Chuck TV Show - Chuck Versus the Mask - Chuck Recaps, Chuck Reviews, Chuck Episodes | TWoP

Recapped by DeAnn Welker · Aired 2010-02-08

That segues right into Chuck replying to Hannah with, "Busy? For you? Never!" She tells him she wants him to teach her, and he assumes she's referring to the long and difficult road of Nerd Herding. She asks to go on his install, but he tells her she must learn to crawl before she can run. She says maybe he'd prefer to go with Jeff then, cramped into the tiny car, and he's like, "Well played." He promises her she can ride shotgun on the assignment. She's happy. Then Sarah comes in, and Chuck approaches her, clearly annoyed she's bugging him at his cover job. He asks if it can't wait, and she says, "Not unless you want him to suffocate to death." Forum posters: "Okay by us!" But Chuck seems more concerned. Morgan accosts Hannah and gets flirty, but she just wants to know who Sarah is and, when she finds out she's his ex, she wants to know the deal. Morgan tells her she dumped Chuck, broke his heart, and now keeps stomping on his heart. The whole time, Hannah watches them talking seriously. Chuck comes over and says he's gotta run, "Nerd Herd emergency." Morgan thinks it's curious he didn't get the call, but even a real Nerd Herd emergency wouldn't go through the store assistant manager, would it? Chuck's already run off, though, and is not listening to Morgan. Hannah runs off after Chuck, and when Morgan asks where she's going, she hollers back, "You heard the boss: Nerd Herd emergency." Morgan says okay, but then, "Wait a minute: I'm the boss." But she's already gone, too.

Nerd Herdmobile pulls up to a fancy museum, and Chuck runs in. Casey, disguised as a mover or delivery man with big boxes marked "FRAGILE," greets him. He won't explain why Agent Superman's broken in to the museum vault, because he only has five minutes of air left, so Chuck needs to get on the museum computer system and open the vault before Agent Superman suffocates (part of the vault security is that it depletes oxygen to the room). The museum will let Chuck on the server because Casey took the liberty of crashing it, so they think that's the problem instead of there being an actual alarm. Chuck greets the British curator of classical art, who's never touched a computer in his life. He needs Chuck to fix the server, which he says is in full lockdown mode, designed to protect the museum from fire. He says if Chuck doesn't fix it, they can't control the temperature or humidity, and some of the pieces are extremely sensitive. Agent Superman, still literally hanging by a thread, says, "So am I, Chuck." So I presume Chuck has an invisible earpiece. Casey and Sarah are both above the vault, and Casey's prepared to blow the doors if he needs to, but Sarah says that'll kill Agent Superman, since he's hanging right on the other side of the door. British curator hovers over Chuck's shoulder, until Chuck says he could use a little breathing room. Hannah shows up right then, and says he promised she could ride shotgun and she saw the Nerd Herder car out front. Casey tells Chuck to get rid of her, and Sarah adds that Agent Superman has only one minute of oxygen left, so Chuck thinks fast and asks Hannah if she's ever "restarted a server from the backup database." Hannah's adorable response: "Oh, now you're just insulting me." She gets to work on that, and Chuck tells her something else about a script and a server. He keeps giving her instructions and she works quickly while he works on the computer to her, but as the room's oxygen hits 8 percent, Agent Superman tells Casey to blow the hatch. They set up the explosive device and leave the room as oxygen hits 4 percent. Casey says, "Fire in the hole," and Chuck shouts, "No, don't!" But, see, he's in a room with Hannah and the stuffy curator, who both look at him like, "WTF?" He adds, "Don't, computer. I'm just talking to the computer because sometimes I feel like it helps." Chuck tells Hannah to reboot on the count of three and they both do. The doors open, and Chuck gets so excited, he and Hannah hug. The curator is happy with their work, and can't thank them enough. Casey and Sarah pull Agent Superman out of the vault. The curator offers Chuck and Hannah a job working there tomorrow night, when they're unveiling the Mask of Alexander, to make sure it goes off without a hitch. He hesitates, until Agent Superman tells him they can steal the mask then, so he takes the job with his new partner, Hannah. Opening credits.

By DeAnn Welker

Morning at Castle. Camera trickery takes us from a street, through a grate, down into Castle. Agent Superman presents Sarah with a coffee, which he tells her is a "double shot Americano, no cream, no sugar. Just the way you like it." Then he adds a stirrer, saying he noticed she likes to chew them when she gets nervous. Casey and Chuck come in and greet them as Sarah throws out the stirrer Agent Superman gave her. Then Agent Superman explains what's going on: The CIA is not interested in stealing the Mask of Alexander, but they believe the artifact and others are being used to smuggle items of interest to the Ring through customs. He shows them surveillance of a team breaking into something in Damascus, but not taking anything. Casey thinks it's pretty smart, since artifacts wouldn't have to go through security (that cannot be true). The plan: Chuck will be in the control room, Casey will handle surveillance, and Agent Superman and Sarah will pose as guests, then break in and swap the mask with a replica. Sarah asks about bringing a civilian on the mission, and Casey suggests some tranq darts he'd like to try out, but Chuck says he can handle Hannah. Then he adds, jokingly, "Besides, she can cover for me in my Nerd Herd duties in case you guys need to call in the big guns." No one gets that it's a joke, so they all just stay silent. Chuck: "That would be me. When I say big guns, I'm referring to the Intersect, myself. Do I need to flash? Glad we had this talk." Hee.

By DeAnn Welker

Ellie's. Someone knocks, but when she answers, no one's there. She whispers "Morgan," and he pops out from to the doorway. He says Chuck would freak if he knew they were meeting like this. Ellie scolds him for saying Jeffster! would get to the bottom of Chuck's secret (when did it become Chuck's secret instead of Chuck and Awesome's? I guess just for the sake of this storyline to play out the way it does). Morgan says he overstated Jeffster!'s skills, but he knows some stuff: Chuck is hardly ever at work, always ducking in and out. Ellie says it's like his mysterious trip to Paris. Morgan thinks Chuck's protecting them from knowing he's gone to the "dark place." Ellie gets it, and they both remember how all he did was play videogames when Jill broke his heart, and that must be what's going on here. Morgan says he'll figure it out. He is, after all, the assistant manager at the Buy More.

Chuck and Hannah prepare for their Nerd Herd assignment at the same time Agent Superman and Sarah prepare for the mission, so the respective male in each scenario reads off a list as the respective female says "Check." But the show cuts back and forth a lot so we get people responding to the wrong person. Basically, we know they're bringing screwdrivers, dummy artifact, harnesses, needle-nose pliers, and descender line. Agent Superman asks Sarah if she's ready, and he'd like to make sure they're on the same page. Chuck asks Hannah if she's ready for her first mission, and she's like, "Mission?" He jokes that it's dangerous out there. Agent Superman wants to talk with Sarah about how many dates they've been on. She tries not to have to talk about it, but he says it informs the cover. He asks if they've slept together, which changes the whole dynamic, and she says they definitely have not. Agent Superman: "Good to know."

By DeAnn Welker

The British curator's explaining to Chuck and Hannah that the unveiling must go off at precisely 8 o'clock without a hitch. Chuck says no problem, and the curator leaves them alone. On the museum floor, Agent Superman gets all handsy with Sarah, who says she thought she made herself clear about their cover. He says that they may not have slept together, but this isn't a middle-school dance, and he starts kissing her neck seductively as he explains where the stairs leading to the vault are. She looks uncomfortable, but in a slightly turned-on way, so he asks if they're good. She says they are, but moves further away from him. In the control room, Hannah reveals her big secret: The reason she took the job was for Chuck. He's like, "Me? Really? Me?" But wasn't that obvious, since she moved to Burbank and all? She hopes she hasn't been too forward, and he says forward is good. So she kisses him, which continues until she spots Sarah on one of the surveillance cameras. She asks if that's Sarah, and wonders what she's doing here if they're done. Agent Superman walks up to her and Hannah gets a little dreamy-eyed as she says, "Other than make you jealous with that ridiculously good-looking date of hers." Chuck's like, "Ridiculously good... him? Him? Naaah. Yeah, if you're into the strong, kind of, Superman-y, type of guy..." But then he looks at the monitor and flashes on a bad guy. He tells Hannah he'll be right back, and she obviously thinks he's leaving to go talk to Sarah.

Which is exactly what he does. He tells Sarah and Agent Superman that the Ring agent who broke into the vault in Damascus, whose name is Vasillis, is here. He points him out, and Agent Superman says they have to abort, because he and Vasillis have a history and "you tend to remember the guy who set your face on fire." Vasillis turns and we see half his face is burned. Chuck notices Vasillis isn't alone, so he offers to go in with Sarah instead. Hannah watches them all talk, clearly not okay with it. Agent Superman says he and Casey will be in the van if they're needed, and leaves. Hannah watches Chuck and Sarah go off somewhere together. Commercials.

By DeAnn Welker

Chuck uses his phone to sabotage the surveillance cameras with a "Sorry, Hannah," as her computers go to a black screen with "MANUAL SHUTDOWN" on them. She's like, "Oh, no, no, no, no," and gets to work to fix them. Chuck and Sarah sneak into a room. British curator asks Hannah what the beeping noise is, where Chuck is, and then tells her he doesn't care, but she must fix it since it's five minutes until the grand unveiling. Chuck and Sarah prepare for the mission (he's going to have to lower her into the vault by hand, since they're short on time). She starts to change into sexy spy gear as he tells her how she and Agent Superman looked like a "cute couple" tonight. She says they're playing a cover, and Agent Superman listens intently. Casey shuts off the sound, and Agent Superman asks if Sarah and Chuck did that. Casey says he did it since they gab like little schoolgirls when they're out in the field, and it's murder on the ears. Awww, sweet. Casey protected Chuck and Sarah's conversation. Back in their vault room, Sarah says it's ridiculous, and Chuck's like, "He couldn't keep his hands off you all night, and the way he brings you coffee every morning?" He tells her she's blind if she doesn't see it, and she's like, "You're one to talk," since Hannah hasn't been able to keep her hands off him since she showed up at the Buy More. Chuck puts on his own spy gear and it's hilarious because he sort of grunts as he does it, so it's not sexy and seamless like Sarah. He says he and Hannah are colleagues, and it's professional. Sarah says she didn't know that meant having her perfume lathered all over him. Then: "Come on, we got a mask to steal." That was the best, most realistic coupley conversation these two have ever had, and I loved it. That's what's good about having the other folks around -- the jealousy actually works on these two, and will end up pushing them together, if nothing else.

The bad guys get ready as Chuck lowers Sarah into the vault with the replica mask. Casey and Agent Superman notice Vasillis has sent his men into the vault. Agent Superman lets Chuck know, but Chuck's hands are full holding Sarah up with the rope. Unfortunately, the men arrive, and knock Chuck into the vault, which sends Sarah back up pulley-style. She ties the other end to something and frees herself as Chuck dangles. British curator lectures Hannah because the vault's supposed to be open. She says she's almost there. Chuck's still dangling. She finishes it, and Casey and Agent Superman realize she's fixed it. They're tapped in remotely and sabotage it again. The vault starts to open, and people get excited as dangling Chuck freaks. Sarah keeps fighting. More open-and-close vault dance as the guys in the van keep sabotaging Hannah's success. Sarah wins, and tosses the replica mask to Chuck, which he manages not to drop. He swaps them out, and Hannah breaks the remote connection to Chuck's laptop so no one can sabotage her, but Sarah pulls Chuck up and tells the guys they're clear. The vault opens and the museum crowd is pleased. Hannah, however, is not.

By DeAnn Welker

Chuck calls and tells someone he'll meet them back at Castle after he packs up and smoothes things over with Hannah. He heads into the control room and apologizes, but she scolds him for leaving her alone on her first assignment, and asks why he'd say things are over with him and his ex when they're clearly not. He says it's not what she thinks; it's just that he and Sarah have a unique relationship. She says it sounds really special, and she feels like an ass for kissing him like that. He says he's the ass, and she's like, "Yes, clearly." She says they should just keep it professional, and she'll see him at work. As she leaves, she calls him a "Weirdo" under her breath. Poor Hannah, but man, that seems a little harsh for a girl as seemingly sweet as her. Commercials.

Ellie knocks four times on Morgan's door and then lets herself in. Exasperated, Morgan tells her that's, like, six knocks short. He tells her to come in, since Chuck's asleep after he was out until God-knows-when doing God-knows-what. Morgan thought Chuck was working until he got a pissed-off call from the museum curator. Ellie thinks this puts them back at Square One, but Morgan says he had an epiphany. Ellie: "What's that?" Morgan: "It's a sudden, intuitive realization. I looked it up." Ellie: "I know what an epiphany is, Morgan. I'm asking what epiphany you had." Morgan suggests an intervention to get to the bottom of this, but Chuck walks in and Morgan acts like nothing's going on, and follows Chuck out to work. Ellie whisper-yells after Morgan that he's a coward.

Museum. Ring guys have the curator tied up as they look at the surveillance footage and ID Chuck as the guy who stole the mask. They see him kissing Hannah and breaking into the place with Sarah, and say he's a real Casanova. So he wants to see how cold-hearted Chuck really is (really; that's what he says). Buy More. Morgan asks Hannah if it was a tough night at the museum, but he pretends he couldn't make out the curator's British accent, so he doesn't know what happened last night. She says she doesn't want to point any fingers, but... Morgan gets that she wants to be loyal to her boss, but that he's his boss, and he'd really like her to think of him as her friend. He just rambles, and she doesn't get to say anything. Then the phone rings, and Morgan answers. It's Vasillis calling from the museum. He says they are still having a computer problem, and he'll send her back out on the house. She tells Morgan he's a good friend, and he says it's sweet, and they can build from there. But she's already long gone.

By DeAnn Welker

Castle. Agent Superman brings Sarah a coffee, and she says they need to talk about professional boundaries: him bringing her coffee every morning and noticing she chews on her swizzle stick. She says he's embarrassing them both, since they're just colleagues. She asks him to keep his coffee and cheesy come-ons to himself. Agent Superman feels like he should probably apologize to Colonel Casey, who walks in then and thanks Agent Superman for the coffee, just the way he likes it: black and bitter. Sarah looks a little sheepish as Agent Superman looks hot and smiles. Hannah shows up at the museum and Vasillis thanks her for coming. He tells her the curator's tied up and he's the assistant. He wants her to go to the vault, but makes sure she doesn't have her phone first. He sends her into the vault and, of course, locks it. Right away, it starts emptying of oxygen. Vasillis calls Chuck and tells him to bring the mask or he kills his girlfriend. Chuck asks Morgan if he's seen Hannah, and he says she's on a call at the museum. Chuck tells Vasillis he doesn't have a girlfriend, and this is the Nerd Herd desk, but Vasillis basically tells him to cut the crap, and he'll bring the mask in 30 minutes if he wants Hannah to live. Morgan tells Chuck they need to talk, but Chuck runs off; no time. Morgan tries to follow, but gets all tangled in the phone cord and misses Chuck going through the hole in the floor of the display room. So close.

Castle. Chuck calls on his way in to tell Sarah what's up, but he and Agent Superman have just found a chemical weapon in the base of the mask and accidentally set it off. Sarah tells him not to come in, but the weapon goes off and Castle seals the room as the computer systems say "CONTAMINATION," then a poison name that Chuck flashes on. He fills them in on the weapon and that there's a counteragent that can be taken within an hour. Chuck tells them he's going to get the counteragent from Vasillis, but then realizes he can't take the mask, which is locked in that room with Sarah and Agent Superman. He calls Casey and tells him to gear up to head back the museum. Sarah looks at Chuck, with a mixture of longing and faith. Yvonne Strahovski really is amazing at emoting without saying a word. Commercials, including one for the Heroes finale, which... don't even get me started.

By DeAnn Welker

Chuck and Casey, on their way to the museum, exposit that they're going to try another replica mask (apparently they just made a bunch of them, in case...). Chuck thinks it won't work, unless they can make it seem like it has the chemical in it so he gives them the counteragent. Chuck suggests gassing him, but Casey says the poison's not in this mask. Chuck says Vasillis doesn't know that. Luckily, Casey has smoke grenades in the back. His van is like a giant, weaponry version of your mother's purse: Everything you might possibly need is in there.

Agent Superman, all sweaty, doesn't feel like he's dying. Sarah, sweaty and looking like she might pass out, says Chuck will come through for them. Agent Superman wants to clear the air in case he doesn't: He hasn't been completely honest about the coffee or how he was acting at the museum. He was hitting on her, which he apologizes was completely unprofessional. She apologizes, too, for overreacting, and says the way he touched her neck at the party was actually kind of nice. They're both glad they had this talk. And then the contamination is contained. Agent Superman realizes -- based on her passing out -- Sarah needs the antidote and shoots a hole in the glass and carries her out. Back at the museum, Chuck enters and Vasillis and his men stop him, all: "Show me my mask." Chuck pulls it out of his bag and says, just as threateningly (okay, maybe not), "Show me my Nerd Herder." Vasillis says she's in the vault and the air must be getting pretty thin. Casey's somehow already above the vault, and is ready to blow it if he doesn't open the vault. Chuck says to let her out since he did what they asked. Vasillis says he would, but the people Chuck stole from, the Ring, they're not forgiving. Chuck tells Vasillis to give him the girl, but Vasillis says he gave us any leverage he had by walking in with the mask. Chuck says that's not quite true and holds up the mask, then gives them one last chance to open the door and let her out. Vasillis doesn't believe him, so Chuck drops the mask, and Vasillis says he's killed them all, because all he knows is the counteragent's in one of the hundreds of vases in the museum. Vasillis starts breaking them individually, but Chuck flashes on a stolen one and then hits Vasillis over the head with it, knocking him out and revealing the counteragent. Casey prepares to blow up the vault, but Chuck stops him after he gets the counteragent. Casey: "When do I get to blow something up?"

By DeAnn Welker

week: Olympics. NBC was like, "Chuck will be back after the Olympics. Take a look," and then showed us a really stupid preview for a really stupid show that I refuse to mention now that they faked me out like that. Can't wait for the Olympics to end and Chuck to return. Does that make me a nerd?

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DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, thinks it's okay to make out with a hottie while you wait for things to work out with your true love. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.