CHUCK Recap: ‘Chuck Versus the Curse’

THE MISSION – No paying mission again for Carmichael Industries. Instead, Chuck and Sarah are on the run. Thanks to a cleverly coded, finger tapping morse code message from General Beckman, Chuck and Sarah escape from Castle and head for the Orion cabin. Casey goes to meet General Beckman, while Special Agent Robyn Cunnings is sent to clean up the mess that Decker left behind when he exploded off the scene last week.

Meanwhile, new parents Ellie and Awesome ship baby Clara off to Awesome’s parents and head out for a desperately needed date. They are mistakenly identified as Mr. and Mrs. Bartowski when Ellie makes the reservation in Chuck’s name for the open table points. They decide to pretend to be spies for the night, never dreaming they will actually become just that.

In the Orion cabin Chuck calls Morgan to get his P.A.N.T.S. box (Private Articles Never To be Shown) and keep it safe while he and Sarah are on the run. Back in Echo Park, Morgan breaks into his own apartment, only to find a weapon toting Alex. He tells her of his mission, but is interrupted by the arrival of Cunnings. Chuck worries that the Bartowski curse has come to rest on him, but Sarah assures him that he’s not alone, telling him “You’ve got me.” Too bad he doesn’t believe it.

Chuck and Sarah learn that Ellie and Awesome have been taken prisoner, part of “Project Eagle.” Awesome and Ellie are being held by Cunnings, and Ellie conks out their guard with a wine bottle after deducing that they will shortly be killed. They escape into the darkest part of Cunning’s warehouse lair.

In a move he will soon regret, Chuck takes the Omen Virus device and leaves to rescue his sister, believing that Sarah and Casey will not support his actions in turning over the actual device and not a dummy. Sarah and Casey follow.

Chuck surrenders himself to Cunnings. He is about to be tortured with “the toy” when Awesome attempts a rescue. Not being a “for real” spy, he soon finds himself tied to a post and about to be “played with,” so Chuck gives up the Omen device to save Awesome. Cunnings releases the virus into the internet and at this point Sarah and Casey come to the rescue, guns blazing. Cunnings is captured, but an obviously pissed off Sarah leaves Chuck tied up with the comment “This isn’t over yet!” trailing behind her. If you’re married, you NEVER want to hear your wife say that.

General Beckman clears the team of all charges and tells Chuck that her team of crack code breakers will take care of eliminating the virus before it can do any harm. This proves to be unfounded confidence as all the computers in Castle and the world become infected. The last scene shows the keypad of a prison cell door going offline. Who could be escaping from that cell? Dum-da-dum-dum!

MISSION ANALYSIS – Tonight’s action packed episode had three stories running concurrently; the Chuck/Sarah/Casey vs. the curse story, the Awesome/Ellie spy story and the Morgan/Alex P.A.N.T.S. story. Not much comedy tonight. It was action all the way with the possible exception of Ellie and Awesome rolling out of a moving limousine. Ellie’s comments about not peeking because of the underwear optional dress were quite funny and made you remember that they were certainly not real spies. Despite the danger they had fun though, as they realize when they arrive safe and sound back at their apartment. That’s where the real excitement began. What a romantic date night.

There was a nice touch near the end of the hour with Morgan giving Alex his P.A.N.T.S. box and her opening it to find mementos of his relationship with her. You could see her visibly thaw.

POINTS TO PONDER-

• What’s in Chuck’s P.A.N.T.S. box?
• Torture by vibrating chair
• ”I guess you haven’t met my sister” – Chuck
• ”Rescuing Bartowski’s is our business” – Casey
• ”Move like the wind” -Morgan

YOUR INPUT – What did you think of this episode?