You can’t fix everything, 'Chuck'

I know ABC is working on a “Charlie’s Angels” remake, but I’m pretty sure “Chuck” just beat them to the punch. And it was one of the most cheese-tastic things this show has ever done.

It also gave Yvonne Strahovski the chance to show off some vulnerability, a characteristic that’s often underutilized when it comes to Sarah.

With the wedding fast approaching, Chuck is looking to connect Sarah with her friends and family… whether she wants to or not. So he tracks down her old CIA colleagues, the Clandestine Attack Team, or C.A.T. Squad.

(Insert every cat-related joke you can think of – and I can’t write on this blog – here.)

You know how this show always finds ways to put Sarah in skimpy outfits, often while she’s fighting? Multiply that times four and add in some never-explained “Charlie’s Angels” type narration, and you have the C.A.T. Squad.

The team broke up because of accusations that one of them was a mole. They show up for some (unfortunately off-screen) debauchery with Sarah, but apparently time doesn’t heal all wounds, because those suspicions are still around. When one of them barely survives an assassination attempt, the squad is back in action.

The team, along with Chuck and Casey (and minus a wounded Carina, who stays in Burbank), heads to Rio to chase down the C.A.T.s’ long-time nemesis Augusto Gaez, played by Lou Diamond Phillips. He doesn’t get much to do, but he makes the most of it.

During the mission, Casey tries to convince Chuck that he can’t always try to fix things for Sarah. Later on, both Ellie and Sarah will communicate that message to Chuck as well. But before then, he of course tries to help Sarah out and screws things up.

Long story short, the team eventually finds out who the mole is (Amy, the annoying one), but not before some intra-squad fighting and a Chuck vs. Amy/Gaez showdown. The scene ends with a  blatant “Charlie’s Angels” pose from the remaining C.A.T.s. (Like I said, cheese-tastic.)

In the midst of all this, Strahovski shows off some impressive range. Sarah’s cold, professional spy side pops up in her anger with Chuck and her fights with her old teammates. And we get to understand more about why Sarah is so guarded, given her con-man father and betrayal from one of her closest friends.

But we also see Sarah’s sensitive side. She has a couple of great scenes with Ellie, in which you feel like these soon-to-be sisters-in-law are developing a relationship outside of Chuck.

I know the show was building to the emotional payoff of Sarah asking Ellie to be her maid of honor. It was sweet, but not overwhelming, given that Sarah was a bridesmaid for Ellie.

The biggest emotional moment for me with Sarah was her last conversation with the remaining C.A.T.s, Carina and Zondra. These tough-as-nails women become friends, smiling and joking together. It’s a nice reminder that, despite the often dangerous and deadly work that they do, these spies develop lasting friendships with each other, often because they are the only ones who know what the spy life is like.

Which brings me to the other emotional home run of last night’s episode, and surprisingly it has to do with Morgan.

He was stuck babysitting Carina in Burbank. Those two have a bit of a history, a fact that makes Morgan incredibly uncomfortable with regards to his current girlfriend Alex, especially since Carina seems determined to seduce him.

Morgan doesn’t falter in his faithfulness, but he does have to blow Alex off a few times, to the point when she declares that the spy life Morgan leads is one that she can’t be a part of.

Chuck and Sarah often show us how this life can impact a couple, but at least they’re both spies. This is one of the few times the show has touched on how a non-spy is affected by being romantically involved with someone in that world, even someone as marginally in that world as Morgan.

Luckily, this couple manages to reach its own understanding, too, so it’s happy couples all around for Valentine’s Day. Aww.