Episode Report Card DeAnn Welker: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Solve For Agent X
By DeAnn Welker | Season 4 | Episode 22 | Aired on 05.02.2011
lls him he'll have to tell her the truth about him, and he says he knows.He's waiting in her apartment, when she comes downstairs and asks why he's home. He told her they had to cut the bachelor party short, but there's something on his mind. He says they've always been able to tell each other everything, but lately... She knows where he's going, and ends up admitting what she's been doing. He then admits that he already knows. She asks why they're here, but it dawns on her: "You're still a spy." He says she just Rubik's cubed him again. She says he's obviously meant for bigger things than the Buy More, so she's not mad. She's just mad he didn't tell her. But she gets it, since she did the same thing. She tells him there will be no more secrets. So he takes her to Castle. She's impressed and asks what they're guarding that's so important. Chuck's like, "Well, uh, me." He tells her he's the Intersect in that project their dad's been working on. She doesn't believe it, so Morgan grabs a knife and runs at Chuck until he flashes on it and does some crazy ninja moves to take the knife and slice the arms off Morgan's shirt. He also speaks Japanese while he does it. Morgan's all cool with the '80s sleeveless look.
Ellie can't believe how amazing their dad is, since he actually made this happen. Then she notices her stabbed computer and asks what happened. She wanted to use it to find Agent X. Chuck says he is Agent X, duh. If only it were that simple... She tells him that can't be the case unless he gave him the Intersect before he was born. It was November 21, 1980 (how old is Chuck supposed to be, anyway?), when he input the Intersect into an operative. Sarah marvels at there being a previous Intersect. Ellie explains that Agent X became his cover identity and their dad must have felt responsible so he spent his whole life looking for him. Ellie's disappointed that they won't be able to find him now, with the broken computer. Chuck says he didn't spend ten years in the Nerd Herd for nothing, and sends Morgan to get his computer-fixing tools.
Buy More. Big Mike's disappointed he's here, and his cover story became the truth. He doesn't want to waste his free party pass. Lester asks if they're going to the real Vegas, but Big Mike says they'll go to Reno instead.
Castle. Chuck works like a surgeon on the computer while Morgan hands him his tools like a good scrub nurse. Chuck fixes it all up, and Ellie pulls up all of the files she's freed. The Agent X file has all been redacted except for the name Hartley. Ellie says he left this one other thing, too. She shows them the picture of the old house, and Chuck flashes on the house's location. Ellie's amazed at the Intersect at work. Chuck notices the date on the computer is a week before Agent X went missing. They wonder if it's his home, or a safe house of some sort. Chuck tells Ellie they're on their way to find him, because the people who put the hole in Dad's laptop are looking for him too. She wants to go with them, but Chuck reminds her she's got a baby at home. She worries about him, but Chuck says, "Don't worry. It's what I do."
Chuck, Sarah, and Casey find the house in England. When they knock, it's a little old lady who invites them in to use the phone (they pretend they're broken down) and offers to make some tea. The three sit in a very British floral living room wondering is she could be Agent X or poisoning their tea. She comes back and they're all afraid to drink. But they do it anyway. The British lady asks where they're all from, and Chuck and Sarah say they're married, and they picked up a hitchhiker (that would be Casey). Sarah says that her father knew a man named Hartley who lived here. The lady says she isn't related to him, but knows him. He was a previous tenant, and a bit of a recluse. She says she doesn't know what happened to him. Chuck suggest they leave, but she says she has a box of Hartley's personal effects, if Chuck could give her a hand getting it, since it's a bit heavy.
In the hall, she asks Chuck to wait while she grabs something. When she's gone, he flashes on a photo of a young boy with a woman. It's Hartley, meaning she obviously knows the guy. She comes back down then with a shotgun and points it at Chuck. She asks what he wants with her son, and blames the government for taking him away. She says he never should have been sent undercover, since he was a scientist. She says that the CIA disavowed him when no one could bring him in, and no one lifted a finger. Chuck says that someone did: His dad spent his whole career trying to find Hartley. She immediately realizes Chuck's father is Stephen Bartowski, and puts down the shotgun. Chuck asks if she knew his dad, and she says of course; he and Hartley were close. She asks, hopefully, if Chuck's going to fix her son.
Sexy lady, Riley, and the gang show up outside. They see the vehicle Chuck, Sarah, and Casey drove and realize someone beat them here. They start shooting up the place. Casey thinks they were followed, but Hartley's mom says they're not following them; they're here for the same thing Team Bartowski came for: Hartley's spy will. She tosses a key to Sarah to go get it from a vault in the cellar while she and Casey keep shooting from the window (but only after she gets a real gun instead of his government-issued "pea shooter"). Casey watches in amazement as she masterfully shoots the machine gun. Downstairs, Chuck and Sarah find the spy will just as Hartley's mom runs out of bullets. Casey asks now what, and she starts placing explosives and grenades everywhere. Casey says she's like the mother he never had. She "awww"s and tells him he's charming. They head outside and hide while Riley's people all head inside (except for Riley, of course). When they're all in. Hartley's mom pulls the yarn she's tied to all the grenades, and the whole house blows up. She laughs like a maniac and sends them away with the spy will. Casey loves this woman.
Big Mike, Lester, and Jeff are on their way to Reno in Big Mike's "luxurious yet practical" product-placement Toyota. Driving montage to Billy Ocean. Then they arrive, with Jeff behind the wheel. They all hop out, excited, until they realize it's another campsite. Lester tells Jeff it's not Reno, but Jeff points to a sign: "Renauz, British Columbia." Big Mike starts to beat the crap out of Jeff, but Lester tells him to "stop the killing." Because he's spotted a casino over yonder. They all perk up and head over.
Castle. They're back with Ellie, who asks if they're waiting for a code or something to open the spy will (which has its own code on top; it says "27r3zm7Adc"; I have no idea what it means). Chuck says he was just waiting to open it with her. Chuck and Ellie discuss the magnitude of what's inside that box: Agent X, their dad's obsession, the reason their family fell apart. They open it up and find some stuff that says "Hartley Winterbottom" on it, including a photo... of a young Alexei Volkoff. Casey takes the computer disc and pops it onto a computer. He finds something that says this information is classified. Ellie even remembers Volkoff from Thanksgiving. She can't believe their dad created one of the world's worst criminals for the CIA. Ellie wants to tell their mom, and Chuck thinks she was trying to fix this, too. Sarah wants to call General Redhead. But Casey tells them they pretend they never saw this. He calls them to the interrogation room.