They arrive at the hotel that is scheduled to host a bar mitzvah a but later than the wedding reception. Sarah impersonates Daphne Perralta, including Daphne's "Lawn Guyland" (say it out loud) accent, and orders that the hotel switch the bar mitzvah decor into a Hungarian wedding theme. Sarah even constructs a beautiful cake out of styrofoam. Chuck has different "Chuck & Sarah" mix CDs, and Morgan will be a waiter. Casey shows up to stop them. Sarah apologizes that she shouldn't have lied to Casey, but what Chuck said about the Klugs is true. "How can I help?" Casey asks.
As the reception begins, there is no sign of the Klugs. Chuck, as DJ, slows it down so everyone can "grab special someone and show them how much you love them." Jack asks Sarah to dance; this may be the only chance he gets to dance with daughter. Sarah admits she and Chuck are getting married, but he knew. Before Sarah can apologize for not inviting him, he says she was right not to because has does not have a great track record when it comes to keeping promises. He never thought his little girl would settle down. Sarah replies that she has found a home here, a good one, and she's happy. Casey interrupts the reunion by saying he has eyes on the Klug brothers.
Sarah approaches one brother, and pulls him into the back to discuss the open bar. Unfortunately for him, she knocks him out with a well placed blow to the head. "Got mine," whispers Morgan as he brings back the second Klug where Sarah knocks him out too. "Spy five!" Morgan yells to Sarah as they give each other a high five. Casey moves to get the third brother, but he sees Kathleen. Jack goes after the third brother instead. Kathleen rushes after Casey and calls, "Alex." He stops and turns to her. She followed him from the Buy More. She doesn't understand how he is there. She was given a flag at his funeral. Chuck radios that they have the third brother and that they needs to get out of here. Casey apologizes but that he can't talk to her right now. Kathleen says that Alex thinks Casey is some kind of hero for the government, and she wanted to believe it so much, but he just works at the buy More and picks up side gigs working security for weddings. Chuck radios again, and Casey tells Kathleen she should leave. She will, but only if he promises to tell Alex the truth. Casey swears that he doesn't want to lie to anyone.
In the back, Chuck, Sarah and Jack looking for the Zephyr, but none of the brothers has it. It's a shell game, Jack realizes (and we realized twenty minutes ago). In the game, the ball is always close by, so someone else must have it. Morgan radios that the bride and groom are about to cut into the cake of styrofoam. They do, and the Klugs' father grabs Morgan. "Who do you work for?" he demands of Morgan before pulling his gun.
"What a lovely parking garage!" Morgan says loudly into his radio so the others can hear. Chuck and Sarah approach Mr. Klug, who shoots at them. Casey approaches from the other side, so Klug points his gun at Morgan. Jack walks in the middle of the standoff. He promises that Casey is going to shoot Klug and not miss. Jack explains that he, too, has a daughter, and thinks Klug is probably not the best father in the world either. If Klug is like him, he must hope that both daughters might be happy despite their fathers' actions. "Do one thing for her," Jack says, "put the gun down." Klug does, and Jack winks at Sarah. Casey places Klug under arrest, and when the police show up, he flashes them his badge. Kathleen, who was sitting in her car, sees this and makes eye contact with Casey.
Back at Castle, Beckman says Chuck and Sarah were unprofessional and their actions were unacceptable. She was, however, impressed with their work done to acquire the Zephyr device, though she wonders how they did it without CIA resources. Before they can answer, the General decides the less she knows, the better.
At Chuck and Sarah's apartment, Jack is packing to leave. Chuck says Sarah is on her way home, and will be there soon. Jack replies that they have never been great at goodbyes. Chuck insists, saying he watched Jack and Sarah -- if he came to the wedding and walked her down the aisle, it would mean a lot to her. Jack wishes them the best, but he's not going to be there; he doesn't want to break her heart again by breaking another promise. Chuck pleads that he stay for dinner. "Alright, Charlie," Jack replies.
Casey tells Kathleen that everything was his fault. He never thought she'd see him again. Kathleen notices that Casey and Alex have the same nervous finger twitch. "You're a soldier, a hero," she states. "You have everything you have ever wanted." Casey's look responds for him that her statement is not wholly true.
Chuck comes back home, and suggests to Sarah that a courthouse wedding might be romantic. He has all the ingredients for dinner with Jack, but he notices that Jack is gone. Sarah isn't concerned; that is her father's M.O.: he just leaves. "Once you know all the cons, you can't be a sucker," Sarah repeats her father's advice. Flash back to 1988. Jack drops off Sarah in her bed, and shows he clearly loves her before leaving again. In the present, Sarah goes into her room for a blanket. She stops suddenly at the sight of her piggy bank with the old sign on it sitting on the bed. A note from her father reads that he never spent a dime from the bank; he only added to it. "It should cover your wedding to the schnook." Sarah opens the bank and rolls and rolls of $100 bills fall out. Sarah tears up and falls onto the bed.
Commentary
So, that was the long awaited return of Sarah's father; a reunion that has been preordained with talk of Sarah's parents for the last few episodes. All in all, I thought Jack was used well, and it was a fun outing for Sarah, Chuck, Casey and Morgan. If this episode came two weeks eariler, I would have loved it. The episode, however, came this week, so I was bit disappointed.
My disappointment lies in the fact that last week, the show gained a lot of momentum for its final arc: a showdown with Vivian Volkoff and her attempt to kill Agent X (whomever that may be). After a triumphant return for Timothy Dalton, and the establishment of Vivian as Chcuk's nemesis (albeit, a bit quickly, but understandable with the time restraints), I was expecting to continue the ball rolling forward in these last four episodes of the season. Instead, the show took a side trip that was fun and character revealing about Sarah, but nonetheless, it stopped the momentum that was building toward the finale. Now, perhaps Jack will indeed return for what will surely be Chuck and Sarah's finale wedding, and play some part in the endgame with Vivian, but it appears he was brought back for this one episode, to provide a little color to Sarah's personality, and then depart. If so, and if Sarah's mother doesn't end up being Agent X, then all of the discussion about Sarah's parents seems a bit superfluous. Yes, I'm always happy to have characters fleshed out, which the parents talk did for Sarah, but all the conversation made it seem like they would play a larger role than they ended up being, if this was Jack's last appearance of the season.
For the episode itself, I was highly amused by Sarah's Daphne impersonation. Really, is there anything Yvonne Strahovski can't do? I also enjoyed the revelation to Kathleen that Casey is alive and a government agent. I mean, as soon as they went into the garage, I knew Kathleen would be there to see Casey in action, but I didn't mind. Adam Baldwin is underrated when it comes to the emotional scenes he is sometimes asked to play, and he knocked his scenes with Kathleen out of the park, yet again. I really hope they move forward with the Casey/Kathleen story just because I love seeing Baldwin get the chance to flex his acting muscles. Last thing: this was at least the second, if not the third episode in a row without Jeff and Lester. Did anyone mind? For me, they are like a side salad: if it comes with the meal, I'm not going to turn it down, but I'm not going to order it purposefully. I like Jeff and Lester (and especially like the actors playing them), but if they aren't in an episode or two, I'm not sweating it.
What did you think of "Chuck vs the Wedding Planner"? Were you happy to have Jack back on the scene? Did you melt when he and Sarah danced at the wedding? Do you think you could outrun Devon despite his efficient stride? Please leave your comments, questions and theories below. Chuck is a repeat next week, so I will be back in two weeks with another recap. Until then, I'm off to see something bright and taste something sour at the same time.
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The whole party planning scene when Sarah pretended to be Daphne was great…I was cracking up as soon as I heard her accent/speech mannerisms (you can watch the scene at http://vimeo.com/22865864 ).
Also props to them for using Pigeon John's "The Bomb" during the scene, too. Chuck's music has always been awesome, but a little bit short on the hip hop and heavy on indie rock, so that was cool to see, too.
If Chuck ends after this season, I'll be sad and disappointed, but as excellently pointed out here, they are moving towards a sort of wrapping up of things (and who knows, the last cliffhanger might be about something completely new and all of the current storylines could be finshed?). I guess I'll be OK knowing they went out with such a good season because yes I've really enjoyed this season. Still, as a big fan of the show I'm not ready to give it up just yet, especially with episodes like this. The scenes in "England" felt like season 1 Chuck.