You're my home.
Chuck Versus The Suitcase is the second episode of Chuck's fourth season.
Chuck and Sarah go undercover in Milan during Fashion Week to retrieve a high-tech secret weapon from a Volkoff agent.
Morgan discovers a fatal flaw that compromises the new Buy More.
Sarah and Casey deal with their issues outside of their spy lives.
This episode provides examples of:
- Accidental Pervert:
- When trying to steal Sofia's purse during the party at Milan, Chuck inadvertently ends up groping her butt instead.
[Chuck reaches for Sofia's purse and accidentally touches her butt]
Sofia: Excuse me! Who do you think you are?
Chuck: Nobody! I'm nobody! This is nothing! No, I wasn't trying to do that, put my hand on your bottom.
[Beat]
[Chuck still has his hand on her bottom]
Sofia: Your hand is still touching my perfection!
Chuck: [pulling his hand away] So it is. So sorry. That was an accident. Happy accident! Kind of. Not really. Uh, but I'm not a weirdo pervert by any stretch!- Sofia comes back to her hotel room early while Chuck and Sarah are infiltrating it and they hide in her closet, with Chuck forced to watch as she comes in and takes off her dress.
- Arms Dealer: Sofia is a Volkoff agent that uses her job as an international fashion model as a cover to travel all around the world.
- Batman Gambit: Sofia knows that spies are after her Smart Bullet Clip, so she puts a Time Bomb in her purse and lets them steal it. And the ones she has at the safe in her hotel room are also a fake.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Subverted, both Sarah and Sofia are bloodied and bruised after their fight in the runway.
- Black-Tie Infiltration: Chuck and Sarah's first and final attempt at retrieving Sofia's Smart Gun takes place during fancy parties in Milan.
- Bodyguard Crush: Sofia's main bodyguard Gerard (played by Lou Ferrigno) has a major crush on her. When Sarah sneaks up on him to knock him out, but he hears her and assumes it's Sofia and hilariously tries to confess to her, which weirds out Sarah.Gerard: For so many years I've been your muscle. But, you know, the strongest muscle in my body is my heart. And now it belongs to you.
- Cat Fight: Sarah's fight with Sofia on the runway catwalk is played for fanservice. So much so the audience thinks it was All Part of the Show.
- Chekhov's Gun: During the briefing about Sofia, one of the pictures shows her undressing. At first, this seems like simple Fanservice, but later Chuck realizes she was undressing because she hides the Smart Bullet Clip in her sequined dress.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Sarah becomes very jealous of Chuck's obvious attraction to Sofia, with a Running Gag of her giving him Death Glares whenever she notices he's Eating the Eye Candy or becoming Distracted by the Sexy. When she finds Sofia using Chuck as a Human Shield while naked, she's actually more pissed at her nudity than at the Human Shield part.Sarah: [incredulously] Is she naked?
Chuck: [extremely nervous] Who?
Sarah: [Death Glare]
Chuck: Yes, yes she is. - Commitment Issues: This episode focuses on Sarah and Casey having these since "spies don’t have roots".
- Being a spy who's Married to the Job, Sarah is unwilling to "plant roots", demonstrated by the eponymous suitcase that she refuses to unpack at Chuck's place, as she's used to not having a home and being always on the move. At the end of the episode, she willingly unpacks the suitcase, telling Chuck that "He is her home" and the situation seems to be resolved... but then Chuck comments that maybe they're "next" to get married and have children. Cue a shot of Sarah's freaked out expression.
- Casey is hesitant about developing a relationship with his daughter Alex and has been avoiding her for months, since he thinks his spy life is too complicated and he's not sure how he's going to fit into her life or how she will fit into his. Morgan encourages him to pursue it.
- Can't Bathe Without a Weapon: Implied, since Sofia has a gun with her when she confronts Chuck in her closet after getting out of the shower. A gun and nothing else.
- Covert Group with Mundane Front: To keep the "Buy More" front, Morgan actually convinces Beckman to hire the previous incompetent crew, since the fake agents were far too competent and were raising suspicion. She even promotes Morgan to the manager due to his insight.
- Curtain Camouflage: Chuck and Sarah hide behind Sofia's dresses when she comes back to her hotel room unexpectedly.
- Designated Girl Fight: Sarah is the one to have the final confrontation with the villainess of the week.
- Distracted by the Luxury: Chuck and Sarah become distracted by the luxury of Sofia's apartment, especially her closet full of shoes and many different dresses, which contrasts to Sarah who only carries around a small suitcase when she travels and has an empty closet at Chuck's house.
- Feet-First Introduction: The first thing we see of Sofia is a shot of her feet as she running from a US agent that's pursuing her.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Sofia has to confront Chuck and Sarah in her hotel room while naked and wet when she finds they infiltrated while she was showering.
- Funny Background Event: Morgan's presentation about how the new Buy More is too efficiently run, in the form of a monologue as he strolls through the Buy More as he attempts to cause chaos, but the CIA agents hired to run the store as a substation keep fixing everything before anything happens, using all sorts of crazy stuntwork and precise timing.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Chuck is drooling over Sofia just at looking at her profile pictures and even General Beckman admits she's "quite fetching".
- Hero-Worshipper: One of the kids in the Buy More starts doing this to Greta after seeing how amazing he is at his job, which deeply disturbs Morgan since he thinks no one should ever admire a Buy More employer.Kid: I don't wanna be an astronaut anymore, Mommy. I wanna work at the Buy More.
Greta: First you have to finish school, little man. - Human Shield: Sofia makes one out of Chuck, doubling as Hand-or-Object Underwear since she's completely naked at the time. Sarah seems actually more concerned that Chuck is wrapped up against the nude Sofia than worried over his safety. The situation is resolved when Sarah shots the shower door behind Sofia and Chuck manages to free himself from her grip.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: The fake agents working as the Buy More staff are so competent at their job, Devon actually becomes suspicious and (correctly) guesses that they're all spies.
- Insecure Love Interest: Chuck feels uneasy about Sarah’s inability to unpack her things and officially move into his place.
- Instant Sedation: Played With, when Casey gets tired of Jeff and Lester, he just shots with Lester with a Tranquillizer Dart and he immediately drops. But when he shots Jeff he just No-Sells it. It takes Casey emptying the clip on him to get him to drop.
- Interrupted Bath: Sofia's shower is interrupted by Chuck sneaking around in her closet. She doesn't bother putting any clothes on before confronting him.
- Lame Last Words: Narrowly averted. When Chuck thinks the Time Bomb strapped to his hand will kill him and Sarah, he confesses he still loves her despite the suitcase thing. She's later pissed at him that his last words to her were going to be nagging her about her Commitment Issues.
- Legacy Character: Greta is revealed to be this, with this episode's incarnation being a huge and handsome black man played by Isaiah Mustafa (better known as The Man Your Man Could Smell Like)
- Lingerie Scene: Sarah strips down to her Black Bra and Panties when she has to put on the Sequined dress containing the microchips.
- Limited Wardrobe: Sofia only wears the same Simple, yet Opulent sequined Sexy Backless Dress for most of the episode. After seeing her vast wardrobe, Chuck correctly deduces it's because she's using the sequined dress to transport the Smart Bullets Clip.
- Lust Object: Sofia becomes this to Chuck, he gets Distracted by the Sexy just from seeing her profile picture. Not helped by all the sexually charged situations he keeps getting with her, like accidentally groping her, having to watch her undress and being held hostage by her while she's naked and wet.
- Male Gaze: The camera pans up and down Sofia's Sexy Silhouette in the shower.
- Married to the Job: Casey tells Chuck this is the case for not only himself and Sarah, but every good spy as "spies don't put down roots".
- Mr. Fanservice: Greta #2 is a male, but still just as ridiculously attractive as the last one. It helps when he's played by Isaiah Mustafa, best known as The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.
- Ms. Fanservice: Sofia Stepanova is a gorgeous supermodel (and played by actual supermodel Karolína Kurková) and spends her screen time in a Sexy Backless Outfit or naked.
- "No Peeking!" Request: Inverted, Sofia has to demand Chuck turn around to keep facing her when she's holding him at gunpoint while she's naked.
- Please Put Some Clothes On:
- Chuck is very uncomfortable about Sofia's state of undress when she tries to interrogate him at gunpoint.
[Chuck is almost finished opening her safe]
Sofia: [*Click* Hello] Don't move.
Chuck: [slowly turns around to face her, sees she's completely naked and quickly turns away]
Sofia: Look at me.
Chuck: [turns to face her again, trying and failing not to ogle her] Okay, you should know that I have a girlfriend—
Sofia: Who do you work for, and how did you find me?
Chuck: [nervously] I would love to get into this. Is it at all possible for you to cover yourself with maybe a towel?- While escaping from Sofia's hotel room, Chuck and Sarah make a run for the balcony. Chuck hooks Sarah up and before Sarah lifts herself she fires a warning shot in the direction of the naked Sofia who's pursuing them, quipping "put some clothes on" before lifting off.
- Pretty Little Headshots: During the intro, Sofia shoots a US Red Shirt agent that was pursuing him with the Smart Gun, killing him with a bloodless headshot, to show how efficient and dangerous the gun is.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: Sofia wears a sequined backless dress in most of her appearances. Which makes Chuck realize she's likely hiding the microchips for the Smart Gun in them, since a famous model would never wear the same dress so many times.
- Sexy Silhouette: A combination of the glass door and Censor Steam ensure only Sofia's silhouette is seen while she's showering.
- Sexy Surfacing Shot: The surveillance photo General Beckman pulls of Sofia has her walking out of the ocean in a bikini. It immediately gets Chuck's attention.Chuck: Hiyo! Who do we have taking our surveillance pics? Because those are tremendous. Can you see the way...? [notices Sarah's Death Glare] Uh. What? No. No, no, no. I'm just saying, clearly... In a bathing suit? I didn't notice that.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Sofia makes no attempt at covering herself when she confronts Chuck fresh out of the shower.
- Shoulders-Up Nudity: When the naked Sofia is holding Chuck at gunpoint, the camera doesn't fall bellow her breast line, unless it's showing her bare back.
- Shout-Out:
- Lester tries to pull a Jedi Mind Trick on Morgan when he attempts to rehire him, deliberately quoting A New Hope.Lester: [waves hands] These are not the boys you're looking for.
- When Morgan gives Chuck a speech about relationships with "Achilles' Heel" that ruined everything, he mentions several conflicted relationships: "Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Iseult and Anakin and Padmé".
- Chuck attempts to replicate Peter and Mary Jane's signature upside-down kiss from Spider-Man, but Sarah refuses.
- When Sofia fires the Smart Gun in the opening, we get a close-up Bullet Time shot of the bullet, showing that it is shaped like the Tardis from Doctor Who.
- Lester tries to pull a Jedi Mind Trick on Morgan when he attempts to rehire him, deliberately quoting A New Hope.
- Shower of Awkward: Played With. Instead of walking into Sofia showering, she walks into Chuck and Sarah while they're in her closet and they're forced to watch her strip to go shower. And when they try to sneak off, she confronts them without a stitch of clothing on. It's particularly awkward since Chuck is attracted to her and Sarah is jealous of it.
- Smart Gun: Team Bartowski is tasked to retrieve one from Sofia. In this case, it's actually a Smart Bullet Clip, the bullets are said to have a built-in GPS that allows them to be microchip-controlled, guiding them to the target. Casey scoffs at the idea, saying a real spy would have no need for such a thing.
- Somebody Set Up Us the Bomb: Sofia puts a Time Bomb inside her purse, knowing the spies after her would steal it from her. Sarah manages to disarm it when she Cut the Fuse.
- Strapped to a Bomb: Chuck first instinct upon finding Sofia's Time Bomb is to grab it and throw it away, but Sofia put a pressor sensor in it, meaning it would explode if he let go of it. Thankfully, Sarah managed to disarm it in time.
- Tranquillizer Dart:
- Casey pulls one out when Jeff and Lester start annoying him.
- Chuck has a pair of Tranquillizer Gloves which he uses to take out some of Sofia's bodyguards, including Gerard.
- That Came Out Wrong: Chuck does this when he asks Sarah if she thinks Sofia can see them in the closet while she's showering.[Chuck and Sarah look at Sofia's Sexy Silhouette in the bathroom]
Chuck: Can you see anything?
Sarah: Are you serious!?
Chuck: No, I'm serious.
Sarah: [Death Glare]
Chuck: What, are you kidd— Who do you think I am? If we can't see anything, then she can't see anything either, right?
Sarah: Oh. Right. Okay. - Toplessness from the Back: Used when Sofia is undressing in her closet and when she takes Chuck as her Human Shield.
- Villain of the Week: Dark Action Girl Sofia Stepanova, a Volkoff Arms Dealer with a dangerous Smart Gun that team Bartowski is pursuing.
