Chuck

Chuck returns tonight after last week's cliffhanger ending.  So, Bryce Larkin is back.  How is Chuck going to react, what sort of explanation will we get regarding his supposed death (he looked pretty dead to me in the pilot), how is Sarah going to react, etc.  There's a load of questions coming into the episode.  But, the big one I had was this: What was the twist going to be?  Bryce was going to be different than he seemed, with some unexplained ulterior motive. Matthew Bomer of Traveler fame plays Bryce Larkin and, after tonight's episode, it seems like we may see the occasional Bryce appearance every now and then. 

We open with Bryce Larkin in a hospital, unconscious but alive.  He wakes up in a white room.  Casey and Sarah watch from another room.  Bryce whispers “Chuck.”

Morgan, at the Buy More, discusses Sarah with Chuck.  Chuck re-hashes his make out session with Sarah, and shows regret for breaking up with her.  Anna and Morgan make out hard-core in public.  Anna knows about Morgan's affection for Ellie, and Anna is worried about having Thanksgiving with her and Chuck.  Big Mike tells the Nerd Herd that they'll be working crowd control the Friday after Thanksgiving.  They have to train on Thanksgiving.

Sarah shows up to talk with Chuck.  He babbles on about the kiss, and invites her to Thanksgiving, but Sarah drops the bomb – Bryce is alive.  Chuck is at the hospital.  Sarah and Casey want Chuck to speak with Bryce, because he's asked for him.  Neither Casey or Sarah have talked with him yet.  Chuck walks in and talks with Bryce.  Bryce doesn't think it's the real Chuck.  Chuck is scared.  Bryce tests Chuck with some Klingon.  It's really Chuck.  Bryce confirms that Chuck got his email.  Chuck asks Bryce all the relevant questions.  He gives vague answers   Bryce brings Chuck close, then breaks free of his restraints and puts a needle to Chuck's neck.  Sara and Casey enter the room, brandishing their guns. 

Bryce keeps holding Chuck hostage and brings him into an elevator.  They go downstairs.  When the door opens, a man is there – Chuck flashes on him.  He gets the word “Fulcrum.”  They get back going in the elevator.  Bryce stops it, and then stabs the needle in Chuck's arm.  Bryce escapes. 

Later, Chuck talks with Sarah – Sarah is there to protect him, not chase Bryce.  She's also coming to Thanksgiving. 

Morgan trains the gang for Black Friday.  Chuck leaves when he has to do some emergency shopping for Ellie.  Chuck arrives at home and finds Casey – he was invited by Ellie to dinner.  Sarah, Morgan and Anna shows up.  Chuck warns Ellie about Anna.  Anna is very rude to Ellie.

There's some tension at the table – Chuck has to go get some marshmallows.  Bryce meets him outside.  He tells Chuck to get Sarah to speak with him, right now.  Chuck asks why he would do that for Bryce.  Bryce says because of Fulcrum, because they're looking for the Intersect, they're looking for Chuck. 

Chuck walks back in with the marshmallows.  Chuck silently lets Sarah know that she should go see Bryce in his room right then.  Sarah enters and Bryce tells her that he's not a rogue spy, that the intersect was a mission and that she is still in love with him.  He and Sarah make out.  Chuck sees the two of them making out, and is devastated.  He walks back to the table, lets Casey know that Bryce in his bedroom.  Casey enters, and Bryce runs away.  Everyone thinks he has gone.  Sarah and Chuck watch Anna and Morgan fight, when Chuck notices someone in Casey's apartment.  Sarah quietly enters, but Chuck's breath notifies Bryce of their presence.  He and Sarah draw guns on each other.  Bryce explains himself.  He says that he was recruited to Fulcrum, which e was told was a deep inside group within the government – they had all his ID and codes.  The project was meant to get rid of the Intersect from the inside.  Chuck flashes on the project name (Project Sand Wall), so he thinks Bryce is telling the truth.  Just then, Casey enters from the rear of the apartment, and he shoots Bryce in the chest.  Chuck passes out. 

Thankfully, Bryce was wearing a bulletproof vest.  Bryce doesn't know how he's alive, just that “they” did it.  Bryce replays the night of the robbery.  The Fulcrum people kept him alive, but only to get information.  They want to know where the intersect files are.  Smartly, Bryce told them he had them in his brain.  So, they think he's the intersect.  Fulcrum is after Bryce.  Bryce needs their help – to be turned in to the real CIA, not to Fulcrum.  They agree to set up a pick-up for Bryce at the Buy More – if Chuck flashes on the pick-up, then that person is with Fulcrum.  If not, then Bryce should be home free. 

At the Buy More, the pick-up arrives.  Chuck does his pass on the men – he does not have a flash.  Everything seems legit.  Meanwhile, things are going crazy at the Buy More.  Morgan runs the ship, motivates his team, all the while fighting with Anna. 

Chuck and Bryce have a nice little moment before Sarah helps take Bryce in. 

Sarah and Bryce talk while in the car.  Bryce wants her to come back with him.  He leans over slightly, maybe for a kiss, when a large vehicle smashes into his side of the car.  Back at the Buy More, Chuck is confronted by the Fulcrum guy from the hospital elevator.  He knows Chuck's name, and asks coyly where he can find the intersect.

Men in suits place the unconscious bodies of Sarah and Bryce on the ground.  At the Buy More, the Fulcrum guy tells Chuck that they have Sarah and Bryce, they have Casey, and he has a number of men in the store ready ti kill at a moments notice. 

Sarah and Bryce wake up and beat the crap out of their captors.  Bryce notices that the main guy isn't there, and they head back to the Buy More to get Chuck.  Chuck is being escorted out when he uses the code word “pineapple” to create utter chaos in the store.  Everyone is ushered out and in the chaos Casey and Chuck make it to the theater room.  A shoot out starts, but then Sarah and Bryce show up and beat the crap out of some goons. 

The main Fulcrum guy, though, gets Chuck and puts a gun to his head.  Bryce points his gun at him.  Bryce asks Chuck something in Klingon and Chuck responds.  Bryce then shoots Chuck in chest.  He falls and the Casey comes from the flank and takes down Fulcrum dude.  Bryce had asked Chuck whether he was wearing a bulletproof vest.  He was, and is all right. 

The NSA arrives, as do firefighters.  Morgan redeemed himself in Anna's eyes.  Bryce gives a report to some General.  Bryce comes out of the meeting and tells Sarah, Casey and Chuck that his new assignment is to take down Fulcrum on his own, completely anonymous.  Bryce is dead, for all they know.  Before he leaves, he tells Sara “We'll always have Omaha.” 

Later, Chuck asks Casey what that means.  He says it likely a meet-up point – Bryce is going completely off-the-radar, so if Sarah is going to join him and leave Chuck, they have to do it now. 

Sarah, in her own room, waits.  A call comes on the land line.  We see that it's Bryce calling.  Right then, Chuck calls her cell phone.  We end the episode with Sarah deciding which call to answer.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of NBC)