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Early on, Agent Superman and Sarah tell Chuck he can't be a spy until he flashes again, and what with his emotions roiling from the breakup with Hannah and the secret-keeping, who knows when that will happen again? So, Shaw puts his life on the line and goes out in the field in Chuck's place. They head to Malibu, where Awesome and Ellie are vacationing. There's a Ring agent there trying to infiltrate someone they think is an agent. Turns out it's Awesome, and the whole thing was just a set-up to get Team Bartowski away from the base (and away from Bartowski). While they're gone, a group of men in suits take over the Buy More under the guise of wanting to buy the place. They plan to interview everyone and will fire the nonessentials. They're Ring agents, of course, and they quickly figure out that Chuck's Agent Carmichael. Lester eavesdrops on enough of it to hear that they're going to "terminate" everyone but Chuck and Morgan (since Chuck told them Morgan's his best friend), so the Buy More crew locks themselves in the store to force the suits not to fire them.
Morgan ends up hiding and then following the Ring agents into Castle (which they find using high-tech, fancy scanners, of course. The security system there seems entirely too easy to hack, since the Ring guys manage to lock Team Bartowski out. After Morgan comes back up and tells Chuck everything he learned, they both end up kidnapped and Chuck has to tell Morgan everything, while they're cuffed together in the fighting practice room. Morgan thinks this is the best news ever, because it's way better than what he thought, which is that they were just growing apart. Getting to share everything -- even that he loves Sarah -- is such a relief to Chuck that he ends up flashing when the guys come back, and beats the crap out of all of them while Morgan watches (and bonks the last guy on the head, doing his part).
When it's all said and done, Agent Superman wants to put Morgan underground, but Chuck and Sarah convince him Morgan's totally loyal and will never reveal the secret. The best friends go home and play Duck Hunt. Awesome confronts Chuck about how he'd said they were safe but then the Ring used him as a decoy this weekend. So he tries to convince Ellie to go to Africa and join Doctors Without Borders. Shaw tells Sarah it was awfully weird that the Ring knew where he was and didn't kill him. Chuck and Morgan play Duck Hunt, and Chuck apparently flashes on it (the little dog laughs), then tells Morgan he would trust Casey and Sarah with his life. At his place, Casey pulls out a Ring phone and gets a call from someone he hasn't spoken to in awhile. Uh-oh. I can't decide if it's Chuck's dad, or if Agent Superman's really the bad guy and there's an undercover guy inside the Ring calling to tell Casey, or if Casey's bad. But no matter what, this episode proves that Zachary Levi's just as good a director as he is an actor, because it's one of the best episodes in the history of the show. More like that, please.
Watch the full episode here, then discuss itin our forums. Then see which Chuck character we want to spend 24 hours with!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!A few things Chuck wants us to know about him: He broke up with Hannah because she couldn't understand his life. Morgan wondered why his best friend Chuck is always running off somewhere. He and Ellie both thought Chuck was up to something. Awesome was sick of lying for Chuck's secret. Chuck's Intersect didn't work if he couldn't keep his emotions in check. Chuck and Agent Superman both hearted Sarah. Now, Chuck visits Castle, where Agent Superman and Sarah tell him what a problem it is that he hasn't flashed in a week. It's such a problem that until he starts flashing again, he's no longer a spy. Chuck says he gave up everything to be a spy, so it's all he has. [Except for his job and his sister/neighbor and his friends. Really, he just gave up Lana Lang, who is far from everything. Oh, and Sarah, I guess. So maybe he gave up every girl. - Zach] Sarah thinks time off might help, but he says that won't help, since he'll still have all these bottled-up emotions. Sarah says they can always talk to him, but he says that's not going to work for him. So, he's benched.
Sunny beach with people surfing. Ellie and Awesome are vacationing and kissing, all happy about how happy they are to be away and alone, just the two of them. Then Awesome's phone rings and he steps away to talk to Chuck, who wants to vent about breaking up with Hannah and being stressed by his spy life. Awesome tells him he's sorry, but he took this vacation to get away from Chuck's spy life. Chuck pouts and then goes to the Buy More, where he walks by a weird game in which Lester's betting all the nerds that Jeff can put an entire apple in his mouth. Then Morgan pages "Charles Irving Bartowski" to his office for disciplinary action. Chuck heads back, passing the betting, which is now to the point where the entire apple is in Jeff's mouth. It's gross.
In Morgan's "office," Morgan tells Chuck this is not an easy conversation to have, but they've been through all of their awkward life stages together: puberty, high school, college, and now the Buy More. So Morgan would like to know what's been going on in Chuck's life, since he knows it's something. Chuck asks if he really wants the truth, and Morgan does (like a slice of cheese on a tuna melt). But Chuck won't say anything, so Morgan climbs over the desk and gets out. He tells Chuck he's fired -- not from the Buy More, but as Morgan's best friend. So the disciplinary action was friendship-based, not work-based. Cake credits. Then Jeff Bridges' Hyundai commercial. Maybe he'll move up to a bigger, better brand now that he's an Oscar winner.
Even though Chuck's not a spy for the time being, he still has free rein of Castle, apparently, and Sarah and Agent Superman fill him in on the mission they'll be going on without him: They'll be going to a hotel where a Ring operative is apparently trying to find an agent and turn him. He doesn't flash, so Agent Superman is going on the mission with Sarah and Casey, since he can't leave Team Bartowski a man short. Chuck asks what about the Ring knowing he's alive, but Agent Superman is too Superman to worry about that. Casey tells Chuck he better return to find this place the way he left it. Chuck watches jealously as Sarah and Agent Superman slip on her cover engagement ring, then he asks Casey what he should do while they're gone. Casey: "Don't you have a day job?" (By the way, episode credits include: "Director: Zachary Levi")
Speaking of, Chuck finds Jeffster! and Morgan eavesdropping totally obviously on Big Mike's office. Lester tells Chuck it's a spy mission and he's not qualified, so to get away. Big Mike comes out of his office with some guys in suits (one of whom is Diedrich Bader), all laughing together, but when the suits are gone, Big Mike tells the guys this is not good. Someone's thinking of buying the store, so it will be closed today while they check things out and interview everyone to decide who is essential; everyone else will be fired.
At the hotel, a bell girl checks Agent Superman and Sarah in and tells them what a beautiful couple they are. And, really, they so are. Casey, bitter that he's cooped up in the van again, helps them try to triangulate wherever the Ring agent might be in the hotel. Cut back to the Buy More, where Big Mike is giving the guys a pep talk, all solidarity and loyalty. Morgan agrees all they have is each other. Diedrich calls Lester in first, and right after his touching "All for one, one for all" speech, he heads into the office and tells them he'll spill the dirty secrets for diplomatic immunity. They grant it. Cut to Big Mike, who tells them how great he is for having someone as good as Bartowski and his Stanford degree working here.
Chuck tries to talk to Morgan about their falling out, but Morgan's too stressed about the interview. When Chuck tells him he can always get a job; it's just the Buy More, Morgan says it's more than that for him, since he didn't go to Stanford and it's not just a job to him. Plus, in this economy? No one wants to lose their job. Even if it's at the Buy More. Chuck gets called in by the suits, so he doesn't get to make up with Morgan. In his meeting, the suits wonder what a Stanford grad's doing working at the Buy More. Chuck says the Buy More offers more opportunities than initially meets the eye. For instance, he says, he gets to work with his best friend every day. They ask why he isn't the assistant manager instead of Morgan, and he says the right guy has the job. He says he knows he looks good on paper, but he's not the cream of the crop. Morgan is. Awwww.
Casey somehow can tell that the Ring made a call from the hotel and tells Sarah and Agent Superman he'll trace it back. He connects them to the call, on which someone describes their target as a tall man in a blue and white bathing suit. Sarah looks outside and sees the target is Awesome. Of course. Chuck's finishing up his meeting with the suits, all smiles and fake happiness. After he's gone, they pull out a Ring phone and call "the others" back in. They're sure Bartowski is Agent Carmichael, and they think Agent Superman left him behind to man the fort. They're still looking for the entrance to Agent Superman's base, but they don't want to take out Chuck until they're sure Agent Superman left no one behind. Lester starts listening in outside the window in time to hear the suits say that Chuck says Morgan is his best friend, so they can use them both to their advantage, but will terminate all the others. Commercials.
Back at the hotel pool, Awesome tells Ellie how great this vacation is. They toast to no stress, no work, no problems. And Awesome's six pack reminds me why he is called Awesome (since his wimpy behavior lately where Chuck's secret is concerned has been decidedly not Awesome). Agent Superman and Sarah head to the pool to save Ellie and Awesome. At Castle, Chuck listens to Dancing With Myself as he flips through bad guy flashcards (they exist!), presumably trying to flash. But... nothing. At one point he guesses, "The Jackal! The Condor!" then turns it over to find out it's Chan Minh Chi. "Dammit! I should have had that one." Ha. Back at the hotel, Casey's heading to do whatever it is he does when Chuck calls him, bored. Casey wonders if he's flashed and since he hasn't, he doesn't have time for this. Chuck: "Only as good as your last flash, huh?"
By the pool, Awesome leaves Ellie to get them both some pina coladas. The camera gets a few nice shots of his amazing body, and then Agent Superman and Sarah pull him aside. He's like, "What are you two doing here? I just recovered my Awesomeness." Hee. So true. They tell him that they got a tip about a Ring operative trying to turn an agent staying at the hotel, and he's the agent. He asks if he and Ellie are in danger, and Sarah and Agent Superman look at each other, all, "Should we tell him?" Agent Superman says he doesn't know, and Awesome gives him a "WTF?" look that I adore.
At the Buy More, the gang is moping, and Morgan says they're probably back there going through lockers. Jeff's about to get called in for his interview, so he begs Morgan to get the "contraband" out of his locker. Morgan asks what it is, and then reluctantly agrees to get it even though Jeff doesn't say. Back at the hotel, Casey's breaking in to the Ring agent's room, where he finds a Ring phone on record, repeating the bit they heard about Awesome on a loop. Casey quickly deduces it's a set-up and texts Agent Superman and Sarah, who are trying to get Awesome to keep it together. When they read his text, they're all, "We're sorry. False alarm." Awesome looks at Ellie and says he has to get away from this.
Morgan finds a bottle of chloroform in Jeff's locker, but the inspector guys come in just then, so he hides across the room and watches them do a scan of the lockers. They find a tunnel behind the lockers and a fingerprint scan, and one guy tells the other to go get the others and tell them they found "the CIA base." Morgan looks puzzled, then watches them all come in, saying they found Shaw's base. They head in and start to close the secret door, but Morgan jumps down and follows them into the entrance to Castle. It's all quiet and empty in there, and Morgan's in total awe. There's a long hallway each way, and one seems to go forever. He does these hilarious, dorky tip-toeing moves down the hall, after the agents. Back up in the Buy More, Lester plays his recording about terminating everyone but Morgan and Chuck, and Big Mike cries to Chuck that they're going to fire everyone but him and Morgan. Chuck seems to realize that's not exactly what's going on here. Then he wonders where Morgan is.
The little guy's snooping around Castle, dropping to the floor and scooting along until he sees and hears the suits discuss how they're going to find all of the information the CIA has on them, and then "blow this base sky-high." Morgan, clearly shocked, covers his mouth. At the hotel, Sarah wonders why the Ring would lure them here, and Agent Superman says it's where they lured them from -- his base of operations, so they could go in looking for all the intelligence they have. Sarah immediately thinks of Chuck (BECAUSE SHE LOVES HIM), saying Chuck's in there and not flashing, making him a sitting duck (and the "duck" theme begins). They all take off running. Chuck's heading to the back room at the Buy More when Morgan runs into him. They have the best conversation in their history:
They both say they have to talk, over the top of each other, and Morgan says, "Hey, me first. Trust me, whatever you're going to say is nothing compared to what I got." Chuck: "Okay. Fine, yeah, please shoot." Morgan: "Okay, dude. There's a secret underground CIA base under our Buy More." Chuck's in shock, which Morgan misreads, so he says, "I know. Hey, listen, I know it sounds crazy, but you have to believe me here. These people who are claiming to buy the store? They're bad guys. They call themselves the Ring. Which I know is not that scary, but trust me, these guys are not to be messed with." Chuck asks how Morgan knows all this, and Morgan explains how he hid and watched them enter the base through the lockers. He says he followed them and heard and saw everything. Chuck looks even more shocked, and Morgan, "Hey, woah, woah! Dude. Listen, I know this is a lot for you to handle, but you've gotta stay with me. You've got to pull it together, because we are now in real danger here. Okay? Buddy... don't freak out." Chuck gives an awkward half-smile that is the low point of the episode for me. But if one facial expression is the only weak moment in an episode, that's not much of a complaint, is it?
As Agent Superman drives them back, Sarah and Casey both try calling and can't get through to Chuck's cell or the Buy More's land line. They figure out that the Ring must be jamming the signals or something. Casey growls. At the Buy More, Morgan wants to call the police, so Chuck pulls out his phone and says he doesn't have a signal. Morgan says it makes sense the bad guys would cut off all communication to the store, so they have to handle this themselves. Chuck says they don't need to do anything, but get everyone out of the store. Morgan says they're Buy More's -- America's last line of defense and they're going to take the last fight to them. Chuck points out this isn't a video game, so Morgan says he knows not everyone's a hero, so he'll ask Jeffster! instead (because they are known for heroics?) Chuck says fine, he'll do it, but only if Morgan helps him get everyone out first and what Morgan's told him remains a secret. Morgan loves having a secret between just the two of them, so he's totally down. But they find Jeffster!, Big Mike, and the rest of BuyMoria putting everything in front of the door to lock down the store and keep the suits from firing them. Chuck tries to talk some sense into them, but look who he's talking to. Big Mike gives a Braveheart speech about how they can take their dignity and all the hot women, but they cannot take our jobs and they will never take our store. He plants a flag and they reenact Iwo Jima on top of the pile of stuff they're stacking -- complete with a photo and everything.
Chuck finally gets through to Sarah and Casey on his watch. They tell him they're on their way, so she should sit tight. When he turns back, Morgan's there: "This is for you. Mace. I know it's not much, but it'll have to do. Emmett kept a stockpile in case Russians attacked, Red Dawn-style. This is for you also. Walkie Talkie. Don't drop it. It's expensive. You ready to do this? Let's do this!" Chuck tries to stop him, but Morgan, electric knives at the ready, heads into the backroom. Where he's immediately accosted by the Ring guys, and all of a sudden realizes how silly and stupid his heroics are here. Diedrich has Chuck and Morgan tied back to back in the practice fighting room with all the other baddies standing around menacingly. He tells "Agent Carmichael" he's all alone, and the base is locked down. Morgan's like, "Who is Agent Carmichael? You're crazy." Chuck agrees it's crazy. Morgan tells them to let them go and they won't tell anyone. Chuck agrees. Diedrich brings a sharp razor over and asks Chuck where the files are. Chuck says even if he was a spy, he would have been trained to withstand torture. That's why Diedrich's planning to torture Morgan, since Chuck told them he's his best friend. Morgan tells them how ridiculous this is that they think Chuck's a spy, since he's known him his entire life. Chuck listens guiltily. Diedrich puts the knife to Morgan's face, until Chuck tells them to stop and says, "Morgan, the truth is... I am a member of an elite black-ops team that is stationed here in Burbank. I have a level 6 clearance, and my code name is Charles Carmichael. I'm a spy, Buddy." Morgan looks heartbroken. Commercials.
Team Bartowski's made their way back, but Sarah and Agent Superman are locked out at the Orange Orange. Casey's at the Buy More, where the gang greets him by shooting him with toy guns until Big Mike tells them to cease fire. They tell Casey what's up with their revolution to take down the man, and he wants in. Lester asks how they know they can trust him, that he's not some sort of spy for the man, and Casey responds with the best line of the episode: "Because the only thing I hate more than hippie neo-liberal fascists and anarchists? Are the hypocrite fat-cat suits they eventually grow up to become." That works for Lester, so they let him in.
In Castle, Morgan's like, "You're a spy," and Chuck reminds him not to freak out. But Morgan just keeps repeating it. Diedrich asks for the files, but one of his cohorts comes in and tells him that "Colonel Casey and Agent Walker" have decided to join the party. Morgan: "Casey and Sarah are spies too?" Diedrich tells him he has a lot of catching up to do, and the Ring operatives leave to deal with the rest of Team Bartowski. Once they're alone, Morgan's like, "No, no, no, no, no. I can't believe it. All this time? You kept this a secret? From me?" Chuck apologizes and tells him how badly he wanted to tell him, because he hated making the plans and breaking them, but he had to protect him. Morgan says wow, and then, excited, "Wow! I don't. My best friend is a spy?!" He says it's the best news he's ever heard. He thought he'd lost him, but he was out saving the world. He says he's officially re-hired as his best friend. Chuck sheepishly says that's great and thanks him. But now Morgan wants to know everything, and since they both think they'll die here, Chuck goes ahead and starts at the beginning: "This all started about two and a half years ago, when I got an email from Bryce Larkin."
Cut to the Buy More, where Lester's singing Fortunate Son, for no other reason than that we love Lester and Jeffster! and need them to sing. They sing and dance, with the BuyMorons dancing along. Downstairs, the Ring guys wonder what the noise is, and one of them says it's the Buy More employees' revolution. Oh, and the good news for the Ring: They found Agent Superman's files on the Ring and uploaded it to headquarters. Uh-oh. That's bad bad news for our guys. The bad news for the Ring is that Colonel Casey made it into the Buy More. Diedrich says that's not bad news if he's dead. Lester keeps singing and throws in some hip thrusts in case we weren't sufficiently grossed out by him on a regular basis.
Casey can't get his security access to work, so he's puzzling by the lockers when they open and knock him over. Because he's Casey, he bounces back quickly and fights the two bad guys who came to kill him. He's not doing great until Jeff walks in all high on chloroform. He keeps telling Casey to peace out and make love not war, and offers him a hit. Then he says the fighting's not cool and jumps on the back of one of the Ring guys, and chloroforms him. He tells Casey to fight the power, and deliriously walks away (but only after Casey gets to tell him to "peace out"). The lockers close, though, and Casey can't get in, so he takes off running. Presumably back to the Orange Orange, where Agent Superman is telling Sarah that it's time to use Castle's self-destruct since the files are there and they can't risk the Ring getting that information (uh, too late). Sarah begs him to give Chuck fives more minutes. He fights her on it, but apparently likes her enough to listen to her pleas.
Downstairs, Chuck's finished his story: "That's it, that's how it happened." So now he has this Intersect in his brain, and it's not working. Morgan wants to know just one more thing: Is Sarah Chuck's beard? Is the whole relationship fake? "Cause, uh, Buddy, this is awful." Chuck: "Why? Cause we never had sex?" Morgan: "You never had sex with that girl?! ...No, it's terrible that you have to pretend to be in a relationship with someone that you clearly love." Chuck says that he and Sarah are over, but Morgan says he's not. "You're a good liar, Chuck, but you're not that good. You lied to me for three years, but I always knew you loved that girl. I saw the way you looked at her. We all did." He asks Chuck to tell him he doesn't love Sarah, and Chuck tells Morgan he's right; he does love Sarah. He kept telling himself he didn't, but he clearly does. (Is this the first time he's admitted it, really, to anyone?) He tells Morgan he has no idea how badly he needed to get this off his chest and thanks him. The Ring guys come back in to kill Morgan and Chuck, and Chuck finally, just in the nick of time, flashes. When they un-handcuff them, Chuck beats the crap out of them. He's assisted by Morgan throwing him a stick to fight one guy, and then, in the end, when Chuck's going to fight Diedrich and his sword with his bare hands, Morgan bonks him over the head with a stick. It's awesome. Then Morgan says Chuck's like Bruce Lee, Van Damme and Seagal all rolled into one. "That's my best friend!"
Casey comes back to the Orange Orange and says he couldn't get in; they're locked out. Agent Superman tells Sarah "time's up" and calls Langley. They answer just as the Castle door opens. He hangs up and all three draw their guns. Smoke pours out of Castle for no reason other than to make Morgan's entrance even more dramatic. He walks out, adjusts his tie and says, "Bag 'em and tag 'em, Sarah. Excuse me. Agent Walker." She looks at Casey, who's like, "GRRRR. Huh?" Chuck comes out after Morgan, smiling and nodding sort of like, "Sorry, guys. No choice."
Team Bartowski's at Castle, with Morgan on a screen in a cell. Agent Superman says they have to put Grimes into witness protection, but Chuck tells him to hang on a second because Morgan's not going anywhere. Agent Superman says Morgan knows Chuck's secret, and Chuck says, "Yeah, so do a lot of people. Awesome knows." Casey walks through to say: "Yeah, well, Awesome's awesome. Grimes is a moron." Agent Superman says they have no reason to believe they can trust him, but Chuck says they have his 22 years of loyalty to Chuck to trust him. He says Morgan has his faults, granted, but one thing he is, is loyal and he will never betray Chuck or his secret. Sarah says Chuck's right, and Chuck says he's flashing again because he has his best friend back. He says that they need the Intersect, and Chuck needs Morgan, so he's staying right where he belongs, which is the Burbank Buy More.
Agent Superman opens Morgan's cell door, and he comes out, looking around curiously. He tells Chuck it's not a problem about the wait, then he talks to Casey: "Colonel Casey? Always walking around so angry. I should have known you had a big secret!" Casey: "God help us." Chuck says everything's okay, and Morgan asks if he's officially part of the team. Chuck suggests walking before they run and maybe crawling before that. Morgan's okay with that, but he wants to celebrate with an old-school Duck Hunt marathon, and a meatball sub with extra marinara and jalapenos. Just the two of them. Chuck agrees to that. Big Mike and the gang get a call at the Buy more. It's Buy More corporate (only really it's Agent Superman), who's calling to tell them the store is no longer for sale after that incredible display of store loyalty yesterday. Big Mike hangs up and shares the good news with a victory shout, and the camera pans out to show to Buy Morons reenacting the Kiss.
Chuck and Morgan arrive home with Subway, and Morgan heads in, but Awesome catches up with Chuck in the outdoor foyer. He tells Chuck that the Ring used him as a decoy, and Chuck told him he was safe. Chuck says they're doing everything they can to ensure he and Ellie are safe. Awesome's like, "Okay. Okay." And gives Chuck a loving hit on the arm, seeming self-assured, then turns and nervously goes home. Ellie asks him if he's okay since he seems like a nervous wreck. Awesome says they need to get away, which she says they just did, but he wants to really get away. He suggests joining Doctors Without Borders in Africa. She says this is crazy, and what about Chuck. Awesome says this isn't about Chuck, but about them and their family. He says "Come on, babe," but we don't get her answer... yet.
Back at Castle, Sarah asks Agent Superman if this means the Ring knows about Chuck. He says that, since the Ring shut down all communications, they didn't have a chance to let their superiors know, so this will buy them the time they need to plan a full offensive and take the Ring down once and for all. Sarah asks him what's wrong then, and he says the Ring had him dead to rights today in Malibu, so why didn't they kill him? Morgan and Chuck enjoy their Subway sandwiches, as Morgan asks about Sarah and Casey. Chuck says they're great, and he'd trust them with his life. Then he shoots a whole bunch of ducks in a row, without missing one, in Duck Hunt, for a perfect 10,000. Morgan says that is ridiculous shooting and then, "You did your flash thingy on it. You flashed on Duck Hunt." The dog laughs. At Casey's, he pulls out a Ring phone and sets it up for something (I can't tell if it's supposed to be one he confiscated or his own). It rings and he looks puzzled, but answers it. The voice on the other end says, "Hello, Colonel Casey. It's been awhile." He looks thoughtful.
So ... what is it? Is Agent Superman bad? Is he the Ring? And, if he is, why would the Ring Tribal Council say they wanted him dead when no good guys were around to hear the ruse? Or is it Casey? Could he be bad? That would be brave of the show, and also stupid? Unless it's someone who has something on Casey and is making him do something he doesn't want to do? Or maybe he has a good-guy secret source inside the Ring? Maybe it's Bakula!? That would be cool. It could also be The Mummy (I can't remember what happened to him).
week: Morgan and Awesome realize that they both know the secret, which looks funny. Chuck catches Casey doing something, and Casey pulls a gun on him. General Redhead tells Sarah and/or Chuck that they're only not in prison because she needs them to capture Casey. "Dead or alive."
Watch the full episode here, then discuss itin our forums. Then see which Chuck character we want to spend 24 hours with!
Has the show stretched the Chuck/Sarah storyline to the breaking point?
DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, is craving a meatball sub. Product placement works. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.