Russia, outside Volkoff Industries. Casey, setting up a sniper position across the street (because, as Sarah notes, he loves to shoot things from long-distance) says Mary can go in with Morgan, but she decides to stay out of Sarah and Chuck's way. In the van, Morgan worries he can't be a bad guy. Chuck and Sarah reassure him, but Morgan remains unconvinced. Chuck sings the Imperial March, which psyches up Morgan, who enters the meeting. Once with the other do-badders, Morgan calls Casey to tell him to "shoot the puppy" to prove how much of a bad guy he is. "It's so hard to get good henchmen these days," he notes to an agreeable fellow evildoer.
Vivian enters with the Norseman. After describing its power, Riley uses the device to kill all those gathered, but Morgan is, obviously, unaffected. Casey quickly radios him that he has to fake his death or they really will kill him. Morgan grabs his head and falls to the floor. Chuck tells Morgan to not panic. Vivian blanches at Riley's actions, but he says not to worry because every man in the room would have killed her without hesitating. He's not trying to make her into someone she's not, but someone she needs to be.
Riley knows that there is someone in the room who isn't really dead. Chuck tells Morgan to stay still. When Riley gets to him, a man in a grey suit jumps up. He's an MI:6 agent who begins to explain how he tracked Riley and Vivian, but Riley just kills him. When Vivian and Riley depart, Chuck and Sarah go after them and the Norseman, as does Mary. Morgan wants to escape, but men with acid come in to clean up the carnage. Morgan tries to run for it, but more men come in. Casey can't see because the men had closed the blinds. Fortunately, Morgan has a video feed from his glasses to give Casey a clear view. Using the feed, Casey is able to take out the men, but accidentally shoots Morgan, too. It's merely a flesh wound, so Morgan escapes.
Chuck and Sarah ram the car of a fleeing Vivian and Riley, and secure the Norseman. Vivian says she knows Chuck is Agent X, but Chuck tells her the truth about her father. Riley comes to and admits what Chuck says is true. But it was Stephen Bartowski who made Volkoff give up his identity. Chuck says that is a lie, but Riley raises his gun on Chuck's back. He is about to fire as Mary runs onto the scene. Sarah is quicker on the trigger, however, and she kills Riley. In the women's happiness that Chuck is alright, Vivian escapes. Should they go after her? No, Mary says, Chuck and Sarah have a wedding for which to prepare.
Ellie and Devon sit in the decorated courtyard. She feels terrible that she fell asleep cutting Chuck and Sarah's video. Chuck and Sarah enter, saying how beautiful everything is for their rehearsal dinner. Ellie runs off crying, as Chuck asks if Sarah is ready for this. "Absolutely," she replies. Morgan has his arm in a sling, which he, when Big Mike asks about it, chalks up to Wii Tennis. Morgan tells Casey that he realizes he doesn't belong in the field. It's not fair to Alex to put himself in harm's way, but make Casey responsible for his safety. Casey says he should tell Alex himself, as she is standing behind him. They exchange "I love you's" and a couple kisses.
Mary stands up to give a toast. She compliments Sarah for being so strong and amazing. "May you always keep each other safe," she wishes upon the happy couple. Now it's time for Chuck's surprise for Sarah. Ellie tells Chuck there is something she needs to tell him about the video, but what is shown is rather sweet and perfect. Jeff sidles up next to Ellie and tells her that Lester never let them see his version of the video. It's so perfect that Ellie plants a huge kiss on Jeff's lips.
Chuck gets a phone call on an encrypted line. It's Vivian. She wants to make him feel pain as she has lost everyone that meant anything to her. She tells him to look around the room at his family and friends: which one will she take from him? See, Vivian has another Norseman device, and she is going to kill someone close to Chuck. Chuck thinks she is going to kill Mary, so he runs for her, but it is Sarah whose head begins to pound. She calls for Chuck as her nose begins to bleed. Sarah falls into Chuck's arms as the episode ends.
Commentary
Wow. Chuck has always delivered at the end of each season, but this was one spectacular outing. Everything about this episode worked for me: from the sentimentality of Mary's toast and the Casey/Morgan exchanges, to the hilarity of the Star Wars references; from Vivian's cruelty to Jeff's sweetness. Everything about this episode was firing on all cylinders, making this one of the best episodes of the season.
But let's get to the elephant in the room: Sarah's apparent death. OK, first off, we all know Sarah's not going to die. For God's sake, she's the lead actress on the show, so she's not going anywhere. Further, I know Chuck doesn't always have the most bulletproof plots (Alan Sepinwall often notes the Chuck Plot Hole of the Week), but we have been told for weeks now about how lethal the Norseman device is. Riley wiped out an entire room full of people in mere seconds. We were also told that the Norseman can kill with the same efficiency no matter where the target is in the world. So, how the heck is Sarah going to survive. Sure, the show will come up with some reason (probably because there are two surgeons right there, Devon and Ellie), but this might be too far, even for Chuck.
Now, I love the whole idea of Vivian trying to kill Sarah. It illustrates the depth to which Vivian has sunk, it gives Chuck a reason to take out Vivian, and it sets up the return of Alexei Volkoff (other than the need to "fix" Agent X) for the finale. This was all well done. It's just that the fact that Sarah is going to survive what no one else is able to survive really irked me. And I want Sarah to survive!
My irked state then almost morphed into full-out anger when I saw the preview for the finale episode. Not only does it show Sarah alive, but it shows Chuck and Sarah's wedding. I don't know what it is about promo departments (because the promos are not cut by the shows themselves), and NBC's promo department in particular, but they jut love spoiling their own shows. Again, no one really believes Sarah is going to die, but they could have left whether Chuck and Sarah actually get married as a surprise. Granted, maybe the image of the two of them at the altar will turn out to be a dream Sarah has while in surgery or something, and if so, I'll gladly eat these digital words, but for the love of Pete, can networks please stop spoiling their shows? It's not like there are casual viewers of Chuck that are saying at the end of the episode, "Wow, I really wasn't sure I was going to watch the next episode because what's the point if Sarah is dead, but then I saw that awesome promo that told me Sarah will live and that she and Chuck will get married, so see you next week!"
OK, everything above makes me seem like I only want to write about negative things, which I don't. It was just that the episode was so faultless up until that last moment (and even that wasn't faulty, it was just a little nibble of "Huh?!?"), that this one thing really stood out. Otherwise, Chuck was at its best this week, and it has me completely jazzed for the season finale next Monday.
So, what did you think of "Chuck vs the Last Details"? Did you like Vivian's despicable attempt on Sarah's life? Do you really think Morgan will be out of the spy game if there's a fifth season? What do you think Chuck and Sarah's wedding will be like? What will be the "major twist you won't see coming," as offered in the promo? Please leave your comments, questions and theories below. Note: Next week is the NBC upfront where they will announce what the fall season will look like. I wouldn't be surprised if we find out Chuck's fate this week so if (God forbid) the finale is the last episode, Chuck fans can get together to celebrate the series' end. Let's hope we'll be celebrating a renewal instead. I'll be back next week to recap the finale and wrap up the season. Until then, I'm off to make it magical with twinkle lights.
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Spot on once again. I also was kinda irked by the fact that Sara seems to have some sort of resistance to the Norseman when all others were killed instantly by it. But since she's my favorite character, I'll forgive em.