Season 5 Episode 7: Chuck Vs The Santa Suit

[134sc]

Ok, so now that Christmas has come and gone, time to talk Chuck vs. The Santa Suit.

This was by far, hands down, the best episode of the season for me. And that’s not to take anything away from the other episodes; it was just that darn good.

When I saw the preview for this episode I knew it had a chance to be one of my all-time favorites, but it really needed to deliver on 2 things. 1) That Shaw was a ruthless SOB hell-bent on revenge and 2) That even though we could all tell Sarah was going to need saving, that she at least put up a good fight.

I was very pleased that Sarah did indeed do all she could, but she couldn’t compete with the intersect, in addition to Shaw’s height and weight advantage.

As for Shaw, he was everything I could have asked for and more. He was calculating, maniacal, and ruthless. His demeanor, actions, and dialogue were that of a man whom had been in prison meticulously plotting his revenge for 2 years…in other words, he was a little off his rocker. Brandon Routh really impressed me, and dare I say it…I think he stole the show.

Highlights (I will do my best, but with this kind of episode, this could be extremely long…lol):

•Casey feeling a real human emotion
•Shaw to Sarah: “That’s no way to treat an old boyfriend”
•The fight scenes were very well done
•Shaw was all kinds of crazy, and I loved every second of it
•Chuck: “Daniel Shaw murdered my father and now he has my wife…he’s going to wish he never left that prison cell”
•Beckman: “This is my team, and nobody especially Shaw is going to take us down”
•Big Mike: “Damn, hell” Awesome then earmuffs baby Clara.
•Chuck: “My wife has been kidnapped, and I’m officially ruining Christmas for the children of Burbank”
•Shaw to Sarah: "You with me? No you’re not, if you were you would’ve brought a coat…silly”
•Shaw (as Sarah): “Shaw’s so handsome and smart…I bet he reads a lot of books”
•Sarah to Shaw: "You think you can beat Chuck? You’re not half the man he is”
•The old knife in the stiletto trick
•Shameless plug for subway. It is pretty much an inside joke now. I wish subway employees would serve me at my work…lol
•Stan Lee
•Chuck makes a good Santa
•Beckman: “Pucker up Bartowski you are about to become a man”
•Jeff and Lester uncovering the true purpose of the Omen virus
•Shaw’s plan to update the intersect, didn’t see that one coming
•Jeff: “Water can only dilute this feeling” Lester: “Plus, fish have sex in it”
•Silent Night
•Shaw to Chuck: “I can practically catch a bullet in my teeth…but you’ve been doing some push-ups? Hitting the heavy bag?”
•Shaw and Chuck’s previous fight was so smooth and clean, but this fight without the intersect was more of a street fight. I appreciated the difference.
•Ellie saves the day
•Beckman hanging out
•Casey and Alex…awww
•Bracelet making an appearance, very nicely done. I especially loved Sarah’s big smile when Chuck pulled it out and put it on her wrist.
•Shaw ending the episode in style…What? A baby!?!?! Sarah looked like she saw a ghost

[CaptMediocre]

The episode was OK - at least that's what everyone is telling me, but the overall story takes an awful slam because of this episode. For all the hype, it doesn't make my top 10, because other than stirring up the fans, there was absolutely no resolution on anything. Shaw ended up exactly where he started and we're left with more questions than answers about the supposed conspiracy.

BTW, Shaw being a mastermind? An  intersect traitor to the CIA was given a awful lot of freedom in prison. They were willing to kill Chuck for having an intersect, and he did nothing wrong. Why didn't Decker just kill him.

Oops, I'm trying to fill on plot holes - nevermind. They tried, but they still left an awful lot of the story for the fans to fill in.

Also, I didn't really care for how stupid Sarah  was portrayed in going to see idiot face in prison, for the sake of a cliffhanger. That information could have been revealed in Castle, opening the door for the death of Shaw and some resolution. But no, insead Sarah is made to look idiotic so Shaw can exist - that's nothing new.

I hope Sarah Walker returns in the next episode because she was not in this one.

[dude029]

Capt, you know Shaw turns Sarah into a zombie.  He's read her files and he certainly is a master at manipulating her.  She apparently has learned very little in dealing with him.  In actuality, I think he is her biggest enemy as opposed to Chuck because of the way the writers make her behave around him.  They throw her out the window every time. No apologies though. It's ridiculous.

[Srh_Brtwski]

I think the implication of the episode was that Shaw knew Sarah's secrets, so Sarah had legitimate concern to confront Shaw at the end of the episode to evaluate the threat as legitimate or not.    Obviously, it's a legitimate threat.

The thing that's most unrealistic is how Beckman approved the use of US taxpayer dollars to set up the Bartowski Christmas party at the end.  With a deficit running into $1 trillion, Beckman would be fired for approving that. 

[dude029]

It's legit when you make it legit. Why is Sarah keeping secrets from Chuck ? Classified ? He was the Intersect for crying out loud.

[osced]

It's legit when you make it legit. Why is Sarah keeping secrets from Chuck ? Classified ? He was the Intersect for crying out loud.

Sarah could have been kept it a secret to protect Chuck, exactly the way Chuck did when he didn't told Ellie/Morgan that he worked for the CIA. And that Sarah is keeping a secret from Chuck isn't really that a big deal if we think about how many time Chuck have done that to Sarah.