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Chuck's still down on one knee, accidentally proposing to Sarah, when this week's episode begins. But they quickly clear it up -- it was a mistake; not his ring -- and move on. Except, you know, it's Chuck, so he doesn't. Like a fool, he listens to Morgan again, and starts reading a book about how to communicate better, called 101 Conversations Before I Do. He tells Sarah about the book, but not the title, then spends the episode peppering her with questions from it, in an effort to improve their communication. Meanwhile, Awesome's all about communicating ... with Ellie's belly. She'd really like to forget about the baby for a weekend and go away like adults. Which is a perfect time for Armand Assante's men to storm in and invite them on a luxury vacation to Costa Gravas, as repayment for saving his life. Unfortunately, Casey's stuck in a wheelchair and has to stay home.
They get there, meet the Generalissimo's wife, Amor, and soon enough, Chuck flashes on a Russian weapon. Before they can do anything to get rid of it or find out more, Amor is staging a coup with a bunch of the Generalissimo's men. Luckily, the Generalissimo flies himself, Awesome, Ellie, Chuck and Sarah out of there and back to Burbank on his private jet. And now the Generalissimo only really trusts one person: Casey (his Angel of Life). So he holes up with Casey, who's smart enough to figure out that the men there with the Generalissimo are actually on Amor's side. The Generalissimo sacrifices himself to save Casey and is taken back to Costa Gravas. Chuck, Casey, and Sarah sneak into the country and crawl into some tunnel that takes them right to the weapon control room where the Generalissimo and Amor are having it out. Chuck uses the communication tips from this book to talk them down, as Casey strong-arms the Generalissimo's turncoat soldiers.
After they return home, Chuck opens up to Ellie just a little, by telling her he's looking for their mom. She doesn't quite get why he'd do that, but seems to be okay with it. Then, Sarah talks to what she thinks is a sleeping Chuck, finally telling him that she'll always love him and if he really proposed, she'd say yes. Our "sleeping" Chuck smiles just enough so we know he heard the whole thing. I can't imagine this show would go from three seasons of keeping them apart to marriage, but maybe they see the writing on the wall that this show's likely not long for this world.
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Some things Chuck would like us to know: Armand Assante! Casey has a daughter, Alex. Morgan kinda likes her. Chuck accidentally proposed. Which brings us to right now, back in that accidental proposal moment, with the "Oh," "Huh?" "Hmmm?" "Wow." They quickly clear it up as they always do, which means: not at all. Chuck assures Sarah this ring was just, like, there, and then they're practically all, "Break!" as they run to their respective tasks. Morgan and Chuck are watching the accidental proposal on security video, and Chuck says he just wonders if she would have said yes, but Morgan would rather know if Chuck wanted her to say yes. Chuck's like, "I don't know. Maybe." So Morgan tells Chuck he and Sarah are terrible communicators, which Chuck halfheartedly acknowledges...
Which brings us to the Buy More sales floor, where Morgan's shilling a book by "Dr. Fred," called 101 Conversations Before 'I Do.' Chuck says he can't show Sarah this book to get her to communicate, since she wants to take it slow. Morgan -- the same guy encouraging better communication -- tells Chuck not to show Sarah the book, duh, just to ask her questions about it. Chuck tries to protest that he and Sarah don't need a book to communicate, and Morgan confuses him into submission, with: "You don't know whether or not you proposed, or if you did, if you're happy about it, or if she said yes or not to what may or may not have been a proposal, or if either of you ever want you to ever ask her for real. Yeah, you don't need no book. You're fine."
At the apartment, Awesome's talking to Ellie's belly like it's a living, breathing human, when she tells him she'd like to be addressed, too, and she's feeling a little overbabied. "My hot husband suddenly drives a minivan." Awesome: "Yeah, an awesome minivan! (PRODUCT PLACEMENT ALERT) Toyota Sienna. Safest family auto in its class." Ellie thinks maybe they should get away, and take a babymoon. He'd love to, but with how expensive college is going to be by the time their baby reaches it, they can't really afford it. She'd like it to just be the two of them for awhile, so he acknowledges she needs a break, then leans down to whisper to her belly that they'll "talk later."
Castle. General Redhead's filling Chuck and Sarah in on some guy named Turrini, the most trusted adviser to Armand Assante's Generalissimo. Casey wheels himself in then, and after some chitchat about how he's supposed to be in bed recovering (he claims he needed "fresh air," but Chuck wonders if an underground bunker is really the best place to get that). Casey's familiar with Turrini, though, so General Redhead fills them in: It's strange that he's in town, so she wants everyone who wasn't recently shot to stake out the Costa Gravan Embassy to see if he shows up. "Everyone else should be in bed." She shuts herself off, and Casey growls. On the stakeout, Sarah watches computer monitors like a good spy, but Chuck wants to take this moment to communicate with her about the "whole ring thing." He says that since she wears her "teeth-bleaching system" in front of him, they should be able to talk. She agrees they can talk. He tells her that Morgan gave him a book full of questions to ask your partner, and she wonders if she should read it. He's like, "Oh no." He'll read it and ask her the questions, and they'll have a series of emotionally stimulating conversations -- or at least that's what the back cover says. General Redhead pops up on the monitor then, and tells them they picked up Turrini, who's not headed to the Embassy. Chuck: "Then where is he heading?" Cut to a tight shot of a hand knocking on a door, which is then answered by... Awesome, with Ellie in the background. Apparently Costa Gravas is calling for Dr. Woodcomb again. And... Cake.
Chuck and Sarah arrive in a panic just in time to watch the DVD the Generalissimo's men brought for Awesome. It's the Generalissimo, with paradise green-screened behind him, as nearly as indecipherable as ever as he invites them to beautiful Costa Gravas on his private jet. Ellie's salivating at the beaches, jungles, palace and more. She's like, "Devon. Babymoon." Awesome tells her it's not safe, but Sarah assures them that Costa Gravas is stable right now. Turrini agrees: "We have peace now. (PRODUCT PLACEMENT ALERT) And Subway sandwich franchises." Chuck says they could go, too, if it would make Awesome feels safe to have Sarah there, relaxing, in a bikini (I think that last part was more for Chuck and viewers than for Awesome's comfort level, though I guess it couldn't hurt). Turrini tells them how luxurious the Costa Gravan palace is.
Which is how we transition to Morgan telling Casey to prepare for luxury as he throws a weird half-fur blanket on him. Casey growls and throws it off of him, when there's a knock at the door. It's Alex; apparently Casey told her he was sick, not in a wheelchair, though she seems to move on from that realization quickly and asks Morgan how his pot roast turned out. Under Casey's death glare, he nervously tells her it was great and thanks her for the recipe. Casey asks if they talk often, and Morgan's like, "Once in a blue moon, when we need to discuss meats, meat, assorted meats, potted meat." Then he changes the subject to the movies Alex brought: Roman Holiday -- which is both Alex and Morgan's sick-day movie (though I cannot imagine it's Casey's). Casey tells Morgan to leave, but Alex leaves just then, so Casey holds Morgan there, to give her a five-minute lead.
Sunshiney music plays as Sarah tries on various bikinis. They all look amazing, of course, and Chuck agrees. He's excited for their trip, where they can work on their communication exercises. She seductively asks if that's what he's worried about, and he says there are many ways to communicate. They kiss, and then she leaves the room. He packs the 101 Conversations book. Don't leave home without it! When they arrive in Costa Gravas, the Generalissimo greets them warmly and crazily, sniffing Ellie and literally sniffing out the fact that she's pregnant. Then he introduces his wife, Amor (okay, that's not her real name; it's actually "Hortencia de la Corazon Goya," which is why I'll stick to calling her Amor), played by Tia Texada, who I thought was a Hey, It's That Guy, but I can't figure out where I've seen her (and, no, I have not seen Glitter). She apologizes if her husband has charmed away any of their women. They all giggle awkwardly, because... well, Generalissimo is a riot, but not exactly a charmer.
Dancing and partying, Costa Gravan style, ensue. Chuck and Sarah discuss "personal time." His demands: Morgan needs five hours a week of Chuck's time for Halo-playing purposes, and Sarah needs thirty minutes of complete silence before sleep. Chuck thinks that cuts into his cuddle time, so they compromise by alternating nights: cuddling and silence. (Can't they just cuddle in silence?) The Generalissimo has an announcement. He'd like to present Awesome with a gift for his great service to Costa Gravas. He unveils a giant statue of Awesome -- which Awesome, of course, loves. How very Jaynestown. Too bad Casey's not here to witness it and satisfy my Browncoat heart. Chuck flashes on a sign on the wall, which Sarah notices, though Chuck tries to pretend he didn't flash, since he'd like to continue their communicating. He finally admits there's a Soviet-era weapons system down the hallway, and Sarah tells him they have to check it out. As they chat, Amor grabs a drink and tells some soldiers to "move into position" and "our time is here." She has a "socialist dream" and hates "capitalist swine." I can't help it. I have to watch the Dean Winters All State commercials every time they're on. Who would have thought Ryan O'Reily would turn out to be so funny?
Sarah calls Casey about Chuck's flash, since Casey spent so much time in Costa Gravas hunting down the Generalissimo, so he knows this palace better than anyone. Casey eagerly answers his phone and begs Sarah to give him something to do. She puts him on the phone with Chuck, who explains what he flashed on. Casey says he knows the hall Chuck's talking about; he lived in one of those walls for two weeks once. Chuck would really like to find the time to write down all of Casey's crazy stories. Sarah hopes for a diversion, and -- on cue -- the Generalissimo comes out singing "Besame Mucho" to his eye-rolling wife. Awesome admires the abs on his statue and thinks maybe he's put on some baby weight. But Ellie's not having any baby talk this weekend; they're just here on a sexy vacation (which she's calling a "babymoon"; isn't that mentioning the baby?). He congratulates "Marble Me" on making his wife a little caliente, and they head out to find some privacy.
As Casey leads Chuck and Sarah to the door they're looking for, Chuck asks Sarah questions from the book. It's not thrilling. They find the door, and are trapped between it and another door, when someone starts banging on the one they just came through. They worry, until they hear Ellie and Awesome giggling. Which might actually be worse than bad guys for Chuck, who's like, "Dear God, get me out of here." Sarah opens the door, and Chuck tells Ellie and Awesome he's sorry, mostly for himself. Awesome jokes that Costa Gravas must make everyone run a little caliente, since Chuck and Sarah are locked in a closet themselves. Back in the party, Amor and her men start shooting things up. Our intrepid gang runs back to watch from a doorway as Amor screams, "Bring me my husband's head! I want him, dead or alive." Chuck says they might not have the strongest marriage. Then someone shoots up the statue, and its head falls off. Awesome's not loving that. Ellie tells Chuck she knows he's not a spy, but she needs him to do some spy stuff now.
They head off to find the Generalissimo, and Chuck and Sarah fight a gang of rebels along the way. Awesome tells Chuck how awesome he is as they head out. Casey starts to lead them out by phone when Generalissimo comes in and says of course there's an escape plan. He's nonchalant about it, all "My wife and I have been fighting a lot lately. You know: Women." Generalissimo tells a "funny story" about the Angel of Death hiding in the walls for two weeks waiting to kill him, "I was in Havana with Castro the whole time!" And he laughs. Casey, still on the other end of the phone, grumbles that he heard that. Generalissimo leads them through the Soviet-era weapons room (where Sarah snaps some quick photos with a lipstick camera) to his private jet, where Awesome and Ellie thank Chuck for saving them. Then Ellie apologizes to Awesome for making them go there, but he tells her it's okay, since they do need time away. So they're going straight to Malibu when they get home. Chuck watches them in awe, what with the communication and everything. But Sarah's more interested in the homeless dictator. Turrini wants to take Generalissimo to the Embassy, but Generalissimo says he'll only trust his life to one person now: John Casey. Cut to Casey's apartment, where Generalissimo tells Casey the wheelchair's not that intimidating, but oh well. Casey seethes.
Buy More. Morgan gets a text from Alex that says, "Great seeing you. Movie marathon soon? Xo." He calls it a disaster, then asks Big Mike for advice. He explains he met this girl who might be "it," but there's this little detail of her being Casey's daughter. Big Mike agrees Casey's not the dad you want hating you, but there is no bodily limb worth the love of a good one. So Morgan needs to determine if she's worth it. In Castle, Sarah has the computer analyzing the photos of the weapons room while Chuck tries to move on to more questions from the book: The ones are about sex. Sarah protests they have a mission, but Chuck think it's important to talk about the difficult stuff to your partner while they sleep. Sarah says she's not going to do that, and this book sounds ridiculous. Chuck says Dr. Fred is world-renowned and then accidentally beckons toward the monitor at the Buy More, where Dr. Fred's table is set up for signing autographs. Sarah zooms in and sees the title of the book. She thought they were going to take it slow, and Chuck says they are, but someday he'd like to talk about marriage. She wonders why they always have to talk and push and change things? Why can't they just be? Chuck flashes on one of the pictures from the Costa Gravan weapon as Sarah tries to keep talking. There's some minor confusion when he tells her it's nuclear.
General Redhead yells from her screen into Casey's apartment, "Costa Gravas is nuclear?!" Generalissimo admits it's true that he has a control panel in his basement. There are nuclear sites in the jungle, aimed at different cities, and it takes two keys to run it. He has one key around his neck. Turrini seems to take note of this, and Casey notes that. General Redhead asks where the other key is, and he mumbles that he gave it to his wife. Turrini asks if Generalissimo can please rest. General Redhead asks Chuck and Sarah, who've been on their own video feed from Castle, to go to a private line. She's sending them back to Costa Gravas after they check in with Casey. Speaking of Casey, he, the Generalissimo, and his henchmen are outside so the Generalissimo can smoke. Casey tells the Generalissimo he never imagined he'd be taken down like this. In fact, Casey wrote a paper theorizing on who would take him down: someone whose politics would never move to the center, as the Generalissimo's have; and someone who couldn't take his eyes off Amor. Casey and Turrini draw guns on each other at the same moment. Casey calls Generalissimo around behind him. Turrini tells Casey not to make him shoot a man in a wheelchair, so Casey stands up: "Better?" Turrini says Generalissimo is coming with him, since they need his key. Casey disagrees, but all the guards are apparently with Turrini. Generalissimo sees Casey's not going to back down, so he bashes him over the head with a planter. He apologizes to his Angel of Life, then leaves with the bad guys under the condition that they don't kill Casey.
General Redhead's on the monitor in Casey's apartment (where he's awake and giving himself a shot of something, I think?), telling them their mission. Casey says he's on it, since he knows every corner of Costa Gravas. She asks if he's sure he's up for it, but we all know Casey's not going to miss this one. Soon, Casey, Chuck and Sarah are crawling through a tunnel under Costa Gravas, with Chuck complaining like a girl about how gross it is and Casey dictating exactly where they are.
Back at the Buy More, Morgan meets Dr. Fred and asks him how to know if the girl he's met is the one. That's the topic of Dr. Fred's book, How To Know, which he describes to Morgan as "250 pages of exercises guiding you through a revolutionary 40-step process." Oh, and Dr. Fred looks nothing like Dr. Phil, which is a little disappointing. Big Mike's insulted Morgan's going to someone else for love advice. After all, Big Mike wonders, "Have I not made your mama Bologna sing like the happiest bird in the sky?" Morgan's all, "Ew." And, also, this other guy wrote a book. Big Mike says no one's ever learned anything important from a book, and that Morgan should just kiss his woman and see what happens. If sweet smooth jams rise up from his soul, that's his answer. Morgan's never heard smooth jams.
In the weapons room, Amor tries to shoot a threatening terrorist video, but the Generalissimo, sitting behind her, keeps ruining all of her takes by butting in and wondering why she's so angry with him. Chuck, Sarah and Casey can hear it all from the tunnels. Amor wonders why the Generalissimo wouldn't work on their marriage problems sooner. Then Turrini hollers at Amor and she goes back to her video-making. Generalissimo interrupts again, and she pulls a gun on him. Sarah thinks they need to act fast so no one starts World War III. Casey suggests blowing up the room, but Chuck thinks it's silly for them all to die over one big relationship problem. Chuck jumps into the room and says he's the mediator. Sarah comes in, too, and says they're here to help. Amor orders them to be shot, but Chuck jumps in and tells Amor she's right about her husband, so she wants to hear more. Chuck says they heard Generalissimo undermining her while she was trying to make her new head of state video. "Getting treated like that for 25 years? Who needs it?" She thanks him, and Chuck tells her she still cares about her husband, obviously, or she would have shot him already. He bets that things were perfect when they were revolutionaries sleeping in a cave, and Amor agrees that he changed when they moved into the palace. Sarah asks if change ruined things, and Chuck says change is unavoidable, so the question is whether the love is still there. Turrini decides he'll shoot Chuck and Sarah, but Chuck flashes just enough for Casey to come in and grab Turrini. He tells Amor that Turrini used to watch her sleep. He adds, "Trust me. I lived in these walls for two weeks." Way to sell the other guy as a creeper, Casey.
Sarah tells Chuck to keep talking to Amor, so he does. And Amor says she used to be partners with the Generalissimo, but then he stopped listening. Sarah tells her that the love they had in the cave doesn't have to change. Chuck looks at Sarah, surprised, as the Generalissimo asks Amor to join him in leading the country. He needs her to challenge him so they can get back to what they were. His love never died. He'll even make her Secretary of State. She loves when he talks politics, so they make out. Turrini cries and whines in Casey's arms. Which sounds more romantic than it should.
Alex shows up at the Buy More to visit Morgan. He jumps right in, talking about the flirtation they've had going on. He says he's been a bit tentative, but ... while he rambles, Alex jumps in and kisses him. She stops and says she likes him and wants to do this, even though he's freaked out by her dad. She asks if he wants to do this, and he rambles that he does, but there are steps and questions and answers. She's about to leave when the smooth jams pick up and he grabs her and kisses her somewhere. Big Mike watches proudly from outside the office window. Meanwhile, in the weapons room in Costa Gravas, where our gang is dismantling it all, Chuck flashes on the weapons system and asks Generalissimo if he purchased this system from Volkoff Industries. He did, and says it was called Project Beacon, just like Nicole Richie told them about. Chuck asks about a woman named Frost, who Generalissimo heard of but never met. He says she was some sort of kept woman of Volkoff's or something. Generalissimo's going to give Chuck all of his files on his dealings with Volkoff, Frost, etc., but he tells Chuck they're dangerous, so he should proceed with caution. "These are people you don't want to find."
Back in Burbank, Chuck finds Ellie in the courtyard, back from the babymoon. She says it was beautiful, but she's been thinking about Chuck a lot. She tells him how alive he seemed back in Costa Gravas with his spy stuff. She says she didn't realize how much he was giving up for her, and she knows it must have been difficult. She's so glad they have a life now that they can talk about, with no secrets, especially with the baby and him being the only family on her side. He butts in that he's looking for mom. Ellie stops, gets very serious and asks why. He says they should know the whole truth about why she left, but Ellie thinks there's no story that can explain why she left her family. Chuck doesn't know, but he wonders if she had to go because of some reason beyond her control. Ellie says she doesn't know, but wonders what if there isn't another side to the story. What if their mom is exactly who they think she is? Chuck says they'll find that out, then.
Later, Chuck and Sarah are in bed. Chuck's asleep, but Sarah's restless. She asks if he's awake, and then if he can hear her. No response. So she tells him she loves him, and nothing's ever going to change that. "And if you ask me for real, then my answer would be yes." She smiles and then the camera moves over to Chuck, who just barely smiles so we know he's awake.
week: Chuck finds someone who might be the key to settling his mom. He tells someone he has to kill them. Then Casey's in a coffin, in full military regalia. Eric Roberts is among the guest stars. One of them tells Chuck that Frost isn't a prisoner; she's their boss. Chuck's starting to think his mom might be one of the bad guys. And then, in two weeks, Sarah and Mrs. Bartowski end up face to face, and gun to gun.
Watch the episode below, then discuss it in our forum. Then see some of our favorite Chuck guest-stars.
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DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, thinks Alex is a little too young and a lot too pretty for Morgan. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.