When the episode begins, Chuck's mad at Sarah and still believing in his mom with all his heart, despite his better judgment. Casey and Sarah cover for him to General Redhead, but no one really talks to him. Instead, Chuck blabs to everyone else about their fight: Morgan, his mom, his mom's handler Timothy Dalton... He breaks into his mom's cell, and she tells him that the only person who can give him evidence to prove her innocence is her MI-6 handler (she had to cut off ties to the CIA when Volkoff was onto her, so she joined up with MI-6). Chuck takes off to meet the handler, Tuttle, played by Timothy Dalton. He's not a field agent, so he's terrible at everything, which is glorious and funny, especially for a former James Bond. While Chuck and Tuttle are flying around on a plane that ends up taken over by Volkoff agents, Casey and Sarah (with an assist from Morgan) are trying to get Frost to reveal where Chuck is. She will, she says, if she can see Ellie. She and Ellie have a wonderful meeting, the most important piece of which is her reminding Ellie about the '68 Mustang her dad used to drive her around in (which Ellie's been reading about in the classifieds; she realizes it was her dad's final coded message to her). Then Sarah, Casey, Morgan, and Frost find Chuck and Tuttle. But so do Volkoff's agents, and Tuttle ends up shot.
Chuck and Sarah leave Volkoff and take Frost back to Orion's secret underground base so they can run the disk to clear Frost's name, but the disk comes up blank. Frost finds something in a box and runs it in front of Chuck. So far, it seems to have wiped out his Intersect, but I really do think there must be more to it, and we just don't see it yet. Just then, Tuttle shows up, all Bond and healthy and clean. But he's not Tuttle; he's Alexei Volkoff. He planned this whole thing with Frost to get himself into Orion's base to destroy it and anyone who knows about it. He also can't quite figure out why Chuck cares so much about pursuing Frost or doing what Orion started, so even though Frost told Volkoff about her husband; she obviously has never told about Chuck. Volkoff and Frost tie Sarah up and leave them in the Orion base with a ticking bomb. But Frost slips a razor blade into Sarah's hand and asks her to protect Chuck. They get out just in time, but every last piece of Orion/Bakula is gone. Or so we think. Until we remember the car. Awesome and Ellie show up to get it, and she reads the note he left her about their secrets and how she deserved better. And, he says, he left her this car for a reason; he's sure she'll know what to do with it. We see a bright green light under the hood; could it be Orion as K.I.T.T.? All I know is it was awfully nice to hear Bakula's voice again, so if his soul has taken possession of this Mustang, that's all right with me.
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Here are a few things Chuck would like us to know: Morgan was Casey's bad-guy magnet. Casey realized Chuck's mom, Frost, was a big fat liar. Chuck set up a meeting with his mom and Ellie, but Sarah kidnapped her. Then Chuck told Ellie their mom's a spy. Indeed, in this episode, Frost is looking very much like a spy in her cell at Castle. General Redhead monitor-speaks to Casey and Chuck that they were right: Frost stopped being CIA twenty years ago and works only for Volkoff, and they did the right thing. She says the step is to transport Frost, but it won't happen until the day, so they'll have to keep Chuck away from her. Sarah assures her they will. Which we all know means they won't. General Redhead asks how Chuck is handling all of this, and Casey lies that he's fine. Calm, even. Cut to Chuck yelling: "Calm?! How can I stay calm?" Then he asks Sarah why she'd go behind his back instead of trusting him. He asks how that was, and Morgan says it was passionate, but he wouldn't use the F-word. Which he didn't, since this is network TV, but Morgan thought he heard it. Morgan asks if Sarah didn't have proof that Frost was working with Volkoff, so Chuck asks whose side he's on. He says this is their first fight, and Morgan hears it, since a couple's first fight sets the tone for future arguments. He would know. He's going through it right now ... with his girlfriend's dad. So he's taking some time away from Casey to let it cool off and thinks Chuck should do the same with Sarah. They look at a super-old ancient computer in the Orion basement that only takes triangle-shaped disks. Morgan wonders if Bakula might have left something for Ellie, too.
Cut to Ellie asking what he would have left her, and Chuck says he'd like answers. Ellie hasn't seen any ads in the classifieds since their dad died, and since they can't waltz right into a CIA base and ask their mom, she guesses they won't get answers. So, first Chuck's too dumb to think to ask Ellie without a nudge from Morgan, then he's too dumb to think to talk to his mom without a nudge from Ellie? He's losing his touch. But now he knows what to do, so he heads to Castle, commenting to Casey on all the new employees in an awkward attempt to not seem awkward, I guess. Casey just heads to look at guns, though, so Chuck sneaks toward his mom's cell. Sarah's trying to sneak into their apartment to talk to Chuck, but Morgan's hiding behind the door to talk relationship stuff with her. He tells her that their relationship is in crisis, but that both he and Ellie think she was just looking out for him. Sarah's a little disappointed Chuck talked to Morgan and Ellie but not her. She wants to talk to him and asks where he is.
Cut to Chuckles breaking through a lot of long Get Smart halls and into his mother's cell. She says he shouldn't be there, but he's going to prove she's innocent. Cake! Chuck tells Frost he needs the truth if he's going to help her. He fills her in on what Casey found out, and she says it's all true. Twenty years ago, Volkoff started to suspect she was working with the CIA and was a step away from discovering she was a mother. So she admitted she was CIA and told Volkoff she wanted to join him. She cut all CIA ties and started working with MI-6. Chuck wants her contact, but she says it's not that simple since Volkoff has sources in the CIA, who will tell him if anyone gets wind of this, wasting a 20-year mission. Chuck says she can trust him, especially since he and his girlfriend are sort of in a fight right now, so he won't tell her. She asks if he wants to talk about the fight, and he says no, but admits Sarah doesn't trust him. But he repeats that she can trust him, so she does. She says her handler at MI-6 is a guy named Tuttle, who she's supposed to meet today. She sends Chuck, and asks him to say "per fas et nefas" (through right and wrong). Chuck repeats it a bunch, and she says it's the only way Tuttle will know he can trust her. She tells Chuck that Tuttle doesn't know he's her son, because nobody does. He gets it, but sort of forgot the code.
Awesome arrives home to find Ellie poring over the classifieds. She knows it's crazy, but what if her dad did leave her a message. She points out that it can't be just a coincidence that every day since he's died there's been an ad for a 1968 Mustang. Awesome thinks she would have found a hidden code if there were one. But she wonders if this Mustang was an important last message from her dad.
Buy More. Morgan wants to have a heart-to-heart about how Casey lied to him, and how is he supposed to be a better spy if he has to be the magnet, or wait in the car, or be lied to by his partner and friend? Casey grunts and leaves. Which is the perfect opportunity for Chuck to invite Morgan on his mission. Morgan wonders if he gets to parachute out of a plane onto a wild horse. Chuck: "You do not. But you do get to wear an earpiece." That's quite enough for Morgan.
Cut to the bar where they're meeting Tuttle. Morgan's going to sit at the bar with an earpiece, to be Chuck's eyes and ears. He needs to be unnoticed, but Morgan's not exactly subtle with his spy poses and chatting with Chuck through their ear pieces. He tells Chuck about their fight: He says he explained to Sarah that, by not believing in Chuck, Sarah betrayed his trust and his family. As Chuck starts to get mad and ask why he'd do that, Morgan's ear piece acts up and he drops it in his water. It's wacky Morgan hijincks as he drinks a whole glass of water but it's refilled before he can fish the thing out. He takes the glass of water into the bathroom. Which is, of course, when Tuttle (Timothy Dalton) comes up and sticks a knife in Chuck's neck, immediately noticing his earpiece. Chuck knows he's Tuttle, but can't come up with the phrase immediately. While he tries to remember and perhaps even ask Morgan, Morgan's blow-drying his ear piece. Chuck remembers "per fas et nefas" and Tuttle breathes a sigh of relief. He says he wouldn't have been able to rip out Chuck's throat anyway; he's just a handler for MI-6. Tuttle wonders where Frost is, and Chuck says she's in custody. Tuttle says Volkoff will know and will start with whoever Frost was with last: "Please don't tell me it was you." Just then, Ana Gasteyer shows up (less than an hour before she was also on the Women of SNL special) and shoots them both with tranq darts. When Morgan finally comes out, all that's left is Chuck's ear piece.
Chuck and Tuttle are on a private jet. Only not in the way any of us dreams of. Tuttle whispers to Agent Carmichael that they've been kidnapped by Volkoff's operatives, who must think they have Frost. Ana Gasteyer, looking like my worst nightmare, wheels out with a tray that's likely to contain torture devices such as the breast ripper and the head crusher. But it would still be preferable to the torture Chuck's dealing with trying not to insult her looks. He swears he's not looking at her scar. Or her other scar. Or her mole. Then he compliments her sense of style and says she's stunning. She brings out some tweezers and says he's going to tell her what he's done with Frost. Tuttle promises Chuck doesn't know anything. She asks if he does, and Tuttle says that if she uses those tweezers on her nose hairs, it will help immensely. She turns to do just that, and Chuck wonders what Tuttle's up to. While being a bumbling desk agent, he's read every manual imaginable, so he knows that weakening the enemy and taking their power is the best course here. But she comes back at Tuttle's eye with the tweezers. He screams and begs, then finishes with his home address, his dog's name (Kipper) and "I had my first sexual experience watching Lawrence of Arabia." She actually stops at that and he says he's not proud of that; he came from a broken home. She says all she wants is Frost. Chuck kicks her torture table, and she yells that he'll regret that. He sort of does already.
Morgan's at Castle, telling Sarah and Casey that Chuck disappeared while doing what Mrs. Bartowski wanted. Sarah wonders why he keeps trusting her, and Casey says she's going to tell them what they want to know and storms into her cell. Morgan wants to come, but Casey tells him to stay.
Back in the plane, Tuttle decides to try one last thing from the manual, and pulls himself out of the rope binding his hands together. He frees Chuck, when Ana Gasteyer comes back with tweezers. Chuck's picked up a tiny dentist's mirror, which he holds up to her tweezers. Tuttle, excited: "Oh, cool! A tiny weapon standoff." Timothy Dalton really is excellent at playing this doofy bumbler. It's so entertaining. But Ana pulls out a large knife and swings it in Chuck's direction. Tuttle just watches it all in fear. When a big guy comes out to help Ana, Chuck ducks and the guy punches Ana instead. Then Chuck flashes and beats the big dude right up, with an assist from Tuttle in the form of a knife thrown into the big guy. Accidentally. (He was trying to throw it to Chuck, it seems.)
Casey and Sarah are grilling Frost on Chuck's whereabouts, but she isn't saying a word until she talks to her daughter. They won't let her, and she assures them Chuck's safe if he's with her handler. She also tells Sarah that maybe Chuck's gone because of their fight. Sarah's clearly annoyed she knows about it, too. Morgan comes in then, irking Casey until Frost recognizes and warms up to Morgan, whom she recognizes from when he was nine. He promises her she can see Ellie if she tells them what she knows about Chuck's whereabouts. He says, "You can trust me, Mrs. B," so she says she'll tell them if they take her to see Ellie.
Tuttle gathers parachutes so they can escape the plane. After a quick joke about there being only one parachute, Tuttle gets two of them and they suit up. Tuttle breathes heavily and says he's just excited because this reminds him of that great episode of Alias. He squees like a TWoPer: "I loved that show!" Ana starts to wake up, so they open the plane door and jump, Tuttle first. When we return from a commercial, Chuck wakes up in the back of a sheep truck. Tuttle says Chuck knocked himself unconscious when they landed, but he got them into the back of this truck. He tells Chuck these sheep are going to the lamb chop factory, but he and Chuck are going to L.A. Tuttle wonders why Chuck's so intent on helping Frost. He asks if Chuck's "giving her one." Chuck says he's not; he's very professional. Plus, he has a girlfriend anyway, and they're right in the middle of their first fight. Tuttle says he doesn't want to pry, but Chuck doesn't mind talking about it. He starts in as they pass a "Los Angeles: 123 miles" sign. In other words, Tuttle's getting the full, since-season-one version.
Sarah, Casey and Morgan escort Frost to Ellie's apartment, where she's nervously awaiting. Sarah comes in and then lets Frost in. She apologizes to Ellie that she has to stay, then Ellie offers her mom some lemonade. Frost likes that idea, so they sit down and drink. Frost apologizes that Ellie has to see her in handcuffs. She says things are complicated, but she wanted to see her. Ellie gets nervous and flustered about coasters, so Frost grabs her arm and tells her it's okay. Ellie sighs and fights tears. Her mom tells her she's all grown up, which is weird since she still thinks of a gangly little girl, unsure of how she fits into her own skin. She tells her that Bakula and her used to take Ellie for drives in his burgundy '68 Mustang. Ellie wipes away tears and says she can't believe she forgot: those blue leather seats, which her dad special ordered. Frost says that watching Ellie sleep in between them on those long drives was one of her favorite things. Ellie says she just wants to know what happened, the truth. Frost takes a sip of lemonade and begins: "I guess it all begins with a scientist whose code name was Orion, but whose real name was Stephen Bartowski." They cut silently through Frost talking and talking, with Sarah sitting there listening to it all. Frost tells Ellie she wishes that telling her she did this for Ellie and Chuck made a difference, but she knows it doesn't. Casey interrupts and says he's sorry but they have to go. Ellie and Frost stand and look at each other tearfully. They can't quite hug, but Frost rubs Ellie's hair as she cries. Then Sarah opens the door for Frost to leave.
In the courtyard, Frost says she'll keep her end of the bargain. There's a relay station she calls in to; if her handler has posted his location, she can take them there. Once he sees Frost, he'll know he can trust them. Sarah tells her to make the call. Tuttle and Chuck are in a bank, getting a safety deposit box with disks that Tuttle says can prove Frost's an MI-6 agent.
Ellie's looking through the classifieds again when Awesome asks how it was with her mom. She says that her mom reminded her of her dad's old '68 Mustang so she now realizes this ad she keeps seeing isn't a code; it's a real car that her dad must have left her. "Let's go get it."
Sarah and Frost show up at the bank, and she exchanges warm greetings with Tuttle, who's glad to see she's okay. He gives them the disks, which Frost tells Sarah will prove she's not a traitor. Tuttle says there's a little problem: These disks can only be played on a special computer, which MI-6 has in London. He pulls them out and they're triangle disks, just like the Orion lair computer, so Chuck tells them there's no need to go to London to play them. Sarah says General Redhead's orders were clear, and she has to take Frost back to Castle first. Chuck begs her: "We're so close." Some folks start shooting in the bank, and Chuck can't believe the bad luck: "Bank robbers?" Again with his idiocy. What is that about this episode, anyway? Tuttle tells him it's Volkoff's men. Ana Gasteyer shows up, and he adds: "And that indestructible woman." Chuck wonders how Volkoff's men found them, and Sarah says someone must have led them here. Chuck tells Sarah not to accuse his mom, and Tuttle says they must have followed him. He begs Sarah to let Chuck explain, which will make this fight they're having seem like nothing. Sarah wonders if there's anyone Chuck hasn't told about their fight.
Out in the van, Morgan watches monitors and tells Casey they're all surrounded, and tells Casey to give them hell. Casey asks if he's coming, but Morgan figured he had to stay in the van. Casey tells him that he'll never learn anything in the van. Morgan excitedly follows Casey inside, all "Yes, sir. I forgive you, too, Casey." Back inside, Sarah and Chuck bicker about how and why he'd tell everyone before he told her. She doesn't let the anger stop her from going after the bad guys, but she does tell Chuck he might as well have posted about their fight on Friendster. He laughs that people stopped using that five years ago. Hey, at least Sarah's cute. Sarah asks how Chuck knows he can even trust Tuttle, who he met five minutes ago. Chuck says he forgot: Sarah doesn't trust anyone unless General Redhead tells her to. They continue to bicker, until Frost says, "Kids. Kids. ...We need to do something." Tuttle agrees. Chuck and Sarah then bicker on who will take the big guy and who will take the small guy when they head out to fight the bad guys. Everyone's okay with this plan, so Chuck flashes. They fight the bad guys, and Sarah says this is exhausting. He agrees that it's hard to fight the big guys, but she means fighting with him. She hates it. So does he. She says she was trying to protect him, but he doesn't need protecting; he needs her to believe in him. She says she does, but he says he means really believe in him, even when he's wrong.
With the bad guys all down, Frost and Tuttle come out. Tuttle says, "Two field agents in action. What a show!" Then Ana Gasteyer gets up with his gun trained on Chuck. Sarah yells "No!" But Tuttle's the one who dives in front of Chuck and takes the bullet. Frost kicks Ana's butt, and she's down again. They all gather around Tuttle, who apologizes to Chuck and gives him the disks. He says it's up to him now. Sarah calls Casey and wonders where he is. She tells him about the man down. Tuttle tells Chuck to get those files to the computer. For Frost. Sarah says they're going to Orion's base, and Chuck wonders about Sarah's orders. She says she's not fighting him on this anymore; if Chuck trusts Frost, so does she. They leave Tuttle lying there, bleeding.
When they get to Orion's base, Frost says she always assumed he moved to a different house. Chuck says it was his life's work, and she looks around as he heads to the computer. Casey and Morgan, meanwhile, finally reach the room with Tuttle and all the other injureds. Morgan babbles, until Chuck tells him to "muzzle." Chuck and Sarah run the disk from Tuttle as Morgan and Casey find only blood left in the spot where Tuttle was sitting. Frost searches files and finds a box labeled "Eurybia" as Chuck and Sarah find the triangle disk to be empty. Chuck thinks this doesn't make sense, since the MI-6 files are supposed to be on here. They try again and again. Sarah pulls a gun and tells Chuck to stay there as Frost walks away from the box with some sort of gadgety device in her hand. Chuck comes out and finds his mom. She says his father never wanted Chuck to see this, but she knows now he was wrong. She holds up the little mini computer and flashes all sorts of Intersect-ish images in his face. He finishes reading it, right as Sarah comes around and tells Chuck to get down. Chuck asks what Frost did, but before anyone can do or say anything, Sarah gets knocked out. The camera pans up a nice Bond-style suit to reveal Tuttle. Chuck's all, "What the...?" So Tuttle explains there is no Tuttle. "My name is Alexei Volkoff. I believe you were looking for me." He approaches Chuck and punches him in the face. Blackout to commercial.
Chuck and Sarah come to being tied to chairs by Frost. Chuck asks why she's doing this. Volkoff says it's really pathetic how Orion spent so long searching for a woman who didn't want to be found, when the wife he wanted to believe in was exactly as she appeared to be: a traitor. Chuck looks at Frost and asks, "You told him about...?" She quickly cuts him off: "My husband? Of course." Volkoff asks Chuck why he so quickly followed in Orion's footsteps. "What was he to you? Your mentor?" Chuck looks at Frost, then says Orion was a good man. Volkoff thinks Chuck's a pretty bad spy for believing so much in Frost, but Chuck had his reasons. Volkoff's sure he did, given Frost's master deception, but he says that Frost wasn't able to fool Chuck's girl. He moves on to Sarah and says that when the CIA locked up Frost, it became clear he had to step in and destroy all of Orion's intelligence. "Along with all the people who know about it."
He starts a ticking bomb and puts it in Sarah's lap. Then he thanks Chuck for leading them here; he couldn't have done it without him. Chuck shakes his head at Frost and tells her he believed in her. Volkoff tells him not to take it personally; there's no point in going to the grave with regrets. Frost says she's ready, then leans forward to check Sarah's ties. But she really slips a razor into Sarah's hand and tells her to protect Chuck. She and Volkoff leave, and Chuck tells Sarah that she was right about Frost, and he was stupid to believe her. He tries to flash, but can't. His mom did something to him with that device (I don't think it was getting rid of the Intersect, however; I think it's something new he's yet to discover). They get free and Chuck worries about his dad's files, but Sarah says there's no time. They make it outside as the place goes up in flames. Outside, he tells Sarah he can't flash anymore and now all of his father's research, everything he ever created, it's all gone.
Except not quite. Because, see, he created Chuck and Ellie. And this one other thing he left to Eleanor. Cut to Awesome and Ellie finding the car, in perfect condition. She can't believe it's been here this whole time -- and with the top down! And a letter inside for Ellie. She opens it, and it reads: "Eleanor, If you're reading this, then it means I'm not with you anymore. And I know you'll be okay. I only wish I could have been the father you deserved. ... But our family had a lot of secrets. Secrets I kept from you because you were so young, because I didn't want to hurt you. I know you're a grown woman now, but no matter what, you'll always be my little girl, curled up on the middle seat of this car. This is my final gift to you, Eleanor. And I'm giving it to you now for a reason. I trust you'll know what to do. I love you always. Dad." As she drives the car away, the camera moves under the hood, where there's a green glowy light.
My theory is that whatever Frost gave Chuck is something she and Bakula were in on together, something good and powerful for their boy. And I also think they were in on Ellie getting to the car. They are still a team, even in his death. And now Ellie's going to join the fold (though the pregnancy might hinder that a little. No Chuck week.
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DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, thinks most of the best episode -- like this one -- don't involve any Buy More. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.