What I’m Watching: Chuck

Chuck: Season 3, Episode 11 “Chuck Versus the Final Exam” (B+)

I still feel like every episode seems to send Chuck out on his “first real mission,” yet I’m never bored and always delightfully surprised by what happens next. Part of what makes it so great every time is how Chuck reacts to everything. Far and away the most fantastic thing about this episode is how new citizen Casey, who was bold enough to take a hearty bite out of a sandwich just touched by Jeff’s mouth, stepped in to help Chuck out when he needed it the most. It’s wonderful to see Casey in a different element, when he doesn’t seem so constantly angry and truly seems to be watching out for Chuck and trying to help him along in his path to becoming a spy. Having him shoot the traitor is perfect, because now Chuck can become a real spy and Casey won’t ever rat him out since, as he pointed out, he’s technically just committed murder. Casting Kyle Bornheimer as the traitor who gets little screen time but is immediately unlikable and seemingly worthy of being shot by someone, at the very least. Seeing Casey dress up and be taken under the wing of Big Mike was a nice surprise, and while I don’t need to see as much of Jeff and Lester, I’d love to see more of the interaction between the two toughest guys at the Buy More. We did get a huge dose of sponsor Subway in this episode, but it wasn’t intrusive at all. It’s nice that Sarah still cares deeply about Chuck and even tried to stand up to Shaw in order to prevent him from having to make his first kill.