Episode Report Card DeAnn Welker: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT He Shoulda Put A Ring On It
By DeAnn Welker | Season 4 | Episode 11 | Aired on 01.17.2011
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.It's been so long since this show was on, I barely remember where we left off. But it was something about Chuck and Sarah learning that Chuck's mom wanted out of Volkoff, but couldn't leave. Which is where we pick up, because Chuck is still sort of obsessing and wanting her back. And, little does he know, Sarah's obsessing even more. Still, though, he's had time to think about a proposal with the help of Morgan, who's really obsessing about that. When the planned proposal is screwed up by Sarah telling a story of her parents' nightmare proposal, Chuck aborts, and then Team Bartowski gets their mission: They're going to France to a fancy, romantic chateau to find a secret chip that a murdered agent must have left there somewhere. The catch is that a bad guy will be there looking for the same chip. Chuck and Sarah will play a couple, and Casey will portray Chuck's manservant. Hee. While they're there, Morgan keeps trying, from back at Castle, to make the proposal be the sub-mission. And Chuck keeps getting thisclose to making that happen. But he never quite does, and the mission's accomplished.
Back at Castle, General Redhead fills them in on their next mission: Going back to the Chateau, sans Casey, to pretend they're rogue agents wanting to give the chip back to the bad guy. General Redhead makes it clear to Sarah that she has to be the one to make the switch, and she promises to. As she makes the switch, someone's snapping photos of her, but we don't quite know why. And we don't really care, because the mission's over and Chuck's waiting on the balcony to propose. Back at Castle, Casey's even joined Morgan in coaching Chuck and Sarah (who discovered what was up and became the boss of the whole situation, without Chuck ever knowing it). She saves him after he loses his ring, by slipping it back into his pocket discreetly as they kiss. She says all the right things as he fumbles through it. Then, just as he's about to go down on a knee and pop the question, CIA agents surround them and arrest Sarah for being a traitor. Chuck doesn't get it, because they were following the mission. He tells Casey he was about to propose, and Casey gives him a great speech about not needing the perfect place or perfect moment -- just the girl. Chuck heads to Sarah's cell to propose, and she fills him in on what's happened: The arrest was General Redhead's opportunity to make Sarah look rogue so she can go undercover within Volkoff. Chuck says that's how he lost his mom, but Sarah says she's doing this for him, to get his mom back. They cry, kiss, tell each other they love each other, and she promises she won't come back without his mom. Then she's led away in her shackles as he looks sadly at the ring he'll be hanging onto for awhile longer. Man, is this show ever back!
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!It's been so long since we've had new Chuck, and even longer since I've recapped an episode. And then I make you all wait even longer for me to finish this weecap. I am so sorry about that; let's hope it's worth the wait. The episode opens with a man running through a vineyard in Loire Valley, France. He's got a briefcase, and is being chased by scary men and dogs (they look like golden retrievers, though, so how scary could they really be?). He shuts himself in a wine cellar, opens the case, and pulls out a syringe gun. He considers implanting the chip into his arm, but then thinks again and puts it into a bottle of wine instead. The bad guys get in and kill him dead, but not before he's put the wine back, unnoticed. What the bad guys do notice is that the chip's gone. And they have to run when they hear police sirens (which sound totally different in France, by the way).
Cut from the wine bottle to Chuck pouring Sarah wine at a restaurant. He's all nervous and stuff, which she assumes is about his mom. But he tells her he realizes that he hasn't been thinking about "us" with how wrapped up he's been with his mom and Volkoff. He realizes he should be focused on things he can control, like tonight. She asks what about tonight, and when he starts to talk about the future, she tells him not to worry about it, because so much has happened to him in the past couple months. "Besides," she says, "I've got such a bad history with proposals." Chuck chokes on his wine, and she quickly corrects herself: Her parents had a nightmare proposal. Her mother's family had a restaurant similar to this one, and her dad wanted to propose there. He had flowers, balloons, a band. It was total chaos and over-the-top, and someone accidentally lit a carpet on fire with a candle. Luckily, her mother and her family got out with only minor burns. So she tells Chuck to take his time, which is the perfect time for the camera to pan down to the ring he's holding. He tells her that's awful, but they probably laughed about it on their wedding day. She says they actually postponed after that, and her dad said it was the beginning of the end. He snaps the ring box closed, pretends it was his jaw, then goes outside, where Morgan's holding balloons and has a carriage ready. He tells Morgan it's off, because it can't be at a restaurant. Morgan says it's too late to shut down because of the champagne, the string quartet, and the "caballeros." Chuck corrects him: "Caballos?" Morgan says they're already in motion.