Sigh.
• Sarah, when the bomb doesn't go boom: "Well, the good news is we're alive. And the bad news is that this is kind of an uncomfortable moment right now." "It's completely comfortable on my end," replies Chuck. "I'm just saying." 
• Goodbye, Rachel Bilson. You were adorable. We'll miss you.
• Hello, Bryce. You also seem adorable. It's a shame you're going to make Chuck's life even more miserable. But I can't wait to hear what you've got to say. But I have to wonder -- how long were you without oxygen in that case? Although I suppose if Casey's bullets didn't kill him, a little breath holding wouldn't do him in either.

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