At an NBC party at TCA press tour on Monday, I ran into 'Chuck' executive producer Chris Fedak, who talked about a couple of big things that'll be happening in the NBC spy show's final season.

There's the casting of 'Matrix' star Carrie-Anne Moss in a multi-episode arc as Gertrude Verbanski, the head of a private espionage agency that competes with Chuck's new firm. A woman as tough, competitive and weapons-obsessed as Gertrude naturally appeals to John Casey.

"What we wanted to do this season is really kind of open up [Casey] to a new romantic relationship, and we thought we needed someone as badass as him," Fedak said. "Carrie-Anne seemed like the perfect fit."

But during the final season, there trouble among the Buy More staff -- Jeff and Lester, otherwise known as the not-quite-legendary rock band Jeffster, hit a rough patch in their relationship, and I learned that one of them even goes to jail. But could an 'Office' gig be in Jeffster's future? It's a long shot, but if it happens, it could be one of the funnest crossovers of the season.

Ryan McGee capably reviewed 'Chuck' here, but I had to share a few thoughts about Monday's 'Chuck versus the Push Mix,' a delightful and epic episode of the show. It played like a season finale -- and in fact, it could have been one had NBC not ordered additional season 4 episodes of 'Chuck.'

So never fear, we'll get 11 more 'Chuck' episodes over the next few months, but will any of them be as wall-to-wall enjoyable as 'Push Mix'? Will any of them contain performances that top Jeffster's hilarious rendition of 'Push It'? I doubt it.

(S03E14) Let's review the steps that brought us to this moment: 'Chuck' originally only had a 13 episode order for this season so the last episode wrapped things up pretty well and left the story on a happy note. Then, NBC ordered additional episodes (see details in our Chris Fedak interview), so in effect we're seeing "Season 3.2". Also, there's a good chance that 'Chuck' will be renewed next year.

Happy pre-Thanksgiving! Before you dive into the feast and football, dig in for some Chuck talk first. Vik Sahay, who plays Lester Patel on the NBC geek hit, joins me, Jason Hughes and Kona Gallagher to talk about the show's new season, which starts on January 10. Here's a hint about the season: Jeffster is mentioned a few times during the interview.

Before and after the interview, the three of us talk about:

• Why Mondays, especially at 8, is such a brutal timeslot,
• Oprah's "retirement" and if she'll ever have that same kind of platform again,
• Our picks for the week, and more.

Run time is 1:15:52.

You can listen to the podcast below, or download from here or by subscribing to our RSS podcast feed. It is also available via iTunes. Feel free to leave us feedback in the comments or drop us a line at tvsquadpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com.

As usual, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Life" by Justin Trawick; we discuss how we found this music at the top of the 'cast.

(S02E22) If this was the series finale for Chuck, it was a really satisfying and appropriate wrap up. If, as I'm hoping, it was only the season finale, this was a really satisfying and appropriate set up for the next season of Chuck. Therefore, any way you slice it, Chuck hit a lot of high notes -- including Jeffster's pre-wedding serenade. The show was filled with action, had new information that was just a little bit stunning, and overall, it was terrific.

Have I mentioned how much I love Ellie and Awesome's wedding ? She looked amazing in her wedding gown and after the chapel situation turned into a scene reminiscent of You Only Live Twice with guys parachuting in through the roof (only in Bond it was a volcano), the outdoor, California nuptials were not only nicer, it gave Chuck a chance to give Ellie the wedding she really wanted.

(S02E21) If you were waiting all season long for an episode this power-packed, you finally got your heart's desire. You wanted action; you got it. Story line development? Check. More about Sarah and Chuck? Casey in the middle of everything? Guest stars? References to pop culture and old movies? Morgan's deepest dreams revealed? Yep. This was the episode for you. The penultimate Chuck for season two -- and hopefully not the next to last of all time -- was perhaps the best episode of the year.

For sheer dynamics, the team was not working together. Casey, who was promoted and thus became the colonel of the title, was put in the tough position of having to apprehend Chuck and Sarah. Since they all know each other so well, there was no advantage on either side, and Chuck's emotional appeal about finding his father seemed to have little effect on Casey.

(S02E15) Chuck was in a weird place last night. The character, that is, not the show. The show picked up on a storyline from a few weeks back and set up a future episode with a new character that seemed to me a nice contrast to the Casey-Sarah-Chuck triple play.

Remember "Chuck Versus the Suburbs," when Andy Richter's corpse was dragged away in a body bag? Well, he wasn't resurrected on Fringe, like one commenter suggested. No, he's dead and his body included a belt that contained some top-secret data, most importantly, the identity of the Intersect, i.e. Chuck.

The timing of the discovery couldn't be worse, though, because Chuck had just decided to "dump" Sarah as a fake girlfriend, feeling that they had no fake/real future. Of course, be careful what you wish for, Charles. More after the jump.

(S02E14) Twosomes were very much the theme in this episode, not just Chuck and Morgan, but Devon and Ellie, Jeff and Lester, Morgan and Anna, and -- naturally -- Chuck and Sarah as well as Chuck and Casey. There were scenes that dealt with all these pairs and their dynamics.

The case involved Anna's new boyfriend, car dealer extraordinaire Jason Wang, who caused Chuck's intersect to go off and he was involved with an Asian group of baddies called the Triad. To uncover what they were up to, the General -- whom I'm starting to really detest -- ordered Chuck to get close to Anna's boyfriend, which meant betraying Morgan.