Chuck 4.11 "vs the Balcony"

[emeraldstag]

It was strange to come back to Chuck after nearly two months away and not have some big cliffhanger to resolve. I guess I am used to Smallville's winter hiatus always having one and forgot that sometimes the winter hiatus is just that, time off. And that time away gave me a chance to get used to the new S4 status quo of Chuck/Sarah + Everyone else.

Had this episode been before the hiatus I would have cringed at the proposal being the "submission" of the mission, but there were some hilarious moments that came from it. Especially the beginning failed dinner proposal that left Morgan with balloons and a horse carriage that would end up incidentally delaying John Casey.

I would still rather have the show get rid of the Buy More entirely and give that time over to Ellie/Awesome but Lester horrifying his arranged marriage wife was pretty funny. When's the last time Chuck worked inside? I feel like I see Casey in his work alias more than Chuck (or Sarah? What is her alias now? Is it still the frozen yogurt and it just happens offscreen?).

I was expecting the Volkov situation to be resolved by now but the twist at the end of this episode was an excellent decision. Several episodes of Sarah being a "rogue" agent would be interesting but I have a bad feeling it isn't going to go that far. The only redeeming value of Volkov is Timothy Dalton, I have no interest in Chuck's mom one bit.

Screencap from potthead @ rawr_caps