Two-Buck Chuck: The Days of Wine and Roses on Chuck

Proposals are funny things.

Pull off an entirely romantic marriage offer and you have a story that you'll be telling your grandchildren in years to come. Fail and it could be, for Sarah's parents, emblematic of everything that went wrong with their relationship.

But whether it's an Italian restaurant, or the balcony of a posh French chateau, what really matters is the moment itself, something that Chuck finally grasps at the end of this week's sweet and funny episode ("Chuck Versus the Balcony"), written by Max Denby and directed by Jay Chandrasekhar. It's more about seizing the moment with the one you love than it is about balloons, string quartets, or carriages.

Unfortunately, Chuck realizes this lesson too late. In true Chuck fashion, the course of true love never did run smooth and Chuck and his lady love, Sarah Walker, find themselves on opposite trajectories. As Chuck prepares to spend his life with Sarah, she's engaged on a dangerous mission, posing as a double agent in order to free Chuck's mom from the dastardly Alexei Volkoff.

For all of Chuck's planning, his "sub-mission" fails to take off due to external circumstances beyond his control... and some internal ones as well. Unable to propose until he encounters the ideal situation, Chuck misses his chance to ask Sarah to marry him, as he's twice interrupted in pursuit of his marital goal.

I'm glad that the writers opted to paint Chuck as extremely nervous about proposing to Sarah. Despite the fact that the two have saved the world (and each other) on numerous occasions, there's still something life-altering and tremendous about making a marriage proposal. Chuck's Intersect-like abilities don't seem to include getting down on one knee among its mind-arsenal of fighting styles. For all of his superheroics, Chuck is still an Everyman and there are few things more terrifying than proposing. (Even I found myself flustered when it came time for it, after being with my future wife for years and years.)

Chuck's nervousness and his belief that the moment needed to be absolutely perfect point towards his good heart and his love for Sarah. Hoping to avoid the awfulness of her parents' proposal (aside: do we know anything about her mother?), Chuck wants to avoid the cliche, over-the-top excess that marred Sarah's father's proposal. (Along with a restaurant carpet fire.) But it true Chuck style, our everyman spy has drafted Morgan into a sub-mission to pull off a most romantic moment with his girlfriend... who herself quickly finds out just what is going on.

The tension of the mission--involving a missing nanochip secreted at a chateau in the Loire Valley--is nicely paralleled by the tension of Chuck's side mission... and it was fantastic to see Sarah not go into a tailspin about the imminent proposal (and the long-term relationship implicit with it) but rather express her excitement, and help out to ensure that the proposal went smoothly. (Nice save with the ring box, S.)

But Sarah is also a covert agent in the employ of the United States government. Her desire for a happy, well-adjusted life are secondary to their orders... and I truly believe that she thinks she is helping Chuck by going undercover at Volkoff Industries in order to free Frost. But Sarah's desire to reunite Chuck with his mom have put their future happiness on hold altogether. Unable to even finish proposing to Sarah in her cell at Castle, Chuck is shocked to learn that she's posing as a double agent in order to do her job and to get Mary back to safety.

History, as they say, has a way of repeating itself. Mary's clandestine mission destroyed her marriage to Stephen, and Sarah's decision to follow in her footsteps don't bode well for her prospects with Chuck. She's chosen professional duty over personal desire, once again. Chuck's bended-knee proposal may go horribly awry, but it's the horror of learning what Sarah has accepted to do that's truly shocking for him.

I don't doubt that these two will eventually make it down the aisle together (season finale, anyone?), but I have to commend the writers for puncturing our expectations here. While it seemed as though the episode was finally building up to an engagement (or at the very least, the proposal), the rug is yanked out from under our feet just as much as it is Chuck's.

All in all, "Chuck Versus the Balcony" managed to pull off a delightly combination of heart and humor, something that the best installments of Chuck have in abundance, and created a nicely parallel storyline for Lester at the Buy More, as he prepared to meet his Saskatchewan bride. Issues of marriage, morality, and mothers all coming together to create a winning episode here that wore its heart on its sleeve.

But I'm curious to know what you thought of the episode: did you think Chuck would pull off a perfect proposal in the end? Think Sarah would accept in the cell? Wondering just why she's putting her life in danger to save Chuck's mom? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on Chuck ("Chuck vs. the Gobbler"), in a bid to free Chuck's mom, Sarah goes undercover on a suicide mission for Volkoff industries; Awesome and Ellie struggle to choose a baby name.