Mark Hamill makes a welcome appearance as does Ethan Phillips in the fifth and final season premiere of Chuck. Written by one of series creators Chris Fedak and Nicholas Wootton, it debuted on 28 October, 2011.

Chuck (Zachary Levi) and the team, Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski), Casey (Adam Baldwin), and Morgan (Joshua Gomez) – the new intersect, have gone into business for themselves and are finding all manner of problems. Including Chuck trying to figure out how to deal with the fact that he’s no longer the intersect, and Morgan is doing ok with it.

Married now, Chuck and Sarah’s relationship is on solid ground as they look for the perfect home, but Decker (Richard Burgi) is going to be causing them a number of problems, including interfering with their current mission, as they now fashion themselves as private contractors, since they no longer with with the CIA and NSA.

Everything in this episode is on point. Directed by Robert Duncan McNeill, it sets everything up anew, and also sets the stage for the final season.

Chuck is settling easily into the role of leader, but is confronting what his abilities are within the team if he doesn’t have the intersect anymore.

Morgan, meanwhile, gets a chance to shine, with some great comedic moments. He also changes the terminology from flash to zoom, and he seems to be fitting in really well with both Casey and Sarah on missions, something else that highlights the fact that Chuck isn’t fitting in as well as he wants.

And the show’s teaser, featuring Hamill, is just wonderful.

So, buckle up, lets see where the final season takes us…

Chuck Versus the Bearded Bandit features Carrie-Anne Moss and Jeff Fahey guest star in this episode that was written by Rafe Judkins and Lauren LaFranc. It first aired on 4 November, 2011.

Moss stars as Gertrude Verbanski, who runs a rival security company, that would like to recruit Sarah, and get reconnected with Casey. She pops up throughout the episode to stir the pot, while Jeff Fahey is the client of the week. He hires Chuck and company, collectively known as Carmicheal Industries to find and save his brother (Justin Hartley).

The team eagerly takes on the case, even as financial issues mount, and a revelation about the mission is revealed.

Through it all, Chuck finds himself being Morgan’s handler, as the new intersect is increasingly determined to go out looking for action, and applying his new skills and abilities wherever he can, leading to a bit of a shocker ending to the episode.

Meanwhile, with the BuyMore being the sole source of income for Carmicheal Industries, Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence) looks for a way to up the cash flow, and designs a new ad campaign, with a new spokesperson.

Despite everything working out safely for the team by episode’s end, not everything is good. And there’s something about the intersect affecting Morgan’s mind – especially when he doesn’t catch a very easy pop culture reference during a fight sequence or at the episode’s close.

What’s going on? We’ll find out next week with more spycraft, laughs, romance, and pop culture with Chuck!