What I'm Watching: Chuck

Chuck: Season 4, Episode 5 “Chuck Versus the Couch Lock” (B+)

For a show that features spy missions almost every week, it's still exciting to find one that truly feels like a caper. Chuck's brilliant idea to have Casey pose as dead so that his former partners will reveal themselves was a whole lot of fun, and it was enjoyable to see Casey getting so into it. The incorporation of Morgan into all of it was also incredibly smart, and I loved how he ultimately decided to tell Casey about his relationship with Alex in order to get Casey to snap out of his couch lock. In another commendable move, Jeff and Lester are used in a fantastic supporting way, enabling them to intersect with the primary plot of the episode but not to be overly distracting. Chuck does seem like a real spy now, carrying his gun out in front of him and leading the way for Sarah as they head towards danger headfirst. I was worried that Morgan having to push Alex away for her own safety was going to follow in the unfortunate pattern of people with secret lives having to abandon their loved ones in order to protect them, but fortunately, Casey did a nice thing for Morgan by helping his daughter to regain his trust. Casey's uber-serious threat to Morgan at the end of the episode shows that he's still the same old Casey and hasn't undergone a silly, unexplained character transformation. As always, the conversation between Chuck and Sarah in the most serious of moments is extraordinarily entertaining.