Upstairs at the Buy More, Jeff and Lester are upset that they were left out of the spy gig for which Morgan borrowed their van. They have tons of stalker experience; Jeff is, in fact, the
Picasso of creepiness. Their skills hould have been utilized. Lester sees Shaw jumping into his sports car outside the Buy More, and decides that he and Jeff will prove their skills and follow Shaw. Down in Castle, Sarah decides she is not going to let Shaw handle his mission alone. Chuck, seeing her determination, makes for a computer, and locks Sarah in Castle. She is right, Shaw isn't going to handle the mission alone. Chuck is going to help him. "Why do you want to help him?" Sarah asks Chuck. "Because I know how much you care about him," Chuck matter-of-factly replies.
Under the watchful, and creepy, eyes of Jeff and Lester, Shaw meets up with the Ring under an overpass. The Ring agent scans and finds Shaw's tracker. The scanner has a magnet in it as the agent pulls the capsule, painfully, up through Shaw's throat and out of his mouth. The tracker is discarded on the ground, and Shaw is thrown in a van. Sarah, still locked inside Castle, finds Casey on the Buy More security cameras. She is able to hot wire some of the electrical wires in Castle to blink the lights around a Buy More audio display; signalling Casey in Morse code to rescue her. Meanwhile, Chuck follows the tracker signal in his Nerdmobile to the overpass. He finds the tracker, but not Shaw. Fortunately, he receives a call from Lester; he and Jeff have followed Shaw to a warehouse where he and some "frat buddies" have gone inside. Chuck gets the address from Lester and hurries off to find Shaw, not in the Nerdmobile, but in Shaw's sports car instead.
Casey gets into Castle, and lets Sarah out. She explains what Shaw is planning, and Casey notes that Shaw will die an American hero. "Not if I can help it," Sarah responds. Chuck arrives at the warehouse, and thanks Jeff and Lester by telling them what great stalkers they are. "I'll be telling my grandkids about you two." Afraid of violence, Jeff and Lester leave Chuck to take on Shaw. Although Chuck protested to violence as well, he reveals a vest full of weapons, and makes his way into the warehouse. Inside, he sees nothing but a Dr. Jibb soda machine. When he approaches it, he flashes a button sequence. He enters the code and is whooshed downwards via elevator. Arriving at the bottom, he is left in a bright, white hallway. Shaw, on the other hand, makes his way into a dark room. When the Director appears before him, Shaw says that if he wants to kill Shaw, he should just go ahead and do it. The Director doesn't want to kill Shaw, instead, he actually has a gift for Shaw. A video of Shaw's wife is played on a plethora of screens around the room, culminating in footage of Shaw's wife being shot dead. The assailant, a blonde woman, spins around. It's Sarah! Sarah killed Shaw's wife for her Red Test! "Nooooooooo!!!!!!" Shaw bellows as he lunges for The Director. Unfortunately for Shaw, all he grabbed was a hologram. A hand reaches out of nowhere and tasers Shaw to he ground.
General Beckman, noting that the tracker has headed underground and has stopped, orders a stealth bomber to the tracker's location. Chuck begins to make his way down the hallway. He shoots a good with a tranquilizer dart, noting, surprisingly, "No flash necessary!" Two more goons approach, but Chuck flashes his kung fu. He takes one out, but the guy grabs and releases one of Chuck's flash-bang grenades. It goes off, leaving Chuck and the other goon temporarily deaf and blinded. Chuck recovers first, and lays out the guy with one punch. Chuck finds Shaw on the floor of the dark room (The Ring didn't take Shaw with them?), as Sarah arrives in her Porche at the warehouse. The bomber strafes overhead, and drops a single "bunker-buster" bomb on the building. Sarah is shocked and grief-stricken, but not for long as Chuck, with Shaw on his shoulders, emerges safe and sound.
At Castle, General Beckman congratulates Sarah on keeping Shaw safe and taking out a major Ring compound. Sarah tells the General that it was all Chuck; he saved Shaw by himself. Noting that she is looking forward to working with Sarah face-to-face in D.C., signs off. Chuck enters, and gets right to the point. He doesn't want to be a nuisance, and has already given her his fancy speech. He just wants to be blunt and honest with her. As Sarah smiles, Chuck says, "I love you....I'm going to say it one more time because it feels so good. I love you." He believes they are perfect for each other, and he wants to build a life with her, away from all of the spy stuff. He is willing to give it all up for her, so if she is too, he wants her to meet him at 7:00 at Union Station, where they'll hop on a train for Mexico. Sarah tells him that she's made a commitment, not just to Shaw, but to the country as well. He insists that it doesn't matter -- he wants to see the Eiffel Tower some day, and he wants to see it with her. Chuck tells Sarah that he doesn't want an answer now as he doesn't want to have to convince her. She should think about his offer. She knows where he will be at 7:00. "I'm going to kiss you now, if that's OK," he tells Sarah. He does. They do. "I love you , Sarah Walker, and I always have," Chuck tells her, and leaves. In the Castle recovery room, meanwhile, Shaw regains consciousness with an angry start. He rips out his IV lines and grabs his wedding ring. His phone rings, and he answers, "This is Shaw."
Sarah packs a bag in her hotel room. Is she packing for D.C., or Mexico? There is knock on her door. It's Casey. He has something to tell Sarah about the night of Chuck's Red Test. She says that if Casey is there to help Chuck win her back, there is no need. No, Chuck doesn't know that he's there. Casey continues, telling her that heactually killed Perry. "Chuck is not a killer. He's not wired that way," Casey tells her. "Casey, thank you," she replies with a smile. Noting her smile and her suitcase, Casey leaves, saying "Have a nice life, Walker." With Chuck waiting at the train station, Sarah starts to leave her room. She sees her gun, and making her decision, tosses it back on the bed. She turns for the door, but Shaw busts in. He needs Sarah to come with him immediately -- he's tracking The Director and he's getting away. Sarah reluctantly agrees to go with him. Chuck, having been abandoned at the train station, returns to Castle where he is informed by General Beckman that a video transmission was recovered from the Ring warehouse before it was destroyed. She plays the video of Sahw's wife and Sarah's Red Test for Chuck. Chuck immediately realizes that if The Ring played the video for Shaw, it could have turned Shaw against Sarah. Where is Sarah now, he asks the General. "With Shaw," the General replies. Shaw and Sarah speed along a deserted highway. Sarah wants to know where they are going. "To settle and old score," Shaw replies as they speed off to the horizon.
Commentary
Yes. All I can say is, Yes! Despite some obvious flaws (Really? Just one bomb form one plane as opposed to the armada that took out Roark's drive-in last season? Chuck only fights two guys? Really??), I though this was such a great episode. First and foremost, Chuck bluntly told Sarah how much he loves her. I will admit, it was getting a little dusty in my apartment during this scene. No longer, does the show have to worry about Chuck's timidity in telling Sarah how he feels, nor Sarah's desire to nothear the truth in fear of how it may complicate their work relationship. It's all out there in the open now. Further, I hope this admission, lets Sarah be a more "activated" character again. During this season, as she's been batted back and forth between Chuck and Shaw, Sarah lost a lot of her motivation as a character (this has nothing to do with Yvonne Strahovski's performance at all. She's been fantastic, even when told to give the "Chuck-isn't-the-same-guy-anymore" face over and over again). It is time again for Sarah to guide and move the action again, as opposed to being moved by it.
Secondly, I really liked the idea of the Intersect abilities starting to seep into Chuck's actual make-up. It was very brief, but Chuck's noting that he was able to shoot the tranq gun without flashing was huge. One problem in the story this season has been the question of why the heck would the General allow Chuck into harm's way if he still has the only Intersect in his head. The idea that some of the skills and knowledge are making their way into Chuck's brain and muscles themselves (instead of just a reflex caused by the Intersect), will allow Chuck to be rid of the Intersect at some point in the future, but still remain a spy. This is a much more workable formula from a plot hole standpoint. Lastly, it was great seeing most of the cast in one episode (only Big Mike was missing). I understand the financial restraints the show is under, which causes some actors to not be used in every episode, but when they can get everyone together, the energy of the episode picks up. More of this please, and NBC, give them some more money for next season! (There will be a next season, right? RIGHT?!?)
Alright, that's what I have for "Chuck vs. the American Hero." What did you think of the episode? Did you enjoy it as much as I did? Are you happy Chuck finally told Sarah that he loves her? Are there any cold, heartless people out there who don't want them together? (I kid, I kid!) Please leave your thoughts, questions and theories below in the Comments section. Please be sure to come back next week for "Chuck vs. the Other Guy." Remember, the original order for this season was thirteen episodes, so next week's episode was designed to be a season finale, so it should be a rip-roaring good time. Until then, be sure to check out TVOverMind for all of your TV news and needs. I'm off to learn to know my way around a menu.
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Next week's episode is gonna be killer. It's gonna be epic. I'm excited. There are actual stakes now.