There's a lot going on this week, and every storyline seems to have to do with parents and children. First off, Ellie's still working on her dad's computer and her mom -- who's babysitting Clara -- isn't having it. She keeps trying to steal pieces of data from the computer, but Ellie sets up a camera on her and then follows her. Mrs. Bartowski tells General Redhead what she's doing, but General Redhead says folks a lot higher up than her want Ellie to keep working. So Mary tells Chuck that he better tell Ellie he's the Intersect before she finds out on her own.
Chuck's got his own messes to deal with, though, since Sarah's presented him with a pre-nup (something to do with her own crazy father; she's got money socked away in case he's ever arrested again). After a consult with not-so-odd couple Casey and Morgan, Chuck plays it cool -- totally stressing Sarah out. In the end, she tears up the pre-nup and he presents her with an adorable one about never considering the word divorce. They sign it. While they're being the cute engaged couple, though, they're also trying to keep Vivian from being a CIA kill target after the bomb parts by Volkoff Industries were found in Castle. So they set up a meet, which is blown by secret snipers, so Vivian thinks Chuck's betrayed her again. She's already presented them with a weapon, though, so they pay a visit to her dear old dad, Alexei Volkoff, in prison. He makes a deal to help them get the other two parts to this DNA weapon, the Norseman, which can wipe out an entire family with just a sample of DNA (don't even get me started on what a scary prospect this is for Mary, Chuck, Ellie, and baby Clara) if they'll let him see Vivian. General Redhead cuts the deal, so Alexei, Chuck, Casey and Sarah head off all over the world to get the other two parts. When they get the rare chemical needed for the weapon, though, Vivian shows up with some henchmen, which Alexei's thrilled about. Until she explains the real twist: She's going to kill them all with grenades. After some soul-searching, Volkoff manages to shut them off and save Team Bartowski. But Vivian's made off with the chemical and sets her people to work to kill this Agent X who's all over Orion's computer and Ellie's searching. Volkoff apologizes to Mary for never deserving her, then goes back to jail.
Casey, meanwhile, finds out Alex is having a graduation party that she can't invite him to because her mom doesn't know he's alive. Instead, she's told her mom she's meeting friends after graduation and wants to meet him. He tells her not to lie to her mom, but she wants him to be part of the graduation, so she decides it's time: She'll tell her mom he's alive.
In the end, Chuck decides to tell Ellie the truth about the Intersect. But when he approaches her and tries to bring it up, she lies to his face about the computer, telling him she realized it was just some video game their dad was working on. Chuck doesn't tell her, and instead tells Sarah that his whole world's changed: Ellie lied to him. And, since I'm guessing a Bartowski is going to be Agent X, the world's going to get even worse.
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A few things Chuck would like us to know: It appears Vivian Volkoff is trying to kill Chuck because he took down her dad. Ellie's digging into her dad's computer; Chuck thought Awesome swapped out the hard drive, but he didn't. Now: Ellie tells her mom she's just fine, but Mary reminds her she's a trained spy so she knows that's not the truth. Ellie doesn't hesitate to pull out her dad's computer -- which Mary recognizes instantly. Ellie says she had a major breakthrough a couple days ago and found thousands of pages referencing an Agent X. She says she isn't that far into them, but there are references to Mary and Bakula, and this Agent X. Then she tells her mom about the Intersect, and wonders if her dad ever had it up and running with Agent X. Mary feigns ignorance about all of it, and asks if Chuck knows. Ellie doesn't want to involve him. These siblings are so frustratingly secretive/protective of each other. Makes for infuriating television. Ellie gets up to give Clara a bottle, and Mary talks to her husband in his grave: "Stephen, what did you do?"
Chuck's eating breakfast and reading Game of Thrones when Sarah casually presents him with a prenuptial agreement. He panics a little: "Prenup?!" But she nonchalantly tells him where to sign and date. He pretends he hasn't showered so tells her to leave without him, then he heads to Morgan and Casey's to share it with them. The entire time Chuck talks to them, they're breakfasting in unison. Pouring juice together, drinking it together, eating together, using napkins together. There's even an adorably naggy moment in which Morgan tells Casey to take smaller bites, and Casey snaps, "Don't henpeck!" I love that they still live together even though the secret Morgan was keeping is now out of the bag. Casey and Morgan tell Chuck to be cool, that spies have secrets, so he should just sign the papers. Chuck leaves before he's scarred for life by Casey and Morgan's domestic bliss. When he leaves, Morgan goes through their mail and finds an invite-shaped envelope from Alex. Morgan tries to pretend it's a love letter, but Casey knows better so Morgan confesses it's a graduation invitation and that Alex really wanted to invite him, but she just can't because her mom thinks he's dead. Don't you just hate it when you really want to go to a party, but someone there thinks you're dead? Casey gets a text from General Redhead calling him into the office.
Castle. General Redhead fills in Chuck, Sarah and Casey: Because the bombs planted recently in Castle, which killed two people, were made from parts owned by Volkoff, there's a kill order for Vivian. Chuck can't believe she'd want to kill him, and Sarah offers the suggestion that it's someone rogue inside the Volkoff organization. General Redhead agrees to arrange a meet, but she'll have Casey on sniper duty, ready to take her down the moment she's hostile. General Redhead shuts off, and Casey tells Chuck he can't believe he'd trust Vivian; after all, she's a Volkoff. Sarah tells Chuck not to let Casey get to him, then makes sweet eyes at him and offers to talk about the prenup. But Chuck, trying out this new "cool" thing, tells her that it's "cool" and signed, and tosses it down. She looks a little disappointed at his nonreaction.
Chuck and Sarah show up on a dirt road somewhere in a fancy car as Casey radios that he's in position and will shoot if "she makes one wrong move." So, I guess it's the Vivian meet-up. Sarah still wants to talk prenup, but Chuck says it's okay; he gets that spies need secrets. She tells him she doesn't have secrets from him, but it's "family stuff." Chuck plays it cool, and Sarah continues her disappointment. A dark SUV shows up filled with Vivian and some goons. She gets out and asks what the hell is up with this remote meet. Chuck tells her what the CIA's accusing her of, but she swears she'd never do that and she wants nothing to do with her father's world. To prove it, she offers up a deadly weapon and asks if Chuck trusts her. Before he can answer, a sniper starts shooting. Sarah tells Casey to cut it out, but he says it's not him and he doesn't know who it is. Vivian ducks and runs, as she tells Chuck she can't believe he'd set her up like this. He protests, but it's too late; damage is done.
Castle. General Redhead says the kill order still stands for Vivian, but Chuck wonders what if this really is a deadly weapon she gave them; would that be enough to recall her kill order? Chuck says the only man who can tell them what the weapon is happens to also be the most dangerous man in the world. Quick swipe to a close-up of Volkoff in a group session apologizing for cutting someone off in the cafeteria line. A counselor coaches him on how to explore his feelings as he makes amends. Volkoff: "I feel... I feel..." Then he hears he has visitors, turns to see Chuck and Sarah and finishes: "I feel like I'm about to have some fun." Evil Volkoff grin. Man, I missed him. Definitely the best bad guy this show's had. Cake opening.
Chuck begins his meeting with Volkoff by telling him they don't trust him. Post-counseling Volkoff says he understands, and is ashamed of himself. Chuck's eyes get wide, but Sarah continues, telling him there's an assassination order out on Vivian that he can help remove. Volkoff says it's all his fault: "absentee parent." He tells them he's not interested in how the world can serve him anymore; he's interested in how he can help serve his fellow man. Chuck pulls out the weapon and asks what it is. Volkoff says it's the Norseman, a DNA tracker. With just a sample, he says, a target or family of targets (think Bartowski) could be picked out of a crowd and killed instantly. He says the weapon has two other components, which Sarah wants. Volkoff says they're worth a lot and he would like five minutes with Vivian to make amends in exchange for the components. Chuck thinks Volkoff just wants out of jail so he can escape, which isn't going to happen.
Buy More. Alex shows up to talk to Casey about graduation. She apologizes for not being able to invite him, and for Morgan's invitation showing up at their house instead of the Buy More, where Casey saw it. Casey swears it's not an issue, but Alex continues. Her plan is to meet her mom for dinner that night, but she's told her mom she's having drinks with friends between dinner and the party. That's when she'd like to meet her dad, and show him video of the ceremony. He thinks it's an intrusion, but she says she wants him to be part of this. So he agrees. She gives him a hug, which he's clearly awkward with.
Castle. General Redhead tells the gang that Langley would like the other weapon components. Chuck says he can't help because this weapon's not in the Intersect and the only guy who can find the components is... General Redhead cuts him off: "...coming in right about now." Volkoff, heavily chained and cuffed up, is brought in by a giant team of guards. They all (even Casey) question it, until General Redhead shuts that down. Volkoff tells them that well-known pirate Ellyas Abshir has the Norseman targeting component. Chuck flashes and says Ellyas was last seen in Mogadishu. Sarah wonders why Volkoff's agreed to do this, and he says the General's caved to his demands. Chuck wonders if anyone else's alarm bells are going off, telling them they're being played for suckers. General Redhead says that Washington wants the Norseman now; damn the risks. She tells them Volkoff's their responsibility for the 48 hours. Volkoff wonders when they fly.
Mogadishu. Chuck's going to go in as a Volkoff agent, but Volkoff says it should be him going in. He tells Chuck to tell them he sent him, which will scare the hell out of them. Then he gets philosophical, wondering why he always chooses fear over love. Casey's had enough: "Okay, Oprah." He drags him out of the room, giving Sarah a chance to bring the prenup up with Chuck again. She asks if he wonders why she asked him to sign it, and he says he figured she'd tell him when she's ready; is that cool? Sarah, disappointed, says it is.
Ellie and Awesome's apartment. Awesome's teaching Clara about the missing link when Ellie pipes up from the kitchen that the Agent X file she showed her mom is missing. She wonders why her mom would delete a file from her dad's computer. Awesome thinks she's jumping to conclusions. Ellie leaves a message for her mom, then tells Awesome she's going to get to the bottom of this mystery. Poor Awesome keeps getting sucked into other people's drama and secrecy.
Casey's got Volkoff set up with guards in a tiny room in Mogadishu. He tells Chuck to watch him and leaves them. Volkoff asks Chuck about the prenup, and tells him he thinks he's handling it very well. Dr. Nelson, his prison shrink, taught him that a major part of recovery is seeing the opposing point of view. Volkoff says he's been thinking a lot about Chuck's mother, and he owes her an amends. He wonders if Chuck could talk to her. Chuck says Volkoff's kind of a sore subject with her. So Volkoff reminds Chuck, who's finished prepping for the mission, to say that he works for Volkoff. Chuck struts out in what looks more like safari garb (tan vest over a long-sleeved brown T-shirt) than a spy or Volkoff agent wardrobe. Chuck asks for Ellyas Abshir, then smugly says, "I work for Alexei Volkoff." Everyone turns and points their guns at him. Chuck, being typically clueless, thinks they must not have heard him correctly, so he repeats the name: "Alexei Volkoff." Uh, no, Chuck. This is what we call a setup. Ellyas walks up and tells Chuck that Alexei's a "powerless worm in a U.S. penitentiary." Chuck says he still has a little power, since he sent Chuck here to broker a deal for the Norseman tracking device. Ellyas says it's not for sale. Back in the room, Sarah asks why Volkoff didn't tell them Ellyas hates him. Volkoff, sincerely: "Everyone hates me. I accept that." Chuck tells Ellyas his terms are reasonable; he's prepared to pay... Ellyas cuts him off: "With your life. Good." Chuck says Ellyas may have put words in his mouth, "specifically the word 'life.'" Back in the room, Alexei convinces Sarah and Casey he needs to go out there, but that he can't do it in his prison clothes. Ellyas tells Chuck to pick a game -- dice, roulette, cards -- and if Chuck wins he can have the tracker; if he loses, he dies. Chuck: "Do you have UNO?" Come now, Chuck. If you're going to pick a game, pick one that's strategy-based that you know you can win.
Back in Burbank, Mary's at Ellie's explaining herself. She swears she copied one file to cross-reference with the CIA database, but when she put the flash drive in, it just disappeared. Ellie wonders why her mom didn't tell her, and Mary says she knows it's important to Ellie, so she felt stupid. Ellie says it's not big deal, because everything automatically saves on a backup hard drive, so she got it all back. Awesome tells Ellie they need to get going to make their reservation. Ellie spins their baby-monitoring camera around discreetly, so it's pointing at the computer (you'd think a trained spy would notice this and avoid sitting in front of it for Ellie and Awesome to see, wouldn't you?). Everyone says fake happy goodbyes to each other, then Ellie and Awesome leave. Awesome asks Ellie to actually go to dinner instead of their plan, but Ellie says her mom has the technical savvy of Steve Jobs, so she didn't just erase a file. Awesome asks if they're going to stand in the cold and wait for her to maybe do something. Ellie pulls out her baby monitor and watches her mom immediately sit down. She says her mom's spending the night, so they're going to follow her in the morning. Awesome reminds her they're not spies, but Ellie says they're going to have to act like it, since her mom's keeping something from her and she wants to know why.
Chuck and Ellyas play UNO as an Ellyas crony places the tracking device on the table. Chuck notices that Ellyas pulls an UNO card out of his pants. It's a Draw Four card, so Chuck stammers that he's a cheater. Ellyas points the gun, and tells Chuck to tell it to St. Peter. So, I guess he's a Christian, then? The gate swings wide just then and a suited-up (now that is appropriate attire for this situation) Volkoff struts in. Ellyas asks what the hell is happening; isn't Volkoff supposed to be locked up. Volkoff tells him he'll show him what's happening. He throws a knife and hits Ellyas in the arm, and tells him his morality is at stake and he needs to play fair for once in his life. It's his life or the tracking device. Ellyas tells them to take the device. Chuck politely thanks him, grabs it, and runs off to join Sarah and Casey, who have followed Volkoff in with their big guns. Volkoff's not done with Ellyas yet, though. He leans over him on the table and tells him there's just one problem, and it's going to be really painful. Sarah, Casey and Chuck are losing patience. Volkoff tells Ellyas he knows what he's capable of, and the time has come to do what he came to do. He then ... apologizes. "I, like all other men, am still a work in progress." Chuck asks Ellyas to forgive and forget. Ellyas: "Um, okay?" Volkoff gives him a big sappy bear hug and says he feels so free. Chuck urges him to leave, and they finally do.
Back at Castle, Volkoff snaps the tracking piece onto the Norseman tells Team Bartowski that only one piece of the Norseman remains: the killing agent, thorium, his finest work. It comes from a far-off land, where he had to wage war on the peaceful natives to find it and destroy the Hometree. They all look puzzled until Volkoff breaks into laughter. He's kidding, of course. They got to see Avatar in prison last week. Casey surmises thorium is rare, but Volkoff knows where it is. Volkoff says his grandma always said to play your cards close to your vest. "And wear a coat over the vest. Or you'll look like a jerk." General Redhead pops up on the screen then to tell them Langley's getting antsy. Volkoff says he wants to be sure the General's going to keep her side of the bargain. She shows him a document between Vivian and the CIA with everything redacted except "I will see him." Volkoff gets all excited and powerful and says the thorium is in a Swiss military bunker with locks coded to his DNA. "Fly at midnight! Fuel my jet!" Chuck reminds him he doesn't have a jet. Volkoff apologizes for his old thinking creeping back.
morning at Ellie and Awesome's, Mary says she'll see her week, but to call if she needs anything. Mary stops to think, then walks. Awesome uses the baby monitor (which is apparently two-way) to call and tell "Hot Mama" that the target's on the move. Ellie replies "Copy that, Six Pack." She's got the baby, and he needs to get the car.
Buy More. Casey apparently has time for a quick shift. He checks his locker and finds a graduation invitation from Alex, telling him to meet her at 8 at the shooting range, to celebrate. He smiles.
Mary shows up at Castle, and Chuck asks her what's going on. She tells him that his sister is breaking through the firewalls of the Orion computer. Chuck says he had Awesome take out the hard drive, but Mary says he didn't do it. Mary says it's almost as if Bakula intended Ellie to figure this out. She says she took the dangerous stuff from the computer, but Ellie's onto her and is following her. Chuck wonders what to do, so Mary tells him the time has come for Ellie to find out what Chuck does for the CIA. He protests, but Mary tells him Ellie's going to find out one way or another, and she'd probably take it better coming from him. Casey interrupts to tell Bartowski (the elder) that General Redhead's on the monitor for her. Mary tells the General that she'd like this file she took from the computer to be the last; it's not going to be easy to keep secrets from her daughter any longer. General Redhead says that Washington wants to expand the Intersect program, and Ellie's unlocked secrets their most skilled technicians couldn't. General Redhead's never even heard of Agent X. Mary hasn't either, but says it isn't necessarily related to the Intersect. Still, General Redhead would like Ellie to keep working, because she has exclusive access. Mary tells "Diane" that Ellie's not a spy, but General Redhead says it comes from the top. She shuts off just as Volkoff starts singing Danny Boy. Mary asks why the hell he's here, and Chuck explains the Norseman. Mary tells Chuck to watch his back, but Chuck says he's changed and wants to make amends with Mary. She tells Chuck this is Alexei Volkoff, he of twisted mind and shady dealings. Never trust him. Chuck: "Cool."
Fake snow and a cave. This must be Switzerland. Sarah and Casey are on lookout. Sarah sees no guns or agents, and wonders if maybe this isn't a trap at all. Casey growls that you can't trust a limey with good teeth, so he wouldn't rule out "trap" just yet. Casey calls Chuck on their watches/earpieces and tells him if they lose audio, they're coming in. Chuck likes that idea. Volkoff says there's only one way to open the door into the vault: playing a game of chess with a five-minute clock. Chuck guesses there are consequences for losing. Volkoff says there is, and Chuck can leave if he wants. But Chuck handcuffs himself to Volkoff instead. As the chess game begins inside, Casey and Sarah discuss the prenup outside. She says that by Chuck playing it cool, she realizes how he feels every time she plays a big deal cool and he flips out. She now wants to flip out about boiling their relationship down to the contents of an envelope and seeing the end before they begin. Casey asks why the prenup, then? She tells him she has money socked away in case her dad gets arrested again. Casey tells her he's sure Chuck can handle her telling him that; "any excuse to weep, and hug." Sarah says it's more about what it drudges up for her: her parents' relationship and having to take sides. She says it's hard to be caught in the middle. Casey rogers that.
Inside, the chess machine puts Volkoff in check and points guns at him. Volkoff thinks the guns and bullets are sort of overkill. "Story of my life." Volkoff says he used to not care if he lived or died, but now he does care; he doesn't want to die, but he's going to. Chuck asks if a spiritual man would stop in the face of adversity, and gives him a pep talk about what it means to have the DNA of the most evil weapons dealer: Alexei Volkoff. It works well enough, so Volkoff finishes the chess game off in two more moves. The guns go away and the vault opens. [Why didn't Chuck just use the Intersect to play the game for Volkoff? - Zach] Outside, Casey and Sarah lose audio and then pick up Russian voices instead. They rush in.
Inside, Volkoff swabs his nose to open the DNA-coded vault. The thorium's sitting there, but Volkoff tells Chuck they'll get to that; first he has an amends to make to Chuck. Chuck says he's aware of all the bad things Volkoff's done and he's learning not to hold it against him. Awww. Volkoff, though, says this isn't about what he's done. It's what he's about to do. Uh-oh. Sarah and Casey rush in then and tell Chuck they picked up some Russian on the radio. A trap, you see, because some guys surround them then, followed by Vivian. Volkoff says this is what's called the twist, and Vivian says she needs leverage to run her father's company, which would be the Norseman. She just needed her father's DNA to get the killing agent. Chuck says Vivian was shot in the arm by the sniper. She just shrugs, because... another Volkoffian setup. Chuck says Volkoff and Vivian never communicated. But Volkoff says they did, through Chuck. He knew what was up as soon as he saw the Norseman component, a message from Vivian. He tells Vivian they'll run the company together and he owes her an amends for being absent during her formative years. Vivian tells him there'll be time for that, then takes the thorium. Sarah tells her the thorium's useless without the other components, but Vivian says the other components are what's useless; they can be rebuilt. She then turns on her way out and tells her dad she's not un-cuffing him from Chuck. Because this is the real twist: He'll die by his own plasma grenades here with the rest of them. He orders her to release him, but she says he taught her to trust no one. Chuck tells her she's not this person. She tells Chuck he doesn't know who she is, since he's lied, betrayed her, and shattered her life. Volkoff tries to reason with her, but she says he's a stranger. She leaves. Lasers light up in the doorway so they can't get out, even after taking out the guards. Volkoff pouts about how much Vivian hates him and it can't be repaired. Chuck pep-talks him. Sarah and Casey try to figure a way out, but can't. Luckily, the pep talk worked well enough again, and Volkoff shuts everything off. He says he was going to tell Vivian his secrets and they were going to be partners. Then he adds, "Velcome [sic] to the future." Chuck and Sarah look worried. Maybe because they worry all that good therapy went down the drain.
Back at Castle, Volkoff's being locked back up in his shackles. Chuck asks why Vivian did this, and Volkoff says she's his daughter and takes after him. He asks to be taken home. Mary comes out then and asks Alexei what he wanted to say. Volkoff tells her he's done terrible, evil things, but he was drawn to the goodness in her. She says this isn't necessary, but he insists. "I was not worthy of your love, like Orion was." You can tell that actually sinks in. He asks her forgiveness and says he's doing his best to improve. On his way out, Volkoff tells them to remember that family and friends are everything. "Money and power are a dance with Satan. And he looks like me." Chuck puts his arm around his mom.
Alex and Casey are having dinner at his place. She's insisting they have dinner on graduation day, but he says they can do it the day after. He doesn't want her lying to her mother on his behalf. She says lying to her goes with the territory, but he says it's not fair for her to be caught in the middle of her parents. She doesn't mind being in the middle as long as she gets to have him in her life. He says he minds. He respects that she doesn't want to tell, but they have to come up with a compromise, because he can't be there on the day of graduation. She says, "Unless..." And he says they'd have to tell her mom the truth. She says she's ready to, but also scared.
At Chuck and Sarah's, she tears up the prenup, asks for him to forgive her for ever presenting it, and asks if he'll stop being so cool. He pulls out an envelope that says "Prenup" on it. Sarah says that's so not cool, but he asks her to read it. She reads the first part, "I, Sarah Walker, promise to always love Chuck Bartowski. In return he will always love me." He finishes it: "I promise Chuck that I will never even contemplate the word divorce, and I will never use my prenup." He says he already signed it. She signs it, too, and giggles. Then they drink wine, but he notices Ellie and Awesome coming home then. Chuck says he has to talk to Ellie right now before he loses his nerve. She agrees he needs to go tell her now.
Ellie comes out into the courtyard to talk to Chuck, since Awesome's putting Clara down. She asks what that look on his face is about. Chuck says he heard she's been kind of busy lately, and she laughs that a newborn will do that to you. She asks if there's something pressing going on, because she needs to make dinner. He asks her about their dad's computer. And, see, this is the moment where she should realize that her mom's been talking to Chuck, so he'd obviously know what's up. But if anything is in the Bartowski DNA, it's lies and secrecy, so she tells him she thought she'd uncovered some secret files on the computer, but it turned out to be cheats on some video game he was developing. "Just gibberish, really." Chuck: "Oh yeah?" She tells him dinner's not going to cook itself, so she heads back in. Sarah comes out, and Chuck tells her his sister just lied to him, which she never does. "Not cool."
Volkoff Industries. Vivian's on the phone telling someone there was only one person her father was ever threatened by. He went by the name of Agent X. She's going to track him down and kill him. Then no one can touch her. Ever. We see her little horse statue and then the vault it opened the first time she was in this office, which now contains the thorium.
week: Chuck and Sarah get conned out of their wedding money somehow, and suspended from work for some reason, so they turn to the one guy who can out-con the conners: Sarah's dad, Gary Cole. Also, it's time for Alex's mom to find out Casey (or Alex, to her) is alive.
Discuss the episode in our forums, then see our list of actors who should quit their shows and join this one. And see what our vloggers think of the show, below!
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DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, would love this Volkoff vs. Bartowski storyline even more if Orion were still alive. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.