Chuck Episode 3.10 Chuck Versus the Tic Tac

Honduras, 1989: At a remote operations base, Lieutenant Alexander Coburn receives bad news from his field commander: he's been rejected for Special Ops training and will be returning stateside in the morning. Dejected, the soldier walks away but is stopped by another senior officer, Col. Keller, who makes an enticing offer: a chance to join the elite black ops team he oversees. But it's a fateful choice: the young officer can rejoin his family back home, or join the elite fighting force he's always dreamed of.

Present day: We see that the young officer who made the decision to join the black ops team was actually John Casey. He sits now in his living room, meeting with the same man who recruited him more than 20 years ago. His former commanding officer has a new mission for Casey: to retrieve a top secret package from inside a secure CIA facility. Meanwhile, Morgan, who is taking his recent entry into the spy circle very seriously, surveils Casey and Keller from a distance. Chuck confronts him and accuses him of going too far. But Morgan's convinced that Casey's getting a mission--and wants in. Chuck doesn't know of any mission. But his suspicions are raised when he sees Casey and Keller shake hands; apparently they've agreed to work together again. Chuck's baffled.

Beckman lays out the day's mission to Sarah, Chuck, and Casey (Shaw has been recalled to D.C.). Their assignment is a trace cell mission--they're to try to break through 15 layers of security at the CIA's Los Angeles facility, penetrating a super-secure storage vault. At the underground facility, Chuck quickly flashes and leads the team through the first level. They work their way through the remaining levels.

Inside the vault, Casey tells Sarah to guard the door, then sets Chuck loose on opening a locked drawer. Meanwhile, he sneaks to a different drawer, unlocks it with a special key given him by Keller, then opens the drawer and retrieves a zippered case with a small container inside. Chuck finishes his assignment, then comes around the corner to spot Casey closing his drawer. He asks Casey what he's doing, accusing him of accessing an unauthorized box. Casey denies it, then pulls his pistol on Chuck, threatening to kill him if he tells anyone. Sarah arrives moments later, none the wiser.

Devon, a.k.a. Captain Awesome, meets Chuck at his apartment; he implores Chuck to help him convince Ellie that relocating to Africa via Doctors Without Borders is a great idea. He reminds Chuck that staying behind would put Ellie in too much danger--and it's making him a nervous wreck. Ellie stops by a few moments later with great news: she's received a neurology fellowship to the USC School of Medicine. The newlyweds have a touch choice to make.

Back at Castle, Beckman relays some bad news: despite the team's best efforts to test and bolster the security of the secret facility, someone was able to infiltrate it before they got there. The thief took a vial of an experimental and highly valuable drug call Laudanol, a prototype pill that can suppress emotions in battlefield soldiers. Chuck realizes that such a drug could be invaluable for him: without fear or emotion blocking him, he could flash at will. The General fears it was an inside job. Chuck, thinking this is yet another test of his suitability for spy work, spills the beans about Casey taking the pill from the vault. Beckman confronts Casey, who pleads his fifth amendment right to remain silent. Beckman quickly assesses the breach and directs agent Walker to relieve Casey of his weapon.

At Buy More, Chuck grills Morgan on his surveillance of Casey from the night before. As they review the video recordings, Chuck flashes on the face of Keller--he's a member of The Ring! He finds Sarah at Casey's apartment, overseeing a clean team who's tearing the place apart looking for the Laudanol. Chuck tells Sarah about his flash. He wants Sarah to help him find Casey, tell him about Keller's Ring connection, and clear his name. Sarah explains that, if they fail, they could all be tried for treason and Chuck would lose forever his chance to be a spy.

Chuck and Sarah return to the CIA facility to try to spring Casey from a holding cell, before he's shipped to a "black site" prison in Thailand. But new security measures are in place and they're caught by a security team. They sweet-talk the security team leader who takes them to Level 15. But he refuses to let them inside. As an intruder alarm sounds, Sarah punches out the security team leader and grabs the key card granting access to Level 15. On a security camera, they spot Casey's cell--but an explosion rocks the building as they go to find him.

Awesome and Ellie are debating over whose dream to follow. They head for Chuck's apartment but find only Morgan, who believes that Devon is being selfish. Awesome pulls Morgan aside and they begin a roundabout conversation about where Ellie would be safest; neither knows if the other is aware of Chuck's spy life. Once they realize they both know, Morgan agrees that it'd be for the best if Ellie and Awesome did go to Africa.

In Casey's holding cell, the smoke clears to reveal Col. Keller and his Ring team; they've blasted their way in to extract Casey. A moment later, Chuck and Sarah show up through the cell's door. Casey is literally caught in the middle: on one side his long-time mentor, Keller, and on the other, his friends and CIA colleagues. Chuck tells Casey that Keller's working for The Ring. But Casey is under his spell--and quickly heads off with Keller and company. Sarah and Chuck are arrested by CIA security. An irate Beckman later explains Casey's real story to them: he was once Alex Coburn, a young soldier who faked his death in Honduras in 1989 to work for Colonel Keller as part of NSA black ops. Now it appears that Keller has recruited him again, only this time for The Ring. Beckman gives them a mission: capture John Casey dead or alive.

Chuck and Sarah figure Keller must not have the Laudanol yet, or he wouldn't have broken Casey out of the CIA cell. They're right. Casey, incognito, has recruited Morgan to help him by retrieving the Laudanol from inside the Buy More, where he's hidden it in a DVD case. Chuck catches Morgan in the act and convinces him to give up the movie case with the drug vial in it. Back at his apartment, Chuck is surprised by Casey, waiting in the shadows. Casey draws his weapon and demands that Chuck reveal the location of the case. But Sarah is watching from a distance and sneaks up Casey and Chuck.

Confronted by Chuck and Sarah, Casey drops his guard. He reveals that he was Alex Coburn and that he once had a fiancée, Kathleen, who now thinks he's dead. He shows Sarah and Casey some worn photographs of the woman who was clearly the love of his life. And now Keller is holding her hostage. If Casey doesn't turn the Laudanol over, Keller will kill her.

Chuck, Sarah, and Casey form a plan. Casey will go meet Keller and signal to Sarah when she can pounce in for an attack. Meanwhile, Chuck vows to find Casey's fiancee and sneak her to safety. He goes to her house, posing as a gas company employee to try to convince her to leave before Keller's men arrive. The goons are at the door as Chuck spirits Casey's fiancée into a closet.

Casey is brought before Keller and gives him the case that had held the Laudanol. Only now it merely contains a Tic Tac, a reminder of Keller's favorite candy from years ago. Outside, Sarah emerges from her hiding place under Casey's car and begins taking out Keller's henchman. Casey and Keller go at it: an epic king fu battle between master and student. Casey prevails, ultimately killing Keller with his bare hands.

Chuck is under siege. Keller's operatives are at the door. He calls Casey and Sarah for help, but they won't be able to arrive in time. They tell him to flash and take care of them. But Chuck is overwhelmed with fear. Casey tells him to take the Laudanol pill, which he's sneaked into Chuck's pocket: the pill will suppress any fear and let Chuck flash and take out the threat. He swallows it and gets a super-skills flash. Chuck proceeds to fight off a small army of attackers, marveling at his own ruthless resolve.

Casey arrives to find Kathleen, the love of his life, on the floor, drifting in and out of consciousness. She doesn't recognize him. We see a flashback from 1989: Lt. Coburn on the phone telling her he's headed on a new assignment and that he'll be back as soon as he can. She tells him to do his best--and that she has some good news from him when he returns. But Keller cuts off the phone call, informing his recruit that Alex Coburn will officially be killed in action that night; he'll now be known as John Casey.

Back in the present, Casey hovers over Kathleen on the couch. She still doesn't realize that the man helping her was once her fiancé. Her daughter comes in to comfort her. Casey realizes it's probably his daughter, but can't bring himself to reveal the truth. "What's dead is dead. It's too late now," he tells Chuck as he walks off.

Back at Castle, Beckman calls the three agents on the carpet. Because the mission was successful, she is somewhat lenient--and she'll give Casey another second chance. She's busting him to civilian status--he's no longer a spy. Chuck protests on Casey's behalf, but to no avail. She orders Chuck to escort Mr. Casey off government property. She goes on to tell Sarah that she hasn't forgotten Sarah's request to be transferred to Washington D.C. (presumably so she could start a new assignment with Shaw full time). Beckman's decided that Chuck is capable of working as a spy without her as a handler; she invites Sarah to hop a ride to D.C. with her on her plane, leaving in an hour.

Back home, Ellie informs Chuck that she's going to help Devon follow his dream--she's headed with him to Africa and Doctors Without Borders. Devon pulls her aside and tells her he wants her to follow her dream--to take the fellowship position. The newlyweds each want their partner happy.

Back in Casey's apartment, Chuck tries to help the former spy settle into his new civilian life. He tells Casey that he could still go back to Kathleen; she lives nearby. Casey stands by his decision--and tells Chuck he needs to make his own decision about Sarah.