OK, now things are getting interesting.

After spending the initial episodes setting up the premise and introducing the characters, last week’s episode finally set about establishing more of the mythos behind Chuck: namely, the long-held interest by the CIA in Chuck’s mind, his subsequent help by Bryce to escape that fate, and Chuck as the only person able to truly decipher what’s really going on in the Intercept. All good stuff.

Having established character and overall arc, it was time to exploit and explode all current relationships in the show, take the stakes a little higher, and introduce conflict into the relationships. Done, done, and done, via a very Whedon-esque structure: everyone suddenly forced to tell the truth in a conceit heightened yet pretty believable within the fantastic conceit of the show. (It felt like a combination of a non-musical “Once More with Feeling” and “Sense and Sensitivity”, no?)

The love triangle which will ensure should bring some spark to the show: I’m ready for Chuck to have a little happy in his life now, as opposed to merely “relief he’s not dead.” Having established the importance of his sister in the first few weeks, it made his turnabout this week quite believable and a natural jumping off point to take more control of a very out-of-control life.

As for Rachel Bilson: I still have nightmares about “The Last Kiss”, easily the most awkward movie experience of my entire life. (In short, the main couple of the film acted and talked exactly like me and the wife, so wen Zach Braff goes and shags Rachel Bilson, I actually turned to her and apologized, as if I had just cheated on her, and then the night just got worse from there.) So while she had a fine meet-cute, and clearly the show will know how to write to her strengths, I kinda don’t want her to name a sandwich after Chuck just yet, lest Chuck end up outside Sarah’s house for a few days straight listening to Coldplay. Been there, done that.