...Set: Chuck 4x01 "Chuck vs. the Anniversary"

Welcome back to the spy life, Chuck fans! And, as it turns out, Chuck himself. What! Spoiler alert! In case you'd forgotten, which I actually had, Chuck had told Ellie that he was getting out of the spy life, right before finding out that his dad had been on a search for his mom, and wanted Chuck to continue said search. And, Chuck and Sarah are a sweet, happy couple. Kissy kissy, huggy huggy.

But, as ever, things cannot be all rainbows and unicorns, because Sarah is still a spy, and has to go on a mission with Casey. That works out to Chuck's advantage, though, as he and Morgan go on a worldwide search for his mom, that eventually leads to... nowhere! Except for a mysterious Chinese food takeout menu that was so conspicuous you had to be a total dimwit not to see that it was the clue that would tie everything together.

Basically, Sarah and Casey encounter this Russian bad guy, who I only will know as Dolph Lundgren because I don't remember ever hearing his name on the show, so we'll just call him RBG for short (Russian Bad Guy). He is working for some dude and/or organization called Vokoff that is making terrible EMPs which is, you know, bad.

Meanwhile, after being unsuccessful in his search for his mom, Chuck has to get back to the real world and try to find a job. None of his interviews go well, and he ends up back at the brand spanking new Buy More, which, it turns out, General Beckman is now running as a super secret spy center. She tells Chuck that she's not letting him out of the spy life, which leads to him helping out Casey and Sarah figure out where the Vokoff guy supposedly is, as well as helping him figure out that the aforementioned Chinese takeout menu was a real clue. Because it's not a menu for Chinese takeout, it's actually a menu for weapons of derring-do! Or, evil. One of the two.

Long story short, Casey & Sarah end up captured in this Russian facility thanks to RBG, but it just so happens that Chuck and Morgan also end up at the same Russian facility following their lead! What a strange random happenstance! Chuck must save the day, but in doing so, he must give up his first real lead on his mom, whose spy code name, we soon find out, is Frost.

In the end, Chuck decides he must re-join the spy life in order to find his mom. He wants to come clean with Ellie about it, but when he goes to tell her, she startles him with some news of her own - she's pregnant! There's going to be a baby Awesome! So, Chuck decides he can't break the news to her quite yet.

Chuck also finds out that his mom didn't actually leave him, Ellie and their dad when Chuck was a wee lad. Rather, she was captured! And at this point we cut to his mom, talking to RBG about Vokoff, then she totally unloads some whoop ass onto the guys, because hey, this is the erstwhile Sarah Connor here. Or, Linda Hamilton. Whatever, she can still kick ass. 

Not much from the peanut gallery (aka Lester, Jeff, Big Mike, Ellie and Awesome) this week. Hopefully we'll find out what they're up to next week, because I find I rather missed them. And, though this premiere was good, was it great? I'm not sure. All I know is, I sort of miss Chuck's flopsy hair.

Some quotes:

Chuck: This is not the opening to a TV show. This is real life.

Chuck: We are an offshoot of The Ring. The New Ring.

Sarah: Where are we?
Casey: Desolation. Frostbite. Must be Russia.

Sarah: He thinks we're sexting.
Casey: What? What does that even mean?

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