Chuck returns to Castle and runs into Morgan. Seems Morgan wasn't in town for "just a few days," but rather Anna ran off with another chef, and worse!, Morgan could never master flipping shrimp into his hat. Like Chuck, Morgan flunked out of his desired job. Now, Morgan is living in the home theater studio at the Buy More (and is, in fact, the one stealing the toilet paper). Emmett discovers Morgan's squatting, but gleefully decides to embarrass him the next morning. As he readies his departure to the strains of Wilson Phillips' "Hold On," Javier approaches Emmett asking where Chuck is. In typical Emmett superiority, he tells Javier that Chuck no longer works at the Buy More and that if Javier wants to throw down, he's ready and armed with mace. Javier decides to walk away, but Emmett calls Javier a "pussy" (Let me interject here for a just a second. I have to say that I was absolutely shocked that Chuck used that word. I mean, the show is anything but racy or foul-mouthed, so I was quite flabbergasted. Well, for the next two seconds anyway). Javier did not take too kindly to this epithet so he did what assassins do, HE KILLED EMMETT!!! Right through the eye, and left for dead in the alley. If the writers of Chuck were going for something shocking and unexpected to start the season, well, they got it.
Sarah comes to Chuck's apartment to say goodbye to him, with a handshake. Chuck tries to explain himself, but Javier is there. Chuck is knocked out, and when he comes to, he awakens in a Mexican cell. When Chuck can't tell Javier who he works for, Javier kicks the crap out of him. As Chuck passes out (again), he has another flashback to the train station. Clad in a badass black trenchcoat, he approaches Sarah on the station platform. They share a real, loving kiss(!) as she explains that being spies is complicated, "This [the two of them] is simple. This is a real life." Chuck demures and says he wants to be a spy, leaving Sarah alone on the platform. When Chuck wakes up, he hears Sarah talking to him from the next cell over. She tells him he has to free them. When he says he's not a real spy, she tells him she's known many spies, and "none of them can do what you can do." When Javier returns, Chuck (now confident because of Sarah's words) flashes his kung fu and takes out Javier. He takes Javier's super-duper Ring smartphone and escapes with Sarah atop the roof of the building. Once again, he finds himself with only one means of escape: zip lining down to the courtyard below. This time he does flash zip line skills (was that like the tenth flash this episode?!), and safely gets them to the ground. Once there, they are cornered by Javier and his men. Chuck believes they are about to die, so he wants to talk because has to admit something. As he is about to tell Sarah, presumably, that he loves her, Casey swoops in on a helicopter, rotary gun ablazing. He takes out all the bad guys, picks up Chuck and Sarah, and heads back to the U.S.
Back at Castle, the General tells our spy team that she is putting Operation Bartowski back into the field to take down The Ring. But as the General explained privately to Sarah, in reality, Chuck with Intersect 2.0 is dangerous. While they previously protected Chuck from the world, Sarah now needs to protect the world from Chuck. Chuck and Casey are able to regain their jobs at the Buy More (it was easy as Emmett was now gone to manage the Anchorage Large Mart, Casey knowingly lied). As Ellie and Captain Awesome decide to move into a now vacant apartment in the same complex, Chuck needs a roommate. Morgan, now also a Buy More re-hire, happily obliges. With his old life seeming to have returned, Chuck stands alone in the apartment courtyard pondering what could have been. Sarah approaches saying she is ready to talk about what happened in Prague. Chuck admits that he has always wanted to make a difference in the world, so he tried to be a real spy. Sarah tells him that he is a real spy, but real spies need to keep their feelings to themselves. Chuck needs to keep himself in check if the Intersect is going to work properly. Whatever could have happened, is not going to be. As Sarah leaves, Casey emerges from his place, telling Chuck it's time to train. In a boxing ring, back at Castle, Chuck flashes proper boxing technique and the episode ends in a perfect Rocky III mid-punch freeze frame.
Whew! That was quite the action-packed season premiere. But wait....there's more! Click here for the second half of the Chuck season premiere, "Chuck vs. the Three Words."
[...] In case you missed the recap of the Chuck premiere’s first hour, “Chuck vs. the Pink Slip,” check it out here. [...]
[...] action from the first two hours of the two-day, three-hour Chuck season premiere, check out recaps here and [...]