Love (and the Smell of Cured Meats) is in the Air on "Chuck"

I'm back from Napa now, appropriately rested, well-fed, and wine-soaked after my recent trip to check on preparations for my wedding next summer. After a few days of fantastic food and superb wines, I was definitely feeling the sweaty shakes of withdrawal, having not turned on a television in several days.

It was only to be expected then that I quickly rushed home with the future Mrs. Televisionary and we plopped ourselves down on the couch to watch this week's episode of Chuck ("Chuck Versus the Imported Hard Salami"), another fantastic installment in what has become a little mini-run of near perfection.

This week's episode revolved around Chuck's new relationship with deli owner Lou (guest star Rachel Bilson), who may not have been quite as innocent as she originally appeared. I got a lot of flak from Televisionary readers for "spoiling" the fact that Lou was involved in a smuggling ring but, as I promised in the comments section last week, the only thing that little Lou was smuggling was the titular imported salami from Portugal. (That sound you hear? It's me blowing a raspberry.)

I quite liked having Bilson on the series the last two weeks. Her Lou was a breath of fresh air, giving Chuck a new romantic interest as well as further complicating the love triangle between Chuck, Sarah, and Bryce, who--as expected--isn't quite so dead after all. (More on that in a bit.) And poor Chuck... having put his supposedly unrequited feelings for Sarah aside, he finally gets to have a relationship with a girl who is not only smoking hot but knows a thing or two about smoked meats, only to lose her when he's forced to choose his duty to his country over his, well, horniness. (That and a whole lot of misunderstandings.) The government really does not want Chuck to ever have sex again.

Loved the kiss between Chuck and Sarah, which came at the very last second before what they believed to be the chemical bomb went off, though it's pretty clear that Sarah regretting making that passioned decision after they didn't, you know, go splat. If Chuck weren't in a sorry state before, certainly learning that Bryce is alive and that Sarah still has feelings for him will certainly send our favorite Nerd Herd employee into a shame spiral of global proportions.

What else did I love? Casey handing Chuck the rose; the 1980s-inspired electric guitar pin that doubled as a microphone; the Sbarro pizza named after Morgan (no dough, no sauce, and all cheese: "The Loser"); Lou and Chuck's deli kiss (though I wished she took the hygiene gloves off first); Sarah's increasing jealousy and mistrust of Lou, her jump onto the counter when faced with Lester's proposal, and the way she popped that knife out of the toe of her boot. (I think I literally had to wipe the drool off of my television.)

Even Morgan didn't irk this week, in a storyline that pushed him and Nerd Herd femme fatale Anna together, granting them a hell of a passionate kiss at the Buy More. Also, it was only fitting that Morgan tried to dump her the moment he learned that Chuck was a free man again, breaking up with her over the store's PA system. Not exactly a smooth one, that Morgan.

Will Sarah and Bryce get back together? How is Bryce alive after Casey shot him several times in the pilot? And more pressing: why did he attempt to steal the Intersect... and why did he send it to Chuck? Find out next week.

Next week on Chuck ("Chuck Versus the Nemesis"): Bryce returns to the land of the living and hopes to convince the CIA that he never went rogue, while a secret organization within the intelligence community tries to track down and destroy the Intersect; Chuck realizes he can never be with Sarah after seeing her with Bryce; Morgan is left in charge of the Buy More on Black Friday.