Sorry to spoil you! They have showed the preview here twice in two weeks, so it’s old (but exciting) news. In many ways, I wish that they hadn’t spoiled any of us and would have just let him pop up unexpectedly, as he did in vs Subway, which was one of my favorite dramatic scenes of CHUCK ever!

Damn! Why I had to watch next episode’s promo 🙁 I’m from Spain and usually don’t watch otherwise than weekly episodes and I’m not aware of what’s gonna be in upcoming weeks… that leaves me with intrigue and questioning about what’s gonna happen in the next episode. I realise now that I have just seen the promo that it’s obvious that’s gonna be Shaw. Curse you! You spoiled me all! 🙁

I’m assuming it’s Shaw… it’s gotta be because he’s got to escape somehow to be in next week’s episode.

I know Chuck was trying to fake out Sarah, Casey & Beckman, but when he said “Okay, you guys are the professionals”, it didn’t feel right. Chuck has been the leader of their team for awhile now, & has foiled Shaw, Volkoff, & others. He became a professional long ago.

I know they have a lot of tying things up to do over the last 7 episodes, but one point they’d better address is who ordered Sarah’s red test, and why. That’s a pretty big plot point to leave hanging if they don’t address it.

I agree with Chuckster on the Chuck-Sarah trust issues. His actions were too out of character after everything he has been through. I felt like we reverted to seasons 1 & 2 and that Chuck was not acting like the man with the plan that we have seen both this season and last. I wish Sarah had simply told him that she is now a Bartowski and is as much a part of Chuck’s family as Ellie and Awesome are.

I watched this episode with a big grin on my face, saying “the fans will LOVE this one!”, and then last night I read three reviews online and each one rated the episode as decent, but not great. One gave it a letter grade of B.

To me, it was a terrific episode. It DID have a little more than the usual number of “suspending disbelief” moments and a few weak spots, but the positives were so delightful, they far outweighed the negatives.

Ellie & Awesome WERE awesome, & the fans have always wanted a plot like this one for them. VERY well done, & I loved their turned-on moments in the field during the danger and afterward when they got home. The only real weak spot in that plotline was Ellie worrying about not wearing panties. REALLY?!? While you’re contemplating escaping from the enemy?!? And why exactly was she shy around her husband, whom she told not to look? I assume he’s seen her naked before.

I also enjoyed Morgan & Alex, as I was one of the people saying I’d be disappointed if they didn’t get back together. I couldn’t care less about Casey & Verbanski, & I’m assuming there was only so much in the budget for Carrie Anne Moss guest appearances.

I always love Beckman, and love how she always has loyalty (and affection) for the team. LOV-V-V-V-V-VED it when she first showed up in person swigging booze from the bottle. My only quibble with her part of the story is that she & Casey (no matter how loyal they are to their friends) would NEVER have agreed to give the real virus to the enemy. NOBODY (not even Ellie & Awesome) would be worth it to them.

Lastly, though I enjoy the more mature & serious part of Chuck’s story (& growth), I wasn’t 100% satisfied with his actions. It’s not surprising that he runs off to save Ellie, but he seemed to forget that “family” & “loved ones” now includes Sarah. She forgave him too quickly (& the CIA hunting them & charging Casey was also wrapped up too quickly), but I’ll forgive that because I figure it was due to the need to jam in as much storyline as possible into the final (WAAAH!) 13 episodes. I did like the part when Sarah was trying to convince Casey & Beckman to hand over the real virus and she said something to the effect that “they (Ellie & Awesome) are my family now, too.” It seems she understands their family dynamic a bit better than her hubby.

OH… and by the way… I know the answer to this had to do with the budget, but isn’t it kind of odd that Chuck is trying to build Carmichael Industries into a spy force to be reckoned with, and is now dealing with all sorts of nefarious plots, but he hasn’t even once used the other world-class superspy in his life— dear ol’ mom? Even when Casey was in prison, & they were down a man? I think they could have thrown in a few lines of dialogue in one of the episodes about how Chuck wants to leave her out of things because she lost 20 years of her life because of being a spy.

Aw, thanks Liz! I love sharing with you guys!