Chuck vs Operation Awesome
Original air date January 18, 2010
Season 2 episode 4
Synopsis
Devon is being held on a rooftop by a Ring agent. She thinks Devon is a spy because he saved Premier Goya’s life. He tells her he is just a doctor. She threatens him with death so he will work for her.
In Castle, Team Bartowski is looking for Devon, and Chuck is in a panic. Casey and Sarah send him to work to keep him distracted.
Big Mike hires Morgan as his assistant manager. Chuck is so upset he can’t control the Intersect and yells at a customer and then attacks Lester. Sarah arrives to talk to Chuck, but Lester is so happy he tries to get Chuck to do it again. Jeff complies by punching him.
Devon enters the store but is freaked out. He tells him the Ring thinks he is Chuck. Devon is taken to Castle for a debrief. He identifies Sydney Prince as the agent who took him. She is a Ring cell leader and has tried to recruit other agents. Devon has a Ring Communicator from Sydney, and now they can crack the system.
Beckman insists on keeping Devon in the loop despite Chuck’s objections. She says it’s the best way to protect him.
Chuck talks with Morgan about his promotion. He apologizes to Lester about his injury.
Devon returns home but tells an unbelievable story about being attacked by a bear to explain his absence. Chuck steps in and tells Ellie they had to help a drunken Casey.
Morgan notices many of the Buy More crew are bruised. He finds they have been alienated by his new administrative status.
Chuck is assigned to be Devon’s handler, and Devon arrives with a package. He has to call Sydney on the Ring phone and follow her instructions. She threatens to blow him up using the device if he doesn’t do as he is told. He is to go to an office building, eliminate the guards, and wait for instructions.
They arrive at the building, and Chuck gives Devon the ability to communicate with them as well as the Ring. He labels the devices good guys versus bad guys. Devon enters the building while the team waits in the van. Sydney sends Devon to the 12th floor, and Chuck tells him to wait for Chuck so he can help him.
Devon is intercepted by a guard, but Chuck uses the tranquilizer gun on him. They use the guard’s badge and go upstairs to where Chuck flashes and takes out the guards. They use one of the guards for a retinal scan and enter a room where Devon is instructed to kill the man inside.
It is a CIA installation, and Chuck tells Sarah and Casey. They see Sydney entering the building and try to help, but Beckman tells them this is a setup, and they are locked in the van.
After going inside the room, Chuck tells Devon to hide while he confronts the man they are instructed to kill. Chuck tries to explain, but the man tells him to follow the orders and kill him. He gives Chuck a note to read after killing him, but Chuck refuses. The man takes a pill and shoots himself. Devon enters just as the man collapses, and he thinks Chuck shot him and grabs the gun.
Sydney enters as Chuck hides; she thinks Devon killed the man. She removes the explosive device from Devon and welcomes him to the Ring.
Chuck comes out after she leaves and reads the note. It tells him there is a med kit in the desk, and he fetches it. Devon gives the man a drug which revives him. The man introduces himself as Shaw.
In Castle, Beckman briefs the team. Daniel Shaw is a CIA Special Agent specializing in the Ring. His job is to bring the Ring down, and he will take over all Ring missions and is debriefed on the Intersect.
Chuck is still worried about Devon, but Shaw assures him the Ring has decentralized cells, and Devon is safe as long as they take Sydney down. Devon will continue to help them, and Chuck pleads with Casey and Sarah to back up his concerns, but they agree with Shaw.
Morgan discovers a fight club has been set up in the storage cage in the Buy More. Morgan breaks them up.
Chuck goes to Devon and asks for the Ring Communicator; he will help him. He advises Morgan about how to handle the problems in the Buy More. Chuck hacks the communicator and calls Sydney. He tells her he is the real spy, and Sydney agrees to meet him.
Chuck tries to lay a trap for her, but Shaw won’t let him ask Casey and Sarah for help since he went rogue to plan a mission. Casey and Sarah try to help Chuck, but Shaw pulls a gun on them to stop them, insisting Chuck has to get himself out of this one.
When Sydney arrives, Chuck panics and can’t flash. He runs and hides while Casey and Sarah call Shaw’s bluff. Casey fights the front agents, and Chuck electrocutes one agent by using a battery hooked up to the storage cage; that agent accidentally shoots the other agent. Sarah fights Sydney but loses, and Chuck uses an agent’s gun but won’t shoot Sydney; she runs.
Chuck pursues and holds her at gunpoint at the holding dock. She challenges him to shoot her, but he can’t as she pulls a knife on him. Sarah calls out to him from behind as a shot rings out, and Sydney collapses; Shaw came from behind and shot her. He explains that he doesn’t like guns, but he’ll use them when necessary.
In Castle, Chuck tells Shaw how important his family is to him, and Shaw replies that emotions make you vulnerable and put everyone in danger. When he asks Sarah for backup, she sides with Chuck.
Big Mike tells Morgan to get his crew in line. Morgan lays down the law for Lester and the gang. He fires Lester, who quickly backs down. Chuck, Casey, and Sarah have dinner with Ellie and Devon, cooked by Morgan. Chuck takes a moment to appreciate his family and friends, then joins them.
Shaw watches the scene on the closed surveillance feed while taking a wedding ring and placing it on his finger.
Points of Interest
- This episode aired opposite the season premier of ’24’ after being opposite the season premier of ‘House’ the previous week.
- Chuck speaks Thai, it is in the Intersect.
- In CIA vocabulary, special agent refers to an investigator not an operative.
- Casey is an excellent healer. He was shot in the previous episode and this one picks up immediately after the other leaves off yet Casey has no wound or limp.
- Shaw becomes quickly convinced that Casey and Sarah, especially Sarah, are too emotionally involved with Chuck to train him properly.
- Chuck is the handler and Devon is the asset. Chuck is advised to be Sarah because Devon is him.
- Shaw tells Chuck he doesn’t like guns either, which supports the concept that he isn’t an operative.
- Chuck won’t shoot Shaw or Sydney and Shaw has to bail him out both times.
- Both of the confrontations with weapons are mini red tests, which Chuck fails.
- This episode begins Chuck’s real spy training while we see the Bartowski family (and friends) gather together for the last time for awhile.
- When Casey and Sarah enter for dinner, Sarah kisses Ellie and Chuck tells her he invited her because it wouldn’t be the same without her. They exchange a long look as she joins the table.
References
- Fight Club– “First rule of… comes from the film. Lester’s red sunglasses and the Buy More staff sets up a fight club.
- National Lampoon’s Animal House– ‘double secret’ probation.
- The Simpsons- Hi Diddly Ho neighbor.
Music
Space Monkeys- Dust Brothers: Morgan asks Jeff why everyone at Buy More looks beat up.
Got Nuffin- Spoon: Entering the office building; Casey and Sarah help Chuck with the Ring agents.
Bears- Sam Issac: Bartowski’s and friends have dinner at the apartment while Shaw watches; Big Mike congratulates Morgan on handling Lester.
