By DeAnn Welker
That lit-up room Vivian was staring into at the end of last episode actually turns out to be a safe with a clear plastic card. She grabs it, setting off an alarm that alerts her father's lawyer. He tries to force her at gunpoint to take over Volkoff Industries, but she stabs him with a letter opener and goes back to Castle. She fills them in, and Chuck flashes on the clear card. It's to a Bank of Macau account, so they figure it's all of Volkoff's money and send her (along with Chuck and Sarah) in to see. She passes the bank's crazy-high security, but finds only a bunch of pictures of herself. Seeing that her father was watching her whole life makes her want to meet him, which Chuck arranges if she'll go back in and get some data for the CIA on some stolen servers. The lawyer finds her in the vault while she's there and tells her the CIA isn't going to let her see her dad, but he can tell her all about him when she's ready. Turns out he's right, because General Redhead reneges on the deal, and Chuck has to break the news to Vivian. She's devastated and ends up in a car with the lawyer, ready to find out everything about Alexei Volkoff.
While that's happening, Ellie's trying to get Sarah to choose flowers, or a cake, or anything. Sarah's so not into it, though. Until Ellie hits on the idea to find the dress first. Sarah uses the CIA's makeover machine to find one she loves, and it works: She's all of a sudden so into the wedding, she's planning to order a hundred dozen lilies, fly a cake in from Europe, and rent a private island for the ceremony. Ellie apologizes to Chuck for creating a monster that's going to bankrupt them. And Morgan's trying to find a place to live, like, yesterday. See, he's at his mom's and cannot take the loud, frequent sex she has with Big Mike. Jeffster! offers him the extra room in their apartment-slash-van, but he's not interested. When he stumbles upon Casey's secret lair (no Robin Givens in site; apparently, Casey's taken the thing over), he blackmails Casey into letting him move into his apartment, thus getting all our main cast back into the same apartment complex. Is this a workplace show, or an apartment show? It's hard to tell sometimes.
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Before we get started on this episode, I must take a moment to point out -- as if anyone reading this doesn't know -- that Zachary Levi was at the Oscars. Not only that, he sang at the Oscars. With Mandy Moore. How very weird. And how much does this have me thinking, "Musical episode?" A lot. I know, I know. It's been done before, and before that, of course. But still. Let's do it, Schwartz. Anyway, now for the episode. But first, here's some stuff Chuck wants us to know: Vivian showed up; she's Volkoff's daughter. She's not bad, though. Yet. She did user her necklace key to open... something. Oh, and she's Bella from Supernatural, looking even cuter than ever with an adorable, layered sort-of bob.
We pick up right at the end of last week's, with Vivian staring at that blue light in her father's office. We see what she's looking at: A clear card the size and shape of a credit card with a string of numbers on it (, for those keeping track at home). She pulls the card out of its stand, triggering some sort of alarm, judging by the flashing red light on the back. Which explains why, as she sits there staring at the card, the Devil walks in. Okay, it's Ray Wise, but he once played the Devil and is coming close again here. Anyway, he's Volkoff's lawyer, Riley, with a letter for Vivian. Riley starts to read it in a weird impersonation of Volkoff until she stops him and asks that he please not do that. The letter says Volkoff would give up everything to spend more time with Vivian. She's not buying it, and firmly replies "no" when he tells her she's to take over Volkoff Industries. So Riley pulls a gun on her, which is perhaps a test, which she seems to pass by grabbing Riley's hand and stabbing a letter opener through it. She grabs the clear credit card and runs out. Okay, Vivian is officially badass.
Ellie's at Charah's apartment helping Sarah pick out flowers. Or, more accurately, she's proposing options (roses and orchids), neither of which Sarah cares about. Ellie tells Sarah that this girly stuff might be outside her comfort zone, and that this overwhelming, but for Ellie there was a moment -- when she picked up her wedding bands -- that she broke down crying, and it all became real and magical to her. She promises Sarah that she'll have a moment like that, too, but Sarah is skeptical. As we all are.
Buy More. Chuck and Morgan are standing in front of the TVs when Morgan says he's going no TV in his new place. Chuck looks at him like he just declared his allegiance to Jeffster! or something, until Morgan says he was totally joking. Chuck asks how the apartment-hunting is going, anyway, and Morgan says it's totally great; he's found a place, but needs a roommate, so he's cool staying with his mom for now. Chuck's so happy Morgan's doing so well, and so he leaves him alone. Which is when we see from Morgan's face that it's not going so well at all. And then Big Mike comes up and they have a very uncomfortable (even for me) conversation about how much and how loud Big Mike and Morgan's mom have sex. In other words: He is so not okay living at his mom's place, even temporarily.
Castle. Vivian's filling Chuck and Sarah in on what happened at Volkoff Industries, including Riley wanting her to rebuild the empire. She throws the clear card down on the table, and Chuck flashes. Vivian looks confused, but Chuck just tells Sarah they need to talk to General Redhead. They've apparently stashed Vivian somewhere while they Skype with General Redhead. Turns out the card's from First Bank of Macau, where they assume Volkoff has all of his money. They need to freeze his funds, but this bank is no easy target, since it's guarded by a mercenary crime syndicate. General Redhead says they've lost agents in the bank before, but this time they have Vivian, an account holder. She'll be able to get them in and get them access to his accounts. She's the perfect "asset." Chuck's not so sure she'll want to do this, since she wants nothing to do with her father. But General Redhead says it's Chuck's job to turn that girl into a Volkoff. The asset has become the assee. Or something.
Cake opening. As much as I love this intro, Chuck looks too young and fluffy-haired. It may be time for an updated Buy More badge, at least.
Morgan's office at the Buy More. He's trying to post a Craigslist ad to find a roommate, but can't decide where to put his beard in the ad. I wish I were making this up. Jeffster! interrupts, hoping that Morgan will settle their fight: Where is the best place to meet ladies? Renaissance Faire or methadone clinic. Morgan says Ren Faire, but won't give them two weeks off to go to one (which is unrealistic, since most people would give anything for two Jeffster!-free weeks). They offer him a room in their "apartment-slash-van," which he turns down and then is called away over the intercom. He stupidly leaves Jeffster! in his office, where Lester decides to modify the ad. He says, "If Morgan won't let us go to the Renaissance Faire, we'll bring the Renaissance Faire to us." Jeff: "I have no idea what you're doing right now."
Castle. Vivian's in the middle of turning down Chuck's request to help them break into her father's bank. She's had too many close calls lately, and isn't reassured by Chuck saying they'll be there to protect her. She says she hasn't spent more than five minutes with her father, and has had enough. Chuck says he understands and, when she doubts that, explains that his father left when he was thirteen. She's suddenly listening, sympathetic even. Chuck says he knows she's wondering why her dad left and why he didn't try to contact her. He says he got to ask his dad those questions finally, and he learned that even though his dad wasn't around, he didn't stop thinking about Chuck. He guarantees that if she'll help them, they can help her find at least some of the answers she's looking for. She looks at him hopefully.
Which is when we cut to the scene, where Chuck's showing her a crazy hologram makeover station, where he can change her outfit using a hologram and then call up said outfit from wherever the never-ending closet is under Castle. They outfit her much more professionally, so she takes the real outfit to go try it on. Which gives Chuck the chance to show Sarah the formal suit he's hologrammed himself into. For their wedding. Sarah gets nervous and says he'll look very handsome. He asks what's going on with her, and she says it's not really her thing so she feels like she's letting "you guys" (Ellie and Chuck, I guess?) down. He says she's not. Then Casey zooms by and they notice him. So they track him into the hall. He's vague about what he's up to, and will only tell them General Redhead has him working on a mission of his own that he can't talk about. He tells them to be careful at First Bank of Macau.
Buy More. Montage of Morgan interviewing Ren Faire roommate applicants. One guy thinks he's a king, one is shirtless and half horse or something, one is a hot lady. Then Casey's there to tell Morgan to shut this down, since the Buy More's a delicate cover. Morgan swears he has no idea why these people would show up, then realizes FINALLY that Jeffster! messed with his post. He suggests Casey let him move in to his extra room, but Casey's left the room before Morgan can even finish that thought.
Macau. Chuck, Sarah and Vivian are on a boat. Vivian's being briefed on the plan: Chuck will be her bodyguard, and she'll present her card and then go to the vault. She'll also have to pass a verification process once inside the vault. She's worried about the test, so asks Chuck to stay close. Once at the bank, Guillermo Chan introduces himself (in at least our second Lost shout-out, since it's Pierre Chang, first introduced as Dr. Marvin Kandel in Orientation). They check Vivian's card and lead her up the stairs. Problem is, they won't let Chuck go: "Account holders only." He wants to bail, but she wants to use this opportunity to learn about her dad, so she goes on without him. Chuck stands there, worried, staring at the scary mercenary/guard at the bottom of the stairs.
After a commercial break (is anyone actually watching Harry's Law?), Chuck calls Sarah on his magical earpiece and tells her what's happened. She checks out the blueprints of the building and tells Chuck the back way to get to where Vivian is. He sees the emergency door he needs to take and notices he'll need a key card. It's that simple, folks. All he has to do is take out the mercenary/guard. But instead of that, he annoys the crap out of the guard by asking if Vivian's really safe up there. So the guard punches him in the chest, and Chuck falls toward him, swiping the key card. Sarah's confused at first, listening from outside, then impressed. As Vivian and Chang arrive at the vault, Chuck heads that way. In the vault, Chang takes a surprise DNA sample to make sure Vivian is who she says she is. Sarah guides Chuck to the correct vault, with an "Oh, no!" in the middle when she gets a text from Ellie about going cake-tasting. Chuck wants to talk about this, of course, instead of focusing on the mission. He tells her to pick one thing to be excited about, to ease her way in. As Chuck's heading toward the vault, he walks by another empty vault and flashes: It's full of servers stolen from the Chinese Army. He doesn't know what they're for, but tells Sarah a bank wouldn't use military-grade tech unless they were up to something.
In the vault, a computer is quizzing Vivian. She passes the first question: "Please state your full name" with "Vivian McArthur Volkoff." And the second: "What business would you like to transact?" with "I would like to access my father's account." The last question -- "Are you working with a law enforcement agency?" -- is trickier, because she pauses before saying "No." But Chang comes out of a side room and tells her she's passed the test. He tells her that she'll find subsequent visits to be less invasive. Then he gives her all Volkoff kept at this bank: a safe deposit box of his most prized possessions, which are pictures and newspaper clips about Vivian.
In the hall, a mercenary/guard runs into Chuck. He tells Sarah he can handle it, until another guy puts him in a chokehold. She's on her way. A couple guards lead Chuck to Vivian, as she's leaving the vault, and tell her that her bodyguard was found in a secure location. Chuck apologizes to "Ms. Volkoff," but she pulls a gun on him. Chang is telling her this isn't necessary, but she says Chang hasn't been lied to like she has. He tells her no, he just means she doesn't need to do this on bank property. She puts the gun down and leads Chuck to the bottom level, where she hands him off to Sarah, her "head of security." Chuck -- who was legitimately worried Vivian might kill him, I think, while she had the gun on him -- whispers to Sarah that Vivian's getting pretty good at this. And, in case that wasn't anvilicious enough, Chang stops her and tells her he didn't see the family resemblance before, but now he sees she is her father's daughter.
Castle. Chuck, Sarah, and Vivian are looking through the contents of the safe deposit box. Chuck wonders if there's any way this stuff could contain clues about where Volkoff's money is, but Vivian says no; they're just pictures... of her. Chuck says they've hit a dead end, but Sarah hopefully says Langley might uncover information about the servers Chuck saw. (So, what? Does Vivian know Chuck's the Intersect now? They're being awfully free discussing his flashes in front of her, considering they've only known her for a few days and SHE'S A VOLKOFF!) Sarah gets a text from Ellie: She's had a wedding epiphany and wants to chat with Sarah. To Sarah's credit, she leaves the room to call Ellie, giving Chuck and Vivian a chance to talk some more. Vivian really wants to see her father and talk to him now that she knows he's been paying attention to her whole life. Chuck says maybe she can talk to him. Vivian thought the CIA had him locked up somewhere, so Chuck says, "Yeah, but I am the CIA." And I don't know how it's possible -- because that reads like the most arrogant sentence in the world -- but it comes out of Zachary Levi's mouth without a shred of arrogance. He says he'll ask around and see if they can set up a meeting, because he knows what she's going through and will do everything he can to help. She gives him a huge, thankful hug before he can even finish talking.
On the phone, Ellie tells Sarah she's been going about this wedding planning all wrong, because you don't build the wedding around the cake or the flowers; what do you build it around? Sarah, stumped: "The weather?" Ellie tells her it's the dress, and even though she knows Sarah's not a typical wedding girl, it might help. Sarah says it could be fun -- we all know she loves to play dress-up -- and promises to do some research right now. Which brings us back to the hologram makeover machine. She uses it to pull a bunch of actual dresses out and try them on in front of big, dressing-room-style, two-way mirror. She tries on a bunch of big, poofy fancy dresses. They're pretty, but so not Sarah. Then she finds a simple slip dress, and gets all excited and teary. Which is when Casey walks in and tells her it's a pretty dress. She says she knows, without even a hint of embarrassment at her tears. He brings her back to reality, though, by pointing out the bloody bullet holes on the back of this one. He says she might want to get a new one; it looks like this one's been on a mission.
Buy More. Morgan finds Jeffster! and tells them he knows they messed with his ad and now they owe him. He wants a place to stay just for tonight, and they said they had room. Lester says the vacancy's been filled, by the Ren Faire guy who thinks he's a king. Jeffster! thinks living with a king is going to score them some serious "Ren-tang."
Castle. General Redhead's head on TV is filling Chuck and Sarah in on the stolen servers, which the bank is using to launder money for criminals, terrorists and rogue nations. Which is why, she says, they still need Vivian. As an account holder, she can enter the bank and manually upload a digital tag to their network. She asks Chuck if he can get her to do that. Chuck thinks she will, if she can have a meeting with her father. General Redhead's skeptical, but then says she'll set it up. One last bit of news about the mission: Chuck and Sarah will have to rob the bank to create a diversion so Vivian can do her thing -- download the information off the servers -- while she's in the vault.
Buy More at night. Morgan's setting up a bed in the screening room, complete with his Star Wars bedding, natch. He tries to go to sleep, but hears drilling and hammering. Then a couple guys come in and take the secret elevator into Castle, talking about how they're installing a TR-476 here -- the only other one's in Langley. But it's above their clearance so they won't ask questions. Morgan's curiosity's sufficiently piqued, so he heads down to Castle and finds the secret room. Lots of construction going on inside, and he sees Casey supervising it all. He tries to sneak around without Casey seeing him, but Casey does, of course. He asks Morgan what he's doing here, and what he saw. Morgan pretends he has terrible eyesight and saw nothing. He'll just go sleep under his Buy More desk, he guesses. What a sad sack.
Chang greets Vivian warmly this time at the First Bank of Macau, while Sarah and Chuck have a cute, pointless moment in the setup van (or boat). He puts her nylons on his head, thinking she packed them for a disguise. But she packed them in case they get to go out later, duh, and wants him to take them off before he wrecks them. They wear trench coats and sunglasses instead. As Vivian's left alone with a mercenary/guard and her safe deposit box (which she's putting money into, so it doesn't seem totally pointless that she'd come back; as if she couldn't put it somewhere closer, like Burbank. Or Boston), Chuck and Sarah stroll into the bank to rock music, in slow motion. They set off the metal detector and then start shooting the place up. Sarah loses her trench coat, and is looking as hot as ever in a skin-tight black bodysuit. She kicks some ass. Chuck flashes and does the same thing. Vivian's guard runs off to help out with the robbery, telling her he'll be right back. She opens up a panel under the vault, plus in her phone and begins "Uploading Digital Tag."
Sarah and Chuck divert things sufficiently for Vivian to finish what she's doing, which is when Riley comes in and tells her the CIA is using her; they don't want to help her. She doesn't believe it, so he asks if one of the agents has seemed especially nice and helpful, and then shows her a picture of Chuck. He says this is agent Charles Carmichael, and he's the one responsible for putting her father in jail. Down in the bank, Sarah and Chuck discuss her wedding epiphany between yelling at hostages about breaking their faces or not to be a hero. It's pretty cute. Back up in the vault, Vivian tells Riley her father's a criminal, but he says that's just what they want her to think. She says that Chuck promised her she can meet her father, but Riley says that's not going to happen. The only way she can get to know him is to work with Riley. He leaves his business card and tells her to let him know. He also gives her necklace key from her father back. Vivian heads down the stairs, which is when Chuck and Sarah say they're done and take her "hostage." Chang tells everyone not to shoot; "she's a Volkoff." Which still counts for something at the First Bank of Macau. Outside the bank (I think?), Chuck and Sarah burn up the money they stole in a burn barrel, as Vivian sulks. Chuck tells her she did great and notices she seems cold. He asks if everything's okay, and she lies that it is. They load up in a truck and head out.
After commercials -- including one that says The Event returns at 8 p.m. Monday, which sounds like there's no Chuck; but, hey, at least this show finally stayed on through sweeps, right? -- General Redhead thanks them for successfully getting the information to lead them to terrorist organizations around the globe. She almost shuts off, but Chuck asks what about Vivian getting to see her father. General Redhead says that, after more thought, she's decided the risk is too great. Chuck wonders what he's supposed to do, since he promised her she'd get to see him. General Redhead says he told his asset what she needed to hear, so well done. She shuts off her TV, and Sarah asks Chuck if he needs her help telling Vivian. He says no; Vivian trusted him, so he'll do it. He breaks the news that "they" decided not to let her see him, even saying "they" went back on their word. She says she thought Chuck was the CIA, and he says he is, but it's complicated. He promises he's not giving up and will find a way for her to see her dad, but it might take awhile. He asks if she's okay, and she says she is, and thanks him (sarcastically, it seems) for being honest with her.
In the courtyard at their apartments, Sarah's fast-talking to Ellie about all of the stuff she now wants for her wedding: a hundred dozen Casablanca lilies, and a cake flown in from Paris. Ellie says that sounds really expensive, especially after that dress she picked. Sarah says she only gets married once, right, and it will make Chuck really happy. She says she should look into booking a private island for the ceremony. She heads inside, giddy with happiness, and Chuck walks up and asks Ellie what's up with that. Ellie thinks she created a monster, and Chuck reminds her he works at the Buy More (but also the CIA, which presumably has a better salary), and all that stuff sounds kinda pricey. Ellie suggests he pick up a few extra shifts. Or rob a bank. He chuckles.
Buy More. Morgan calls Casey "Case Logic," totally confusing and annoying him at once. Morgan apologizes again to Casey for sneaking around, but asks what was going on down in Castle. Casey tries to leave the conversation, but Morgan follows and asks Casey about the weird, mysterious door he saw Casey walking out of. And then he says he's sure Casey's right, and it's nothing. There has to be a reason he'd have a TR-476 in some weird, strange room. Morgan's just tired and needs a place to stay. Casey asks Grimes if he's leveraging him to stay in his apartment. Morgan plays dumb, but asks if it's working. Casey says okay, he can stay there, as long as he doesn't tell anyone, especially Chuck. Morgan gets excited about it, but Casey tells him not to; he's just keeping him close so he doesn't tell anyone. Because, if he does, Casey knows where he lives. This should make for some great Odd Couple moments. Plus, if Casey's no longer going on all the missions, it will keep him on the show (I hope).
Chuck's at Castle, working. He makes a call to Vivian, which she lets go to voicemail. He leaves her a message that he's worried about her and wants to check in. She looks a little sad, but the camera pans out to show that Riley's in the car with her. She tells him she's ready to know the truth about her father. I'm so confused as to why he was in the car with her before she told him that. I'm not sure how long this hiatus is, but I'll see you all after.
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DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, doesn't want to wait to find out what happens with Vivian. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.