Chuck Versus the Fear of Death - Recap

General Beckman is chewing out Chuck for trusting Agent Frost, aka his mom. Chuck apologizes. He's sure he would have shown much better judgment if she had not been his mother. Beckman tells him that that is why he has not been ejected from the agency. Sarah is sent to Istanbul, where Frost and Valkoff were last seen. As for Casey, he will be shadowing Chuck until the intersect is functioning again. Chuck asks Beckman if this means he will be able to get the intersect back. She says that their scientists believe that what Frost used on him was a sort of suppression device, for which there could be countermeasures. He asks for more information and the general tells him that she's not a scientist but he's about to meet a lot, so he can ask them.

One of the scientists tell Chuck (as they are preparing him) that he can think of the suppression issue as a sort of "rock". They need to find that rock and remove it. They show him all manner of images, and he has varied reactions, but no intersect activity is determined. When he gets out of the chair, he announces that it's been 31 days, and promptly collapses.

Lester finally notices that all of the new employees are named Greta. Chuck doesn't find it strange at all. Lester finds it strange that Chuck doesn't find it strange, but speaking of strange, Chuck's been giving off some major 'sad sack' vibes lately. Sorta whiny wuss-like. Sarah is home, and Chuck is happy. They exchange a kiss. No good news. Valkoff and Frost have gone underground. The trails are cold. Casey is going mad from the lack of activity. There's supposed to be a specialist coming in from Langley to get the intersect, and the team, back on track.

Morgan says Casey is coming undone, and Sarah and Chuck tell him they already know. Morgan says Casey watched Alex' fish tank for over an hour, muttering something about an itchy trigger finger. Chuck excuses himself, as the specialist has probably arrived by now. When Chuck goes to meet the specialist, a Ninja throws a katana at him. Chuck starts flashing. There are three ninjas. Chuck flashes some more and starts fighting. The specialist calls off the ninjas. Agent Jim Rye introduces himself. His method is going to be physical, psychological, and painful. Brutal, even. Jim tells him that if he's serious about restoring the intersect, then at the end of this process, he promises Chuck he will be a spy again.

The men get to work. Rye asks Chuck to describe the rock sitting on the intersect. He says it's granite. Maybe with little specks of marble. Sarah arrives. Rye asks what size rock, and when Chuck doesn't know, he gets punched in the face. Chuck asks why and Rye tells him they are starting with pain therapy. Sarah calls him on his methods, and he spars with her before saying that she smells delightfully of grapefruit. He then goes back to work with Chuck. They need to find the right stimulus to trigger the intersect. He turns back to Sarah and tells her there shall be no more interruptions.

Lester tells Jeff that new Greta just disappeared into thin air. Jeff has seen her do so before. They follow her to the break room, where she's about to have a Subway sub. She turns and sees them spying on her, so Lester pretends he was cleaning the window.

Chuck limps in the door at home. Sarah thinks Rye is over the top. Chuck says he's willing to endure it if it will help him get the intersect back. Chuck is hurting, so Sarah gives him a massage. She asks him to tell her he's not doing this for her, or their relationship. He says no. He's doing it for the team, and so he can be a spy again because he quite likes being a spy. He wants to do great things. Sarah says he does great things just by being Chuck. She excuses herself, and a ninja comes in the window. He has two blades crossed across Chuck's throat. Chuck calls out "Honey, we have company!" It's Rye, asking if Chuck flashed. Yes or no, did he flash!? A man's home is his castle, and he feels safe in his castle. He especially feels safe with Sarah. They need to up the ante to pure fear of death. Chuck did flash, but it was short and didn't actually accomplish anything. Fear could be the cure.

Greta walks in on Morgan, and tells him that she's tired of the civilian employees watching her. If Morgan doesn't stop them, she'll take matters into her own hands. He tells her he will handle it.

Sarah tells Beckman it's insane to send Chuck on a mission with the intersect. The General reads Sarah Rye's credentials and tells her that Chuck will be fine in his care. Sarah continues objecting, but Rye tells her this is what they need to do to get the intersect back, and he already knows that Chuck will do whatever it takes. The General tells Chuck that his mission is to win the auction, and bring the stone back to the US. Sarah wants to come as a backup, but Rye says no. If she goes along, Chuck will feel too safe and won't flash. She asks Chuck not to be a hero, but he says he has to do this.

He calls Sarah to tell her that Switzerland is amazing, especially the air, and the chocolate. They end the call as he and Rye take their seats for the auction. Rye has high hopes that an assassin will make an attempt on Chuck's life, thereby forcing the intersect to trigger. He starts pointing out the players to Chuck. He figures if they're lucky, when Chuck wins the bidding they will try to kill him. Chuck responds with a fake smile and "fingers crossed!" Rye gets up to leave. The bidding begins, and Chuck is winning until somebody sticks a gun in his back and tells him if he continues to bid, he will die. He assumes it's Rye and jumps the bid considerably. Once he realizes it's not Rye, he stops bidding and loses the diamond.

As they are catching up, Chuck tells Rye that since nobody walks around with 100 million Swiss francs on them, they can go check out the diamond. Check it out, hell! Rye figures they should steal it.

Lester and Jeff recruit the entire Buy Smart team to do recon on Greta. They call it Operation Get a Greta. Lester is quite enthusiastic. The main objective is finding out why such a nefarious individual is working at the Buy Smart. Casey and Morgan are listening in so they can keep Greta apprised of what's going on. Casey says he'll tell her; she'll handle it. Morgan says they're a team, but Casey says without an intersect, there is no team.

Jim uses what appears to be the Vulcan death grip on a guard so they can gain access to the diamond. He quips he learned it on Star Trek, but when Chuck asks him ("Really?"), Rye says no; he learned it in Bangladesh. Meditative trancing. The secret is 'mind over matter'. But he loves the show. Chuck asks who doesn't? When they enter the vault, Chuck wonders what happens next. Rye says that now, Chuck will flash. Chuck says why would he, he doesn't exactly fear death. Security measures kick in, and the temperature in the vault drops 100 degrees in about 30 seconds. So unless Chuck wants to be a Popsicle, Rye suggests he flash. It's not happening. He's not flashing. Rye disables the security, since Chuck wasn't about to flash. There are many diamonds in the vault. So what's going on? Chuck whips out a loupe and announces that he took a gemology class on his way over. The diamond he's looking at is glass, and has something embedded inside it. Rye says it's a microdot. The next one he looks at is also a fake. Now they need to figure out what the story is on these phony diamonds.

Once back outside, Rye and Chuck discuss why fear therapy isn't working. The rock must be keyed to a different anxiety. Maybe a relationship? Sarah might be the key.

Casey is having lunch with his daughter, Alex. She's come to the realization that whatever is going on with her dad is more than just an itchy trigger finger, nerves from no missions. She confronts Casey and he admits that he's preparing himself psychologically. In case he gets sent back to Afghanistan or Iraq. He got soft. He made friends here. Alex thinks he should maybe reconsider his plan.

Morgan finds Subway with Greta's name on it. He sees Lester and Jeff watching it - it's a trap for Greta. He grabs the sandwich and confronts them. They refuse to stop the operation. When Greta walks in, Lester grabs the sandwich from Morgan. He turns around and practically walks right into Greta. She's done. They've gone too far. If they discover her identity, it will breach national security, and a CIA facility will be at risk. It's time to neutralize the risk. Grimes tries to go to bat for their complete stupidity, but Greta says that if they bother her again, that's it.

Rye magnifies the microdot to find out what's inside it. He knows it can't be good. Chuck asks him why he thinks Sarah might be the key. Rye says that whenever Chuck is scared, he calls for her. Rye says Chuck should ask himself a question. Is he a spy, or a guy with a spy girlfriend. Chuck says he's a spy.

Sarah says that the microdot is heavily encrypted, but it seems to contain a series of photographs and blueprints. The Belgian is selling their intel to the highest bidder, and there are dozens of fake diamonds just like it. Beckman tells Casey and Walker to finish decoding the intel, while Bartowski and Rye are ordered to capture the Belgian and recover the fake stone. Until they know what is on the microdots, this is code red and could likely get very ugly. Sarah tries to send herself with Chuck and Rye, but Chuck says he thinks not. Especially since it is possible this is the only way he will get the intersect back. Sarah thinks that Agent Ryan is failing, and Chuck is in real danger now. Chuck asks if he was in fake danger before. The whole team, including General Beckman, are stuck in the middle of this lovers' quarrel. Chuck says this is what he does, he's a spy. Sarah sharply corrects him. He's not a spy. Not right now. General Beckman sends Sarah to join them. The mission will not be a success without the proper manpower.

Lester is paging Greta to the cage, using Subway as an incentive. Morgan is worried, and rightfully so. Greta is on her way. Upon her arrival Lester acts like he's going to interrogate her. Greta gets the knife out, and things are getting very strange and ugly until Casey arrives and tells her to stand down. He identifies Greta as a thief and Morgan walks her out.

Sarah texts Chuck that they're making good time, and she should call him. Rye waves him over to see what he's seeing on the hidden camera. They have to go catch the guy on the camera, and they won't be able to do it if he waits for Sarah to arrive.

Greta is angry at Casey because the outpost and crew are unprofessional. He tells her not to let the door hit her in the ass. Grimes notices that Chuck is on the monitor. Casey checks it out and calls Sarah. Chuck is on the microdot. The Belgian knows that he's the intersect. She tries to call Chuck and she finally reaches him. She tries to tell him what's going on, but Rye takes the call and hangs up on her. It's all up to Chuck now.

The Belgian's team pull their weapons on Chuck and Rye. He says that the asset in Chuck's head is worth more than everything else embedded in the microchips. Rye asks Chuck if he's scared, and when Chuck nods, Rye says "Me, too." Sarah is trying to get there in time. Chuck sort of (but not really) flashed. As he's hanging from the edge of the sky-lift, Rye talks to him but doesn't help him up. Rye won't help him up until he flashes. The wind's picking up, and Chuck is looking death right in the face. Rye says the only thing that can help Chuck now is the intersect. He's still not flashing, and Rye is trying to tell him that he needs to acknowledge that he doesn't need or love Sarah. He refuses, since he DOES need and love Sarah. He'd rather have Sarah than the intersect, and he wants Rye to help him up. Rye says the CIA didn't send him out there to affirm his love. He needs the intersect up and running. He needs to get that rock (Sarah) off his chest, and be a real spy like Rye. As he's saying that, the Belgian shoots Rye and he falls from the sky-lift. He then helps Chuck back to safety. Sarah gets a call from Chuck's cell phone. It's the Belgian, and he tells Sarah to back off, or Chuck will die. Slowly.

Beckman tells Casey he's taking point. Sarah is ordered to go home and get some rest. They will let her know when they track down Chuck. She's very angry, but she goes home.

Chuck is in four-point restraints, and struggling to escape. He sees trays of instruments. The Belgian tells him he wants the intersect.

Sarah is going to pack to go find Chuck. Casey and Morgan tell her they're going with her.

Chuck tells the Belgian that he doesn't have the intersect anymore. He gets out a syringe and tells Chuck that the less he resists, the less painful this will be.

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