Photo Credit: NBC

Due to the Winter Olympics, Chuck is on a break. Crap. While I get as patriotic as the next guy come Olympic time, I think many of my friends have the right idea when they say “No one cares about these sports.” I mean honestly, you can look at the Summer Games and there are games and sports which people actually play: Softball (I think it’s coming back), Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Track and Field, etc.  And then there’s the Winter Games, with those perennial favorites: Speed Skating, Nordic Combined (Ski jumping and Cross-Country Skiing), Biathlon (XC Skiing and Shooting), and Curling (a game which combines Bowling and House Cleaning, which to be honest is really fun/funny to watch). So for this, we have Chuck on break.  So now that my Olympics rant is over, I’ll give you my favorite episodes of Chuck.

Chuck vs. The Santa Claus- As far as a Christmas-dedicated television episodes go, this one just kills it. The blatant Die Hard references, right down to a Sergeant Al Powell appearance. It’s one of the tightest hours, Team Bartowski has put together and it shows the great bond between Chuck and his supporting cast.  Given the chance to flee a hostage situation, he sticks (foolishly one might say) with his family and friends to try to get them out of the situation. ONLY to end up in a deeper pile. And it’s the best when his faith in that crew is proven to be worthy. A great, Die Hard reference filled episode which showcases the finest parts of this show.

Chuck vs. Tom Sawyer- This episode slyly references another “classic” movie, The Last Starfighter. But our beloved semi-spy is not the Starfighter in question. Yet it is one of the Nerd Herd, Jeff, who reigns as Missile Command World Champion. The plot revolves around Missile Command’s designer hiding the codes for ACTUAL missiles in the game. And suffice it to say, hilarity ensues. I think what this episode does so well is pay homage to the nerds it laughs with. Using a video game to save the world? Sounds pretty much like a NERDGASM.

Chuck vs. The Suburbs- Ok, maybe all of these episodes reference a movie, because now here’s another one, although this one isn’t quite as blatant. You may be able to guess the movie this references from its title, its The Burbs. Chuck and super spy hottie hottiespy Sarah move into the suburbs to flush out an evil agent. Well, they get more than they gather at just about every turn. Their neighbors are not all they are cracked up to be and sometimes even the non-agents can be just as scary. Bonus points for awesome guest stars Jenny McCarthy and Andy Richter.

Chuck vs. The Alma Mater-Chuck goes out of his comfort zone and back to his old school, Stanford. A former professor of Chuck and former best friend Bryce’s is shot and the team must head back to school to find out what the old prof had on the books. This is one of the best episodes because it’s one of the first that explores the relationship between Bryce and Chuck and we see that Bryce wasn’t always out to get our hero. And in fact, may have been looking out for him from day one.

Chuck vs. the Angel de la Muerte- A fantastic episode which showcases Devon and Ellie more than ever. Casey recuses himself from the mission as he was once given the awesome titular nickname due to his attempted assassinations of the dictator at the center of the episode. Devon is assigned as Goya’s (the dictator) doctor. After saving his life, Goya is indebted to Devon and he continues to make moves to “Save his life” when really throwing off the true assassins. Long story short, the obvious choice for super spy turns out to be not so super and Chuck, Sarah, and Casey have to show Captain Awesome (Devon) how its done. A great showcase of the wider cast IN the spy narrative, something we haven’t had a whole lot of yet.

There are definitely others and I would just suggest getting into EVERY episode. If nothing else, this show leads the league in Foxy Mysterious Women, which by all accounts are some of the best kind. It’s a nerd anthem and one you should really check out especially if you, like me, are not so turned on by the thought of Russian snipers winning medals for the Biathlon.