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While Casey's busy working on this secret mission inside a big, gaping "secret" hallway in Castle and torturing Morgan into being able to withstand torture, Chuck and Sarah are bored out of their minds, playing Operation in Castle because of the lack of missions. They realize that Casey hasn't been around and work on figuring it out. They find his hallway, but can't get into the big metal door. So they turn to Morgan, who avoids Chuck and plays dumb until Sarah sneaks in and tranqs him. They then scour the apartment for a handprint -- which is on Casey's portrait of Reagan, obviously. They use that to break into his new secret room, where they figure out what's been going on: He's working with a couple of the Gretas -- Isaiah Mustafa and Stacy Keibler, to be precise. Chuck still thinks he has one up on them, because of his Intersect. Then Sarah finds Chuck's dad's laptop in the secret room and they realize they're running a new Intersect project. And now the Gretas are Intersects. Robin Givens says they don't have the flaws of the Chuck model, though, because they don't have any problem shooting people, and they don't bother with those pesky emotions. Chuck and Sarah are relegated to being the B Team. Until Casey's conscience gets the better of him, and he invites Chuck and Sarah on a mission, where their hesitation to shoot and emotion ends up looking like the best thing in the world. Stacy Greta shoots a guy who's heart is what's keeping a bomb from going off, and Chuck uses more than his Intersect brain to defuse a bomb. In the end, the Gretas are un-Intersected, and thankful.
In the meantime, Ellie's going stir crazy stuck at home with baby Clara, so she'd like her dad's laptop back, please. Awesome pretends he took it to the Buy More, so she spends the episode getting Jeffster! to track it down for her (because she makes them think there are racy videos of her and Awesome on it). They don't, but after the Intersect project is declared a failure, Robin Givens tells Casey she needs someone who thinks like a Bartowski to continue this project. Casey returns home and tells Morgan there are no more secrets from Chuck; they're all on the same team now. And then Robin Givens shows up at Ellie's and gives her the laptop, pretending Jeffster! gave it to her by mistake. Ellie loses the whole day on it, and Awesome's not even a little bit pleased to see that when he gets home. Which is the cliffhanger we're left on. Will Ellie be the new Intersect? Also, where's Linda Hamilton?
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Here's a few things Chuck wants us to know: Greta! Bakula left Ellie a laptop that she figured out, so Awesome gave it to Chuck. Morgan and Casey became roomies as long as Morgan wouldn't tell Chuck about Casey's out-in-the-open secret project.
We open on Morgan being tortured by someone with a disguised voice. The disembodied voice tries to get him to give up John Casey, and when they worked together. Morgan eventually admits they worked at the Buy More, but won't say anything else, despite the threat of imminent torture. Then the lights go on, and Casey tells him he did a better job this time, since he didn't even pee his pants. Then Casey takes a giant gun, touches his portrait of Reagan, and gives Morgan a parting message that if he really cares about his best friend he'll keep Casey's secret. He leaves Morgan alone, where Morgan realizes he did actually pee a little bit. Ew. Close-up of Chuck's face as Sarah counts down. He tells her to shush; she knows how nervous he gets! If you think they are on a mission, working on defusing a bomb or something, you are totally wrong. They're playing Operation. Because they are bored and missionless. Casey shows up at Castle, and they grill him on whether there's a new mission. He grunts, lies that he's returning something (the giant gun), and says maybe there are no missions because the Intersect's made the world a more peaceful place. Sarah tells Chuck Casey's up to something and follows him into the giant, obvious, secret hall about a foot away from where they always work in Castle. He uses his handprint to enter the big, steel door, and then Sarah tries. She can't get in, so Chuck says he'll try. "It's not like they're going to deny the one and only Intersect." That right there, my friends, is some very un-subtle foreshadowing. You'll see. Anyway, his hand doesn't work either. They think Casey's turned into a vigilante, and want to get to the bottom of this. Chuck has an idea...
He knocks on Morgan and Casey's door, and grills Morgan on Casey. Morgan tries to get Chuck to leave by lying that he just waxed his floors, then he denies everything, says he knows nothing, and is just Casey's "domestic partner," not his spy partner. Chuck wonders where all his missions have gone, and Morgan says that maybe the Intersect has made the world a more peaceful place. Sarah and Chuck are back home, annoyed that their BFF and partner would both lie to them. They see Casey leaving the courtyard in what looks like mission-y clothes, so they decide to follow. They justify it by saying he might be in danger if he goes out without the Intersect. So, really, they're just watching his back.
On their non-mission, Chuck and Sarah stake out in Awesome's Sienna mini-van. Chuck goes on and on about what an amazing car it is for a mission, and Sarah says it's only great because it's totally unassuming, so no one would suspect it. Chuck shows off the automatic back doors. "It's like I'm using the Force!" Sarah is not amused, so Chuck tries to get serious about figuring out what Casey's up to. Inside a warehouse, Casey tells a bad guy playing solitaire that if he isn't willing to see him, Casey's "employer" would be happy to do business elsewhere. The bad guy tells him to forgive his lack of hospitality and lets Casey come to the table. They exchange briefcases, and the bad guy's has a bunch of money in it. The bad guy tells Casey he'd trust his "employer," Dragan, with his life, but he doesn't trust NSA agent John Casey. He asks if Casey's plan was to walk in and arrest him, all alone. Luckily (or not), Sarah and Chuck are watching all this, so they're totally on it. The bad guy's two henchmen pull guns on Casey, so Sarah and Chuck jump out and say he's not alone. Sarah, seething: "He wouldn't go undercover without his team." Chuck: "Yeah, honestly, what do you take him for?" Casey asks why they're here, and Chuck says they're saving his life, "Idiot." Casey calls Chuck an idiot. Bad guy offers to settle it: They're all idiots. And more bad guys with guns come out, training them on Chuck and Sarah. But the two original henchmen take them out, because they're Casey's guys. Sarah realizes what's going on: This was an undercover sting operation. The henchmen-turned-Casey's people unmask and reveal themselves as a couple of Gretas (Stacy Keibler and Isaiah Mustafa, to be precise). Casey introduces Chuck and Sarah to his new team. Chuck and Sarah are speechless. And a little heartbroken.
Cake.
Castle. Sarah and Chuck are jealous of the Gretas. They watch the Gretas look perfect, and Sarah realizes the CIA's replaced them, which is why all their missions are gone. Chuck thinks no one else can replace him, the Intersect, so he's naively confident that he and Sarah are still the best. (So we know just how bored they've been, Sarah's holding a stack of games through this scene, the top one of which is Twister; why couldn't we have seen them play that instead of Operation?) Chuck and Sarah approach the Gretas, and Chuck compliments them on their great work with the guns and the bad guys. He also wants their real names, so he doesn't have to keep calling them Greta, which Chuck's assuming is an acronym. Isaiah Greta: "Captain Richard Noble." Stacy Greta: "Captain Victoria Dunwoody." Chuck thinks "Ricky and Vicky" is cute and wonders if they're a couple. Isaiah Greta is like, "Look at me, now look back at your man, now me, now your man. You're on a boat. I'm on a horse." Just kidding. Actually, they scoff, because work romance entanglements are for wimps and losers, duh.
Casey comes through and asks Walker to talk to him for a moment. She's upset and hurt about what happened, and how he'd move on to a new team. He's sorry she had to find out this way, and she tries to blame General Redhead, but he says it wasn't her decision. Sarah's puzzled, which is Robin Givens's cue to walk in and be an ice queen. She tells Casey to meet with his team now, or when he's done "fraternizing" with his old team. Isn't that a word you use when someone associates with the enemy? How is it not okay for him to talk to Sarah? The Gretas leave, and Chuck asks who Suzy Sunshine is. Casey says she's Director Bentley, "our Beckman, but less warm and cuddly." Casey leaves and Chuck tells Sarah it's just you and me, babe. But Sarah takes off to fix this.
They're on the TV phone with General Redhead, wondering why she didn't tell them what was up. General Redhead says Sarah's not the only one who has to take orders. Chuck asks whose team is the A team and whose is the B team, but General Redhead wants him to focus on the mission at hand. Chuck and Sarah are so excited to hear the word "mission" that they forget everything about Casey's team. The mission: an extraction from Tblisi. She explains who the bad guy was when they interrupted Casey's sting operation the other night: "the Turk." His arrest was a big deal, but the real prize, she says, is Dragan Petruchkin, an arms dealer who sells the former Soviet arsenal on the black market. The Turk has agreed to lure Petruchkin to the U.S. on one condition: asylum for the Turk's family. All they know is that Sarah and Chuck need to extract someone named Jana (pronounced "Yawn-uh"). Sarah assumes it's his wife, but Chuck thinks it's a mistress. General Redhead tells Chuck to use the Intersect to ID Jana and then return her safely to U.S. soil. They're so excited about a mission, and Chuck's sure they're the A team.
Chuck finds Awesome pacing at night in the courtyard, trying to find his baseline. He says it's not trauma surgery, which is a cinch. His problem is that Ellie's been home all day with Clara, and when Awesome walks in, she'll make up for twelve hours alone in about twelve minutes of talking. He walks inside, and she starts right in: She's crunching the numbers of Clara's sleep schedule, with statistical charts and everything. She does the same thing with vocal sounds. Then she tells him she'll need a second baby to have a control for their experiment. Joking. Then she asks for her dad's laptop, and Awesome finally pays attention. She thinks her dad's research is the diversion she needs right now. Uh-oh.
Sarah and Chuck are about to board their plane for Tblisi when Awesome calls to tell Chuck that Ellie wants their dad's laptop. Chuck says Ellie absolutely cannot have it, because it's filled with dangerous spy stuff and so is buried beneath Langley right now. Chuck tells Awesome to say that he brought it to the Buy More to get fixed, which Awesome agrees is an awesome idea: She'll assume Jeffster! lost it. Cut to Jeffster! playing some version of Memory, a la Ghostbusters or something, but without the zapping for an incorrect answer. Ellie interrupts, and Lester snaps at her. She says she'd just like her computer back, please, but they won't let her have it without a ticket, which she obviously doesn't have. So she pretends that there is a video of her and Awesome having sex on that computer. They promise to do everything they possibly can to find it right away.
Chuck and Sarah wait at an airport in Tblisi, until a car full of shady-looking dudes show up. Chuck thinks it's why General Redhead sent them. The guys get out, and none of them looks like Jana to Sarah, so she starts to pull a gun as they open the trunk. Chuck's upset they'd stuff Jana in the trunk, then they bring a tiny bag over and Chuck thinks they've chopped Jana up. Turns out that, no, actually, she's a tiny little rat dog. Chuck flashes on her, and realizes that is actually Jana. The guys give them instructions on what to do with her to avoid accidents and an upset stomach. Chuck realizes they're actually the B team.
And, back at Castle, he's still upset about it. Sarah tells him that nothing's changed. Casey's new team is just the competition, and they have to earn their title as A team. She says they're going to find Dragan and earn their status back. Chuck says the only problem is they don't know where they're keeping the Turk, who can lead them to Dragan. Then we hear the yap yap yap of a rat dog. Dead giveaway. Chuck worries maybe she has another upset tummy, but Sarah's worried about one thing only: getting behind Casey's secret door, where the yapping is coming from. Chuck: "All we gotta do is get through four inches of solid steel." Sarah: "Or we chop off Casey's hand." Chuck thinks they should keep that as their backup plan.
Chuck's banging on the door at Morgan and Casey's, telling Morgan he can hear him eating potato chips. Morgan refuses to answer the door, despite Chuck's protests. Morgan swears it's for Chuck's own good, but Chuck thinks that's just what Casey told Morgan to say. Sarah comes in through the ceiling with a tranq gun trained on Morgan and shoots him with it. She and Chuck go to work looking for a Casey handprint in the apartment. They use special goggles and flashlights to find a handprint. Sarah finds a bunch of child-sized handprints (Morgan's), and then Chuck finds the full man hand on the Reagan portrait. Perfect! Cut to them using a print of it to get the steel door open. Sarah: "Not bad for the B team."
Inside the secret room, Chuck's offended at how much cooler their Castle is than his. Sarah works to pull up Dragan's case file as Chuck looks for the Turk. He finds him quickly, with his yappy dog in his arms. He begs Chuck to leave him alone, since he's already told them everything about Dragan's shipment. Chuck tells him to relax; he's not part of their team. The Turk says they're like a pair of evil robots, then he says they told him about Chuck, too: the dog walker. He's glad he's here, because Jana needs, "how you say? Peepee time." Sarah manages to open some secret room inside the secret room, and calls Chuck in to look at something. It's his dad's laptop hooked up to some giant computer. Chuck wonders why, then it dawns on him, and he prays he's wrong about this. Sarah thinks it's time for them to get the hell out. But the Gretas come in and say they're not authorized to be in this section of Castle. Chuck asks what they're doing with his father's computer, and Stacy Greta says she's sorry, but the Intersect Project is classified. Chuck's all, "Classified? WTFuck? I AM the Intersect!" Isaiah Greta tells him he's not as special as he thinks, and Stacy Greta tells him to get out of here before he gets hurt. He flashes and fights each Greta, one at a time. He realizes they're also Intersects, following the same program.
Casey comes in then and tells the Gretas to stand down. Chuck tells Casey that he probably doesn't need Chuck now that he has his dream team, but Chuck's taking his father's computer. Casey tells him not to do that, but Chuck says his father never wanted his invention used like this. Stacy pulls a gun on Chuck; she says the computer is property of the U.S. government. Casey tells her to put the gun down, but she tells Chuck to put the computer down first. Robin Givens comes in and tells Chuck to do as she says. "Unlike you, my Intersects aren't afraid to pull the trigger." She takes the laptop from Chuck. Robin Givens says she had General Redhead send them to Tblisi, because the CIA's two Intersect teams were never supposed to... intersect. She explains that the Buy More has been a proving ground for potential Intersects. Chuck wonders what that makes him, and Casey says they could never have done this without him. Robin Givens agrees, because they've been watching him and perfecting his imperfections: emotional sensitivities, over-reliance on handlers, inability to terminate targets, etc. Sarah says that glitch was clearly fixed, since Stacy Greta almost shot Chuck.
Robin Givens presents Casey and the Gretas with their new task. All three Intersects flash on the plane that Dragan is flying in. Casey and his team go, but Robin Givens sends Chuck and Sarah home. Casey follows Sarah out to explain, and she says she knows why: He didn't want to be mothballed with them. He says that's not why he left; he left because Sarah and Chuck didn't need him anymore, since they had each other. He was the outsider. Anyway, he just wants Sarah to know that he think Robin Givens is wrong; Sarah and Chuck are still good agents. Sarah says they used to be the best, and storms off. Wait, when was Chuck the best? Isn't he always getting in trouble?
Ellie's on the phone with Lester, who lies that they may have returned her laptop to the wrong person, but not to worry; he's got his best man on it. He hangs up and tells Jeff to focus his powers on finding a name of who has that missing computer. Jeff closes his eyes and writes. Lester: "No. That's not a letter." He tells Jeff to dig deep as dramatic music plays. Jeff asks if he did it, and we see his paper says, "CIA." Lester looks at him like they're onto something, but then says, "Seeya? What the hell kind of name is Seeya? Totally worthless, Jeffrey." He crumples up the paper and tosses it.
Super Castle. Casey and Co. notice on surveillance that Dragan isn't moving parts, but a fully assembled bomb. Casey tells Robin Givens he wants his old team to join them; they need backup. Robin Givens thinks he's being sentimental, but then agrees to let them go. It's apparently because she wants to put Chuck in charge of bomb disposal, because expendability has its perks or something. Chuck's in a giant safety suit, but Casey tells him he's a vital part of this mission. Isaiah Greta adds: "And try not to drop the bomb, Chuck." Chuck sighs and fogs up his plastic face protective cover (or whatever it is). Casey coaches Chuck on what he'll do with the bomb, then says that this suit will protect him. Chuck yells that he saw The Hurt Locker, okay? So he knows the suit won't do a lot of good. I mean, look at Guy Pearce! Chuck says he knows he's being overly sensitive, since the new Intersects would never complain. Casey rigs some apple juice in Chuck's face protective thing, because he remembers having to wear one once, and it was impossible to use your hands.
Dragan's plane arrives with lots of security. Chuck and Sarah watch from the airport, and Chuck tells Sarah that Casey and his Gretas are outgunned and outmanned, because "Those guards are carrying automatic weapons." He says it in a panic, like it's a shock, but what kind of international terrorist transporting a bomb doesn't have guards carrying automatic weapons. Anyway, the Gretas use their Intersect-y magic to take out all the guards. Chuck says they're like Terminators, taking out five guards like that. Casey greets Dragan, and asks for his luggage. Dragan hands it over, and Casey opens it. The Gretas flash on the bomb: It's a suitcase nuke. Dragan tells them he has the detonator, and suggests they part ways. Sarah calls Casey and says to let him go, because she'll follow him. Casey lets him go and tells the Gretas to disarm the bomb. Isaiah Greta says it's some kind of bomb they can't defuse. Chuck yells that he can help. He throws off his thick gloves and face protective thing and takes off running awkwardly in his giant safety suit.
Sarah catches Dragan, who shows her that he's wearing the detonator. It's strapped to his chest, and will start if his heart stops. So he tells her she can kill him and everyone, or he can kill her. He thinks it's an easy choice. Stacy Greta runs up behind, and Sarah yells at her not to shoot. She doesn't listen, and kills him. His heart stops, and the bomb over with Casey, Isaiah Greta and now Chuck starts counting down from five minutes. Isaiah Greta suggests they fly it off into space. Chuck points out they're in the middle of L.A. County, but Isaiah Greta says it's the difference between 100,000 casualties and 1 million. Chuck tells Casey he can disarm it, but Greta says they have the same computer and he can't. Chuck says he can do it, and Casey gives the bomb to Chuck. Sarah comes running up then, and Chuck says it's just like old times, huh? Casey says he hopes there's a plan, and Chuck says there is.
He starts taking the bomb apart and says they'll have to improvise. Isaiah Greta: "It's a nuclear bomb." As it comes apart, Chuck flashes again, and realizes where the detonator's from: a Chinese sub, meaning it would have to be modified for deployment in salt water. Chuck's happy because he realizes the detonators deactivate in salt water in case of a hull breach. The Gretas point out they're miles from an ocean, so Chuck thinks and then asks Casey for his juice box. He reads the label and it has 100 mg of sodium. Intense close-up of the straw, then Sarah asks, "Chuck, are you about to disarm a nuclear bomb using fruit juice?" He nods, and she sweetly says, "Okay, do it." He does and it works. Chuck and Sarah kiss and tell each other they love each other. Because, see? Love and romance are not problems here; they help. Get it? Chuck snarks at Isaiah Greta: "Try not to drop the bomb, Rick."
Castle. All five from the mission, plus Robin Givens, are at the table on the TV phone with General Redhead, who says it looks like things have gotten crowded in Castle. Robin Givens says this operation requires only one team. General Redhead concurs, and after reading Casey's report, she chooses to get rid of the team that threatened Chuck's life and then almost killed them all by -- oh, I don't know -- DETONATING A NUKE. Casey takes responsibility for his team, but General Redhead tells Robin Givens she never should have done this without consulting the real Intersect. She puts Chuck in charge of all aspects of the Intersect Project going forward. Robin Givens wonders about her Gretas. Which brings us to them being un-Intersected. Casey walks in and asks how they feel. They're totally relieved, and feel sorry for Chuck. "That poor bastard Bartowski," says Isaiah Greta. They wish Casey good luck, and leave.
Robin Givens catches Casey and says she's not done with him, even though there's no team. She says the problem's not with the Gretas; it's with this computer, and he's going to help her fix it. Casey says the best engineers couldn't crack the code, and she agrees. "I need someone who thinks like a Bartowski." Casey asks what she's getting at, but we all know what's coming... Out in Castle, Chuck and Sarah are about to play Final Fantasy 2 when they get a call for a new mission. He wonders where they're going, but she's sure it's someplace far off and exciting, because they're the A team. He's going to bring the game for the plane ride, but she says she's sure they can find something else to pass the time. They kiss, and he's like, "Not to be crude, but you were talking about sex, right?"
Awesome arrives home and finds a quiet, sad Ellie folding clothes. He asks if she's okay, what with the not talking a million miles a second. She says the guys at the Buy More couldn't find her computer. Awesome apologizes and says he never should have trusted those guys with it. She says no, it's not his fault. She just hoped there'd be something on it that might change the fact she's just a stay-at-home mom. Awesome: "Woah. Stop right there. You are Eleanor Bartowski Woodcomb. Ph.D. M.D. The brainiest, sexiest, kick-assiest woman I've ever known. You're not just anything, Ellie. You're Mrs. Awesome." Awww. They hug and she thanks him.
Casey arrives home to his own domestic partner, Morgan, who tells him about Sarah and Chuck tranqing him. He apologizes for blowing it, and tries to turn in his wings. Plastic wings from Southwest, which makes no sense. But he says he let Casey down, he knows, but he can't lie to Chuck anymore. Casey says he doesn't have to, because they're on the same team from here on out. Which I hope means Casey had nothing to do with what happens : Robin Givens shows up at Ellie's and pretends Jeffster! accidentally delivered her laptop to her. She gives Bakula's laptop back, and Ellie's elated. Later, when Awesome comes home, Ellie says he's home early. He tells her it's dinner time. She's like, "What? Woah, Clara's taking a monster nap. I must have lost myself." Awesome asks if that's... Ellie say yes, she found her dad's computer. Awesome looks worried. And the cliff will hang there until week.
When there a bunch of new Chucks. Whatever that means. I guess Intersect Project? But they all keep getting killed off, so the team has to figure out who or what is after all the Chucks.
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DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, will miss the Gretas. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.