On an evening out with Sarah and Morgan, Chuck recognises Chinese spy Mei-Ling Cho (Gwendoline Yeo). The team investigate, and discover that she's on an unofficial mission to rescue her brother, who has been kidnapped by a Triads. Chuck manages to persuade her to defect in exchange for the team's help.
Trope Flash:
- Actor Allusion: James Hong's character Ben Lo Pan gets a few:
- His very name Ben Lo Pan is a Punny Name, as it's a reference to James Hong previous role in Big Trouble in Little China where he played a character named Lo Pan, thus his name here being "Been" Lo Pan.
- When Ben Lo Pan is stopped by Chuck while trying to escape, Chuck tells him "Forget it Ben, it's Chinatown", a Shout-Out to Chinatown where James Hong had a role.
- Action Girl: Mei-Ling is a female Chinese Intelligence Officer who's just as good as Sarah and Casey on the field.
- Badass in Distress: Mei-Ling, Sarah and Casey all get captured by the Triads in their rescue attempt. Chuck has to step up to rescue them.
- Big Damn Heroes: A downplayed example. Ellie usually despises Morgan, but when she hears he's losing a sales competition and in danger of losing his job, she buys Awesome and Chuck's birthday presents early and from him so he won't get fired.
- Bound and Gagged: Lee is tied up and gagged when Chuck first sees him, making it obvious to him that the guy in a wheelchair he just helped is actually evil and is actually kidnapping someone.
- The Cake Is a Lie: A the end of the episode, Big Mike reveals that the entire sales competition was a lie, the prize for 2nd place, the pizza, was just for him and the prize for 1st place, an iPhone never existed.
- Chekhov's Gun: Early on, Chuck and Morgan argue about spicing up the evening with fireworks. Morgan thinks it would be fun, Chuck wants to keep all his limbs. Later, when Sarah, Casey and Mei-Ling are held captive by the Triad, Chuck sets off a whole bag of fireworks in the bad guys' van as a distraction.
- Chekhov's Skill: While tracking Mei-Ling, Casey gives Chuck a quick lesson on tailing: how much space to leave, etc. When the others are captured by the Triad, Chuck employs these techniques to follow them back to the restaurant.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: After Chuck screws up her rescue of her brother, Mei-Ling follows Chuck and calls him at the Buy More, demanding his help.
- Deadly Delivery: Mei-Ling herself twice to get near her targets, first as a waitress in a Chinese restaurant, then as a delivery girl on the Buy More.
- Defector from Commie Land: Mei-Ling agrees to defect from China as long as Team Bartowski helps to rescue her brother who was kidnaped by Triads.
- Distressed Dude: The plot of the episode revolves around Lee Cho, a Chinese diplomat that was kidnapped by the local Triads. His spy sister, angry that her government doesn't care about him, goes rogue to rescue him herself.
- Evil Cripple: Ben Lo Pan is a wheelchair-bound Tria boss and the episode's villain.
- Good All Along: When Mei-Ling's first introduced, the team comes to the Wrong Assumption that she's in America to assassinate a Chinatown businessman, but it turns out he's actually a Triad leader who kidnapped her brother, and she's just trying to rescue him.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: Mei-Ling's very pissed about her brother being kidnapped, to the point of forsaking her country for a chance to rescue him.
- The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: A platonic variation. Ellie and Morgan are feeling neglected as Chuck keeps breaking plans to hang out with his new girlfriend (actually to do spy work, but obviously they don't know that).
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When the shooting starts, Chuck sees a man in a wheelchair fleeing the scene and helps him this car. Sadly, he soon realises the man is a Triad leader who has a Chinese diplomat - Mei-Ling Cho's brother - captive, and Chuck just screwed up her rescue.
- Non-Action Guy: Chuck as usual, but Mei-Ling's brother is only a diplomat and also useless in a fight.
- Outside-Context Problem: The main plot of the episode had little to do with Chuck or the DEA, until Chuck accidentally ruined things for Mei-Ling. After that, a guilt-ridden Chuck insists on helping, with Sarah and Casey hesitantly agreeing.
- She-Fu: Mei-Ling does a lot of acrobatic flips during her action scenes.
- Shout-Out: When Morgan begs for Chuck's help, he says "Help me, Chuck Bartowski; you're my only hope", which is a reference to Princess Leia's message to Obi-Wan in Star Wars: A New Hope.
- Stock Foreign Name: A Chinese woman named "Mei-Ling".
- The Triads and the Tongs: The villain is a Triad leader that controls most of Chinatown.
- Villain of the Week: Ben Lo Pan (James Hong), is a Triad boss who holds Mei-Ling's brother hostage.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Mei-Ling's attempt to rescue her brother was never sanctioned by the Chinese government, so she was forced to defect and can never return to China again.
