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 5: Chuck Versus the Sizzling Shrimp
Original Airdate: 10/22/07

Episode Rating: A

This week's episode is one of my favorites in the entire series. When season one was first airing, this was the episode that made me fall in love the show. It's not the best episode of the series, but all of the best elements of this episode proved that this show had long legs and could continue for a long, long time.

There's so much to love, so where do I begin? Like many episodes of Chuck, the episode can be split into multiple plot lines. The main story, or "mission-of-the-week," involves Chuck helping a Chinese secret agent save her brother from Triad agents. Meanwhile, Morgan faces a sales competition at the Buy More, and Chuck tries to balance his familial commitments with his spy life.

Actually, that last sub-plot is my favorite part of the episode; it's a really touching, sweet storyline that established how essential Chuck's sister Ellie is to the show. It's the end of October, and Chuck and Ellie are both excited to celebrate "mother's day," their own special holiday commemorating the day their mother left them and they had to start relying on each other. It's a truly touching idea, and Zachary Levi and Sarah Lancaster sell it wonderfully. Chuck misses it at first because of his mission, and Levi illustrates Chuck's sadness at this amazingly well. When Chuck has to leave his family in the dust, it's never his fault, and seeing how it tears him apart is not only sad, but also makes him a stronger, more endearing character.

Meanwhile, Chuck is also forced to ignore his best friend Morgan, who is having problems at the Buy More when Big Mike starts a sales competition where the loser gets fired. When Chuck has to ignore both Morgan and Ellie, the two characters spend the evening together, bonding over their worries about what's happening to Chuck. While Morgan has always (obviously) had a crush on Ellie, Ellie had hated Morgan with a passion up to this point, but in this episode she became his (reluctant) friend. It was a cool moment, and the payoff of this storyline, where Ellie does some early Christmas shopping to help out Morgan, is yet another touching moment. Getting Ellie's hatred of Morgan out of the show early on was a good creative choice, because there's only so far that joke could have gone before it got stale.

Finally, there's the actual main mission story to talk about. It's a fun piece of espionage involving the Triad, Chinese restaurants, kidnapping, double crosses, and of course, sizzling shrimp. I won't go into detail, because if you haven't seen the episode, I really don't want to spoil it. The action is fun and exciting, while never being too serious; the action in season one wasn't always the show's strong point, but the action does show a week-to-week improvement, which is on display here. This week also marked the first stakeout mission, and established the "stay-in-the-car" gag as a running joke with long, long legs.

But I love this episode for the storyline highlighting Chuck and Ellie's strong sibling relationship, and it remains one of my favorite episodes of the series. If you haven't watched it recently, now is the time to do so. Join Chuck fans nationwide by watching Chuck Versus the Sizzling Shrimp tonight at 7:00 PM on DVD or online (links above) and chatting about it live via Twitter or www.chucktv.net.