Chuck Versus the Leftovers - Recap

Volkoff calls Frost into a meeting. He's had some disturbing news; agent Carmichael is still alive. She feigns surprise. He recounts how they were left tied up and surrounded by bombs, yet they live. Volkoff blames himself, as obviously he underestimated Chuck. He orders Frost to make sure Carmichael is really dead this time.

Chuck and Morgan are going to do some hand-to-hand combat, in honor of Black Friday At Buy More. Morgan sign them up for class, but when they arrive it turns out to be for pole dancing (he saw it on an infomercial). They go ahead with the class, but agree that Casey can never know about this.

Chuck tells Sarah about the class. As they stroll along, hand-in-hand, they discuss recent events. Sarah is concerned that Chuck was sad about Thanksgiving being canceled as a family event, but he was fine. Assassins nearby figure they have a clear shot. She asks some about his mom, and he thinks he's ready to put the past behind him; Sarah doesn't buy it. He says if she showed up in front of them right now he'd say 'all is forgiven, good luck being an evil bad guy. Bye.' Sarah picks up on the assassins just as Chuck is ready to discuss marriage again. They both go to work on the bad guys. Chuck swings around a nearby light post and takes one of them out. He is happy to discover that this stuff really works. Chuck yells something unintelligible about the intersect, right before Frost takes out the remaining bad guys. She tells Chuck to come with her if he wants to live.

Chuck and Sarah bring Frost back to HQ. As Casey and Sarah look on, Chuck and his mother fight about what happened last time he trusted her. Sarah calls Chuck out the door for a sidebar, and Frost attempts to follow them. Casey bars her way. Sarah asks what happened to "bygones" as Chuck had just been telling her. If he can't leave emotion out of it, then he should excuse himself from the interrogation. She goes back in the room, closing the door behind her, and leaving Chuck outside.

Big Mike and Morgan congratulate themselves on a very successful Black Friday. Big Mike shows his love by giving Morgan a foot-long Italian sub. Morgan finds this strange but he accepts, because it smells so good. Big Mike leaves, and Morgan starts to do the same. A woman outside tries to get him to open up so she can buy one of those 7G phones; she'll do anything. Morgan tells her he's flattered, but she's out of luck. As soon as Morgan is out of sight, Jeff waves her in. Lester and Jeffrey have a big plan; they are stockpiling the smart phones, because people will do anything to get their hands on one of them. So Jeff & Lester are going to sell their stolen phones on E-bay for a huge profit, pay for the phones themselves, and then record their demo with the profits.

Devon brings Ellie some carrots to nosh on while she tries to figure out the message her dad left her. Basically, he used the brain to store the information, but he approached it from an engineer's perspective. Because a human memory works differently than that of a computer, she's had to make some adjustments. Once she solved the mystery, his computer locked. It has a message on the screen, "1 or 11?" She can't figure out what it means, she tried entering each in the field but no joy. She doesn't know why he left it for her, it's obviously spy-related. Devon would like to talk to Chuck, but Ellie refuses. She doesn't want to give Chuck any reason to get back into that life.

Casey and Sarah interrogate Frost. She was ordered to use those three assassins to kill Chuck, so she had to terminate them in order to save Chuck. Keeping him safe has always been her number one priority. Sarah takes a call from Chuck. He tells her to ask his mom how taking away the intersect was about saving him. Frost says it was to prevent him from following her. Chuck calls again to say that it left him vulnerable, so how did that help. Sarah is at her wits end. Frost tries to take the phone from her, but Casey intercepts. He orders Chuck to go away so the adults can finish the interrogation. Frost reiterates that Volkoff will know the agents are dead, he will follow her, and therefore they are not safe.

Jeffrey lets the pretty lady in to get her 7G phone. He won't hand it over until she shaves his back. Lester stops him. While his back is to the lady, she hits him with a tranquilizing shot, and then Jeffrey as well. She radios that she's in, and a ton of people come in Buy More, all in black and heavily armed. Volkoff is last. He congratulates her on a job well done. Now they need to get what they came for.

Morgan sees what is happening on the store's cameras and goes out through his office vent to warn them. He calls Chuck, but Volkoff cuts off cell phone communications before Chuck can warn Morgan to stay out of harm's way. Frost says that's always Volkoff's first move. Casey notes that they are in a state-of-the-art CIA facility, fully-prepared for an internal attack.

One of Volkoff's nerds is hard at work on the computer, but so is Casey. Volkoff comes on the screen to announce that they 'captured' Frost, and he's here to get her back. Weapons come out of the ceiling, but the nerd disables them. Volkoff restates his purpose. He wants Frost back, or they all die. Starting with Jeff and Lester. Volkoff's people can't get through the 3' of carbide steel that separates them from Frost, so Volkoff issues the order to start cutting. Casey says that means they'll be down here in an hour.

The Buy More has an override to the override. Casey is going to try to get to it. Sarah can't believe Volkoff is going through all this just for Frost. Chuck agrees. There's something his mom isn't telling them. She claims she isn't lying, when Volkoff calls in. He wants proof Frost is still alive. Put her on the phone. She mutes the phone and tells them they have to turn her over to him, or they'll all die. She wants Chuck to trust her yet again. He refuses, and gets on the call with Volkoff. Volkoff promptly comes completely unhinged, so Chuck lets Frost take the call. She announces her presence, and he is obviously relieved. He wants them to treat her with gentle hands, as he is in love with her.

Chuck asks for details. Is Volkoff Mary's boyfriend? Is he the reason she left dad? Mary sets the record straight. They've never been together. He just loves her. Chuck obviously does not get it, so Mary asks Sarah to explain it to him. If you're undercover with the world's biggest psychopath, and that psychopath falls in love with you, what do you do. Sarah says that if that were to happen, it would make her a major intelligence asset. Mary repeats that if Chuck wants to save himself and his friends, he needs to turn her over to Volkoff immediately.

Chuck steps outside, and Sarah follows him. Sarah says she got lucky, she was assigned to Chuck. Mary wasn't so lucky. If Volkoff is afraid they'll hurt her, that will buy Casey some time.

Morgan is crawling through the vents when he comes face-to-face with Casey's pistol. Casey fills them in on Jeff and Lester being taken hostage. He says he's going to rescue Jeff and Lester, while Casey goes to make the guns operational again.

The red phone rings, and Volkoff answers. Chuck makes a weak attempt at threatening to harm Mary to Volkoff. He doesn't take kindly to being threatened, so he shows Chuck the bomb he intends to drop down the elevator shaft. He is fine with Frost dying, rather than having to live without him. If Chuck gives her back, he gets to live. He tells Chuck that that's what a really good threat sounds like. Sara realizes they were unable to buy Casey more time.

Morgan comes out the vent in the room where Jeff and Lester are being held hostage. His foot slips, and he knocks a bunch of thumbtacks on the floor and promptly lands on them, barefoot. One of Volkoff's men is about to shoot Morgan but Casey takes him out first. When he shoves Morgan around the corner, he finds the phones they were stockpiling. Casey is taken hostage.

Sarah, Chuck and Mary take the elevator up to Volkoff. Chuck has a gun on his mom. Volkoff says he will keep his word to let Chuck and Sarah live - but he has taken Casey hostage. He instructs them to drop their weapons, and Chuck and Sarah do so. Frost joins Volkolff, and they embrace. He slugs Chuck and tells him he lied about letting them go. He's about to shoot Chuck in the head when Mary admits that he's her son. He asks Mary, Sarah and Chuck to confirm, and they all do. Volkoff understands that that's why Chuck is still alive. She tells him that Chuck uses her love for her son against him. He's angry at her for not telling him.

The nerd interrupts to inform him that there's an incoming call from Ellie Bartowski. Volkoff notices Chuck's Employee of the Month poster with his name under it, and asks if Ellie is any relation. Chuck starts to say yes, but Mary shakes her head no, so Chuck says no. She's a distant relation. Really distant. Like Alaska, distant. Or Bangladesh, maybe. Volkoff puts her on speakerphone so Ellie can insist Chuck come over for a family dinner, since they didn't get to do Thanksgiving. Chuck tells her he will do his best.

Volkoff is hurt that Mary didn't think he could have a relationship with her family. Kids love him! He kisses Chuck on both cheeks, and the mouth. He tells him to call Ellie back and tell her he'll be there for dinner, and he's bringing some guests.

The foursome arrives at Ellie's, with four bodyguards in tow. Chuck is furious. Mary has placed Ellie in grave danger. Mary reiterates that everything will be fine, but Chuck needs to trust her on this. He reminds her that he has heard that before. Mary turns to Volkoff and asks if he understands that her daughter and her husband are civilians. He says yes, and he doesn't want to frighten them.

Ellie answers the door and is surprised to see her mother standing there. Mary meets Devon, and they stroll away. Volkoff tells Chuck no harm will befall anyone, unless he gets the impression Chuck is plotting against him. Chuck says he understands but Volkoff disagrees. If the dinner is not perfect, he will take it out on the people Chuck loves.

The Bartowskis reminisce over 'Thanksgiving' dinner. Ellie asks Volkoff if she can inquire as to what happened to her mom when she left. Mary starts trying to explain, but Volkoff takes over. He starts rambling about good people being mistaken for bad people, and vice-versa. Since he was Mary's handler, he was able to convince the CIA that she was good. Sarah backs him, and adds that that's why Mary is free to go now. Ellie thanks Volkoff, as he has done so much for their family.

Morgan is trying to figure out how to save Lester, Jeffrey and Casey while Volkoff plays charades with the Bartowski clan. Ellie and Devon are having a wonderful time. Chuck talks in low tones and tells Devon the truth of the situation. Devon is trying to stay calm. Chuck tells him to "be Awesome", and Devon asks if Chuck has any sugar. He goes over to Chuck's place across the courtyard to 'get some sugar', and hits the CIA emergency activator. He brings Sarah a gun, and Devon pretends to take a call from the hospital. Big crash! Ellie and Devon have to go immediately. Volkoff knows they alerted the CIA, but the nearest response team is 10 minutes away. Everybody, including Mary, pulls a gun on Chuck. Valkoff thinks he needs to teach Chuck a lesson about not making idle threats. When Mary realizes he is serious, she stops aiming at Chuck and points her gun at Volkoff. She tells him that this is exactly why she never told him about her family. He does not know how to love anyone, he only knows how to control them. He needs to know that she could never love any man who could bring harm on her son. She tells him she is loyal to him, but she will not return with him unless and until he promises her that her son and his friends will remain safe. She will end him if he doesn't. He turns to Chuck and tells him that THAT is a real threat.

Volkoff and his men stand down. As they walk out, Mary tells Chuck she is sorry, and she hopes someday he will trust her. He tells her he already does. She smiles and leaves.

Volkoff calls his dogs off just as Morgan limps into the holding area with a gun taped to his back. He feigns surrendering, and says "Yippeekiyay" before discovering that he can't actually reach the gun. Casey is obviously embarrassed for him. Bad girl announces everybody is free to go, Volkoff's orders.

Morgan sets up Jeff and Lester so that Big Mike finds out their plan. He has them take the phones back out on the sales floor.

Sarah and Chuck discuss the case. They'll never see Mary again, she's the only thing keeping them safe from Volkoff. Devon asks if he can talk to him for a minute. He's very angry about how things unfolded. He doesn't want the spy stuff near Ellie, and Ellie doesn't want it near him. He gives Chuck the computer with Chuck's dad's info on it. Chuck knows the "1 or 11" comment applies to aces in blackjack, but it also applies to something his dad used to say to him. He types in "Aces, Charles" and the computer greets him and tells him to hit enter. Chuck hits enter, and he gets the intersect back. He stands up, smiles, and keels over flat on his back. He learns Kung Fu, and stands up to tell Casey and Sarah.

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