Episode Report Card DeAnn Welker: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Feeling Protective
By DeAnn Welker | Season 4 | Episode 23 | Aired on 05.09.2011
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.As the second-to-last episode of the season begins, Chuck and Sarah are trying to have a blissful day off planning their wedding. Lucky for them, Ellie's already got her people (Awesome and Morgan) on everything. Not so lucky for them is that Chuck's mom is breaking into Vivian Volkoff's Colombian caves to try to steal the Norseman device, the weapon that can kill people anywhere in the world using just their DNA. And Vivian's henchmen capture her, so Chuck, Sarah, and Casey have to head to the rescue two days before the big day. They rescue Mama Bartowski, but not without a lot of bickering between her and Sarah or a run-in with Vivian (they leave her and Riley locked up in the cell they rescue Mary from). When they get back to Castle, General Redhead fills them in on Vivian's plan to sell the Norseman. Because Vivian knows all of Team Bartowski except one, Morgan will go undercover on the mission as a potential buyer. This is stressful for everyone, but mostly Casey, who promised Alex he'd keep Morgan safe. And we all know how difficult that can be.
At the Norseman sale, Riley and Vivian turn the Norseman on all the potential buyers, killing them instantly. Fortunately, they don't have Morgan's DNA, though he fakes dead sufficiently to get them to leave. When the cleanup crew comes in with acid, though, he has to use the camera glasses he's wearing to help Casey sniper shoot all the cleanup crew through closed curtains from the next building over. Impressive! Even if it doesn't make a lot of sense. Sarah and Chuck cut off Vivian and Riley on their way out of the building with the device. Chuck tells Vivian he's not Agent X, like she thinks; her father is. She doesn't believe it, until Riley confirms it, but also adds that Chuck's mother and father made him into Alexei Volkoff to further their own CIA careers. Chuck swears it isn't true and pleads with Vivian, but Riley sneaks up behind him. He almost kills him, but Sarah kills Riley instead, in the nick of time. Vivian's disappeared by this point, but at least they have the Norseman. They consider going after her, but Mary reminds them they have a rehearsal dinner to get back to.
The rehearsal dinner all goes quite well, thanks to Ellie and a lovely wedding video from Chuck to Sarah (courtesy of Jeff, of all people; Lester's creepy version was a disaster when they screened it for Ellie). Mary makes a loving toast to Sarah, so all is right between them. Then Chuck gets an encrypted phone call. It's Vivian. She tells Chuck she's in pain, and she wants him to feel what it's like. Since his family is to blame for her being alone in the world, she tells him to look around and think about which one of these people she's going to take from him. He begs her not to, but she says she's already done it, because she has another Norseman. Sarah gets up and asks Chuck what's wrong, and he starts toward his mom, sure Vivian's going to hurt her. But Sarah starts hearing ringing in her ears and bleeding from her nose. She collapses just like all the others killed by the Norseman as the episode ends.
Next week's preview does show her in a wedding dress, but it looks like it might be a dream, considering the rest of the preview shows her fighting for her life in a hospital. And the announcer guy promises us a Chuck-style twist ending. Sounds like another agonizing wait for a renewal announcement.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!A few things Chuck wants us to know: Chuck and Ellie opened up to each other, and Ellie filled everyone in on Agent X, who turned out to be Alexei Volkoff. His daughter Vivian started working on a DNA-driven weapon called the Norseman. Now: Mary Bartowski hangs above a bunch of liquid tubes, trying to steal them, when a scientist leads Vivian and Riley in. Mary pulls herself up above the room just in time, but doesn't get the liquid tubes. The scientist apologizes for taking so long to assemble the Norseman (the liquid tubes), but he's ready to show them how it works. Vivian thinks whoever's been trying to sabotage them won't find their way down into this crazy cave they're in. Mary hangs above them, listening. To test out the Norseman, they apparently input the scientist's DNA. When they turn on the weapon, he covers his ears and bleeds from the nose, then falls over dead. Vivian winces a little, then Riley lectures her about how she should really start killing people herself to spread fear. They leave the room, and Mary drops down into the room. But Vivian, Riley, and some henchmen come in and Riley tells Vivian this is the woman who betrayed her father for twenty years. "Frost, welcome back." Only it's not really a warm welcome.
It's morning in Burbank. Chuck and Sarah are in bed, waking up. She asks him if he knows what today is, and he guesses a bunch of CIA stuff. But she tells him this is a day off and will be all about them and their wedding. She's sorry her bridesmaids couldn't help more, but "that coup is taking longer than expected." He says it's okay, since Awesome, Ellie, and Morgan have taken over everything. But he tells her he still has to do that one thing she doesn't know about "because I'm adorable." He says this in his supposedly adorable voice, which Sarah seems to love but which makes me cringe. Sarah tells him everything is perfect, and nothing can go wrong. He sits up in bed, all "You did NOT just say that." Then a loud crash comes from the courtyard and Morgan screams for help. Chuck asks Sarah why she'd ever say that; hasn't she ever seen a movie? She eagerly tells him she finally saw Mannequin. So, you know, only about twenty-four years before she sees this year's movies.
In the courtyard, Morgan's wrapped in twinkle lights and hanging from a second-story window. Awesome and Ellie are trying to figure out how to help him when Chuck and Sarah come out. Chuck flashes and does some crazy flips and jumps to rescue Morgan then get back down to the courtyard. Awesome can't believe Chuck doesn't do any core work considering how amazing he is at gymnastics. Ellie's had enough of the small talk, though, so she sends Chuck and Sarah back inside and tells Morgan this doesn't get him out of putting up twinkle lights, because this place has to be magical. Magical! She Bridesmaidzillas about it enough that Awesome tells her she's a little scary right now.