"Chuck vs. the Angel de la Muerte" v. My Take

This week it's Season 3 Episode 3 - Chuck vs. the Angel de la Muerte. Overall I think this was a really cool episode after the turmoil of last week it was good to feel if only for an episode like Team Bartowski is back in the saddle. So without further ado let's get to it.

Spy-World

I'll just come right out and admit it I wasn't really sucked in by the spy-world plot this week.  I mean it kinda seems like the intersect should have better things to do than babysit some has been dictator but maybe that's just me.

More than anything it seemed obvious to me that the goal of tonight's show was to introduce the idea that Chucks spy-world and personal life are going to become a lot more intertwined. Heck from the first scene with the helicopter flyover. So far I'm okay with that since it is obviously that there is fertile ground there and lots that can be explored or that mixing the two once and a while can bring to the surface, more on that in a bit. I think it fit nicely with Devon's character to want to be more active in the spy-world initially since he was starting to feel like Chuck's world was becoming more awesome than his.

The Flash-of-the-Week (FOTW) was clearly the doctor/surgeon which actually I thought the whole scene was really well done cool and commical at the same time which of course is what Chuck the show is all about and of course it would be Casey that we would try the new intersect skills on. I think it is interesting how Casey seems to forget or overlook (by choice perhaps) that Chuck has these new intersect capabilities. Obviously we once again see that Sarah is seemingly the only effective calming force in terms of Chuck clearing his mind and being able to flash properly.

It is interesting that Ring agents seem to be popping up everywhere like they're Fulcrum or something, I guess I expected them to be more shadowy and elusive or that we wouldn't see them as often as we have to date. Also didn't the dude that Devon sees at the end of the ep take at least a round from Casey's BFG in the last episode? Guess we have a Ring version of "Mr. You Can't Kill Me!"

Charah

The party at the consulate definitely provided some good Charah moments and a bit of Charah exploration. Clearly Devon and Ellie are trying to make sense of what the heck happened between Chuck and Sarah. I like Devon's realization of how excruciating it must have been/be for Chuck. Indeed it is NOT AWESOME.

I will read way more into it than I should but that is just because I'm a sucker and that's how I roll with these things but it didn't escape me that Sarah never does look Ellie in the eye and tell her no she does not love Chuck anymore. I wonder if even stone cold Agent Walker knew that she wouldn't be able to fake her way through that? It strikes me that Ellie has always believed Sarah loves Chuck and I kind think it's cool that she can kinda, I believe, see through to Sarah's real non-spy emotions.

Perhaps the best line of the whole episode though is Awesome talking about how if being a spy means giving up half your normal life it's not worth it, time to head home to the wife. Yeah great stuff.

Then the hatchet drops not a huge or unexpected one but the new cover will be "just friends." Can't say as though I've had great luck with that one but we'll see how Chuck and Sarah do with it. People often say that the best relationships are built on a foundation of friendship. Initially I was thinking well they were never really friends first and while that is technically true, they were never friends pre-their first date in the pilot, really that is what they had been in their real world/non-cover lives up until "Colonel" where they run away together and eventually have a physical encounter based on the real-world non-spy emotions for one another. Of course quite a bit has happened since then and now they've basically admitted that the loved each other and are trying to go BACK to the way things were, and that's usually shall we say complicated.

The second consequence of the just friends scenario is perhaps we will see less Chuck/Sarah off-duty fake dates and more of Chuck/Morgan geeking out at their new pad playing video games, talking about sandwiches on deserted islands, etc. which frankly if I'm honest I have missed a bit since the days of Season 1.

Oh I almost forgot to mention that I before the show I was watching the live chat with Schwedak and they mentioned that in Season 3 the "Chuck & Sarah situation will be resolved...Somehow...." Um yeah do they purposely try to just be evil ;-) It got me wondering if they have any intention of ever truly bringing Chuck and Sarah together, maybe now that they've got us hooked with the drugs of hope and anticipation they can keep us watching and throw us the occasional bone as we've seen so far in S3 (okay maybe that's a bit on the worried/cynical side). What if S3 ends with both Chuck and Sarah in actual relationships not with each other? It seems almost certain to me that that is territory we are destined to revisit.

One thing is for sure my head is already spinning and I can't stop thinking of scenarios some pleasant and some not so much. Whatever the ultimate resolution is I think it is clear that it's going to be a tumultuous journey.

Things that are "AWESOME"

- Casey: "Well lucky for me I'm a Marine."

- Casey: "Angel de la Muerte."

- South American Comrade Casey. For some reason I found this one particularly amusing. Also wonder if he keeps is disguise wardrobe in the van? :D

- Honda Commercials. Possibly the best commercials ever? And so meta advertising Honda, Chuck, and the Olympics all at the same time oh and also they are actually laugh out loud funny in my opinion which doesn't hurt.

- Yvonne and Angie Harmon will apparently fight in the next episode yeah I'm in really I mean can it possibly get better? Season 3 is really just tearing out of the gate!