You're still my Chuck

I’ve been a Chuck fan in moderate despair since season 4 started. The show was lacking its usual oomph and felt, to me anyway, like too much Chuck/Sarah and too little Team Bartowski. I'm a shipper at heart and very happy that the show has brought them together as a couple. But all the discssion about their relationship, Sarah’s baggage, Chuck’s desire to settle down etc. all got a bit too much for me.

And then along came Chuck versus the First Fight and behold my show is back! Timothy Dalton's Keyser Söze moment brought back the mojo of season 2 where emotional development, comedy, action and OMG moments all combined to bring us one helluva episode cliffhanger – in this case Chuck de-intersected by his mum.

Episodes 7-10 have made me love Chuck again, despite some ropey special effects in Chuck versus the Fear of Death (a.k.a. James Bond on a bad budget). Seeing Sarah go insanely badass sans Chuck in Chuck versus Phase Three was ridiculously awesome - kidnap, torture, tearing up Thailand to get to her man, and of course the raw emotional stuff that Yvonne Strahovski eats up when she gets the chance to play it. Sarah saving Chuck was at the heart of the show back in the beginning, and it was good to see it back. It was also good to see some more Die Hard in the Buy More in Chuck versus the Leftovers, and an uncomfortable family meal that reminded me of Sarah's first dinner at the Bartowski's.

My highlight of the last few episodes? Casey calling Chuck's mum "Mama B" - a nice shoutout to the fans who've been calling her that since before Comic Con in July.

Thank you Team Chuck for bringing him back to his best, let's hope it continues.