If you've never seen NBC's Chuck, you're missing out on one of TV's best shows. It's inspired so much love that the fans launched an unprecedented campaign to bring it back for season 3, and we succeeded! The show returns in March 2010, and in the meantime, fans are trying to keep the show fresh in the minds of viewers. www.chucktv.net has launched "Chuck Me Mondays," where fans watch one episode of the show every Monday at 7:00 pm (mountain time) from the pilot all the way up to the season 2 finale, and chat about it live on the site or using Twitter. You can watch with your DVDs, iTunes downloads, or for free on http://www.thewb.com/shows/chuck. For my part, I'll be reviewing each episode of the series as we watch it every Monday right here on YourHub!

Week 2: Chucks Versus the Tango
Original Airdate: 10/08/07

Episode Rating: B+

It only took three weeks for Chuck to find its groove; Chuck Versus the Tango has plenty of small areas that needed ironing out (areas that would be ironed out by the time the second season opened), but taken as a whole, this is the episode that established the creative formula and gave us a taste of what the whole series would be like.

That is to say that Tango features Team Bartowski's first real mission. Chuck flashes on a picture of a painting in a newspaper, learning that the painting contains a bomb planted by notorious arms dealer "La Ciudad." Sarah and Casey take Chuck on his first spy mission, an investigation at the art auction the painting is being sold at.

After Chuck Versus the Helicopter first aired, I personally wondered just where the series would go on a week to week basis, and Tango answered that question beautifully with a fun, exciting spy plot that left me wanting more (in a good way). Team Bartowski has gone on many more missions since this episode aired, and Tango holds up amazingly well when you go back and re-watch it. Everything's here; the spy-movie references, the humor, the action, a catfight between Sarah and the episode's femme fatale, and the clever way Chuck's mission intersects with Morgan's own problems at the Buy More.

In fact, my favorite part of this episode is probably the Buy More subplot, where Morgan is tasked with fixing a room full of computers to stop nemesis Harry Tang from becoming assistant manager. Tang only appeared in the first half of season one, and while his character wasn't one of the series' most memorable, he did produce memorable reactions from other characters. The moment where Chuck arrives in the Buy More after his mission so he can help Morgan is one of the defining ones for the series. No matter how many traumatic experiences Chuck goes through, he always finds time to help his friends.

Tango is also noticeable for proving just how valuable Ryan McPartlin (Captain Awesome) is to the cast. While he produced plenty of chuckles in the first two episodes, the scene where he taught Chuck the tango defined his character and has me rolling on the floor laughing no matter how many times I watch it. The payoff of this joke comes later in the episode, when you learn that Awesome taught Chuck the woman's part of the dance; McPartlin leaves such an impression in his few minutes of screen time that when this joke rolls around, it feels completely organic to the character and is all the funnier for it.

The show only gets better from this point on, but I was stunned at how fun an episode Tango is even when compared to later installments in the series. Looking in the DVD booklet, I was surprised to see that this episode actually aired on my birthday two years ago; it's a darn fine birthday present from a great series. If you haven't watched it lately, tonight is the perfect time to do so. Join Chuck fans nationwide by watching Chuck Versus the Tango tonight at 7:00 PM on DVD or online (links above) and chatting about it live via Twitter or www.chucktv.net.