Ellie knocks on Casey's door, which Casey opens with the chain lock still engaged.  Ellie nervously asks for the snake herbs Casey mentioned earlier.  When Casey steps away from the door to retrieve the herbs, Ellie peers inside his apartment.  Inside, a trunk swings open, revealing a small arsenal of weapons.  Freaked out, she tries to make a hasty getaway, but forgets the herbs.  Casey calls her back to take the bag, tells her they go down best with goat's milk, and Ellie hightails it for home.  She tells Devon that she doesn't trust Casey.  Devon tells her she needs to get over the fact that Casey once was so drunk that he peed on himself (a story they guys had told Ellie to cover one of their missions in "Chuck vs. Operation Awesome").  No, it's not that, Ellie insists -- Casey has a whole bunch of guns in his apartment.  Devon, of course knowing the reason Casey has all the guns, admits that yes, having all those guns is kind of creepy, but "illegal?  Sadly, no."  The whole story just sounds a little crazy to Devon.  "You think I'm crazy?" Ellie asks.  "Uh....how about a cup of tea?" Devon asks, rising to end the conversation.  Just as Justin said, no one is going to believe Ellie.

Sarah and Casey visit Chuck in the hospital.  Chuck, in a bit of a more crazed state, again tells them that Kowambe is working for the Ring.  Sarah and Casey seem to have their doubts of not only Chuck's voracity, but his sanity as well.  Chuck begins to cough into his hands.  When he finishes, he immediately asks Sarah to take his hands.  Sarah is a bit reluctant as, well, Chuck just coughed in his hands!  Chuck insists that she take her boyfriend's hand.  She does, and into her hand Chuck passes her Kowambe's tooth which he had recovered at the symphony.  Chuck tells them with great certainty that there are plans and other hidden information embedded in the tooth.  "The tooth is the key.  The truth is in the tooth," he tells the unbelieving pair of agents.  Visiting hours are over, so Casey exits.  Chuck pleads with Sarah to no give up on him.  She promises she won't, and will test the tooth.  They kiss, and Chuck is led back to his room.  Back at Castle, Sarah examines the tooth.  Casey knows Sarah wants Chuck to be right, but warns her to not be disappointed if Chuck is wrong.  Sarah is sure Chuck will be right, but the exam turns up nothing; the tooth is 100% tooth material.    Upstairs in the Buy More, Morgan asks Casey where Chuck is.  Casey informs his protege that Chuck is on lock down in a mental hospital.  Upon hearing the news, Morgan says they need to do something to save Chuck.  At that moment, Anna enters the store, searching for Morgan.  Casey leaves, and Morgan wants to follow him, so he tells Anna he doesn't have time to talk, and runs after Casey.  "Wow, dissed twice by Morgan Grimes!" Anna, incredulously, exclaims.  

Sarah calls Chuck to tell him that her examinations of the tooth were negative.  She tells him to stat positive and that everything is going to be OK.  Chuck thanks her for trying and hangs up.  Outside in the hospital's reception area, a man approaches the attending nurse.  He is Dr. Kowambe, and he is there to see see Charles Bartowski.  The nurse says Dr. Dreyfus has not authorized any visits for Chuck, and if he doesn't leave, she will have to call security.  Undeterred, Kowambe pulls out a tranquilizer gun and shoots both the nurse and a security guard who had entered the area.  Sarah knocks on Dr. Dreyfus' front door and begs for his help.  She needs to know that Chuck is getting better.  Dreyfus tells her that he fears his initial diagnosis was wrong: Chuck is actually getting worse than he previously thought.  Sarah insists Chuck can't be deteriorating this way because he is special -- his mind can handle the Intersect.  "Special to you?" Dreyfus asks, implying Sarah's judgement might be clouded by her affection for Chuck.  "I love him," Sarah admits (man, I wish the first time we heard her say that was to Chuck himself).  "Well, I'd tell him that," Dreyfus states.  Sarah begs for the opportunity to do just that; she wants to visit Chuck tonight.  "You're not the only one," Dreyfus responds, as Casey reveals himself from behind the doctor.  Though he doesn't say anything, it's clear that even heart-of-stone Casey cares about "Bartowski."

Chuck is forced into an examination chair by a pair of Kowambe's goons.  Kowambe asks Chuck why he took his tooth, before amending his question, "Why did you take the wrong tooth?" Kowambe asks, pointing to another one of his teeth.  "I was right!  I'm not crazy!" Chuck exclaims.  Chuck's realization of his sanity may be for naught, as Kowambe is going to find out how Chuck got his information regarding Kowambe's tooth, and then Chuck is going to die.  Chuck notices the large needle with green fluid Kowambe is preparing.  "Needles are bad.  Colored liquids are worse," Chuck notes.  Kowambe agrees: the liquid is a powerful psychotropic truth serum.  He sticks Chuck with the needle, saying that in ten minutes, Chuck will be very forthcoming.  Already feeling the hazy effects of the drug, Chuck tries to create a diversion by pretending Dreyfus has arrived.  When the goons look toward the door, Chuck punches them both in the face and runs into the rec room.  He woozily tells the other patients that he needs their help.  When they don't responds in the slightest, Kowambe and his men catch up to and grab Chuck.  Chuck flashes a blurry version of his kung fu and tries to attack his captors.  Unfortunately, the drugs have taken their effect and he misses the men completely.  Merlin jumps out and orders his "army" to attack.  The patients begin to scream and prepare various weapons for attack, but Kowmabe pumps them all full of tranquilizer darts, while Merlin runs for cover.  Chuck passes out on the floor, but sees a hazy vision entering the door behind Kowambe.  It's Sarah and Casey!  Casey shoots Kowmabe's goons while Sarah fights Kowambe.  She eventually defeats him, and rushes to Chuck.  "You came back for me," Chuck woozily tells her. "I'll always come back for you," Sarah replies.  Appearing over Sarah's shoulder, Merling says he will, too.

In Castle, General Beckman tells Chuck he is owed an apology.  They extracted Kowambe's other tooth and, indeed, found plans for organ harvesting plans Kowambe was going to sell to The Ring.  Sarah asks if that means Chuck is cleared to return to active duty.  The General can't clear Chuck, only Dr. Dreyfus can.  So Chuck lays back down on Dreyfus' couch.  Chuck asks, "So where do we land here, Doc?  That my dreams can possibly work in concert with the Intersect?"  "Is that where you think we've landed, Chuck?" Dreyfus replies.  "Oh come on!  Am I cleared or not?" Chuck demands.  Dreyfus will clear Chuck for duty, but he must understand that his dreams are showing the stress the Intersect is having on Chuck's mind.  It could lead to the serious deterioration of Chuck's mind.  Chuck wonders if he will be OK, but Dreyfus responds that the Intersect is new science, so only time will tell.  Regardless, "this is something you should discuss with your partner."

At the Buy More, Anna demands an audience with Morgan Guillermo Grimes.  Morgan apologizes for avoiding her, but he's been very busy with his work.  Anna has a box of items Morgan had forgotten in Hawaii, and wants to know if he wants the items.  Morgan looks at the gathered mementos, but decides he's OK with out it.  "Well, here's something else you may have forgotten," Anna says, before planting a huge kiss on him.  Morgan has changed, so Anna wants him back now.   Morgan, showing the growth Anna is talking about, tells her that if she only wants him because he's changed, he doesn't want her.  He leaves Anna standing alone in the store, shocked.

Chuck enters his apartment and sees Sarah.  He has something important to tell her, but Sarah cuts him off.  "I love you!"  She shouldn't have waited so long to say it, but before Chuck, she only thought about her future in terms of her job.  Now, she only thinks about her future in terms of being with Chuck.  "I love you, Chuck," she repeats.  "I love you, too," Chuck responds.  They kiss.  Sarah asks what Chuck's news was.  He looks into her eyes and smile, and decides to lie to his love.  Dr. Dreyfus cleared him for duty; he told Chuck he is fine.  Excited, Sarah grabs Chuck into an embrace.  Chuck's expression belies his guilt for lying to Sarah.

Justin secretly meets up with Ellie.  She tells him that he was right about everything.  She wants to know what she can do to help.  Justin asks if she has a way to contact her father so they can warn him about the danger he is in.  Ellie explains that her father is paranoid, so he could be anywhere, but the last time she saw him, he did give her a way to contact him.  Justin smiles.  Meanwhile, Chuck and Sarah are asleep.  Chuck "wakes" to find himself in a hospital bed, with Shaw standing over him.  Shaw shows Chuck that he's not bleeding.  Chuck asks how that is possible.  "Because I'm still alive," Shaw says before lunging at Chuck's neck.  Chuck startles awake and lurches up out of bed.  Sarah asks what's wrong, but he assures her it is nothing.  "Go back to sleep," he tells her, clasping his beck.

Commentary

This was a decent episode of Chuck for me.  It wasn't a rip-roaring riot of laughs, but it introduced some some very interesting plot lines as the season moves comes to its conclusion, and heads into its likely renewal (fingers crossed!  Send good vibes to Burbank this week as NBC is set to announce their schedule on Sunday afternoon!).  First, we have Chuck's Intersect/dream problem.  This is an interesting choice because it complicates Chuck's abilities at a time when he is finally becoming proficient with Intersect 2.0 and the skills that come with it.  What all Chuck fans have always loved is that Chuck is an "accidental spy."  Some were worried that Chuck would no longer be a bit bumbling when he received the physical skills that came with Intersect 2.0, but the show did a good job earlier this season showing Chuck adapt and harness those skills.  Now, he has another complication that will potentially leave him in a situation similar to his old bumbling ways.  This is a good thing.  However, if I have one fear, it's that this device can become a crutch.  It was perhaps a couple times too many that we saw Chuck not be able to keep his emotions in check and lose the 2.0 abilities during the early parts of this season.  This became a bit frustrating and I worry that any time the creators don't have some real tension in the plots of upcoming episodes, they'll just decide Chuck is going to have a bad dream.  I mean, I trust the folks that run Chuck, so this is just a small fear, but a fear nonetheless.

In other developments, we have Ellie becoming hip to the whole spy business going on around her.  True, she's unwittingly being used by The Ring, but I can only imagine that this season will end with Ellie discovering Chuck is a spy.  This will only leave Big Mike, Jeff and Lester not knowing Chuck's (not-s0-) secret identity.  This is neither inherently good or bad, just something to watch.  Also, I liked seeing Anna return, as another female presence is always nice to balance out all the dudes on the show.  With Morgan shooting her down so directly, I'm not sure how Anna sticks around in the story, but Morgan did admit she's the love of his life, so I'm sure they can come up with some way to keep her (pony up some extra bucks, NBC!).  Next, it was great to see Chuck, Sarah and Casey working together, albeit in an attempt to free Chuck from Kowambe.  This had a nice scent of Season One on it.  More of this please!  Lastly, including Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Dreyfus was just another of the great pop culture nods Chuck does so well.  Literally, Back to the Future is my favorite movie of all time, so Chuck calling Lloyd's character "Doc," and the fact that Dreyfus was investigating Chuck's sanity (Doc Brown was considered a quack in both 1955 and 1985) made me all giddy.  Well done, Chuck!

Alright, that's what I have for "Chuck vs. the Tooth."  What did you think?  Did you enjoy the episode?  Would you like to see more Anna Wu?  How do you feel about Chuck's new complication with the Intersect?  How about Ellie unknowingly falling in with The Ring?  Please leave your questions, comments and theories below.  As soon as we here at TVOvermind get word about Chuck's fate, we'll pass it on to you, so be sure to check out TVOvermind for this and all your TV news.  I'll be back next week with another recap.  Until then, I'm off to have some chamomile tea -- it has less caffeine, but it's delicious. 

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