Chuck 5x07: Chuck Vs. the Santa Suit

Original Air Date: 23 December 2011

Storyline: Chuck and Sarah discover who is behind a plot to take down their company. A computer virus creates havoc as the Buy More prepares for Christmas. Ellie tries to make Christmas plans for everybody.Trivia: Daniel Shaw mentions "Santa Claus, or Krampus as the Germans call him". Krampus is not the German name for Santa Claus, it's a completely different character. Krampus is a mythical creature recognized in Alpine countries. He accompanies Saint Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children, in contrast to St. Nicholas, who gives gifts to good children.Best Quote:

Shaw: You know what the ultimate revenge is?
Sarah: Spending Christmas Eve with you?

Review: Oh, what do you know? The Chuck showrunners couldn't help it but "delight" us with a holiday episode! Can't we really get past all this Christmas cheer cliches and move on to something not so nauseating?

But Christmas with the Bartowskis is not always all that cheery and at least that's a good thing. As predicted, Sarah's old handler and boyfriend, not to mention reigning Intersect, Daniel Shaw, was behind the Omen virus being released onto the world and, more than that, responsible for putting Decker on Chuck's trail. But wait... it really wasn't about Chuck, it was about Sarah. You see, Shaw's reasons are ultimately to make her suffer for the pain she caused him by killing his wife. And you'd think that people who are in the spy business have more sense than that... 
All this was just disappointing. Shaw's plan may have been to download the Intersect 3.0 into his brain and fry CIA's database, so that he can remain the only intelligence source, but that was not why he went after Chuck and Sarah. Yawn...
Another big yawn was him getting caught so quickly after his escape. You'd think that, with Shaw this last season's villain, it would have taken Chuck & co a bit more time to put him back behind bars, but I guess the Bartowski Christmas was bound to happen and, for that, the day needed to be saved. I honestly don't get the producers of this show. When you know it's the last season and that fans are waiting for something really great, you should end it with a blast. So far, this hasn't happened. It just feels like each episode is separate and there isn't really an end game, despite Shaw's last words in 2011.
But I still have hope; after all, that one never dies and Shaw has been such a memorable villain back in season three that I still expect him to have some more aces back his sleeve. We definitely haven't seen the last of him, or at least that's what I'm hoping for.
All this being said, this episode was great was various reasons. First of all, Shaw breaking into Castle and taking Sarah prisoner, not to forget about freezing her over, was a source of some good action and suspense scenes. We've been missing the suspense lately and this week was full of it. Secondly, the Buy More fight between Chuck and Shaw was finally one where we could see our hero's skills at work - both the nerdy ones, by downloading the Omen virus right into Shaw's brain, and the ass-kicking ones. He's been hard at work training and now he can be a match even for Shaw. Without the Intersect, of course. And Ellie actually being the one to kick Shaw unconscious was the icing on the cake and was somehow the best was to guarantee that her Christmas wishes came true.
Some other good stuff: Casey's Christmas present for Alex and no, I'm not talking about the preppy bear, although that was kind of cute. We all knew he would warm up to Morgan eventually, didn't we? Also, the Jeffster dynamic duo - not singing, but actually reverse-engineering the Omen virus, was both the nerdiest and the coolest thing of the week.
I can hardly wait now to see what Shaw meant by Hungary aqnd the baby. Could Sarah really be a mother?
Chuck 5x06: Chuck vs. the Curse Back to Season 5