On this week's Chuck, Charles Charmichael was given his final exam to become a full-on spy in the cleverly titled, "Chuck Versus the Final Exam."

Starting with its in media res intro of Chuck shooting the mole, Hunter Perry (Kyle Bornheimer), this episode had a much more serious tone than the last few episodes.

Granted the Casey scenes in the Buy More provided plenty of comedy and some light-hearted breaks (how ironic), but they just kept making us question one thing: why would an agent as bad ass as Casey be wasting his civilian life at the Buy More?

Casey could easily accept some contract work and be rolling in the dough and not dealing with Jeffster.  Maybe it's because he was dishonorably discharged, or maybe it's just cause we're yet again over thinking Chuck, a show that expects you to forgive so much.

Plot holes aside, we're going to assume Casey stuck around to keep an eye on Chuck, who clearly he's come to care for.  That and clearly to keep us entertained as he continues to grunt his way through scenes.

On the actual mission, Chuck is clearly over his flashing issues, and was able to perform.  That's a good thing because we were getting sick of the flashing issues and love that he's becoming competent.

Most of the action scenes worked very well with the exception of the weirdly shot bathroom sequence.  We're sure it was playing homage to something (Casino Royale maybe?), but it just didn't feel like it fit with the rest of the show.

As much as we wanted to punch Chuck as his usual blabbering almost screwed up a mission, our biggest complaint is still with the Sarah-Chuck-Shaw love triangle.

Brandon Routh is good-looking and great as the straight-laced Superman, but in Chuck, his boring character is painful to watch.  He feels like he was inserted for no reason other than to just cause more tension in an already tense relationship.  There's no reason Beckman couldn't be enough to push Chuck into becoming a real spy.

I'm not sure how many more retarded will-they-or-won't-they kissing scenese I can handle.  Plus if I hear one more time that Sarah can't love Chuck now that he's a killer while she's DATING SHAW, A FRIGGIN' KILLER, I will throw something at the television.

Rant over because the last two episodes were phenomenal and this one wasn't particularly bad, it just could not compete with the prior two episodes.

What review would be complete without calling attention to a shirtless Zachary Levi?  Pretty hot eh ladies?  Apparently all that spy work has turned this lanky nerd into a lean, mean fighting machine.

Now for our favorite Chuck quotes from the gang:

Jeff [about Casey]: He's a monster.
Lester: Like Jeff, only undulled by drink or drug and he's more dangerous for it. | permalink

Lester [about Jeff]: Literally no way of knowing where this guy's mouth has been before this. Fire hydrants? Diseased animals? Puppets? | permalink

Casey: You know giving away a government firearm is a felony? A thoughtful felony. | permalink

Chuck: Nothing wets your whistle like the sound of a good, long horn. | permalink

Eric Hochberger is the programmer of TV Fanatic, so please forgive his mediocre writing. His programming is far better. Follow him on Twitter and/or email him. Just don't request threaded comments. They're coming.