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Angie Harmon has Captain Awesome on a rooftop when the episode begins. She's a Ring operative named Sydney who knows everything about him, but the problem is, she thinks he's the spy in the family and forces him to work with her. When he reports this back to Chuck, he wants to put an end to it, but General Redhead, Sarah, and Casey convince him that he has to be Awesome's handler and help him work with her to infiltrate and take down her Ring cell, thus securing Devon's identity and taking out some of the problem in the process. The first mission they go on works out pretty well, because Chuck's there to assist and flash on stuff. The key, though, is that Brandon Routh, who introduces himself as Shaw (or, as we'll know him, Agent Superman), shoots himself and fakes his death, making it look to Sydney like Devon did it (as she requested).
General Redhead introduces them all to Shaw and says he's basically their new boss where the Ring is concerned. But when he wants to keep using Awesome to try to get Sydney, Chuck takes matters into his own hands and calls Sydney's phone to tell her he's the real spy. She and her gang meet him at the Buy More, and she basically doesn't believe Chuck that he's the guy who could have killed Shaw. Speaking of Shaw, he won't let Casey and Sarah go upstairs and help Chuck, and goes so far as hold them at gunpoint. Sarah doesn't care, though, and goes anyway. They save Chuck, and Shaw kills Angie Harmon, keeping the world safe for Chuck and his family. But Shaw tells Chuck family and friends make you vulnerable, and spies can't have them. Then, as Chuck and Morgan entertain Casey, Sarah, Ellie, and Awesome, Shaw -- alone at Castle -- mysteriously slips on a wedding ring.
In Buy More land, Morgan becomes assistant manager again, and the crew revolts. Again. This time, Jeffster! (inspired by the adrenaline rush when Chuck flashed and accidentally kicked Lester in the face) forms a fight club in the back room. It's silly and amusing (and their battery-charged cage ends up helping Chuck fight the bad guys), but ultimately gives Morgan the opportunity to play hardball with Lester and earn the guys' respect.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously: Awesome had a crazy night, then got kidnapped by the Ring. That's all we need to know, apparently. Now Awesome's on a rooftop with Angie Harmon, who says her name's Sydney. She hangs him over the edge, and then says they need him in tip-top shape. He asks what for, and she says nothing too difficult for one of the CIA's best. He says she has him mixed up with someone else; he's just a doctor. She says they know exactly who he is, Devon, then asks him what it's like being a world-class spy. Back at Castle, Chuck's freaking out and going on and on about how he's not freaking out because that would mean he's overreacting, which isn't possible when his brother-in-law has been kidnapped. He watches Ellie on a surveillance camera, and says she's calling Awesome for the fiftieth time, and she's called him twenty times. Sarah and Casey tell him to calm down, but he can't, so he goes to work, and tells them to let him know the second they hear anything.
Buy More. Big Mike has Morgan in his office, and Morgan's clearly worried, but he says he hasn't even had time to screw anything up. Big Mike says Morgan's become like family to him, and he can thank his mama. "That woman makes me feel good. Real good. Like a man should." Morgan and me: Ew. Big Mike says Morgan's ready to run with the big dogs, and asks him to be his assistant manager. He adds an "I believe in you, Son," and Morgan says yes, then he says he's ready to be a big dog. He barks a high-pitched bark, and Big Mike tells him not to do that, because it's a little dog, like a schnauzer. Big Mike lets out a big-ol' woof.
Outside the office, Jeffster! wants to talk to Chuck because Lester says Jeff is dead wrong about something. Chuck wonders if that isn't Jeff's default setting, then a Chinese customer walks up and asks Chuck a lot of questions about their big sale on HD TVs. Chuck tries to pass her on to Jeffster! but they take off before she can. Chuck sees Sarah and takes off, but the Chinese woman follows and starts yelling at him in Chinese. He flashes on Chinese and starts speaking it, basically telling her to leave him alone since his brother-in-law's been kidnapped. Jeffster! and Sarah watch in awe. The woman runs off, and Chuck hollers behind her that he's sorry and didn't mean to say that. He turns around and Lester says, "Impressive," then asks who would win in a fight between Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Segal. Chuck can't believe this is the big question, so Lester starts to demonstrate Seagal's fighting style of aikido. It causes Chuck to flash, and he totally kicks Lester in the face. It's hilarious, and then Jeff says, "Boom, boom, pow." Sarah pulls Chuck aside and says Lester will be fine, and that the last patient Awesome had was a Ring operative. Chuck freaks out again, and says it's all his fault, and just as he says, "I killed Captain Awesome," Awesome walks in and Chuck hugs him, all "Thank god. This is very good news. Tell me you're okay." Awesome says that they think he's a spy, so he's in trouble. Basically, they think he's Chuck. Opening credits then the edition of "Journey to Vancouver." They're still driving, though Morgan has some broken bones from trying to hug a moose.
Castle. General Redhead explains who Sydney is: the head of a Los Angeles Ring cell who's tried to recruit several agents. Awesome tells Chuck she knows everything about him and Ellie. Sarah says she knows everything except who the real spy in the family is. Casey says it's understandable since one of them looks like a spy, and one looks like ... Chuck. Awesome shows them the phone Sydney's going to contact him on. It's some fancy, round thing that Chuck says is a Ring communications device. General Redhead says it does work on a closed channel, but they've recently learned how to crack it. Chuck wants to get Awesome home, but General Redhead says they need to use him, since Sydney won't go to her superiors with his identity until she knows if she's turned him or burned him. Casey agrees, and finally Sarah does, too. Awesome looks at Chuck and says that if he tells him he can get him through this, he'll trust him. Chuck says he will, and it's a pretty cool moment. I mean, we've always known Awesome adores Chuck, but he also trusts him and even looks up to him now, which is nice.
Buy More. Morgan's in the assistant manager vest and asks Chuck if he's leaving again. Chuck asks if he's serious, and Morgan says he's kidding, but Chuck means about wearing the vest. Morgan tells him the news, and Chuck congratulates him sincerely. Jeffster! comes up, and Lester thanks him for the giant shiner on his face. He says he felt the thrill of being alive for the first time in a long time. It was like an adrenaline shot to his soul, and made him feel like a man for the first time since his bar mitzvah. Jeff asks Chuck to hit him as hard as he can, but Chuck says they're disturbed and leaves. Morgan offers him a ride, but Chuck says he's meeting Awesome at the mall. Behind them, Lester punches Jeff in the face.
Chuck and Awesome enter their courtyard, and Awesome wonders what he's going to tell Ellie, since he's a terrible liar. She comes out, and asks if it's them. Chuck tells him to remember to keep it simple. Ellie runs up and hugs him, telling him how worried she's been. He says he's fine, and she asks why he didn't call. Chuck stands behind Ellie and tries to gesture to him about what to say. Awesome says after he got off the overnight, he needed to clear his head so he went for a run in Griffith Park. Chuck makes a phone motion and Awesome says there are no cell phones in Griffith Park. Then Awesome says he heard something, in a tree. Chuck makes wing-flapping motions, and Awesome says, "It was a ... cat." Chuck's gestures okay, a cat works. Awesome says it was a hurt cat, and he wanted to see if it needed medical attention, then he realized -- Ellie starts to look skeptical -- "It's a bear!" Chuck's eyes go wide, and Ellie's like, "What's a bear? The cat's a bear?" Awesome continues that it jumped out at him, it was angry at him, and jumped out for some reason. Ellie's like, "Oh my god, you were attacked by a bear?!" Awesome: "Yeah, yeah, and I ... cut off its head. I had to decapitate the bear." He's just glad she wasn't there to see it, because it was really grisly. Ellie asks if they really expect her to believe this, since they think she's an idiot. Chuck says they don't, and that it's time to tell her the truth. Awesome's relieved, and says he hates lying and is a terrible liar. But Chuck tells Ellie that Casey was arrested for being "blotto," the cop's words. He asks Devon if he agrees that Casey was very drunk, and Awesome does. He tells Ellie, "He wet himself." She gasps. "Also exposed himself." Chuck interrupts: "Anyhow!" And says that Devon spent most of the day trying to get the charges dropped. She asks really, and they both say really. Then Casey walks out and says hi. Ellie just looks at him and then asks Devon to go inside. Casey comes over and asks Chuck what that was. Chuck says nothing, and leaves.
Buy More. Dust Brothers-style music as everyone walks around with beat-up faces and Tyler Durden sunglasses. Morgan asks what's up, and Jeff says, "The first rule of fi..." but Lester interrupts and says that Morgan's the ass man now, so he's not their buddy and they can't tell him. They glare at him, and leave him looking sad.
Casey's. Chuck's worried about what's going to happen to Awesome, and Sarah tells him to remember that Devon's new and scared, so Chuck needs to remember what that feels like. Casey says he won't ever forget, and then tells Chuck to be Sarah to Awesome's Chuck. Then Awesome knocks. He says Sydney called, and left a package, and is about to call again. She calls and tells him to put on the earpiece in the package. He does, and she tells him it has GPS in it, and an explosive device, which will detonate if he tries to remove it or deviates from her instructions. She tells him where to meet her downtown.
Crystal Towers. L.A. Awesome's waiting out front,
while Casey, Chuck, and Sarah are in a van talking to him through yet another earpiece and watch. Chuck told him he marked his watches for him, and Awesome sees one that says "Good Guys" and one says "Bad Guys." Cute. Sarah tells Awesome the plan: They bring Sydney in and then Awesome's done. He asks Chuck if this is going to be okay, and Sarah tells Chuck to remember that if he freaks out, Awesome freaks out. Chuck says everything's fine, buddy, then adds "I'm very confident" at the end, a sure sign he's not. But Sydney calls Devon before he notices. Casey starts tracing the call. Sydney tells Awesome to go into the penthouse in the building, and they'll talk more once he's there. She says there's security, but nothing he can't handle. The call wasn't long enough to get an exact location, but Casey says she's close. Chuck tells Awesome to head inside the building and wait. Then he tells Casey and Sarah to get Sydney and he'll get Awesome to the twelfth floor.
Awesome strolls into the building and a security guy approaches him to ask what's up. He asks if Awesome's here to see someone in the building, and Awesome says yeah, kind of. He's here to meet his friend, Chuck. Chuck's making his way to him in some sort of janitorial gear. Awesome says Chuck might work here, and then tells the kind security guy, Julius, that he's involved in something complicated and can't lie to his wife anymore. Julius, who's actually a security gay, tells Awesome if he loves Chuck, he can't lie to his wife. He knows. He's been there. Awesome doesn't have time to tell him what he means before Julius gets shot and falls. Awesome: "Chuck! You killed Julius!" Chuck's like, "Killed? I would never do anything like that. This is a tranq gun." He accidentally shoots it again and says, "That's preposterous. Kill someone!" They are cute together. They run off, and Awesome wonders what's on the twelfth floor. Chuck says it's best not to speculate since nine (or seven) times out of ten, it's nothing. They get off the elevator and Chuck says there's nothing to worry about. But then they find a bunch of guys in a hall. Chuck pushes Awesome out of the way and flashes on being a perfect shot. He takes them all out with his tranq gun. Awesome asks him if that was his spy training, and Chuck says, "Duck Hunt. Nintendo." Of course.
Sydney calls Awesome again and tells him she's glad he's alive. Now he just needs to cut out one of the guards' eyes to use for the retinal scan to get into a room at the end of the hall. Awesome hangs up and tells Chuck they have to do that, then adds, "I took an oath, Bro. I can't cut out a man's eye." Chuck has a better idea, and they drag a guard up to the scan and open his eye. Chuck tells Awesome bad guys don't count carbs. They enter and it's a CIA facility. Chuck calls to tell Sarah, but she loses him before she can respond. Casey tracks Sydney to right here, where they are. They see her. Their machines shut down and say, "Lockdown." General Redhead pops up and tells them to stand down. Casey says they have a visual, but General Redhead says she's received new mission information and their new directive is to stand down. Sarah tells General Redhead this is some kind of a set-up, and General Redhead agrees that it is, and shuts herself off.
Sydney calls Awesome and says there's a man at the end of the hall, and he should find him and kill him. Awesome freaks out, but Chuck tells him no one's killing anyone. He goes into the room, and sees a guy looking at monitors. It's Brandon Routh, sounding very much like Tom Cruise, who tells Chuck he already knows him and he knows all about the Ring. He says Sydney will be here any minute, and he has to be dead. He gets out some sort of red pill, then tells Chuck to kill him. He puts the gun up to himself, but Chuck can't do it. He says he has rules against such things. Chuck says maybe with a tranq gun, but not a gun-gun. "I hate gun-guns." Agent Superman tries to talk him into it, but Chuck won't. So after giving Chuck a note to open after Sydney leaves and saying he hates guns, too, Agent Superman shoots himself. Awesome comes in and can't believe Chuck did this. Chuck says he didn't, but Awesome feels his pulse and says he's dead. He tells Chuck this is not a tranq gun. Sydney's coming (luckily she wears loud heels), so Chuck tells Devon to remember that he shot Agent Superman, then he hides.
Sydney enters, sees Agent Superman is dead, and smiles at Awesome. She asks him for his gun, and he hands it over. She asks for his watch back. He removes Chuck's helpful sticker and gives it back. She tells him he did a good job, and says he's cute and talented. "What a catch." She takes his headset and tells him to lose the body, keep the phone, and says she'll be in touch. She welcomes him to the Ring. Chuck opens the letter that says, "Med kit in desk. The pill was amiodarone. Save me." Awesome explains that amiodarone stops the heart, but only for a few minutes. He says he can save Agent Superman if it's a clean shot. Chuck tosses him the med kit, and sure enough, Awesome revives him. Agent Superman wakes up and says his name's Shaw. I officially love him. These three in one room is almost too much goodness on one show.
At Castle, General Redhead introduces them to Agent Superman, who's been working almost exclusively on the Ring for the past couple years so now he has total command authority on anything having to do with that. Casey's like, "Really? This guy? I have back issues of Guns & Ammo older than he is." Agent Superman says he's been fully briefed on the Intersect, and he knows everything. He thanks General Redhead, who tells them they're in good hands and shuts off. Chuck reminds Agent Superman that Sydney's still out there, so Devon's still at risk, but Agent Superman says that the Ring operates in small cells, so if they catch Sydney, they can contain his identity (why, then, did they have to fake Agent Superman's death instead of just killing her at the last place? Just because it wouldn't have been a long enough episode?). He says Awesome's a bona fide mole in the Ring now, so they have to use him in order to save him. Chuck protests again, but Casey and Sarah agree with Agent Superman, saying the risks are greater if they don't use Devon, since Sydney would rather kill him than let him go. Chuck doesn't care, so Agent Superman asks if he has a better idea. Chuck watches an image of the special phone on a computer, and has a thought.
Buy More. Customers are everywhere, but no staff. Morgan wonders where everyone is and finds them fighting in the cage in the backroom with more Dust Brothers-ish tunes. Morgan tries to stop them, but they all ignore him completely and continue to fight. When one guy doesn't want to fight Jeff, Lester hooks a battery up to the guy as he touches the cage, shocking him. Morgan tells them this is over, and Lester, who is somehow the Tyler Durden in this scenario, tells Morgan it's never over.
Chuck shows up at Awesome's, who asks him to please not say there's another mission, since he's freaking out. Chuck says there are no more missions, and he's sorry he put him through all of this. He asks for the phone, and Awesome gives it to him. Chuck leaves. In the backroom at the Buy More, Chuck does some sort of reconfiguring with the wires of the phone. The computer says it's doing its work when Morgan walks in and asks if he can talk to Chuck since he's in a crisis. Chuck says he still is, and Morgan assumes it's something about work so he says Chuck's an assistant manager's dream. Morgan explains that Lester turned the cage into a fight club and attached a battery to the cage to shock people. Chuck tells Morgan it sounds like he needs a plan, and Morgan says he was thinking that, but ... what plan? The computer beeps and says the phone's been rebuilt, asking Chuck if he wants to complete it, yes or no. Chuck tells Morgan what he does when he has a problem is attack it head on. Morgan thinks that's powerful, and leaves. Chuck activates the device, and Sydney asks how he opened the channel and who this is. Chuck says he's the spy that killed Agent Superman, that Devon was just a decoy. He says he's in charge of this mission now.
Chuck calls Sarah and Casey at Castle to tell them not to be mad, but he may or may not have called Sydney so she'd track him to the Buy More. He says it's his trap, then he sees Sydney showing up, and he tells Sarah to grab Casey and get up here to take them out. Agent Superman takes the phone and tells Chuck this wasn't smart, and if he starts things on his own he has to finish them on his own. "Good luck." He hangs up, and Casey says he won't be able to handle it on his own. Sarah says without them, he'll panic and won't be able to perform properly. Agent Superman says it happens to lots of guys. Or so he hears. Agent Superman says he's kind of curious about the plan anyway. Uh, the plan was for them to go save him; didn't he just say that. Back upstairs, Sydney and three or four big, burly guys walk in. Chuck talks to them over the intercom, requesting they go to the home theater room. He even suggests a route, but one of the guys finds him. Chuck plays dumb, and says the store's closed and they can come back in the morning. Casey and Sarah say they're going on, so Agent Superman pulls guns on them and says he's going to have to ask them to stand down. He reiterates that he doesn't like guns, but he'll use them when he has to.
Sydney tells Chuck it's a little weird to meet in an electronics store, then asks about Agent Superman. Chuck says he killed him; Devon was just a patsy. Sydney's skeptical, and calls Chuck "Mr. Buy More." She says he shouldn't have any problem with Glenn and Ian, then, and leaves Chuck to fight two of them. Chuck makes threats but can't flash, so one guy punches him out. Chuck gets up with a bloody mouth and says he's angry and in a great deal of pain. He makes ridiculous martial arts motions and sounds at them, then runs off. Back at Castle, Agent Superman scoffs, "That is the plan?" Uh, no, dude: The plan was SARAH and CASEY. Is he a slow learner? Sarah says she's going in: "Shoot me if you have to." He turns to follow her with the guns, but Casey draws his own and points it at Agent Superman before he can. He tells Casey he's fast, and Casey growls, "I love guns." Agent Superman puts his down. Go Team Bartowski!
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Casey follows Sarah up to the Buy More. Casey stays on the guys out front and sends Sarah to the back after Chuck. Sydney and two of her guys are there. She asks them to check out the cage. Chuck's hiding, and lights up the battery power on the cage just before the guy touches it. It zaps him and he accidentally shoots the other guy. Thank goodness for fight club, right? Sydney takes out her gun, but Sarah shows up and kicks it out of her hand. They have a bad-ass girl fight like this show is so famous for. Sydney mostly wins and starts to run, but Chuck pulls a gun on her. She runs anyway, knowing he can't shoot. He follows her outside and tells her not to move. She turns around with her hands up, and asks, "Or what?" He asks her to please do what he says. She says spies don't say please and Devon would have had a bullet between her eyes by now. She reaches for her phone, as Chuck tells her not to do that. She says she can think of a use for it, calling fifty operatives here. Chuck says, "Don't make me shoot you," and she says she doesn't think he can. Sarah comes out, but Sydney's already been shot from behind. It's Agent Superman, who once again says he hates guns, but it pays to know how to use one. Maybe with this guy here someone will finally teach Chuck.
Castle. Chuck tells Agent Superman that there's nothing he cares about more than his friends and family, so he wasn't happy they risked his family to get Sydney. Chuck doesn't expect Agent Superman to understand, being the spy that he is. Agent Superman says families and friends make spies vulnerable, unable to pull the trigger, which puts them all in more danger. He says his partner here will tell him the same thing, but Sarah says that sometimes it helps to know you've got something to lose. Chuck gives her a look of thanks, but you can tell Agent Superman's mojo is sinking in.
Buy More. Lester's taunting Morgan with his fight club Tyler Durden personality, squeezing one of those arm strength things. Only it seems to be a toy one. Big Mike calls Morgan over and asks him to get his house in order. He says the first rule of Big Mike management is you can't be afraid to pull the trigger (hey! It's the same as Agent Superman management!). Morgan tells Lester a wise man once told him to attack a problem head on, and since Lester's a problem here are the rules of the Buy More: Do what you're told, do it with respect, or you're fired. Lester doesn't believe Morgan has the cojones, so Morgan fires him. Lester begs for his job back, saying they were just having fun, and he needs to get out of his mom's place. Morgan makes him beg three times, before finally rehiring him. But he's on probation. "Double secret." Which is apparently a reference to Animal House that I didn't get without Googling. I am so very uncool. Big Mike and Morgan fist bump and Big Mike says he's strong. Morgan does a sort of Tim Allen woofing thing, and asks if it was a big dog, then says, "Medium size dog. Bigger dog."
Chuck and Morgan's apartment. Chuck's playing with the phone and Morgan's cooking when Awesome and Ellie show up for dinner. Morgan made teriyaki surprise, but says the surprise is teriyaki. Awesome's had enough surprises, but Ellie's sure they'll love it. Chuck pulls Awesome aside and says that thing they were dealing with is over; they caught Sydney. Awesome hugs Chuck, and Morgan's like, "What am I? Chopped liver?" He says he's the new assistant manager, which makes Ellie happy for him. Awesome doesn't just hug him, but picks him up, prompting Ellie to put him down. Another knock, and Chuck says he invited Sarah. Ellie goes to get the door, and Chuck adds, "Casey too." She turns, all, "WTF?!" But answers the door. She takes Casey's bottle of wine and says he's had enough of that. Casey asks Chuck what's up with her, and Chuck says he has no idea. Chuck and Sarah have a moment: He tells her it wouldn't be the same without her, then they look at each other with ... longing? Nostalgia? I don't know, but something. Agent Superman is watching from Castle, and then he pulls out a ring box and puts a wedding ring on. Interesting!
time: Agent Superman sends Chuck on his first solo mission. Chuck thinks he's ready, but it's clear Sarah doesn't. Kristin Kreuk and Stone Cold Steve Austin are on a plane, which is where Chuck's mission is. He has to fight Stone Cold Steve Austin (who is not Jesse Ventura, as it turns out).
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DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, wants something in her brain that lets her speak Chinese, kick people in the face, and shoot things. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.
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