(S03E15) The first major thought that occurred to me after watching tonight's episode was that if Fred Willard and Swoosie Kurtz got a spin-off series about their characters, the Turners, I would watch it. The conversation between them was hilarious. For all we know, this could very well have been a back door pilot for them. They're the 'Gary Seven' of 'Chuck.'

Obviously, agents are tempted to cross the line time to time (that's what happened with Shaw not too long ago). It's interesting how age leads to more self-justification in the matter. Doesn't the CIA or NSA have a decent pension plan?

The '70s theme in the beginning was very cute. I'm not sure if they had a specific spy series in mind when developing that bit ('Scarecrow and Mrs. King' comes to mind for some reason, but that could be because Bruce Boxleitner played Mr. Woodcomb, Awesome's father). Since Sarah is moving in, I suspect there will be more awkward roommate moments like the one in the beginning until Morgan inevitably moves back into his parents' home.

Did General Beckman actually smile at one point? Or was that just a trick of the light? I'm surprised her face didn't crack open.

It is the definition of irony that the reason Ellie and Awesome went to the Congo was to be safe from Chuck's spy life and lo and behold, the Ring got to him via Coordinator Justin (other than Kristen Kreuk, is everyone in the series that aren't the featured actors going to end up as Ring agents?). How did the Ring learn the whereabouts of Ellie and Awesome? It was probably accidentally revealed in some past episode and promptly forgotten about (by me anyway). Either that or Chuck isn't involved and it's an attempt to get at Stephen Bartowski (a.k.a. Scott Bakula) via Ellie.

I've definitely seen the actor who played Otto before, but I can't remember where. Did anybody recognize him?

If the Turners don't get a spin-off, then maybe the team of Morgan and Casey will. Their interplay was also hilarious. Morgan has become the Larrabee of the 'Chuck' universe (it's a 'Get Smart' reference for those that don't know). He's there to make Chuck look good by comparison.

You can tell when an African refugee camp is filmed in Hollywood. Those refugees looked way too good to be actual refugees. It was nice that the show acknowledged Ellie's hesitation to go to the Congo in the first place. Honestly, if not for the danger factor back home, it's unlikely Awesome would have wanted to go either.

Another evolution of the series that is becoming more apparent is that Sarah is becoming more like Chuck. That's not in the bumbling sense but she's displaying more of a tendency to trip over her words. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The highlight of tonight's episode remains Fred Willard and Swoosie Kurtz. If 'Chuck' does miraculously get renewed for another season, I'm hoping they'll at least make another appearance.

[Watch episodes and clips of 'Chuck' on SlashControl]