TVSquad

(S02E15) Chuck was in a weird place last night. The character, that is, not the show. The show picked up on a storyline from a few weeks back and set up a future episode with a new character that seemed to me a nice contrast to the Casey-Sarah-Chuck triple play.

Remember "Chuck Versus the Suburbs," when Andy Richter's corpse was dragged away in a body bag? Well, he wasn't resurrected on Fringe, like one commenter suggested. No, he's dead and his body included a belt that contained some top-secret data, most importantly, the identity of the Intersect, i.e. Chuck.

The timing of the discovery couldn't be worse, though, because Chuck had just decided to "dump" Sarah as a fake girlfriend, feeling that they had no fake/real future. Of course, be careful what you wish for, Charles. More after the jump.

"Barker, Cole Barker." He never actually said that line, but the British beefcake of the title was a James Bond type, an MI-6 agent working undercover who first comes up against Sarah and Casey, then teams up with them. Chuck, too, but as far as Barker's concerned, Chuck is like a male Moneypenny -- although he never says that. In fact, considering the Bond homage, there really weren't any references, which sort of bummed me out.

Still, I loved Chuck trying to break down the door. It was quite a sight, especially when he bounced off it the first time. Sarah didn't need the help after all, but the image of her in black panties and matching bra had to have made an impression on Chuck. It did on Barker. After a cursory check with Chuck, Barker decided to bed Agent Walker. He had the best line of the night: "I'd like to butter that muffin."

Actor Jonathan Cake played Cole Barker, and he had a sort of dark-haired, Daniel Craig look, including a photo wearing the same James Bond swim trunks from Casino Royale. Barker turned out to be an asset to the show, and he'll be back because he holds vital information about the intersect and he's been snatched by Fulcrum. Even after the rough torture scene -- in which Chuck determined that he couldn't handle the pre-torture set up -- Sarah knows that Barker will talk because "everybody talks."

The torture scene -- which fortunately never escalated to real nastiness -- included a terrific bit in which Chuck actually confessed that he was the intersect, only to have Cole contradict him. Then it became a game of "I'm the intersect," "No, I'm the intersect." Fulcrum had the intersect in hand and didn't even know it.

The arc is not set up, with Barker abducted. Sarah and Chuck have to go into 24-hour lock down. That means the whole break up -- "It's not you, it's me" -- was for naught. And Morgan's dream of moving into an apartment with Chuck will have to wait. Sarah and Chuck are a couple again. Morgan will understand, won't he?

Speaking of Morgan, he was a wonderful houseboy for Awesome and Ellie...until he strolled into the kitchen after dark in the nude. The strategically placed fruit bowl was very Austin Powers. Meanwhile, the Buy More subplot had "Jeffster" going all perv to interview models as the store's new green shirt. Jeff in a shorty, white terry cloth robe was an image I won't soon forget.