Chuck Episode 1.02 Chuck Versus the Helicopter

Harry demands that Chuck fix a display resting on a table draped with their competitor's table skirt. Offering to fix it with magic, Morgan yanks the tablecloth and knocks the display all over. Sarah gets a job at Wienerlicious, so she can monitor Chuck at work. She proposes another date that night and mentioned that she knows someone who can help him - the NSA's top scientist, Dr. Jonas Zarnow.

Ellie's excited that Chuck has a second date with Sarah and insists he bring her over for dinner the following night. In DC, the NSA's General Beckman meets with CIA Director Graham to commiserate over the fact that the country's top secrets were downloaded into the brain of an idiot. Still, there's some comfort - at least their secrets didn't get downloaded into Morgan.

The meeting with Zarnow takes place in the Home Theater Room at Buy More, which has been rigged for testing. Zarnow is not allowed to see "Patient X" and remotely monitors Chuck's responses to imagery. When Chuck sees an image of a giant rose, he begins to spew secrets. Zarnow tells Casey and Sarah that he believes he can remove them. Later, while driving in his car, Zarnow's cell phone rings and... ba-boom! Zarnow's car explodes!Meanwhile, Casey and Sarah are at the explosion site where there's no corpse. Sarah finds Zarnow's melted cell phone and hides it from Casey as he calls Beckman to blame the CIA for the murder. At work, Casey threatens Chuck with a handheld scanner, warning him to stay away from Sarah: she isn't to be trusted. Just then, Sarah IMs Chuck: she needs him at Wienerlicious.

Sarah forbids Chuck to meet privately with Casey. She explains that Zarnow has been killed, showing Chuck his phone, and asking what it is. Chuck recognizes the phone as an NSA incinerator. Concluding that Casey must have killed Zarnow, Sarah tells Chuck to go back to work and pretend he knows nothing. Back at Buy More, Casey demands to know what Sarah said, and then proceeds to Wienerlicious to get answers. Believing that Sarah killed Zarnow, Casey pulls out his gun and tries to arrest her, but she fights back with pointy wiener sticks. The fight is brutal, but ends when a group of customers come in and Casey flees the scene.

Casey arranges for Chuck to go on a house call, then intercepts him. He proffers his bloodied face as further proof that Sarah is a rogue spy, claiming that she tried to kill him. She worked with Bryce, another rogue spy, so how can she be trusted? When the guys hear a cell phone ringing in the back seat, they jump out of the car and run for it. It takes a minute, but Casey's car blows up.

Casey claims that Sarah is "cleaning the operation" - eliminating everyone Chuck's had contact with. Abandoning Casey, Chuck rushes home where everyone is assembled for dinner with Sarah. Casey rings the doorbell, brandishing a tray of mini-quiches, inviting himself in. Getting Chuck alone, he explains that two years ago, Sarah infiltrated a circle of French diplomats, poisoning them at dinner.

Chuck runs back to the dinner table where Captain Awesome is about to sample the chocolate souffle Sarah brought for dessert. Panicking, Chuck offers a magic trick and successfully whips the table cloth off the table. Only a candle is disturbed, tipping over on the souffle and setting it alight. Chuck runs the souffle to the bathtub where Sarah corners him. She explains that she had to kill the French assassins or they would have killed her first. Concluding that neither she nor Casey kill Zarnow, Sarah rushes off.

Casey and Chuck run after Sarah, who's already bound and gagged in the trunk of Zarnow's car. Zarnow shoots Casey with a tranquilizer dart and drives off. Knowing Zarnow will torture Sarah until she reveals Chuck's identity, Casey orders Chuck into his Nerd Herd car, which has been tricked out while in the shop. Now they can follow the microbot trackers that were in the mini-quiches. They wind up at Buy More, where Morgan is watching movies - he ate one of the quiches, too.

Chuck deduces that Sarah must be at the Port of Los Angeles. Casey tells Chuck to wait in the car, but when Chuck sees Zarnow, he follows him to where Sarah is handcuffed. Chuck gives her something to pick the lock and hides when Zarnow returns with a huge syringe. As he's discovered, Chuck has a flash - Zarnow has been spying for North Korea. Zarnow shoots Chuck with a tranquilizer dart and loads him into a waiting helicopter, promising to return for Sarah.

When Zarnow returns, Sarah has disappeared. She is about to take Zarnow when Casey crashes through a wall, and Zarnow escapes in the helicopter. As they take off, Chuck wakes up - his pocket protector shielded him from the dart. Chuck picks up the syringe and accidentally shoots the pilot, sending the helicopter into a tail spin. Managing to knock out Zarnow, Chuck climbs in the pilot's seat. Sarah calls Chuck on his cell phone and effectively guides him to a safe landing, telling him the whole time to fly the helicopter like a computer game.

On the ground, Sarah reads Chuck the riot act. He compromised everything by not trusting her. If he accuses her of betrayal again, she'll end the mission. Later, as Chuck prepares to attend Bryce's funeral, Ellie tells him how much she liked Sarah. He thinks he blew it, but Ellie tells him to apologize. Meanwhile, Beckman tells Casey that there'll be a new Intersect computer up and running in six months - after that Casey will do what he does best to Chuck.

Chuck apologizes to Sarah at Wienerlicious, saying he should have trusted her. She smiles, and apologizes for yelling at him. If their relationship was remotely real, this would have been the end of their first big fight. Sarah allows that some heroes have to be asked - is Chuck ready? He says he is, just as Morgan, Ellie and Captain Awesome enter for another shot at dinner.