Episode Report Card DeAnn Welker: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Parenthood
By DeAnn Welker | Season 4 | Episode 20 | Aired on 04.11.2011
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.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.
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!
What are people saying about your favorite shows and stars right now? Find out with Talk Without Pity, the social media site for real TV fans. See Tweets and Facebook comments in real time and add your own -- all without leaving TWoP. Join the conversation now!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!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.