| Chuck Versus the Final Exam | |
| Season 03, Episode 11 | |
 | |
| Air Date | March 22, 2010 |
| Writer | Zev Borow |
| Director | Robert Duncan McNeill |
| Previous | Chuck Versus the Tic Tac |
| Next | Chuck Versus the American Hero |
- "You know that giving away a government issue firearm is a felony, don't you? But it was a thoughtful felony."
- ― Casey
Chuck Versus the Final Exam is the eleventh episode of the third season of Chuck, which aired on March 22, 2010.
Synopsis[]
Chuck's fate as a spy rests on a single mission. He learns that his next solo mission will be a final test as to his ability to kill under orders, while Sarah and Shaw observe his every move.
Full Story[]
As the episode begins, Chuck corners a rogue agent fleeing through a train yard and aims a gun on him. The man pleads for his life, but Chuck warns him that he had his chance, and a shot rings out.
Fade to three days earlier, Chuck arrives in Castle after promising Casey to try and get him get reinstated, hoping to gain Sarah's support in convincing Beckman into doing so. As he arrives, however, Sarah, Shaw and Beckman advise him that he will be undergoing his final test - a solo mission to determine if he is ready to be a spy. The next morning, Sarah briefs him at his apartment with a computer message from Beckman. Chuck is to find an ex-FSB agent-turned information broker, Anatoli Zevlovski, who is contacting a mole within the CIA who is providing information to the Ring. Just after the message finishes, the computer emits smoke.
Chuck and Sarah meet to stakeout the hotel where Zevlovski is staying, and they nearly miss him when Chuck tries to talk with her about what happened in Prague and asks her for a second chance to be together. Chuck and Sarah are interrupted by Shaw, who orders Chuck to infiltrate the hotel where Zevlovski is waiting in the steam room with two of his men. A hotel clerk delivers a message to him, which Zevlovski crumples up and throws on the floor before leaving with his guards. As Chuck recovers it, the two goons spot him, but Chuck flashes and defeats them, before hurrying after Zevlovski. Chuck gains access to the hotel room next door to the mole's and slips out onto the balcony where he watches the mole dispatch Zevlovski. Chuck manages to get a glimpse of his face, and Shaw and Sarah who are watching on a feed from Chuck's glasses, identify him as CIA Agent, Hunter Perry.
The next morning, Chuck heads to Orange Orange to see Sarah, and she asks him to dinner which he happily accepts. They arrange to meet at a restaurant in Union Station later that evening. Chuck then tells an uncertain Casey he passed his spy test, and thanks him for the help he has given him. He then gives Casey back his government issue weapon, which he 'liberated' from Castle, "I don't think they're going to miss it down in Castle, do you?" When Sarah then arrives at Castle, Shaw reveals to her Chuck must now complete his Red Test by killing Perry. Sarah is horrified, she refuses to take part, not sure she even wants Chuck to be able to do such a thing. Shaw insists, that it's about what Chuck is capable of, not what she wants. Against Sarah's objections she is ordered to give Chuck the Red Test.
At the restaurant, Sarah tells Chuck they're not on a date, but that he has one final test, and tells him he must eliminate the mole to complete his test. Chuck, in turn, is horrified that he's being asked to kill. Sarah says it's his choice, and there can be no turning back. Sarah leaves and Perry arrives. As Sarah had warned Chuck, he is suspicious and quickly excuses himself to go to the bathroom. Chuck follows, and he and Perry engage in a brutal fight, which Chuck wins, a combat knife poised over the beaten man. He throws the knife down and retrieves his gun, and Perry tells him the Ring will kill him, and that if Chuck is there to kill him, he's no different than his enemy.
Chuck reacts to that, "I am not one of them. I will never be one of them. And for that very reason I am going to arrest you." Chuck walks Perry out and then Perry attempts to flee and Chuck chases him through the train station. Then Perry jumps a gate and exits into the train yard as seen in the beginning of the episode. Chuck fires a warning shot into the air, then eventually corners Perry when he trips and goes down. He once again hesitates, and Perry goes to draw his own gun. Then, as Chuck hesitates, Casey shoots Perry from the shadows, saving Chuck's life. Startled, Chuck turns to see him, but when Sarah arrives, she sees only Chuck with gun drawn and is stunned, believing Chuck went through with the assassination.
Later that evening, Casey warns Chuck not to tell anyone what happened; without government sanction, he has committed murder, and Chuck failed his test. Chuck tries to call Sarah to follow up on their conversation, but she refuses the call. When Shaw asks if she still loves Chuck, she tells him not anymore, fearing that Chuck will never be the same person again. She then tells Shaw of her life changing and emotionally scarring red test, where she was to kill a woman on a street in Paris. Sarah sees the woman grab for something, a weapon...? which results in Sarah firing. It was the worst night of her life.
At Echo Park, Chuck receives orders from Beckman to immediately fly to Washington D.C. to be inducted as an agent and receive his first official assignment, when a government contact arrives to take him to the airport.
Meanwhile, Casey is experiencing difficulties readjusting to civilian life following his dismissal. He assaults Jeff and Lester when he catches the two goofing off at the store, and despite his threats, they intend to sue him and the store. Big Mike takes it upon himself to rein Casey in an attempt to help him smooth over his "jagged edges" with a new suit, and by apologizing to his coworkers. Big Mike mediates between them, and Jeff and Lester agree to drop the lawsuit after humiliating Casey by making him buy them lunch, and bonding with him by sharing a "tunaroni" sandwich with Jeff.
Guest Stars[]
- Brandon Routh as Daniel Shaw
- Bonita Friedericy as General Diane Beckman
- Kyle Bornheimer as Hunter Perry
- Andrew Kirsanov as Anatoli Zevlovski
Quotes[]
- Chuck: I thought I'd take a second to see how you're adjusting to civilian life. Apparently not so great.
- Casey: Baby steps.
- Chuck: More like baby kicks to the groin. We gotta get you reinstated, buddy. Without a license to kill, you are menace to society.
~
- Chuck: Why did you do it?
- Casey: Because you weren't going to. You're not a killer, Chuck.
- Chuck: Thanks.
~
- Chuck: You're going to miss me in DC, you know that right?
- Sarah: I know.
Trivia[]
- When Chuck plays Hall and Oats' "Private Eyes" on his iPod, Sarah recalls it as a song from their first stakeout in "Chuck Versus the Sizzling Shrimp" but in that episode, Sarah was not in the car when the song started playing.
- After Chuck receives his missions, the video players self-destruct in an homage to Mission: Impossible.
- Anatoli uses the alias "Ivan Drago", a character in the Rocky films who was played by Dolph Lundgren. Chuck obviously recognized the reference commenting “Ivan Drago? Seriously?” Dolph Lundgren later guest stars as Marco in "Chuck Versus the Anniversary".
- This is the last episode in which the Orange Orange is seen, and also the last episode in which Sarah is seen working there or in her uniform, although it presumably remains her cover for the remainder of the season.
Music[]
- Rogue Wave – “Permalight”
- Austin Hartley-Leonard – “In My Sleep”
- Hall and Oats – “Private Eyes”