Chuck: Chuck Versus the Marlin (Episode 13)

Now for the tail end of the Chuck sandwich.

Lester and Jeff are playing with their Mammary Cam: they are zooming onto the Shawarma delivery girl’s boobies with a Buy More digital camcorder. Chuck wags his finger at the two degenerates – where’s a rolled up newspaper when you need one?

He is then interrupted by Captain Awesome. He’s going to propose to Ellie and would like Chuck’s permission. After regaining his sight from the glair off the ring, he accepts. Captain Awesome gives him the ring for safekeeping. Apparently, Ellie is like a bloodhound with jewellery – she can smell it from a mile away. Mmmm, smells like shiny… So he stashes the pretty thing in his Buy More locker. God forbid he keeps it somewhere safe.

Then, Chuck moves on to Morgan – people are needy at Buy More today. Chuck once again puts Morgan in his place: no, he cannot play the early release of a new videogame. Without adult supervision, he’s already leaked one early release, Chuck won’t let him commit that same faux pas again. Somebody needs to hold the kid’s hand.

In between these two micro crises, Chuck spotted a poorly hidden bug in one of the Buy More isles. He runs to Casey and chides him on his poor workmanship. Usually, Chuck admires his methods.

Well, the chip was not Casey’s. However, it was from the CIA, specifically a Fulcrum favourite. Fulcrum is the CIA sect that tried to kill/kidnap Bryce and is now after the Intersect (a.k.a. Chuck). So they’ve been bugging the Buy More because they know Sarah, Casey and Chuck know something. Somewhere inside the Buy More is the receiver which has been collecting the sound from the bugs. Casey and Sarah’s bosses tell them they have 48 hours to find the receiver or they have to extract Chuck and bring him underground where his identity will be safe. So if you’re looking for something in a big box store what do you do? You clean it out overnight. Casey and Sarah fake a robbery and remove every last item from inside the store.

Casey calls Chuck to the warehouse where they are keeping the Buy More stuff and indelicately gives him the lowdown. Oh, and the ring is missing. They didn’t take it, and it’s no longer in his locker. But they do find valuable security tapes. Months ago, when the spy came to install the receiver, he/she turned off the cameras, however, simultaneously Lester and Jeff were breaking into Buy More themselves. While trying to turn off the already disabled cameras, they accidentally turned the cameras back on and so caught the spy installing the receiver in the giant Marlin sitting on top of Big Mike’s desk on camera. BUT the Big Marlin is missing, their first suspects: Jeff and Lester.

Casey scares them into spilling the beans. Last night, they snuck into Buy More to hit up Big Mike’s booze stash (Jeff’s a little bit of a Drunky McDrunk Drunk). When they didn’t find any booze, they did what any other self respecting inebriated scallywag would do: steal a giant fish from off the wall and hide the evidence at Chuck’s. But there is no giant fish at Chuck’s. While Chuck and Casey ransack the apartment, Ellie comes in and says Morgan took it. At that, Chuck gives Ellie a huge goodbye hug just in case they don’t find the fish (i.e. just in case he has to go into hiding). Well that might be some good thinking, cause the big wigs just called Sarah to tell her they are extracting Chuck just to be on the safe side. Boo them, I say. Boo them.

Back at Buy More, Chuck is stuck in a makeshift interrogation room where Big Mike and a local detective are grilling Chuck about the Buy More robbery. As they momentarily leave the room, Chuck notices the Shawarma delivery girl is bringing Lester a free gift with his 30th order. That’s when he connects the dots: Casey and Sarah had found 29 bugs in their Buy Moore stash. Coincidence? I think not. So Chuck covertly leaves the room through the ceiling and fetches Jeff and Lester’s Mammary Cam and e-mails the video to Sarah as a warning before Big Mike and the detective come back and let him out. As he leaves he finds Morgan who tells him he stashed Ellie’s ring (which he thought was Chuck’s engagement ring for Sarah) in the Marlin which is now in the Wienerlicious freezer. The story is that the bag that held the ring, also held the new videogame Morgan wanted to play. So he took the bag to Chuck’s house so he could play the game. There, he found the ring, freaked out about his friend growing up and not involving him in this life altering decision and then benevolently relocated the Marlin and the ring. If you hide it, maybe it won’t exist. I’ve tried that with my credit card bill my friend, it doesn’t work.

So off to Wienerlicious he goes. But once he gets there, it’s too late. Mrs Shawarma had already made a visit. She had heard Morgan tell Jeff and Lester where he put the Marlin. Sarah put up a good fight, but unfortunately got stuck in the fridge as Shawarma lady ran away with the receiver and Ellie’s ring. Eep.

When Chuck is about to shoot the lock off the freezer, the detective comes in and arrests Chuck for his suspicious behaviour. Actually not really, he’s the government operative who was ordered to remove Chuck from his friends and family. It’s ok, you can hate him too, I won’t judge.

After Casey finally frees Sarah from the freezer and the dangers of nipple-itis, he urges her to save Chuck from a life of hiding while he hunts down Falafel Lady.

Sarah finally makes it to the roof where Chuck is about to get helicoptered out to a bunker in nowhere land. The detective gives them one minute for a heart to heart. Chuck asks Sarah to tell his family something that’ll make it ok, and anyway it won’t be so bad: they could still hang out, and now maybe even go on a date. It’s all so sweet I got a cavity. As they say their goodbyes, Shawarma girl shoots the detective (I think the bad guy actually just saved the day). A scuffle ensues, she and Sarah fall off the roof into a dumpster, but Sarah comes out victorious. Shawarma girl will not live to eat another pita.

After digging up the ring from the dumpster, Chuck runs back home so Captain Awesome can propose to Ellie who says yes. And for some twisted reason, all I can think is “poor Morgan.” Apparently I’ve grown a feeling I think they call sympathy. I hope it passes…

The episode ends on a bittersweet note: Sarah and Casey watch Chuck, Captain Awesome and Ellie celebrate while they worry about keeping Chuck safe. And that’s how the cookie crumbles, Chuck-wise.