Chuck vs. The Broken Heart: A review

12 reasons why this was one of the best eps of Chuck yet.

1. Some critics of the show complain that Chuck’s spy world and his home life are like two separate shows sometimes but this episode did a great job of making those two worlds collide in a major way. Awesome was directly affected by this when Alex shot him with the tranq gun in order to steal the key card from around his neck. (Side note, but since when does the oft shirtless Awesome wear anything around his neck? Turning a blind eye to that one.) He played such a big role in this episode and if what we saw was any indication he’s going to be playing a huge role in the episodes to come. I think it’s pretty safe to assume that he’s going to be the person in Chuck’s life that finds out his secret-spy-life secret. Like Jack on Lost, Awesome is so awesome that he can apparently fight off the effects of tranquilizer darts for a couple of seconds. It’s only a matter of time before Devon remembers those few key things he saw (Chuck) and heard (“CIA”) before he got knocked out. And to top it all off he was this close to bumping into Beckman when she popped up on Chuck’s TV! Great, tense moments.

2. Another tense scene was when Beckman told Sarah she was fired. I love it when shows take the risky route and go places where you don’t think they’d ever go. And I certainly didn’t think Sarah was going to get fired. She got rehired quick enough but the time that lapsed between Sarah being off the mission and her being back on it again were filled with some great moments for her character. One of which was the almost-fight she had with Alex (I would’ve liked to see a full-fledged agent-on-agent fight but beggars can’t be choosers.) The other was her risking her entire career by using her resources to search for Chuck’s dad. I don’t know whether or not to hope to see the consequences of that particular action but it was a testament to how much she cares about Chuck that she actually went through with it.

3. 49B, otherwise known as Agent Alex Forest. Named after Glenn Close’s character in Fatal Attraction I half expected her to boil a bunny, but we got a striptease instead, which was just as entertaining and much less disgusting! Tricia Helfer, who is so good at playing so many different versions of cylon Six on Battlestar Galactica, was perfect as the tough-as-nails secret agent, affecting a cold stare and a clenched jaw, which worked to her advantage at Awesome’s bachelor party. Though she was very by-the-books, the writers did a convincing job of showing us just how that could backfire in terms of protecting Chuck. Alas, Alex was incompetent, but I still hope she comes back as a recurring character (if there’s a season 3), if only so that she can sex up Casey.

4. Gun!sex! I imagine the only reason they didn’t have Casey and Alex hook up in this episode was because they didn’t have enough time to fit it in (and Casey would never break protocol like that.) But can we talk about that gun-cleaning montage? Because those guns may have been getting clean but that scene was so damn dirty. I vote Casey+Alex+Guns= OT3. As Chuck said, Casey and Alex were a match made in a very scary heaven, and I think they’d be great together. Even if Alex is just pretty much a female version of Casey.

5. Speaking of Casey, he may have met his match in the heartless Agent Forest but I don’t think we’ve ever seen a more heartfelt Casey than we did in this episode. He got behind Chuck when the guy was making his case for Beckman, and he stuck up for Sarah, calling her a damn good agent and the best partner he’s ever had. Can we get an aww? Casey’s got a fully-formed heart after all.

6. Beckman’s infiltration of the Chuck/Sarah situation. Firstly: showing Chuck all the footage Casey had given her of them having their heart-to-hearts by the courtyard fountain (and the impossibly gotten footage of Chuck giving Sarah his mom’s bracelet, but we’ll turn a blind eye to that one.) I was shocked to see that she knew about them. And then I was shocked again when it all came out in the open and she bagged Sarah for it. (Can the NSA fire CIA agents? Blind eye!) And then I was shocked when Chuck effectively admitted his feelings for Sarah– with Sarah standing right there!– and Beckman was totally cool with it! Which brings me too...

7. The government is cool with Chuck and Sarah’s relationship! Well, maybe Beckman isn’t officially cool with the idea of Chuck and Sarah getting it on but there’s a pretty damn good chance that she’d (also) turn a blind eye to that particular situation! Whatever the case may be, Chuck and Sarah are finally in the clear and their relationship doesn’t have to be as secret any more. Which means they can almost kiss if they want to.

8. And they totally almost kissed! The moment Sarah touched Chuck’s neck I just about keeled over from the squeeness of it all. Like Ricky Gervais once said about the couple in The Office, since they had to hide their feelings because there were cameras around, a touch between them was like a kiss, and a kiss was like a shag. Replace “cameras” with “government” and the same logic applies to Chuck and Sarah. Now we just have to wait for an actual shagging to occur. :)

9. Devon’s got some compromising pictures with a very hot stripper. And Ellie saw them! I was just about as shocked and saddened and she was!

10. Another Bon Iver song to end the episode! I would just like to thank Chuck’s music producer for picking the perfect music to set the perfect tone for the show. Awesome choice.

11. The exotic female entertainment! Seeing those girls walk in was funny enough but then seeing the men’s faces fall was just the icing on the cake. Even better? Jeff’s sister gave him the discount.

12. And finally, we come to Jeff and Lester. I really don’t think Scott Krinsky and Vik Sahay get enough credit for the work they do here. Would Chuck be the same without the genius of their combined comedic talents? I think not! The lines speak for themselves: “Astronomy snap!” “I’ve been bad, I’m a bad person, I’m a terrible person!” “I broke 8 ½ commandants on the way to work.” And lastly, my absolute favorite: “Ellie! Elizabeth! Eleanor Elton!”