Chuck – There’s no substitute for love

The only substitute for true love is … love? Maybe it was the spirit of Valentine’s Day looming, or a desire to leave us on a happy note while Chuck takes an Olympic-sized hiatus, but love was in the air all through last night’s episode.

Brandon Routh and Kristin Kreuk continued their respective runs on the show, and right smack in the middle of the Chuck/Sarah romance. As I said last week, I’m actually glad to see Chuck with a chance at a relationship outside the spy world. What I didn’t fully realize was how damned near impossible that is turning out to be.

First, he had the constant interruptions from Casey for “yogurt time” last week, and this week it was yet another emergency, though this time at least someone’s life was on the line.

By the time the episode ended, Shaw (Routh) had almost died twice, Sarah once, and even Hannah’s (Kreuk) life nearly ended. This spy game plays hell on the personal life. While I know it’s foolish to hope, considering her guest star status, I can’t help myself. I love Hannah as a character, and she’s a great match for Chuck at this stage of his life.

Plus, it would be a lot of fun to see him trying to hide his secret spy life from a girlfriend. He’s having a hard enough time keeping it from loved ones. It was a little disappointing how quickly the Morgan-Ellie investigative team seemed to wrap up their case, but it may not be over. Ellie still has to confront Awesome about it, and there’s a very good chance he’ll screw that up completely.

The episode was brilliantly put together, with nearly every element threading perfectly into the other. The parallel escalations of the Chuck/Hannah and Sarah/Daniel relationships were really well written, as was the integration of Hannah into the museum heist case.

Chuck’s right about Shaw. The guy carried Sarah out of their base and got her to the museum in time for the antidote to save both their lives. And despite my best attempts to see some evil dark side in him, he seems a genuinely decent guy. Unfortunately, he’s also back on the Ring’s radar, and bad things are likely headed his way.

Hannah, on the other hand, is just the kind of strong and assertive woman Chuck likes. Not to mention that she’s hot, brilliant, into the same geek stuff he is, and she’s completely and totally into him for who he is. Well, the civilian side of him, though I suspect she’d find the spy side pretty hot, too.

It seems pretty inevitable how Sarah and Shaw will wind up — with Shaw dead or captured by the Ring — but it’s less clear how things will sour between Chuck and Hannah. She came to the Buy More for the sole purpose of being with him. That’s commitment.

So here’s my theory. Sarah will always be a present burden for Hannah to endure. The mysterious closeness she and Chuck share will strain their relationship at times, but if and when Shaw disappears from the picture, a broken Sarah will be drawn to Chuck, and Chuck will be there for her emotionally. This may be the straw that breaks Hannah, despite what she said tonight about none of that mattering. It does matter, and Chuck and Sarah are clearly meant to be together.

I only hope that it doesn’t happen for awhile, because I like Chuck with a girlfriend. I like the potential conflict, I like this growing and confident Chuck we’re seeing now, and I want it to last for a little while.

Clacked by Jason Hughes
on Feb 09, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT