Stars: Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez, Vic Sahay, Scott Krinsky, Sarah Lancaster, Ryan McPartlin, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Bonita Friedericy
Writers: Nicholas Wootton
Director: Paul Marks
Network: NBC, airs Monday nights
Original Telecast: February 14, 2011

I’m pretty sure I have a new favorite episode from Season 4 of CHUCK and that’s “Vs. The Cat Squad.”

The set-up is a simple – Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) doesn’t have anyone she can invite to her and Chuck’s (Zachary Levi) engagement party, so he does a little digging and finds out she was part of a CIA super-group of sexy spies dubbed The C.A.T. Squad.

The four members were sort of a 2003 version of CHARLIE’S ANGELS and the show sets this up early on with a perfect recreation of that 1970s series’ opening (there’s even a narrator who sounds suspiciously like Charlie).

Of course, there was some tension and mistrust and the group broke up – with some grudges intact.

Now Chuck has found a way to bring them back together – and it opens up some old wounds and brings forth an old villain of the group named Gaez (Lou Diamond Phillips) who wants all of them dead.

It doesn’t take long to realize there’s a mole within the Cat Squad – one that betrays them all, and of course, it’s up to Chuck, and a Buy More store full of consumer equipment to try and take them her and Gaez down.

Funny, clever and filled with the kind of cheeky stuff a CHUCK standalone needs to have, the episode ups the hotness factor times three, plus it also digs a little deeper into the relationship between Morgan (Joshua Gomez) and Alex (Mekenna Melvin). It seems that Morgan is in love, and won’t let Cat Squad member Karina (Mini Anden) who had a previous fling with, stand in his way.

We also learn that Casey (Adam Baldwin) still harbors feelings for his wife (he still believes he’s dead), Sarah still doesn’t want to open up about her mom and dad to Chuck, but will open up to Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and, most importantly, we get to see the uber-hot Mircea Monroe play kitty cat squad member Amy. Amy has many layers, and Monroe manages to make this character cute and bubbly, while also able the handle a gun and be just as tough as Sarah and the others.

“Vs. the Cat Squad” is CHUCK at its finest – it plays with the conventions of the spy genre, while adding another level to the show’s continually expanding mythology. The way the show has been handling Chuck and Sarah’s relationship during the latter part of the season has proven to be liberating for the writers – and they’ve finally found a balance that let’s CHUCK by CHUCK, while still staying true to the show’s quirks and charms.

I think it’s time THE C.A.T. SQUAD got its own show? NBC, are you listening?

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