This review may contain spoilers.

It's a lot more difficult to write a review when a series that has a pretty set structure changes it up. Now, "Chuck Versus First Class" wasn't a complete 180 from the rest of the series, but it was certainly something new - Chuck (Zachary Levi) went on his first solo mission. Chuck finally "got out of the car," so to speak, and ended up on a plane to Paris.

The car really was the safer option.

Chuck setting out on his own forced the rest of the characters to interact with each other outside the realm of all things Bartowski. Awesome and Ellie were absent, but after the past two episodes, you can't really say the season's lacked in that department so far. And it's actually rather surprising that Morgan and Casey haven't interacted that much in the series until now, seeing as how Casey tends to get in the way of Chuck/Morgan time. Sarah and Shaw are only really an "odd couple" because of the anti-Chuck (as well as anti-Bryce) nature of Shaw, and they too were surprisingly refreshing.

So really, "Chuck Versus First Class" was all about getting out of one's comfort zone. It was also an episode for new beginnings.

(And it also confirmed that Bryce Larkin is dead. Really dead. For good this time.)

What Worked

Bryce Larkin is dead!

Another good point was the Buy More subplot. Lester and his gang torturing poor Morgan was wonderful, as was Morgan and Casey teaming up together, leading to Casey hypnotizing Lester. If the show plays its cards right, Morgan/Casey time just might trump Chuck/Morgan time. It doesn't get much better than Casey as Lieutenant Ass-Man.

Sadly for any of us who still have some residual Lana Lang hate from "Smallville," it may be hard to take the fact that Kristin Kreuk's Hannah is a relatively likable character. It was a bit touch and go when she asked the very Lana Lang-esque question, "What are your secrets, Chuck," and she turned out to live in Paris, but so far, Hannah isn't a complete reminder of the Mary Sue of "Smallville." Chuck and Sarah are at a place where neither one of them is annoyingly pining over the other, so seeing Chuck interact with the potential love interest that is Hannah (and Sarah with Shaw) works in a way where she isn't just a roadblock in the path of Chuck and Sarah's forever love.

What Didn't Work

This one is actually up for debate, but it has yet to be seen just how crucial The Ring will be to the rest of the season (and series). For the past two seasons, Fulcrum has been the big bad cloaked in darkness - no one actually knew what Fulcrum did, but just the very mention of the organization was a big deal. If The Ring is really just Fulcrum 2.0 with all (or even more) of the mystery and even less of the answers, it could really just be a waste of a storyline.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"Chuck" stars Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Joshua Gomez, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Scott Krinsky, Vik Sahay, Ryan McPartlin, Sarah Lancaster, Adam Baldwin. "Chuck Versus First Class" was written by Chris Fedak and directed by Fred Toye.

"Chuck" airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on NBC.