Episode Report Card DeAnn Welker: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Sam I Am
By DeAnn Welker | Season 3 | Episode 8 | Aired on 03.01.2010
Buy More. Chuck vaguely notices his pen's missing, but then greets Hannah with a kiss as Big Mike and Jeffster! stir gumbo and talk about Chuck's way with the ladies: Jill, Lou, and now Hannah. Jeffster! says none of the other women matter because Chuck's eyes light up with Sarah. Big Mike starts crying, and blames the onions he's chopping. Speaking of Sarah, she and Shaw are readying the food. When she hears the couples approaching, she throws a knife onto the cheese plate (it lands perfectly, of course) and they hide or sneak out or something.
Awesome asks Chuck how he found time to do this since he worked all day, and Chuck says it's a juggling act, but then calls Awesome into the kitchen to tell him the truth, but Awesome's like, "No!" He doesn't want to know anything, because he can't lie to Ellie anymore. He says he's not like Chuck. Chuck tells him to just tell Ellie "I don't know," which isn't a lie. At dinner, Ellie tells Chuck she's been lying for years about liking this dish, but it's finally good. She asks Devon if he can believe Chuck made this, and Devon says, "I don't know." Ellie asks him if the chicken isn't moist, and Devon's like, "Um." God, I love him. Note to show: Use Awesome more. Hannah proposes a toast, which is all about how she's in the right job with the right guy and at a great meal. She thanks them all, and then laughs awkwardly. It's adorable, and everyone seems to agree.
We cut from Chuck smiling at her sweetly to Sarah, watching it all at Castle, looking devastated. Shaw comes in behind her and we get a weird close-up of him looking ... I don't know, emotional? He offers her some of the chicken he snuck out, but she says she's not hungry and asks if he has this covered. He says he does, and she leaves him standing there looking pretty. Meanwhile, Rafe's in a car with the agents, using Chuck's Buy More pen to unlock his handcuffs. Commercials.
Buy More the next day. Chuck's staring at Rafe's phone when Hannah comes up and takes it from him and asks if it's new. He says it is, and it's a work thing. She then tells him she knows this is quick, but her family's coming to town and she'd love them to meet him tonight for dinner. He agrees to, then Big Mike comes over and drags him away to help with their cooking. After they heard how much Hannah loved Chuck's food, they want his expert advice. They force-feed him, and his phone (still with Hannah) rings. She answers it "Burbank Buy More." They disagree with Chuck's assessment of food, and Chuck sees Hannah's hanging up the phone. He asks what that was, and she says they were asking for someone named Rafe. She told him it was a Buy More phone, but the guy wouldn't listen and said he'd be here in a couple minutes. Uh-oh.
She goes to help a customer, conveniently, so Chuck removes his tie, puts a bottle of something on his hair and then grabs a black jacket. Out back, he starts to use his watch to call Castle or something, but Pauly and Edgar come up and ask what he's doing with that watch. It's very ominous, as they rip it off and smash it. But they just don't think it's nice enough for him, and they give him a fancy gold watch. Edgar asks what he's doing at Buy More anyway, and Chuck says a man's gotta have hobbies. He was here browsing music. Edgar and Pauly praise and thank Chuck for what he pulled off today. So they returned the favor by tracking down the name of the guy he's supposed to kill. "Rafe" says this is very good news and they all laugh until "Rafe" stops them with "Enough."
Sarah knocks on Shaw's door. He's in a towel and nothing else, looking awfully shirtless and sexy. She starts to talk until she realizes how distracting his body is and asks him to put clothes on. He does, but not before showing off his abs a couple more times. Anyway, Sarah came to apologize about last night, and he says it's not necessary. He asks if she's okay with the Chuck-Hannah thing. She appreciates him asking, but says that's not the change she's having trouble with. Meanwhile, Edgar and Pauly lead Chuck into a room with a giant gun and show him his mark, a half-mile away in a hotel room. They remind him that's far enough that only five people in the world could make the shot. Chuck puts on some sort of super headphones that let him hear into the room and looks through the gun scope. It's Shaw and Sarah, of course. So he gets to listen to the rest of Sarah's thoughts. The change she doesn't like is Chuck being a lying spy, becoming a different person. She says the more he changes to become a spy, the more she wants to be herself, who she was before all this. Shaw says if this is her, he likes her and wants more. Sarah says she's never told anyone on this assignment her real name, in three years, not even Chuck. Shaw asks what it is, and says she never seemed like a Sarah. She says it's cause she's not. Her real name is Sam. Chuck says, "Sam." Shaw tells her he's going to kiss her now, and they do kiss. It's not unpleasant.
Chuck gets up from the gun and repeats, "Sam?" Pauly and Edgar ask who Sam is, and say the guy he's supposed to whack is Daniel Shaw, who the Ring thought was dead, though it turns out he's not dead yet. Uh, duh. So who the hell is Sam? Chuck says Sam's the girl, his girl, "sorta." He says they're on again, off again, driving everyone in his life a little crazy. Edgar and Pauly asks what's keeping them apart if they love each other (is anyone else a little insulted at who they chose to represent the fan voice here?), and Chuck says it's complicated, and Sam's always the one pushing him to be better at his job. Edgar's like, "Wait a second. The guy you're supposed to whack is banging your girl?" Pauly says this unlucky guy's about to get double dead.
At Castle, Casey's calling in a situation to someone, since he can't contact the agents who were transporting the real Rafe. He calls someone else and asks for Chuck's last known location. Pauly asks "Rafe" what he's waiting on, and Chuck takes off his coat. As he does it, the real Rafe calls in a trace to his phone, which is in the coat pocket. Chuck tells Pauly and Edgar he's going over there to kill this guy, who he needs to look in the eye before he kills. The other guys stay behind to cover "Rafe." Edgar says his aim's nothing like Rafe's, but he can shoot until everyone's dead. Chuck's like, "Yeah, that's ... real good." Casey gets a fix on Chuck's location, too, so it looks like everyone will be convening with Pauly and Edgar.
Except Chuck, who's now at Shaw's, banging on the door. He pushes Shaw, and both he and Sarah ask what's up. By way of explanation, Chuck says his problem is that "nobody. Messes. With Rafe Gruber." He grabs Shaw, and Pauly and Edgar look at each other approvingly. Shaw tells Chuck to take his hands off him, but he won't. He says he's going to kill him for taking his girl, for taking Sam. Shaw and Sarah look shocked, and Shaw says, "You had your chance, and you blew it." Chuck gives him what I think is an actual, angry punch to the face for saying that. It was a little below the belt. Sarah and the guys watch as Shaw gets the best of Chuck. Well, Pauly and Edgar only watch until Rafe comes in and kills them. Rafe sees what's going on over there and, instead of using his one-of-five-in-the-world skills, runs the half-mile and walks in on Chuck pleading with Shaw to stop it since they're supposed to think he's Rafe and they're going to kill all of them. Rafe says he's actually going to be the one doing that. Sarah and then Shaw try to fight him.
Casey shows up to find Pauly and Edgar dead, as Rafe gets the best of Sarah and Shaw and moves on to Chuck. Chuck keeps telling himself to flash, but he doesn't, so Rafe tosses him aside when Shaw tries once more. Rafe picks up Sarah and both Shaw and Chuck say, "No, please don't!" Rafe says they both have it bad for "this blonde," and while