Previously on Chuck…we learned Sarah’s real name (Sam), Chuck broke up with Hannah, and Sarah/Sam finally hooked up with Shaw.
This week, Chuck has performance anxiety and has to overcome his impotence. This episode is directed by Zachary Levi. I’ll try to be easy on him.
So, Chuck hasn’t been able to flash since all the drama that happened last week. Shaw informs him that, until he works out his mental block, he’s no longer a spy. Hat tip to the writers, as I think this was pretty clever. Our hero has progressed so far from “Wait in the car, Chuck” to the spy he’s become: not just a real spy but a *good* one. Just as he’s finally getting to prove himself, he loses the one thing that made him a spy in the first place. It’s a serious reality check for him. I still have hope for him, though. He’s really proven this season that he has what it takes. It’s not the Intersect that makes him a good spy; it’s the confidence the Intersect gives him. If he can learn to stop depending on the Intersect, he’d have that confidence back. Like when you lose your lucky penny and then realize you didn’t need it in the first place. In order for that to happen though, he needs some serious combat training. But most likely he’ll just get the Intersect back and continue to rely on it.
Chuck really needs someone to talk to about all of this. Awesome is no help, since Chuck promised to keep the spy talk to a minimum so he can have plausible deniability. Sarah is no help, since she’s the one he needs to talk about. I’m sure he can find *someone* to talk to…</foreshadowing>
Apparently Hannah quit the Buy More. Shit. I miss her already. I really hope that’s not the last we see of her. But really, she was too perfect for Chuck. The longer she stayed, the harder it would be to accept it when Chuck and Sarah inevitably get together. Hannah’s departure leads Morgan to have a “Dude, WTF?” conversation with his BFF, and when he sees he’s not going to get any answers, he decides to “fire” him from his position as best friend (which sounds like the premise for a bad reality show).
Shaw takes Chuck’s place in this week’s mission. He and Sarah intercept a call from The Ring and find out who their target is. Surprise! It’s Devon’s abs.
They tell Devon what’s up. Casey checks out the room where the call was made and discovers it was a set-up. False alarm? Shaw figures out what The Ring is up to, and they head back to Burbank to save Chuck.
Meanwhile, at the Buy More, some prospective buyers are checking the place out and conducting interviews with the staff to see who they want to keep/fire if they decide to buy the store. Sound like bullshit? That’s because it is. Really, they’re agents for The Ring, looking to infiltrate Castle. They figure out that Chuck is Agent Carmichael and that Shaw left him there to hold down the fort. As they’re casing the joint, Chuck works on his Intersectile dysfunction with “flash” cards.
Jeff asks Morgan to hide the contraband in his locker for him so he doesn’t get fired. The contraband is a jar of ether he huffs to take the edge off. Makes sense. The Ring agents come in, so Morgan hides and watches. They find the entrance to Castle, and Morgan follows. They’re going to destroy everything they have on The Ring and blow up Castle. Uh-oh. They don’t seem to know about the Intersect though.
Morgan tells Chuck everything he overheard and gets all patriotic and heroic. He wants them to take down The Ring themselves, and Chuck can’t do anything to dissuade him. Of course they’re immediately captured and tied up. They threaten to torture Morgan unless Chuck talks, so he’s forced to come out to Morgan. I’m pretty sure this is supposed to be a big OMG moment, but really, how could you not see this coming? With Chuck becoming more of a spy and less of a nerd herder, the Buy More crew is being featured less and less, and mostly as filler. Technically that’s because of the show’s lower budget this season, but really, they don’t fit into Chuck’s life anymore. If Morgan didn’t find out soon, he would have faded even further into the background. Anyway, he takes the news pretty well, and Chuck fills him in on the past 2 1/2 years.
Morgan: “I thought I lost you, but you were out saving the world?”
Casey gets back to the Buy More and discovers the staff staging a revolution. We’re treated to Jeffster covering Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” while Casey takes out some bad guys (assisted by Jeff and his ether).
Shaw wants to blow up Castle (with Chuck and Morgan inside) to prevent The Ring from gaining access to all of their intel. Sarah convinces him to give them another 5 minutes.
Chuck finishes filling Morgan in on his secret life. Morgan asks if that makes Sarah his “beard.” Clearly I’m not the only one who saw this as Chuck coming out of the closet. Morgan gets him to admit that he’s in love with Sarah (duh), and getting everything off his chest clears up his mental block, allowing him to flash again. When the bad guys come back to kill them, Chuck takes them all out (well, most of them…Morgan took the last one out). Yay Chuck has his groove back, and now he has an outlet for all of the secrets weighing down on him.
Since The Ring used Devon as a decoy, he realizes he and Ellie aren’t as safe as he was told. He wants to get as far away from this spy business as possible (since Malibu clearly wasn’t far enough) and suggests they go to Africa and join Doctors Without Borders.
Morgan and Chuck’s bromance rekindled, they bond over Subway and Duck Hunt. Chuck totally cheats though. Shame on you, Chuck. Duck Hunt is sacred.
Casey gets a mysterious phone call from The Ring, setting up next week’s episode.
I can’t say I loved this episode, but I definitely didn’t hate it. It was all fairly predictable, but we really needed it for the show to progress. Levi did an okay job directing. It needed more Casey, but it looks like we’ll get plenty of him next week.
Next week: Casey goes rogue. Though I’m sure it’ll end up being one big misunderstanding.
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