When the spies reconvene in Castle proper, it becomes clear that one of the ladies must be a killer.  Everyone draws their weapons and a Mexican standoff ensues.  "Whatcha got 'leader?'" Bentley taunts Chuck.  Chuck reviews everything in his mind, and says he has figured out the identity of the killer.  He knows it's not the female recruit as he found a positive pregnancy stick when searching her bag.  That explains away her perceived strategic emotions.  Chuck then accuses Bentley, who is shocked to have suspicion on her.  She is about to erupt when Chuck leans it to whisper that he is pretending to accuse Bentley because the killer is actually Damian.

Damian threatens to blow them up with his bomb-laden boom box (pun intended, I believe).  Like a classic TV detective, Chuck reveals how Damian pulled off the murders.  Since he knew where the first bomb was placed, he used the door to shelter himself from blast.  Chuck demands to know who is he working for, but Damian's only response is that he came there for Chuck.  With Damian holding a trigger in one outstretched hand and the boom box in another, Bentley shoots him.  Chuck is able to catch the boom box, but the bomb is initiated.  Chuck flashes, but the bomb is too complicated to disarm in a minute.  Bentley grabs the bomb and runs it into Sector 6.  Chuck pleads with her that they will find another way to defuse the bomb, but Bentley smashes the door mechanism and locks herself inside Sector 6 with the bomb.  As she contemplates her impending death, Chuck uses his pocket protector to hot wire the door and pull Bentley out.  The bomb explodes, sending fire into the air duct and launching out Kevin Bacon into Chuck's arms.

General Beckman thanks them all for their work and compliments Chuck on his leadership skills.  He responds that he couldn't do it without Sarah and Casey.  The General informs them that the actions of the past few days inform her that Team Bartwoski should stay the way it is, and that Director Bentley should be reassigned.  When Beckman signs off, Bentley apologizes to Chuck for underestimating him.  She continues, saying that his sister is really smart, and that if anyone can figure out the Intersect, it's her.  "You should reconsider keeping her from her true path," she concludes before departing Castle.  Upstairs in the Buy More, Big Mike is back, sauntering through the front door with a Subway flatbread sandwich in hand.  The Buy More folks are happy to have him back in one piece, but just then, Large Mart leaves a flaming BM on the store's doorstep.  Big Mike reassures Morgan that the prank is no matter, "We can make another BM."

Back in Echo Park, Devon waits for Chuck in the apartment courtyard.  Looking perhaps the most sullen he has ever been, Devon tells Chuck he replaced the hard drive in the laptop.  "It's for the best....Right?" Chuck asks.  Devon enters his apartment to find Ellie still working on the computer.  He just couldn't do it because she seems so happy. 

Chuck, Sarah and Casey relax at Casey's apartment.  Chuck, reflecting on the new Intersect program debacle, says that they can't find any new Intersects because the Intersect is all three of them working together.  "Don't you forget it," chimes in Casey.  General Beckman appears on Casey's screen and informs the team that after interrogating Damian they have learned that he was hired to bomb Castle, not kill the other potential Intersects.  He was hired by Vivian Volkoff to kill the man who arrested her father...Chuck.  "I'm someone's nemesis?" Chuck ruefully answers.

Back over at Ellie and Devon's apartment, Ellie sleeps on the couch.  Her father's laptop comes to life as a laser scans the room and Ellie.  Once Ellie's identity is confirmed, a download begins titled "Agent X Files."

Commentary

I'm a huge Community fan, which makes the Final Four of the Hulu Best in Show competition particularly hard for me.  That aside, however, I bring Community up because one of the great aspects of that show is the frequent use of theme episodes, such as their take on zombie movies, Goodfellas, action films, etc.  What we received in this week's Chuck was this show's attempt to do a similar theme episode: the Sherlock Holmes murder mystery.  For me, I thought expression of the theme was done quite well, but overall, I'm not sure this was a great episode of the series.  Good, but not great.  Now, these sentiments might appear to be at odds.  How could I like how they pulled off the murder mystery, but not liked the episode so much in and of itself?  Well, it was like how I felt about the Lost finale: it wasn't the way I would have liked the plot to go, but once the plot was chosen, the execution of that plot was fantastic.

My biggest beef with the episode is that it took one of the most important pieces of the endgame of the season, Vivian Volkoff's turning on Chuck, and made it happen off screen.   So, Damian was working for Vivian, but he didn't reveal that fact.  Nor did we have Vivian show up with a broad smile and vengeful eyes.  Instead, we had General Beckman pop up and deliver the news, which was yes, a minor surprise, but that reveal could have been much bigger.  As the episode has been couched as a murder mystery, the reveal could have been Damian, or better yet, the female candidate (God, I never got her name down.  Sorry folks!), walking into an office to be dressed down for failing the mission, only to have the boss' chair swivel around and it be Vivian.  That's pulpy, I know, but it would have fit in with the tenor of the episode and would have given the reveal a bit more punch. 

Additionally, the story with Ellie and her father's computer is dragging on too long.  It looks like we'll finally get some more information next week, but there is only so long I can watch Sarah Lancaster look harriedly into a computer screen, and Ryan McPartlin look concerned.   I was fearful, when that green laser started scanning the room, that Ellie would be turned into an Intersect.  So, I am glad the show didn't go that way (especially after all of the talk that Chuck and/or Team Bartowski is the only Intersect).  All that said, though, I would like them to get to the crux of this story, and pronto.

Overall, though, I liked the murder mystery aspect of the episode.  It had all the features of a classic mystery story: the power being cut, the suspicion, the accusations, Chuck revealing who-did-it, and then eventually one of the "victims" turning out to be the murderer.  This was all well-played, and will hopefully give the show the confidence to produce other "theme" episodes going forward. 

So, that was "Chuck vs the Muuurder."  What did you think of the episode?  Would you like the Chuck team to pull off more theme episodes?  Did you like the Vivian Volkoff reveal?  What do you think the Agent X Files are?  Please leave your questions, comments and theories below.  Chuck is off next week, so I will be back in two weeks with another recap.  Until then, I'm off to develop an accent after only four months.

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