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Chuck and Sarah move on from his comment about having kids straight into awkward silences. Sarah sulks and Chuck thinks they're stable and perfect. But then the spy mission to Monaco that Chuck was so looking forward to gets canceled because a prison transport breaks down and they need to use the Spy More to hold the prisoner... who turns out to be Nicole Richie. Chuck flashes on a connection between her and Volkoff and Frost (his mom's spy code name or something, if you're just catching up), so Chuck and Sarah interrogate her. She will only speak in exchange for witness protection, which they're not offering up. While they try to get her to talk, though, Stone Cold Steve Austin gets himself out of his spy cage in the new supersized Castle. And he spends the rest of the episode torturing them and fighting them (conveniently, he's with Volkoff, too). In the end, Nicole Richie even helps a little bit (as does the gang at the Buy More, but we'll get to that), and they manage to get him arrested again.
At the Buy More, Morgan's anticipating the release of some new videogame, so there are all sorts of folks in military and spy regalia packed into the store for the countdown. Unfortunately, the game never comes, so Jeffster! tries slam poetry and other tactics to entertain them, but finally admits there's no game. A full-out riot ensues, but Big Mike's thankfully back to work, and he helps Morgan get everyone to stand down. Right after his inspirational speech (or is it slam poetry? Huh?), Stone Cold walks in and Big Mike thinks he's being disruptive, so he takes him out, helping out the CIA without even knowing it. Morgan makes him his assistant manager and gives him permission to marry Morgan's mom.
In the chaos of the episode, Morgan loses Big Mike's engagement ring for Morgan's mom, and at the end, it falls down a vent. As Chuck and Sarah finally talk about taking it slow, the ring makes its way down the heating vent and lands at Chuck's feet. Just in time for him to lean down onto one knee and pick it up. They both freak out a little bit, but -- testing the waters or something else -- no one says anything about it being a total accident. So we have ourselves a little bit of a cliffhanger.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Chuck wants us to know some stuff: The Buy More is now the Spy More. Morgan became the manager, though, to dumb it down. Chuck freaked Sarah out with his sweet, sleepy marriage/baby talk. And now here we are in a prison transport truck. It breaks down on a highway, so they're redirected to a new top-secret facility. Cut to said facility, where Morgan's dealing with giant crowds waiting for the release of a spy video game in two hours. Chuck and Morgan have a very nothing conversation about the guys camped out here and blah, blah, why should we care? Morgan does, however, introduce us to the new Greta, Stacy Keibler. Morgan is sort of drooling all over himself for the two seconds she's in their presence. Oh, come now. She's no Isaiah Mustafa.
Chuck exposits that he has no time to sit around and ogle the new Greta because he's going on a fabulous spy mission to Monaco with his lady. By the way Morgan responds, it's clear Chuck's told him this at least a hundred times. Morgan asks how Chuck is so calm and settled, without his normal neuroses and fear. Chuck says he doesn't want to speak for Sarah, but she's finally settled down. They savor this victory. Cut to Sarah, savoring this "victory" in her own way: by punching Casey in the face. Casey wonders what's eating at her, so she asks about his family. He admits he'd like to talk to Alex, but none of his priorities have changed. Sarah tells Casey what Chuck said about kids and then punches Casey a bunch more. General Redhead interrupts and tells Sarah to calm herself, since her trip to Monaco has been postponed because of a prison transport heading their way. The prisoners are theirs at Castle until further notice. Sarah seems a bit relieved.
When she tells Chuck their trip's canceled, though, he's less happy. He doesn't even like the silver lining of staying in and chatting. He asks if there's something they need to talk about, but the Castle warning buzzer tells them the prisoners are there, so she tells him to "lock and load." She pretends the chat is no big deal, and then our prisoners are led in. The first one is Stone Cold Steve Austin, who instantly remembers (and head-butts) "Carmichael." Chuck gasps, "Just a quiet evening." Sarah tells him it can't get any worse, and then her prisoner's revealed: Nicole Richie, who taunts Sarah and her "dungeon." As if our new fancy Castle is remotely a dungeon.
Spy More. Morgan's giving Jeffster! a pep talk, which consists of him asking them not to embarrass him. But Jeffster! scare the crap out of Morgan by telling him Big Mike's here -- and he stole his job, remember. Morgan knew this day would come, even though he's been avoiding his mom's house so he wouldn't see him. Big Mike comes in, and Morgan tells him he's bursting with pride that he's wearing the manager suit now. Meanwhile, down in Castle, Chuck asks Stone Cold about his diet regimen in prison and Sarah asks Nicole how she managed to dye her hair. Okay, she doesn't, but I wish she had. Instead, Nicole calls Sarah "Jenny Burton", but Sarah says she's Sarah Walker, and Nicole best not forget it. They lock their prisoners in, but only after Stone Cold takes a newspaper from one of the guards.
Back upstairs, Big Mike's all peaceful and happy about finding his inner Big Mike. He says this calm and serenity comes from Morgan's mama. He wants to make her an honest woman. He shows Morgan a half-carat cubic zirconium -- he's a splurger, that one -- and says he's here to ask Morgan's permission to marry Bologna Garcia Bougainvillea Grimes. How many ethnicities is she, anyway? Big Mike leaves the ring with Morgan, and asks him to guard that ring with his life. Big Mike then asks for a job, since he really wants to take care of Morgan's mom. Morgan sort of nods yes, then takes a phone call. Big Mike calls Morgan "Son. Boss." Morgan's call is apparently someone letting him know he's only getting six copies of that new game, Spy Attack. Which probably won't go over well with the hundreds of people lined up waiting for it.
Back at Castle, Sarah and Chuck start to have their talk. She's like, "Look, it's not a big deal. Or maybe it is. I don't know." He wonders what's up, so she says she loves him, but asks if they can please... But before she finishes, he flashes on Nicole Richie, who's connected to Frost, which means she might know his mom and he must talk to her before the transport. Sarah reminds him they don't have authority, but he points out they also don't have authority to use the supply closet for what they use it for. What do they think this is? Grey's Anatomy? If he's going to do it, though, she wants to be involved as tough cop to his silent cop. He tells her to use the word "time machine" to regroup if things go bad in there. As they head in, Stone Cold makes some sort of tightly wound roll out of his newspaper.
In Nicole Richie's room, Sarah offers Nicole a bunch of stuff, but stops short of witness protection. Nicole ribs Sarah and then wonders if Chuck and Sarah are actually together. She can't believe it, and makes fun, then asks them if spy sex isn't great. Then she also brings up shacking up, getting a dog, and babies. Sarah: "Time machine." Chuck's like, "Time machine. Really?" Outside, he tells her he actually meant for her to use it in a sentence, you know, so it's not so obvious. Sarah tells Chuck not to let Nicole get under his skin about the living together and "the other thing that she mentioned." Uh, Sarah, this is a kettle. You are black. As Sarah storms back in, Chuck wonders if she's okay. Stone Cold, meanwhile, stabs a guard in the neck with the rolled-up newspaper. And folks say newspapers are no longer good for anything... Back in Nicole's room, she taunts Sarah some more because she knows this makes her edgy. Nicole talks about her own husband, who she ended up robbing blind.
They leave the room again and start to chat, but Sarah notices a guard's machine gun on the ground down the hall and tells Chuck they have a serious problem. She pulls him back into Nicole's room in slow motion as Stone Cold comes around the corner and picks up the machine gun. He follows and shoots at their jail cell, but it's thankfully bulletproof. Chuck thinks this might be about him kicking Stone Cold's ass on an airplane once, but Stone Cold tells Nicole that Mr. Volkoff says hello, and if they send her out now, no one else dies. He runs off, and Sarah asks what's going on. Nicole thinks Volkoff engineered the transfer, which put Nicole and Stone Cold on the same transport. She says Volkoff's mad at her, but he's just being petty because she blew a half-billion dollars. Sarah calls Casey.
Back at the Spy More, though, the game clock is counting down and Morgan needs Casey himself. He wants him to announce the delayed delivery, but Casey says it's a job for the manager. He gets Sarah's call and heads toward Castle. But then Greta Stacy calls him and apologizes for being in Castle, but she can't handle the losers upstairs. She finds the punched-out guards and then comes face to face with Stone Cold. Unfortunately, he knocks her out, then heads for the computer system. He's apparently not a total idiot, because he manages to lockdown Castle, with them all inside. Chuck says this isn't a good situation, since he's been in a locked space with Stone Cold before, and he g
ot very agitated. Then Stone Cold starts opening cell doors, but Casey works on the other end to stop what he's doing. The new Castle mainframe starts talking to Casey, but can't understand anything he says. She thinks "fire emergency override" is "hire nursery overhige." Casey points out that's not a real word. She keeps apologizing as Casey gets in and opens a secret stairway for them just as Stone Cold gets there and shoots up the cell.
Spy More. Jeffster! says they're screwed, but Morgan says they're going to be fine, because he'll get the games. He gives Jeffster! a script to read to the plebes from, and Lester speaks British: "You don't just drop a role in a man's lap and say, 'Go seal, clap for your fish.' I must make this my own. If I am to undertake it." Morgan whatevers him and then pep-talks himself as he walks away. Lester picks apart the script. Cameras take us through the secret hatches down to where Chuck, Sarah, and Nicole are crawling around. He talks about air ducts in movies, and Nicole calls him "Movie Dork," and bets he has a Tron poster in his room. Casey's finally in Castle as the bickering threesome makes their way through the ducts. Sarah radios their placement to Casey, who unlocks a spot for them to get out. Nicole and Chuck argue some more, and she tells him she gets the sweet guy thing; she did it, too. Sarah kicks her in the face and says her foot slipped. Nicole thinks she must be hitting home.
As the videogame countdown ends, the crowd goes inside and mills about excitedly. Morgan tells Jeffster! they're almost out of the woods, and asks them to hold these people off. Then Morgan's phone rings and he finds out he's only going to get two more games. Big Mikes tries to advise him: The sheep need a shepherd. Morgan nervously agrees and runs away. Back in the land of storylines that matter, Sara, Nicole, and Chuck get out of the air ducts, but are in a locked room, where Nicole can talk a little better. She tells Chuck she got hitched to a dork jut like Chuck, which she thought was attractive at the time. But then her true nature kicked in, which she says is why Sarah's so upset: They're the same. Sarah won't dignify it, and Chuck says they're professionals, so they're not listening. Nicole tells Chuck to remember that Sarah keeps secrets for a living. She says Sarah's upset, but Chuck says he would know. Sarah helps open the door for Casey, but it's Stone Cold. He comes in and fights with Sarah. Chuck ends up hanging down a duct, with Stone Cold grasping him so he doesn't fall. Sarah beats the crap out of Nicole Richie a bunch and Chuck flashes so he can punch Stone Cold while they hang there. Grunt. Ugh. Groan. Fight. Kicks. Kung-fu. Kicks. Stone Cold falls, Sarah knocks Nicole out, and then helps Chuck.
Spy More. Jeffster! decides to turn the event into a slam poetry event instead of reading the trash Morgan supplied. The crowd just wants to buy the dumb game, but instead Jeffster! starts playing a tambourine. Back in the ducts, Sarah and Chuckles talk like idiots, so Stone Cold hears every word and heads toward the voices. He sees them, but just then Casey finds Stone Cold and pulls a gun. He calls a roof transport in two minutes. On the roof, the helicopter is landing as Sarah gives Nicole one last chance to deal. Nicole still says no, making me wonder why Sarah doesn't try toe wedging or something. I mean, it's Nicole Richie: I'm sure the rules of the U.S. government can be bent where she's concerned. Nicole tells Chuck good luck; she's rooting for him, but not betting on him. Sarah tries to have a heart to heart with Chuck, and she promises a chat once these prisoners are gone. Bad news, then: The helicopter's Volkoff, not CIA.
Stone Cold escapes back into a hatch in the building as a gunfight breaks out. Casey sends Chuck after the prisoner and he and Sarah will handle the gunfight. Casey gets shot, but he's all right. Volkoff's men offer to take Nicole and let them both live. Nicole tells her to do it: "We both know what you're going to do, so just do it." She says she know what Walker will do. Sarah says Nicole doesn't know her or who she is. "We have nothing in common." To prove her love for Chuck is real, she not only keeps Nicole safe, but also gives her Casey's gun. They stand up on the count of three and shoot up the Volkoff men. Then they pull the guns on each other -- until Nicole uses her last bullet to shoot a guy coming up behind Sarah.
Jeffster's slam poetry, which rhymes but doesn't seem to actually mean anything. The crowd starts chanting, "We want the game," so Jeff finally admits the games didn't show. The crowd heads toward riot mode. In the ducts, Chuck catches up with Stone Cold and pulls a gun on him, but Stone Cold outsmarts our nerd by pointing out he's right to the gas line. The ducts start squeaking, so Chuck asks Stone Cold to move away since there's too much weight close together. Downstairs, Big Mike warns Morgan the crowd's going to rampage, and then they do. The air duct breaks and Stone Cold topples into the cage in the backroom at the Spy More. In the midst of the riot, Morgan drops the ring and it rolls away. Chuck flashes and fights with Stone Cold. Rioters riot. More fighting. More rioting. Morgan crawls around looking for the ring. He finds it, but some guy gets dragged by, taking it with him. Even more fighting. Big Mike finds Morgan, kicks his butt, and tells him to get on his feet since there's a riot going on. Morgan admits he lost the ring, so Big Mike tells him to find the ring; he'll take care of the rest. He storms over and takes Jeffster!'s mic. Everyone quiets down, just as Stone Cold throws Chuck down and leaves the backroom.
Big Mike lectures these nerds for their bad behavior, all, "Hell, no!" Lester comes up and adds a little slam poetry flair to Big Mike's talk. Stone Cold heads into the store just then, and tells people to get out of his way. Big Mike tells him he best behave or Big Mike will come and get him. Stone Cold grabs Morgan, so he totally does get him, with a zapping stick of some kind. Chuck arrives in time to see Big Mike take out his big baddie. Downstairs, Casey's in a wheelchair from his gunshot. Sarah tells him it's another Purple Heart, and he could use the downtime to meet up with Alex. He glares a little, but then nods and tells her to figure out what's up with her and Bartowski, so they can get back to "normal," or at least as close as they know. Nicole, on her way out, tells Chuck and Sarah that she met Frost on Operation Beacon. She doesn't know much, but says Frost was always with Volkoff. She didn't get the full gist of their relationship, and maybe she wasn't there by choice. Chuck scrams so Nicole can leave Sarah with a final speech about how maybe she's not the same. But Nicole's still a skeptic.
Sadly inspirational music plays as the Spy More crew cleans up. Big Mike approaches Morgan, who tells him he couldn't find his ring. So he offers him the assistant manager vest -- not because he feels like he has to, but he wants to. Though he's sorry about the ring. Big Mike says marriage isn't about a ring; it's a lifelong commitment of compassion and understanding, "especially for your spouse's idiot relations. All is forgivable." Morgan gives Big Mike permission to marry his mom. Big Mike hugs him, and calls him son, as a sweeper pushes the ring into one of the bazillion ducts. It starts to fall...
... And we're downstairs with Castle as it tumbles toward Chuck and Sarah, who are finally getting to their long-delayed chat. The ring gets hung up somewhere in the duct as Sarah tells Chuck she was scared about him saying something about them having kids. She says she's been thinking about it all day and wanted to talk about it, but didn't. He says Nicole was poking it with a needle, but Sarah's nothing like her. Sarah says she was for a long time, but she realized this night that she's not at all and doesn't want to be. But she does need to take things slow. Chuck's also not ready; maybe someday, but not now. The ring starts moving again as the air blows in the ducts or something. They agree to take it slow. Super slow. Really slow. The ring slowly tumbles toward them. They kiss, and it's sweet and happy. Chuck asks if they're ready or not ready to share a toothbrush on a trip. She's ready for that. She's not ready for the door to ever be open when someone's using the bathroom, and Chuck agrees. Then the ring hits the ground to them. Chuck sees it and gets down on his knee to pick it up. He holds it up to show her what he found. She's like, "Uh?" Chuck: "Oh?!" Sarah: "Wow." Chuck: "Wowee. Wow." But no real words.
week, there is talk about the accidental proposal and Chuck wishing she'd accidentally said yes. So it's time for a vacation. To Costa Gravas. Welcome back, Armand Assante! They assure Ellie it's safe there, then they get there and find the Costa Gravans have nukes. And Casey gets out of his wheelchair to let someone feel less guilty shooting him. Oh, Casey.
DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, is wishing they wouldn't have brought the Buy More back. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.
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