Back at Castle, Chuck apologizes to Casey for pulling out his tooth. It's no big deal to Casey, who tells huck that Sarah and Shaw are at this place fixing up the dinner Chuck was supposed to be preparing for Hannah, Ellie and Devon. "Good work, Chuck. I'm proud of you," Casey concludes. Gruber is led out of Castle by a couple of federal agents, and when he mouths off ("You think you can be me?!?" he growls at Chuck), Casey lays Gruber out on the table. Gruber spies a Buy More pen, and is led away. With Gruber gone, Chuck asks Casey about flashing on Alex Gruber. "You mind your own damn business," Casey warns, and leaves. Back at the Buy More, Chuck meets up with Hannah and the two depart for dinner. While chopping onions, Big Mike, Jeff and Lester wonder how Chuck has been able to score such amazing women. First Jill, then Lou and now Hannah, whose feet Lester would like to moisturize with his saliva. But, as Jeff correctly (and astutely!) points out, none of them matter. When Chuck sees Sarah, "the light in his eyes shines brightly."
With a well-thrown knife, Sarah and Shaw finish Chuck's dinner spread just before his party arrives, and leave out the back. The group can't believe how great everything looks and smells. Chuck asks Devon to help him with the wine in the kitchen. Chuck admits that he didn't make the dinner, and that he's happy he has someone he can tell the truth. Despite his taste buds fist-bumping each other, Devon tells Chuck to stop. He can't handle all of the lying, and especially lying to Ellie. Chuck understands and tells Devon to just answer "I don't know" when asked something about Chuck's double life. When they sit down to eat, Ellie admits that she herself has been lying all this time about liking Chuck's cooking. This is the first time she truly means it. She asks Devon how amazing it is that Chuck made the meal, "Isn't this chicken moist?" "Uh...I don't know?" Devon replies. Confused, she turns to Hannah. "Hannah, isn't Chuck's chicken moist?" (Say this out loud to yourself. This line is freaking hysterical to say. Good for Sarah Lancaster in being able to get through it without cracking up.) Instead of responding, Hannah makes a toast, saying she has never felt completely in the right place at the right time, but right now, at this dinner, she finally does. Sarah watches the whole scene from Castle, and when Shaw tries to share some of the leftover chicken, she leaves, clearly shaken by what she saw at Chuck's place. She needs to be careful, because at that moment, Gruber is being transported by the feds, but using the Buy More pen to escape his handcuffs.
At the Buy More, Chuck is looking at Gruber's Ring cell phone. Hannah grabs it, checking out the new cool geek toy. She tells Chuck that her parents are in town and invited Chuck to dinner with them. He agrees, but is immediately pulled away by Big Mike, Jeff and Lester, who, upon hearing Chuck made a great meal the night before, want him to taste their now day-old gumbo. The Ring phone, well, rings, and Hannah answers it. Chuck sees her getting off the phone and quickly asks her who it was. She explains it was a wrong number; the caller was looking for someone named Rafe, but that they had reached the Buy More. The caller said he would be there in a couple minutes. Chuck hurries away, grabs some lubricant of some sort and greases up his hair. He snags a jacket from a customer and rushes out the back of the store. Paulie and Skip find him, grab his watch and smash it. They have a present for him -- a new gold watch for helping them escape the feds. The guys explain they found the guy Chuck's supposed to kill. The mission is back on.
Sarah goes to Shaw's hotel room to apologize for earlier behavior. She is met by a topless Shaw (again, for the first group of audience members mentioned above) who has just gotten out of the shower. Clearly distracted, she asks him to put some clothes on, which he does. She explains that she's having a problem with some changes that have been occurring. Shaw asks if she's OK with Chuck and Hannah's relationship, but she demurs, saying that's not the change that is bothering her. During this discussion, the wiseguys lead Chuck into a building about a half mile from a hotel. The soon-to-be victim is in his hotel room with a "hot piece of tail." They have a high-powered sniper rifle, scope and headphones for Chuck to use because he's one of only five people in the world who can make the shot. When Chuck looks through the scope, he sees Shaw and Sarah! He hears Sarah tell Shaw how hard it is for her to see Chuck change into someone new. Shaw explains that Chuck is merely becoming a spy. Sarah understands, but "lives are being changed here." "Seems like Chuck isn't the only one changing," Shaw replies. She agrees; the more Chuck moves away from who he really is, the more she wants to remember who she really was. She notes that she's been on her assignment for three years and hasn't told anyone her real name, not even Chuck. Shaw asks her, "So, what is it?" With the wiseguys pressuring Chuck to take the shot, Chuck can't believe his ears. "I'm Sam. My real name is Sam," Sarah says, in relief. Chuck can only reply, "Sam?" as Shaw moves in for a kiss.
Chuck backs away from the gun, dumbfounded, and not a little bit hurt, by Sarah's confession. "Sam?" he again wonders aloud. The wiseguys have no idea who Sam is; the guy Chuck is supposed to kill is Daniel Shaw. Chuck, clearly heartbroken, explains that Sam is his girl, at least in an "on again, off again" way. "I hate those 'will they or won't they' things. Just do it already," Paulie voices for all of the Chuck audience. Skip chimes in that the guy Chuck is supposed to whack is the guy who stole his girl; that's a perfect excuse to kill the guy then. Meanwhile, back at Castle, Casey is talking to headquarters. He tells them he has been trying to contact the agents who were transporting Gruber, but he can't get a hold of them, and fears the worst. He is able to locate Chuck and is heading over there immediately. Casey's not the only one though. Gruber is tracking his Ring cell phone to locate Chuck as well.
When Paulie encourages Chuck to take Shaw out, Chuck says he can't do it. Covering, he tells them that bullets are too good for Shaw, he's going to kill him eye to eye. He tells the goons to stay, who agree to cover him with the sniper rifle. Skip says he's not as good a shot as Chuck, but he'll just take everyone out if things go bad. Chuck bursts into Shaw's hotel room and when asked what he's doing, he tells Shaw that no one messes with Rafe Gruber. Then, under his breath, Chuck informs Shaw that the guys are watching them. "You stole my girl. I'm going to end you for taking Sam," Chucksays menacingly. "You had your chance, and you blew it," Shaw taunts Chuck. This hits a little too close to home for Chuck, because he lays Shaw out with probably his best punch ever. No doubt, Chuck thoroughly enjoyed it, too. The two fight while Gruber barges into the wiseguys' room and kills them. During their fight, Shaw pins Chuck who meekly insists that he's just trying to stick to his alias for the goons who are watching across the way. "They're going to kill you," he tells Shaw. "No, I'm going to kill you," says Gruber as he busts in the room. Gruber takes out Sarah and Shaw before grabbing Chuck by the throat. Chuck tries to flash, but when he sees Sarah motionless on the floor, his fear won't let him. Gruber tosses Chuck aside and grabs Sarah up by the neck. Both Chuck and Shaw rush to her aid. Gruber sees they both want her, "so I'm going to make it easy on both of you and take her out of the equation." Sarah grabs at Gruber's hand holding the gun, a shot rings out, and Sarah falls. Both men yell for Sarah and are struck with grief, but Sarah stirs, revealing a single shot to Gruber's head. Across the way, Casey is behind the sniper rifle. "Five people in the world can make this shot, huh? I guess I'm one of them."
That night, Chuck goes to Ellie's and tells her that he feels like he's living a lie, like he's not him anymore. Ellie supposes that things are moving too fast with Hannah and that Chuck still has feelings for Sarah. Chuck goes to dinner with Hannah and her parents, and asks to speak to her alone. Meanwhile, Sarah and Shaw are finishing up some paperwork in Castle. Sarah quickly runs out. Chuck tells Hannah how much he likes her, but there are some things in his life that he just can't tell her about. He has been dishonest, and it's unfair to her. He has to break their relationship off. Hannah, understandably, is upset, but doesn't want to hear any excuses from Chuck. He's the best liar she's ever seen, "I hope that your lies keep you warm at night." Hannah leaves. Sarah returns to Castle and gives Shaw a crock potand some Chinese food. Since The Ring knows Shaw is alive, he's going to have to stay in hiding for a while. "Thanks, Sam," Shaw says. The two share a kiss, as Chuck walks away from the restaurant, alone.
Commentary
I thought this was an amazing episode of Chuck. There was the perfect blend of humor (all the Jeffster stuff, Chuck's Gruber impersonation), action (Chuck taking out Shaw, twice!) and and sentiment (Shaw and Sarah's budding relationship, Chuck ending his). There was also an incredible amount of growth for the characters, especially Chuck and Sarah. I think Chuckhas finally come to grips with the fact that no matter what he does, he loves Sarah, but more importantly, he also realizes that he can't love a "civilian" girl. Chuck is an open guy by nature, so having to keep his being a spy secret will just be death to whatever civilian relationship he might start. It's already hurting his relationships with Ellie and Morgan, and even the one person he could talk to about it, Devon, doesn't want anything to do with the secrets. Chuck is becoming isolated to a point that he is realizing he might notwant to be a spy anymore. Sarah, on the other hand, is moving in the opposite direction. She has been so isolated for so long, that she can't even remember who Sam really is. I think she sees in Shaw an opportunity for a "normal" life, but I also believe she will realize that any relationship with him (especially now that he has to remain hidden) will only reinforce the solitude.
Besides the great charcter work, there was some more fantastic direction. I loved how when Sarah was saved form Gruber, we couldn't tell who she was looking at, Chuck or Shaw. The music choices were phenomenal as well ("I'm a hell of a guy, living a hell of a lie." Perfect.). Of course, Adam Baldwin was a standout again as Casey. It is amazing how much he can say with a look or a grunt. Anyway, I could go on and on, but I'd like to hear your opinions. What did you think of "Chuck vs. the Fake Name"? Any of the Chuck-Sarah 'shippers satisfied that Hannah is now out of the picture? Did you think this was a strong return after the Olympics? It was weird, but did anyone else notice that NBC ran no promos for Chuck during the Games? Way to keep the enthusiasm going, NBC. No wonder you're in last place. God knows The Marriage Ref isn't going to save you. Anyway, drop your comments, thoughts and theories below. Please make sure to check TVOvermind for next week's recap, and for all of your TV needs. Until next week, I'm off to make some gumbo.
You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/MikeNJD.
One of the best episodes of Chuck ever. I loved the character development (poor Chuck), I loved the humor (Jeffster was in top form), the plot was interesting, Sarah's big reveal was worked perfectly (didn't see that coming, but it was brilliant to have Chuck listening in when she told someone else), and best of all Casey was at his best. All in all, a masterful return with a bit of everything we love about Chuck.
NBC did run two Chuck/Law & Order promos during the Olympics that I saw, but I think that's all, and I watched 99 percent of their coverage. Two was not enough.
I can't believe they even aired two! I honestly didn't see a one.