Hey there Chuck Fans!
Sorry I’ve been gone for the past two weeks due to work deadlines. Except the good news is that you get two for one with this recap of the past two episodes for you to enjoy!
Chuck Vs. The Final Exam
Flash forward: Chuck’s chasing down a mysterious man and once he catches up to him it seems as though Chuck is finally ready to use a gun. However, three days ago things were different–Lester and Jeff were up totheir usual tomfoolery in the Buy More until Casey, now a civilian and the new Ass Man–put the insurgents in their place by banging their heads together.
Chuck checks in on Casey’s civilian experience and tells him that he’ll quit if Beckman doesn’t reinstate him. However, Casey realizes that he put his team and his country in danger and is in full acceptance of the consequences.
Casey’s got more problems to deal with when Big Mike tells him Jeff and Lester are now threatening to sue Casey for using physical force against them.
Chuck meets Sarah down in Castle and tries to get a feel for what she and Shaw were doing in D.C. Chuck finds out that in D.C. Shaw and Sarah decided with General Beckman to put Chuck through his final spytest. If Chuck fails this test he will have to go back to his old life–but if he succeeds, he will be a real spy, based in Rome, with the cover of a billionaire industrialist. Chuck’s excited to hear this news until he realizes that he will be alone in his new life–with no Sarah. She’ll be in D.C. with Shaw.
Chuck meets Sarah down in Castle and tries to get a feel for what she and Shaw were doing in D.C. Chuck finds out that in D.C. Shaw and Sarah decided with General Beckman to put Chuck through his final spytest. If Chuck fails this test he will have to go back to his old life–but if he succeeds, he will be a real spy, based in Rome, with the cover of a billionaire industrialist. Chuck’s excited to hear this news until herealizes that he will be alone in his new life–with no Sarah. She’ll be in D.C. with Shaw.
The next morning, Sarah surprises Chuck at his apartment to tell him that his mission has started–this is how real agents get missions in the field. Sarah’s job right now is to observe and report. He opens up a bluepacket and pulls out a small video player as Sarah records his every move. General Beckman pops up on the video and she informs Chuck of his mission: F.S.B. Russian Agent Anatoly Zevloski has been fed information by a mole in the C.I.A. whom Beckman believes works for The Ring. Chuck’s mission is to ascertain the identity of the mole at the Pinnacle Hotel and Spa in Los Angeles. When Chuck wants to hear the message again, the video player self-destructs, just like in the movies. Sarah continues to write down everything Chuck is doing–and she admits that they have been through a lot together.
Chuck realizes this could be his and Sarah’s last mission together–and that Sarah wants him to pass his test and become a real spy. Back at the Buy More, Casey watches Big Mike get measured and fitted for a newsuit–and Big Mike offers Casey some fashion advice, to which Casey reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, Chuck sets up for his last mission and offers Sarah some champagne and sizzling shrimp, in memory of their first stake-out together.
Chuck inquires about Sarah’s relationship with Shaw, but she’s foggy about it and says how it’s different than how it is with him. Shaw interrupts Chuck and Sarah’s moment and tells him to get it together. Chuckadmits to Sarah that he thinks about what would have happened if he’d made a different decision about Prague, and if he passes this test now, he’ll become a real spy and they could really be together–if Sarahwere willing to give it another shot.
As they’re about to kiss, Shaw interrupts them again. Chuck’s target has entered the hotel and he needs to go after him–Chuck is now on his own. Using surveillance glasses, Shaw watches Chuck’s every move as he enters the Spa to meet with Anatoly. Chuck enters the steam room and finds Anatoly Zevloski with his muscle–under the cover name of Ivan Drago. Ivan receives a note to meet someone upstairs and Chuck quickly rushes to find the note–but Ivan’s muscle catches him in the act. Quickly, Chuck skill-flashes on judo and takes down both thugs.
By following “Ivan Drago,” Chuck climbs from one balcony to another to identify the mole–who kills Ivan because the mole is now directly with The Ring. But Chuck still hasn’t gotten a look at the mole’s face. Heuses a bird call to get the mole to come to the window and gets a confirmed identity: Hunter Perry. Chuck, still hanging from the balcony, believes he has passed his test–he’s a spy, a naked spy.
Casey has taken Big Mike’s fashion advice and is dressed in a sharp suit to have a sit-down lunch with Jeff and Lester at Subway. Casey apologizes for roughing them up–but Jeff and Lester drive a hard bargain.Not only does Casey have to pay for their lunch, he must also take a bite out of Jeff’s sandwich, after Jeff has already eaten some of it. Unbeknownst to these Buy Morons, Casey has been through worse, and gladlytakes a bite of Jeff’s “tuna-roni” sandwich. Chuck wants to know when he’ll get his “official” spy card. Sarah asks Chuck to meet her for dinner later at Traxx at Union Station. Chuck gives Casey a gun from Castle as a present–and Casey thanks him.
Chuck believes he has passed his final test and is excited for his dinner with Sarah–but Casey seems unsure if Chuck really knows what he’s in for. He tells him to be ready for anything.
Down at Castle, Shaw tells Sarah that Chuck has to kill Hunter Perry as his last test, the Red Test. Sarah is mad at Shaw for not telling her and will not be a part of it. Shaw believes that if Sarah tells Chuck tokill Perry, he’ll do it. Chuck goes to Traxx to meet Sarah for their “dinner” and she tells him about his Red Test. Perry will be meeting Chuck for dinner. She hands him a picture of Hunter Perry and tells him that he must kill him. Sarah then passes Chuck a red napkin with a gun inside of it. Chuck is shocked at this news–but if he doesn’t go through with this Red Test, he won’t become a spy, and he and Sarah can’t be together. One thing’s for sure though: after tonight, there is no turning back.
Hunter Perry arrives at Traxx just as Sarah leaves and he meets with Chuck–but it’s not long before Chuck’s chasing Perry into the bathroom for a brutal knife fight. Perry slashes Chuck on the leg and then Chucks kill-flashes on knife-fight combat. When Chuck has his chance to kill Perry he doesn’t take it, and Perry tells Chuck that The Ring was going to kill him. When Perry compares Chuck to Ring agents, Chuck decides to arrest Perry and not kill him.Perry isn’t to be trusted though and he turns on Chuck, making another run for it. Chuck and Perry are in an all-out chase now through the train tracks. Sarah comes to help Chuck, but she can’t find the two men between the trains. Chuck holds Perry at gunpoint and right before Perry pulls out his gun a shot rings out: it’s Casey–who shoots Perry before disappearing behind a train car. However, Sarah finds Chuck just in time and sees him standing over Perry’s dead body and believes that he has killed a man. Sarah confirms with Shaw that Chuck has officially passed his test.
Later, back at his apartment complex, Chuck talks to Casey about the Red Test. Casey tells Chuck that no one can know the truth about what happened tonight because Casey is technically a civilian and what he did was murder. Chuck can’t even tell Sarah. All that matters is that Beckman and Shaw think Chuck killed Perry–and this means he’s a real spy. But Chuck doesn’t feel like one, and doesn’t even know who he i say any more. Casey can’t offer any advice to Chuck about that–but he does know that Chuck’s not a killer and that’s why he killed Perry for him.
Chuck desperately tries to contact Sarah. There’s another blue packet waiting for him at home with a video from General Beckman and she congratulates him. He has a badge and ticket to go to D.C. for his induction and processing. After the video player self-destructs Chuck tries to call Sarah again, but she doesn’t pick up.
He leaves her a message, and Sarah tells Shaw that she can’t believe Chuck killed a man and she can’t help blaming herself. Then she admits that she is no longer in love with him. Sarah remembers her Red Test and how horrible it was for her–and that she didn’t want to kill her target, but then she saw the woman reach for a weapon (or so she thought) and Sarah reacted by shooting her.Shaw tries to comforts Sarah, but she admits it was the worst day of her life. Back in Chuck’s apartment he gets a knock on the door; it’s a C.I.A. operative ready to escort him to Washington. But Chuck’s not sure if he’s ready.
CHUCK Vs. The TIC TAC
Honduras, 1989: At a remote operations base, Lieutenant Alexander Coburn receives bad news from his field commander: he’s been rejected for Special Ops training and will be returning stateside in the morning.Dejected, the soldier walks away but is stopped by another senior officer, Col. Keller, who makes an enticing offer: a chance to join the elite black ops team he oversees. But it’s a fateful choice: the young officer can rejoin his family back home, or join the elite fighting force he’s always dreamed of.
Present day: We see that the young officer who made the decision to join the black ops team was actually John Casey. He sits now in his living room, meeting with the same man who recruited him more than 20 years ago. His former commanding officer has a new mission for Casey: to retrieve a top secret package from inside a secure CIA facility. Meanwhile, Morgan, who is taking his recent entry into the spy circle very seriously, surveils Casey and Keller from a distance. Chuck confronts him and accuses him of going too far. But Morgan’s convinced that Casey’s getting a mission–and wants in. Chuck doesn’t know of any mission. But his suspicions are raised when he sees Casey and Keller shake hands; apparently they’ve agreed to work together again. Chuck’s baffled.
Beckman lays out the day’s mission to Sarah, Chuck, and Casey (Shaw has been recalled to D.C.). Their assignment is a trace cell mission–they’re to try to break through 15 layers of security at the CIA’s Los Angeles facility, penetrating a super-secure storage vault. At the underground facility, Chuck quickly flashes and leads the team through the first level. They work their way through the remaining levels.
Inside the vault, Casey tells Sarah to guard the door, then sets Chuck loose on opening a locked drawer. Meanwhile, he sneaks to a different drawer, unlocks it with a special key given him by Keller, then opens the drawer and retrieves a zippered case with a small container inside. Chuck finishes his assignment, then comes around the corner to spot Casey closing his drawer. He asks Casey what he’s doing, accusing him of accessing an unauthorized box. Casey denies it, then pulls his pistol on Chuck, threatening to kill him if he tells anyone. Sarah arrives moments later, none the wiser.
Devon, a.k.a. Captain Awesome, meets Chuck at his apartment; he implores Chuck to help him convince Ellie that relocating to Africa via Doctors Without Borders is a great idea. He reminds Chuck that staying behind would put Ellie in too much danger–and it’s making him a nervous wreck. Ellie stops by a few moments later with great news: she’s received a neurology fellowship to the USC School of Medicine. The newlyweds have a touch choice to make.
Back at Castle, Beckman relays some bad news: despite the team’s best efforts to test and bolster the security of the secret facility, someone was able to infiltrate it before they got there. The thief took a vial of an experimental and highly valuable drug call Laudanol, a prototype pill that can suppress emotions in battlefield soldiers. Chuck realizes that such a drug could be invaluable for him: without fear or emotion blocking him, he could flash at will. The General fears it was an inside job. Chuck, thinking this is yet another test of his suitability for spy work, spills the beans about Casey taking the pill from the vault.Beckman confronts Casey, who pleads his fifth amendment right to remain silent. Beckman quickly assesses the breach and directs agent Walker to relieve Casey of his weapon.
At Buy More, Chuck grills Morgan on his surveillance of Casey from the night before. As they review the video recordings, Chuck flashes on the face of Keller–he’s a member of The Ring! He finds Sarah at Casey’s apartment, overseeing a clean team who’s tearing the place apart looking for the Laudanol. Chuck tells Sarah about his flash. He wants Sarah to help him find Casey, tell him about Keller’s Ring connection, andclear his name. Sarah explains that, if they fail, they could all be tried for treason and Chuck would lose forever his chance to be a spy.
Chuck and Sarah return to the CIA facility to try to spring Casey from a holding cell, before he’s shipped to a “black site” prison in Thailand. But new security measures are in place and they’re caught by a securityteam. They sweet-talk the security team leader who takes them to Level 15. But he refuses to let them inside. As an intruder alarm sounds, Sarah punches out the security team leader and grabs the key card grantingaccess to Level 15. On a security camera, they spot Casey’s cell–but an explosion rocks the building as they go to find him.
Awesome and Ellie are debating over whose dream to follow. They head for Chuck’s apartment but find only Morgan, who believes that Devon is being selfish. Awesome pulls Morgan aside and they begin aroundabout conversation about where Ellie would be safest; neither knows if the other is aware of Chuck’s spy life. Once they realize they both know, Morgan agrees that it’d be for the best if Ellie and Awesome didgo to Africa.
In Casey’s holding cell, the smoke clears to reveal Col. Keller and his Ring team; they’ve blasted their way in to extract Casey. A moment later, Chuck and Sarah show up through the cell’s door. Casey is literallycaught in the middle: on one side his long-time mentor, Keller, and on the other, his friends and CIA colleagues. Chuck tells Casey that Keller’s working for The Ring. But Casey is under his spell–and quickly headsoff with Keller and company. Sarah and Chuck are arrested by CIA security. An irate Beckman later explains Casey’s real story to them: he was once Alex Coburn, a young soldier who faked his death in Honduras in1989 to work for Colonel Keller as part of NSA black ops. Now it appears that Keller has recruited him again, only this time for The Ring. Beckman gives them a mission: capture John Casey dead or alive.
Chuck and Sarah figure Keller must not have the Laudanol yet, or he wouldn’t have broken Casey out of the CIA cell. They’re right. Casey, incognito, has recruited Morgan to help him by retrieving the Laudanolfrom inside the Buy More, where he’s hidden it in a DVD case. Chuck catches Morgan in the act and convinces him to give up the movie case with the drug vial in it. Back at his apartment, Chuck is surprised byCasey, waiting in the shadows. Casey draws his weapon and demands that Chuck reveal the location of the case. But Sarah is watching from a distance and sneaks up Casey and Chuck.
Confronted by Chuck and Sarah, Casey drops his guard. He reveals that he was Alex Coburn and that he once had a fiancée, Kathleen, who now thinks he’s dead. He shows Sarah and Casey some worn photographsof the woman who was clearly the love of his life. And now Keller is holding her hostage. If Casey doesn’t turn the Laudanol over, Keller will kill her.
Chuck, Sarah, and Casey form a plan. Casey will go meet Keller and signal to Sarah when she can pounce in for an attack. Meanwhile, Chuck vows to find Casey’s fiancée and sneak her to safety. He goes to herhouse, posing as a gas company employee to try to convince her to leave before Keller’s men arrive. The goons are at the door as Chuck spirits Casey’s fiancée into a closet.
Casey is brought before Keller and gives him the case that had held the Laudanol. Only now it merely contains a Tic Tac, a reminder of Keller’s favorite candy from years ago. Outside, Sarah emerges from herhiding place under Casey’s car and begins taking out Keller’s henchman. Casey and Keller go at it: an epic king fu battle between master and student. Casey prevails, ultimately killing Keller with his bare hands.
Chuck is under siege. Keller’s operatives are at the door. He calls Casey and Sarah for help, but they won’t be able to arrive in time. They tell him to flash and take care of them. But Chuck is overwhelmed with fear. Casey tells him to take the Laudanol pill, which he’s sneaked into Chuck’s pocket: the pill will suppress any fear and let Chuck flash and take out the threat. He swallows it and gets a super-skills flash.Chuck proceeds to fight off a small army of attackers, marveling at his own ruthless resolve.
Casey arrives to find Kathleen, the love of his life, on the floor, drifting in and out of consciousness. She doesn’t recognize him. We see a flashback from 1989: Lt. Coburn on the phone telling her he’s headed on a newassignment and that he’ll be back as soon as he can. She tells him to do his best–and that she has some good news from him when he returns. But Keller cuts off the phone call, informing his recruit that Alex Coburnwill officially be killed in action that night; he’ll now be known as John Casey. Back in the present, Casey hovers over Kathleen on the couch. She still doesn’t realize that the man helping her was once her fiancé. Her daughter comes in to comfort her. Casey realizes it’s probably his daughter,but can’t bring himself to reveal the truth. “What’s dead is dead. It’s too late now,” he tells Chuck as he walks off.
Back at Castle, Beckman calls the three agents on the carpet. Because the mission was successful, she is somewhat lenient–and she’ll give Casey another second chance. She’s busting him to civilian status–he’s nolonger a spy. Chuck protests on Casey’s behalf, but to no avail. She orders Chuck to escort Mr. Casey off government property. She goes on to tell Sarah that she hasn’t forgotten Sarah’s request to be transferred toWashington D.C. (presumably so she could start a new assignment with Shaw full time). Beckman’s decided that Chuck is capable of working as a spy without her as a handler; she invites Sarah to hop a ride toD.C. with her on her plane, leaving in an hour.
Back home, Ellie informs Chuck that she’s going to help Devon follow his dream–she’s headed with him to Africa and Doctors Without Borders. Devon pulls her aside and tells her he wants her to follow herdream–to take the fellowship position. The newlyweds each want their partner happy. Back in Casey’s apartment, Chuck tries to help the former spy settle into his new civilian life. He tells Casey that he couldstill go back to Kathleen; she lives nearby. Casey stands by his decision–and tells Chuck he needs to make his own decision about Sarah.
That’s the recap for this week and stay tuned for a special preview of Chuck episode tomorrow. Once again let me know whether you enjoy my reviews. From This week on I will be covering both Chuck and Flashforward. So look for that announcement.
Ceramicat