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There is a lot of good stuff in this episode, but I'm not sure if it lived up to the hype. We start out on Ellie and Awesome's wedding day. Chuck, Sarah, and Casey are all moving on to different lives: Casey is going to Warizistan, Sarah's going to be on the new Intersect Project with Bryce, and Chuck is going to ... well, he hasn't figured that out yet, but he'll start with getting his sister married. The first wedding doesn't go well, unless you count Jeffster's performance of "Mr. Roboto," which is sort of the best thing ever. They do manage to capture wedding crasher Roark, with big assists from Bryce and Casey, but then Ellie cancels the wedding.
Chuck saves the day, though, using his big government paycheck to give Ellie and Awesome a lovely wedding on the beach. At the reception, though, we learn that Bakula has an Intersect in his brain from when he was young and stupid, and he knows that the agent Bryce just left with isn't an agent. Sarah takes off, and Bakula tries to stop Chuck until he says he loves her. He gives Chuck his arm computer and lets him go. They track Bryce to the white room he was in in the first episode, but unfortunately, the new big bad guys, called "the Ring," got there first and Bryce is shot and almost dead. He tells Chuck to destroy the Intersect, because it can't get into the hands of the Ring, and Fulcrum is such a small piece of it all. Bryce dies, after Chuck tells him he's a hero for everything he's done (keeping Chuck out of being a spy at Stanford, putting the Intersect in his head, sending him Sarah, helping him learn that his dad is Orion, and saving Chuck and everyone else about a million times in the few episodes he's been in). Chuck takes the Intersect destroyer Bryce gave him, but before he uses it, he uploads the new Intersect into himself. And it's been upgraded, because when the bad guys come in, Sarah and Casey stand and watch while Chuck kung fus them all to death. He's all, "I know kung fu," and we're to be continued. Not quite what I was expecting. And I don't mean that in a good way. It was a little too silly and cartoony, and not so much game-changing as game-repeating. That doesn't mean I'm not hoping it's renewed, though, because I so totally am.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Chuck introduces himself for the last time this season and reminds us of a few things: His dad removed his Intersect. Awesome found out Chuck's a spy. Morgan wants to be a Benihana chef, so he quit the Buy More. Chuck brought Bakula home for Ellie's wedding. Roark survived the air strike on Fulcrum and hitched a ride to Burbank for Ellie's wedding.
Casey and Chuck walk into the Buy More in their uniforms, like they have so many times before. But savor it, people, because this one's the last. They walk with purpose as all of the employees, including Jeffster!, look on. Big Mike's moving a large appliance. Chuck walks into Buster's office while Casey waits outside. Chuck tells Buster he's been waiting so long to say this, and Buster stops him because he thinks the obvious place Chuck's going with this is that he's in love with Buster, and -- believe it or not -- he's a flaming hetero. Chuck's all: No. No. No, no, no. Not even if I were gay. Only not in those words. Chuck finally is able to get out that he's here to quit, so Buster thinks he's doing it because he turned Chuck down. Chuck turns in his pocket protector, tells Buster to shove it, and leaves. Casey pops his head in the door and says, "Ditto." Buster yells after him, "What do you think you're going to do for the rest of your life?!" Chuck: "Anything I want."
At Castle, General Redhead has the same question for Chuck: What are his plans for the future? He says he's going to dance with Sarah at Ellie's wedding, but vocationally speaking, he has no idea yet. General Redhead offers him a job on the new Intersect Project, because he's shown real promise. She says his country is calling him, but he thinks his country has the wrong number, since he's not a hero (to be fair, you don't have to be a hero to work for the CIA). General Redhead quickly moves on, saying that concludes "Project Bartowski." Casey breathes a sigh of relief. Then the general tells him to issue Chuck his final papers before he and his team ship out to Waziristan. General Redhead needs Sarah for another moment.
Upstairs in the Orange Orange, Casey gives Chuck a huge check, but tells him if he were a true patriot, he wouldn't even cash it. Chuck thanks Casey for saving his life at least once a week (except when the show is on hiatus, of course). Chuck hugs him and Casey makes a threat. So they return to hand-shaking. Casey tells Chuck he's done good work, and then gives him his card, but warns him his fingers better be on fire when he's dialing. Still in Castle, Sarah's being told by General Redhead that she'll be in charge of the new Intersect Project, working with Agent Larkin. Bryce is behind her, putting the Intersect cube in a locker thing, saying that this time it will go in his head, and it's ready for upload. General Redhead tells them they leave for Zurich at 0800. Awesome Cake credits, which I totally watched all the way through in case it's the last time.
The final touches are being put on the church of the Awesome-Ellie nuptials, as The Gramercy Arms sing "Looking at the Sun." Chuck tells Awesome how everything's going to be perfect, and he even had his Toyota washed for him. Product Placement Alert! Everyone run out and buy a Toyota, and say you did it to save Chuck. Just like the Subway thing. But slightly more expensive. Chuck heads to a room labeled "bridal suite." Mrs. Awesome (that's Morgan Fairchild, to you) opens and tells Chuck it's bad luck to see the bride. Ellie doesn't believe in that stuff, though (and, really, is it supposed to be bad luck for the brother to see her?), so he goes in. He looks at her, and says her dreams are coming true. She says she'd have a small ceremony on the beach if it were up to her, but you make sacrifices for being an Awesome. Mrs. Awesome counts the bridesmaids and wonders where the hell her blonde is. Chuck tells Ellie he doesn't know yet what he's getting her for a wedding present, but he'll start with this: He quit the Buy More. Ellie's so happy, and wonders what he'll do with his future. He doesn't know, but Sarah walks in just then. Ellie tells Chuck she made her dreams come true; what's he going to do about his? He asks Sarah if they can talk for a moment.
In the hall, Sarah wants to make sure Chuck has the rings. He shows them to her. She tells him he looks like a real spy, and he says she looks like a real bridesmaid. He starts talking, and she tells him to wait, because she has to tell him something. But he can't wait, so he starts in: He doesn't know what's in his future. All he knows is he wants her in it. She tries to cut in to tell him something, but he says no. And goes on: "No guns. No lies. Just us. Just like I've always wanted." He tells her he'll take her anywhere sunny with little umbrella drinks with the money he's just come into. What he's getting at here is, "Sarah Walker, will you do me the honor ... of taking a vacation with me?" She tells him she's leaving in the morning, that the details are classified, but she'll be working on the new Intersect Project. With Bryce. Chuck's face falls at the word "Bryce." Sarah's sorry, and wanted to wait until after the wedding to tell him. Chuck thanks her for coming to the wedding, since it's good for the cover. He walks off.
Chuck goes straight into the chapel, where his dad tells him this is a day he'll remember forever. Then he goes and looks at the cake. He finds a bottle of champagne and starts drinking. He sits down and when his feet hit something, he looks under a table and sees some bloody dead guys. When he looks back up, Chevy Chase is sitting with him. He says he believes they've met before. Chuck: "Ted Roark." Roark: "Noooo. I'm Ted Roark. You're the CIA agent who's in deep trouble." He congratulates Chuck on Ellie's happy day, and then describes her dress in detail. Chuck asks what the hell Roark wants, and Roark says Chuck knows damn well: the Intersect cube. He is sure Chuck will find a way. If he doesn't within a half-hour -- forty minutes, tops, with traffic -- Roark's going to kill the bride.
Chuck bumps into Morgan as he's heading out to probably get the Intersect. Morgan is nervous and wants to talk, but Chuck doesn't have time. He says he forgot the rings. He has to go home and get them. He tells Morgan to pull Sarah aside and specifically tell her he forgot the rings. Morgan's like, "The wedding's in twenty minutes. Ellie's going to kill you." So he offers to stall the wedding, so that everyone will blame him. Chuck can't believe Morgan would do that for him, but hello? Has Chuck met Morgan? Chuck tries to call Casey, who's in his own personal heaven in a plane hauling his crew to Waziristan, apparently. Chuck's calling, but Casey and his crew are yukking it up too much to hear it ring. "1 New Voicemail."
Morgan's trying again to get into the bridal suite, but Dr. Awesome won't let him. Luckily, Sarah comes out and tells Dr. Awesome that Mrs. Awesome wants him to go get backup hosiery. Dr. Awesome leaves, and Morgan tells Sarah Chuck forgot the rings. Since she just saw them, she's like, "He what?!" Morgan says Chuck had to go get them and wants him to stall the wedding. Sarah says, "Do it, Morgan, by any means necessary." Morgan pumps himself up as she leaves, trying to come up with a way.
Chuck's at Castle. He opens the Intersect cube locker, and it's empty. Behind him, Bryce says, "It's gone." Chuck asks where it is, but Bryce says Chuck knows he can't tell him that, since it's top-secret. Chuck says he needs it, because his family's in danger, since Roark and his team are at the wedding, and Roark says he'll kill Ellie unless Chuck brings him the cube. Bryce says Roark can't have it. Chuck says he'll murder everyone. Bryce: "No. You're going to give them me." They think he's the Intersect, after all. Bryce says they've been looking for him all along, but the cube can't fall into the wrong hands. He made a promise to Orion. Chuck's all, "You know." Bryce says that was the deal: Bakula/Orion knew Bryce protected Chuck at Stanford, so he was the only spy Orion could trust. Chuck can't believe Bryce has known this whole time. Bryce explains Bakula wanted to keep him out of this, but Bryce knew Chuck could handle the Intersect. He knew Sarah would find Chuck. And, most importantly, he thought Chuck deserved to know the truth about his father being a hero. In case you hadn't already signed your petition to change the show's name to Bryce, at least for this episode, he adds as he prepares his gun, "Now let's go get your sister married."
At the church, the Awesomes wonder what the hold-up is, since Ellie looks perfect. Awesome says he can't find Chuck, and Mrs. Awesome says the blonde is gone too. Bakula's like, "Sarah? Just now?" Mrs. Awesome says yes. Bakula excuses himself. Dr. Awesome says this is a really weird family. You don't even know the half of it. Dr. Bakula finds Ellie peeking into a room with Roark and Company. He asks her what's wrong, and she tells him Roark and his men are inside. Bakula wonders how Roark's alive, but quickly moves on to asking if Sarah brought a gun. She didn't, but she'll think of something. She has him check the chapel and bridal chamber to make sure there's nobody else. Bakula uses his arm computer to tell Sarah the best way to get where she's going (I don't know how he knows where she wants to go, but whatever.)
In the chapel, Morgan takes the mike and introduces himself as "unofficial member of the wedding party." Cute. Awesome and his parents look a little concerned as Morgan introduces pre-wedding entertainment Jeffster! Lester's in a pink and maroon leisure suit, basically, with a HUGE bowtie, and Jeff's in a tuxedo shirt (I mean a T-shirt that looks like a tux, of course), and he has a keyboard guitar. Big Mike tells Morgan's mom that this wedding just got good. Lester tells Morgan they have the perfect song, and Morgan leaves them alone. Jeff tells the wedding band (cellist, violinist, etc.) that this song is in 4-4 time and they should watch him for the changes. The music starts dramatically, and it's ... Styx's "Mr. Roboto." As the music starts, Awesome grabs Morgan by the jacket and tells him he's ruining his wedding. Morgan says that for reasons he cannot say, he has to stall the wedding. Jeffster! is totally at "You're wondering who I am. Man or mannequin," as Morgan says Chuck's in trouble and he's saving him. Awesome: "Chuck told you to do this?" And he's all of a sudden totally with Morgan. In the bridal suite, Ellie wonders where Sarah is and why that is not the wedding march. She sends her other bridesmaids to find out what's going on and tells herself to focus on the calm.
As Jeffster! continues singing "Mr. Roboto," Sarah starts unwrapping wedding gifts. Anna's mouth's agape in the crowd. Dr. Awesome asks Awesome why he's letting "Sam Kinison and an Indian lesbian wreck your wedding." Hee. Best description of Jeffster! I've ever heard. Awesome tells his dad to chill out, as Sarah continues opening gifts in the reception hall, where Roark and his men are stationed. Roark is about to open a bottle of champagne when Chuck walks in and tells him "Don't you dare!" Sarah looks up. Chuck tells Roark if he wants to ever see the Intersect again, he will not touch anything in this room, because "Today is my sister's wedding day, and believe me, you don't want to see her angry." Roark asks where the Intersect is ("Mr. Roboto" is still playing), and Chuck says, "About that..." Roark wants them to kill Chuck, but Chuck cutely says, "Ho down. Ho down. I mean, 'Hold on!' Hold on a sec!" Sarah's still opening gifts. Chuck says he did bring an Intersect with him. Bryce walks in in slo-mo and says, "Mr. Roark." Roark says, "Mr. Larkin! The human Intersect." Sarah finally finds a set of steak knives.
Bryce tells Roark to take him, and leave Chuck and his family alone. Roark says the thing about it is that Fulcrum wants Chuck dead no matter what, so with that said, he tells his men to shoot Mr. Bartowski. Bryce yells for Sarah to take him. And it's a full-on shoot-out between Bryce and Roark's men. Sarah throws knives. The Awesomes stand patiently in the chapel, drinking from a flask. Bakula checks the bridal chamber, where Ellie's meditating with her legs crossed and eyes closed. He looks at her, sees no one else, and leaves. She opens her eyes just after he's gone. Chuck's panicking about the flowers! The centerpieces! It's all being destroyed. Bryce is out of ammo and asks Sarah if she has more knives. She says she threw all eight. Roark and his men have won. Chuck sees the destroyed cake and says, "Someone shoot me now." Roark offers to help with that, and pulls out a big gun. He jokes it's a real "shotgun wedding," and tells Chuck that terrible pun is the last thing he'll ever hear.
The room starts to get shadowy, though, sort of puzzling everyone, including Roark. We see guys in helicopters above and they crash through the glass roof. That's right: Casey and his men are literally crashing the wedding as Jeffster! sings and sings. Awesome pretends to enjoy it. Bakula punches Roark in the face, and says he's waited twenty years to do that. Lester hits a high note. Casey shoots everyone, and the ice sculpture is destroyed. Chuck looks panicked, but Casey's all, "You rang." The music plays on, as Ellie comes out of the bridal suite and looks around. Chuck and Sarah run around the corner pulling on their clothes like they were just hooking up. Ellie's all, "What happened?" Chuck says there was just a minor centerpiece problem. But Jeffster! sets off fireworks just then that set off the sprinkler system in the whole building. Chuck: "Oh no." Everyone evacuates the chapel, and Ellie cries, "Wedding canceled."
Chuck and his dad are disheveled in their wedding suits in Chuck's room. He says it's officially a disaster: His spy life has wrecked his real life again. He's completely ruined Ellie's wedding day. Bakula says he's sorry, and that if anyone knows how he feels, it's him, but he had no choice: He saved her life. Sarah knocks and comes in. She asks if Chuck's okay. He's not okay. He doesn't want to have to save his sister with a Special Forces team. He just wants to be a normal guy who helps his sister in normal ways. Like right now, if he could give her anything in the world, he would ... he stops, pulls out his government check and says "I think I might know how to fix this." He asks if Sarah has time for one more mission before she takes off. He gives her the check, and she says it's not what a normal guy would do.
Casey's locking Roark up in Castle when his phone rings. He answers, "Yeah, Walker, what is it?" Then: "You're kidding." And: "Roger that. We're on it." Chuck knocks on the bathroom door. And I didn't know this, but Ellie and Awesome have the best bathroom ever. Ellie tells Chuck to go away, but he goes inside instead. She tells him she can't believe his idiot friends ruined her wedding, and she'll never forgive Morgan for this. He tells her she's going to have to, because he asked Morgan to stall the wedding since he forgot the rings. Ellie looks even more heartbroken than before. He asks her to please say something, and she tearfully says he ruined the most important day of her life. He asks her to please trust him. He gives her the rings, and says he'll take care of the rest. He leaves her sitting beautifully in the bathtub.
At Castle, someone asks Casey how to spell begonia, and he grumbles to sound it out. Then he looks at a fabric swatch one of his men is showing him. He growls and says "That clashes with the bunting." Best use of Casey ever? Do we think? He's on the phone trying to get permits for a national security member. And it must have worked, because there's a lovely wedding set up on a private beach. Chuck and Bakula walk Ellie, who looks even more beautiful in this second, beach wedding dress, down the aisle. Awesome smiles at her. Casey's still at Castle, walking the halls. Chuck and Bakula give Ellie to be married. Bryce watches Sarah through binoculars from down the beach. Casey asks one of his guys to watch Roark. The wedding continues. Everyone holds their peace at Ellie and Awesome's wedding. Bryce asks through Sarah's earpiece, "Sarah, you're not coming with me, are you?" She looks over at Chuck, who gives the rings to Ellie and Awesome, and turns to Bryce and shakes her head no. Bryce turns to leave. The guy Casey asked to guard Roark opens Roark's cell door. I really thought he was going to free him, but no: He shoots him in the chest. Ellie and Awesome get married as Roark dies. Chuck: "Whoo!" Everyone claps and stands up as the wedding has finally happened. And it was so much more beautiful the second time. Casey's rogue guy watches Casey and company play poker. Wedding ends!
Casey and his guys are playing poker and Casey's smoking a cigar. The rogue agent tells Casey Roark wants to talk to him, so Casey heads back there. He finds Roark dead in his cell, obviously, and then hears gunshots. He goes back out and Rogue has killed all of the other poker players. He knocks Casey down, and apologizes, saying they've been through a lot. Casey asks how long he's been with Fulcrum. He says he's not with Fulcrum. Casey asks him to pull the trigger, because he doesn't want to look at his face, since he just killed three Marines in cold blood. The guy acknowledges he did that, but says none of them saved his life. So he just hits Casey on the head, knocking him out.
Wedding reception. Big Mike and Morgan's mom are happy. So are the older Awesomes. And Chuck. Ellie thanks him for her wedding gift. She doesn't know how he did all this. He can't take all the credit, but she says he's pretty amazing. Sometimes she thinks he has super powers. He wishes. Ellie: "I know." They both giggle. Awesome comes up and thanks Chuck for saving the day, saying, "It looks like you're the big hero." Awesome calls Chuck "Bro," and Chuck says now he really is his bro. Chuck sees Morgan and goes over to him. He can't believe he's actually leaving him. Morgan tells him, "Don't, or I'll cry." Morgan says making your dreams come true is hard. He says, "On one side, the girl you love. On the other side, your life as you know it." Chuck looks at Sarah, and tells him to go with his heart, because our brains only screw things up.
Chuck takes his own advice and walks over to Sarah as Blind Pilot starts in with "3 Rounds and a Sound." Chuck asks where Bryce is, and Sarah says he's gone -- about to be uploaded with a new Intersect, and then leaving. He guesses they both are. She asks him to dance. They do. Bryce comes in and sees them. Then he sees Bakula, and asks if it's a "Mr. Bartowski" or an "Orion" conversation. Bakula tells Bryce he reconfigured the cube under two conditions: Stop looking for him, and leave Chuck alone. Bryce says they asked Chuck to join the team, and he said no. Bakula says Chuck made changes to the cube, and wants to know what this new computer does. Bryce says Bakula doesn't want to know. Another agent comes and tells Agent Larkin it's time to go. And Bakula totally flashes on the agent, who is NOT a good guy, and actually is presumed dead.
Chuck and Sarah continue to dance. He tells her she belongs out there, but he's not that guy. She asks how many times he has to be a hero to realize he is that guy. He tells her he wants more. He wants a real life. She says she doesn't want to save the world, and starts, "I want..." Bakula runs up and says that the CIA agent who came for Bryce should be dead. Okay, I'm so sick of the interrupted conversations between Sarah and Chuck. That just does not happen as often as this show wants us to believe. Even in the spy world, I bet. Chuck wonders how his dad could possibly know that. Bakula, who seems to be sore from his flash: "Screw it. I have an Intersect in my head. I tested the computer on myself. I was young and stupid. But the intel was good." He says that man isn't CIA. They know Bryce is going to die instead of getting the upload. Sarah says if they know about Bryce, they know about Casey, and she takes off. Bakula tells Chuck to let her go, but he says he has to go, too. Bakula tells him he doesn't, actually, because he's not a spy. Chuck: "Dad, I love her." Hey! He finally said it. Not that we didn't all already know. Bakula says he can't follow, but gives Chuck his arm computer. Chuck thanks him and goes. His dad tells him to "Be safe, Charles." Chuck catches up with Sarah and Casey at Castle, and says he's coming with them. Casey tells him it's not his mission, but Chuck says, "This is the Intersect you're talking about and I'm a Bartowski." He holds up his computer arm and tells them they need him. Casey looks at Sarah and nods. They all leave. Still a team.
The not-dead agent asks Bryce if he saw Sarah. Bryce says she's amazing, but tells him she's in love with someone else. He says it's a bad day to be him, and Agent Not Dead says, "You have no idea," as Casey's rogue man yells, "Mr. Larkin!" Bryce does some crazy shooting tricks and sneaks into a room that the bad guys can't get open. Chuck uses his computer arm to get them there and figure out where Bryce is. Sarah tells him to go get help while she and Casey have a shoot-out with the bad guys, but instead Chuck uses his computer arm to find his way into the big white room that Chuck was in when the series first began.
Bryce is there, sitting just inside the door. Chuck tells Bryce that Sarah and Casey are pinned down. Then he notices Bryce is bleeding. He's been shot. Bryce says he's really sorry, but Chuck says it's okay, Bryce will be fine. Bryce tells Chuck to take care of her, and Chuck says not to talk like that because Sarah needs him, on their mission, that Bryce is a hero. Bryce says she wasn't going to come. Then he pulls out a computery gadget and tells Chuck it will destroy the new Intersect, which is too powerful. Chuck takes it, and tells Bryce he needs the computer to fight Fulcrum. Bryce says Fulcrum doesn't matter; they're just one part of "the Ring." He says they'll use it against "us," so Chuck has to destroy the computer. Chuck tells Bryce he can beat them, but Bryce dies. Chuck's sad.
He quickly realizes what he has to do, though, and goes to destroy the Intersect. But he looks at the screen, which says, "Do you wish to activate." He thinks a minute -- flashing on wondering why Bryce chose him, Sarah telling him he can do anything, Bryce not wanting Chuck to be a spy at Stanford, General Redhead telling Chuck to become a spy, himself saying he's not a hero, Sarah telling him he is that guy just moments earlier -- before deciding to hit "Activate." The whole room flashes with images as he's uploaded with the fancy new Intersect. The room's white again, and Chuck stumbles a little, but doesn't pass out. I think he's getting stronger. He uses the device to destroy the Intersect.
Just in time, because Casey's rogue guy comes in and asks what Chuck did. Chuck doesn't flash or anything, but says he destroyed it, so they're too late. Sarah and Casey are led in, captured. Sarah freaks out, "Bryce!" And, "Don't you touch him!" as the bad guys drag Bryce out. Casey tells them they lose, since the Intersect is destroyed. Rogue tells them that "No one stops us. No one ever has." Sarah asks who he is, and he says, "Spies, Agent Walker. The best." Chuck has a flash of images, and one of the guys guarding Chuck tells their boss to look at this. Sarah asks if he just flashed, and Rogue says, "He uploaded it." Casey: "Oh, Chuck me." Rogue tells them to kill him, but Chuck kung fus all their guns away and then smiles like it's a joke. Then he does big, super-high flips in the air, and then kung fus them all to what looks like death, as Casey and Sarah watch on in amazement. Casey: "Uh?" Sarah: "Chuck?" Chuck: "Guys, I know kung fu." Title cards: "To be continued..." Well, let's hope.
Although, I think if the show ends this way, it's actually not that bad, because Chuck got to be a hero, even though Bryce was a bigger one. And part of me doesn't want to see more of the silliness of Chuck being a kung-fu master. But I would still take this back over almost everything else on TV, because I love it so much. It's been such a great season, and I really believe they have good things in store for us that won't always look like such a big, jokey cartoon.
DeAnn is a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.
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