| Chuck Versus the Zoom | |
| Season 5, Episode 01 | |
 | |
| Air Date | October 28, 2011 |
| Writer | Chris Fedak and Nicholas Wootton |
| Director | Robert Duncan McNeill |
| Previous | Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger |
| Next | Chuck Versus the Bearded Bandit |
Chuck Versus the Zoom is the premiere episode of Chuck's final season, which aired on October 28, 2011.
Synopsis
After Carmichael Industries first mission – to recover a stolen vase which has a microchip inside from a vicious thief (Mark Hamill) – goes slightly awry, Chuck and the team go up against Roger Bale (Craig Kilborn), a man who steals secrets from other villains.
Meanwhile, Chuck attempts to buy a new house for Sarah, and Decker (Richard Burgi) continues to hunt the team with one of his own.
Details
This episode is set months after Chuck and Sarah's Wedding. It mostly involves the now freelance Team Bartowski and the newly renovated Castle, as they contemplate hiring for new members.[1] Mark Hamill has also been cast as a villain in the premiere.[2]
Plot
Main Story
The story begins with Sarah joining Chuck Bartowski on a balcony at the edge of a tall cliff. Chuck, Sarah, and Casey are about to be forced to jump off the cliff when Morgan arrives, flashes on martial arts skills, and takes out the henchmen. The vase that Casey attempted to steal is recovered, but Morgan accidentally drops it and it shatters.
Back at Carmichael Industries, Morgan attempts to reconstruct the vase, but fails miserably. As it turns out, the real objective was a microchip hidden in the vase for an unknown client and the vase was to be the team's consultation prize. Sarah confronts Chuck about how he overspends and how they only have 42 million dollars left (of the 877 million left them by Hartley and Vivian, a.k.a. the Volkoffs), especially with the money Morgan wastes on exotic shrimp.
The next client Carmichael Industries gets is Woodley, portrayed by Ethan Phillips, whom Casey brought to castle blindfolded and gagged with duck-tape. Woodley asks that they steal back money from a Roger Bale, who has embezzled from a lot of people, and promises 20% of the money for the team. Chuck and Morgan go on a recon mission at Bale's hideout. Morgan flashes, or as he decides to term, zoom, on Bale's bag and learns that he goes to the Kensington Athletics club.
Chuck meets with Ellie in Castle, who assures him that there was only one upload left in the Intersect glasses given them by Beckman. Ellie tells her brother that the Intersect didn't make him a spy, but gave him an opportunity.
Team Bartowski then start discussing a plan to infiltrate Bale's upcoming party. Much to Chuck's dismay, Morgan goes in to zoom on squash moves, as Chuck hasn't played the sport in some time, to get close to Bale. Casey then uploads a virus to Bale's Blackberry while Chuck distracts his bodyguard during his massage. Though Morgan succeeds in getting himself and Sarah invited, Chuck sets off alarm bells with the bodyguard after spotting his (Chuck's) tranq gun. And worse, the bodyguard is resistant to multiple tranq darts and tussles with Chuck, before Casey arrives and knocks his opponent out.
Morgan, Sarah and Casey then go to the party and access Bale's electronic accounts. But just as Chuck is about to transfer the money, he is interrupted by Clyde Decker, who hijacks his hack and freezes all the money, alerting Bale to the heist. With his team captured and Morgan knocked out and therefore unable to zoom, Chuck frantically tries coming up with a plan. Hearing that Bale's computers are having trouble, Chuck goes in as a Nerd Herder to help. But as he had seen the computer systems, Bale decides to have him killed. However, Chuck threatens to destroy all of Bale's money and bring in the CIA if he doesn't let his team go. He then tells everyone on the radio to leave. But when they get to the van, they discover video messages from Chuck instructing them how to engineer his escape. Following the instructions, they turn off the power in Bale Industries from a second, allowing Chuck to run away before "catching" him after he jumps out a window.
At Castle, it is revealed that Bale has been arrested, though Decker had foiled their mission, including having frozen their Volkoff assets, leaving them with nothing but the Buy More and Castle.
Going out for some air, Chuck wanders to the house he was intending to buy for himself and Sarah. His wife finds and comforts him, reminding him that he's still their leader and they can still get new clients to support their team. They then realize that they could all appropriate the profits the Buy More makes to fund themselves. But as they hug, they are unaware that they are under surveillance. It is Decker, who is meeting a cabal of CIA agents and tells them that their interference in Chuck's life has just begun. He declares that they must ensure that he fails and declares that it final chapter for Team Bartowski.
Chuck and Sarah
Chuck and Morgan had been conspiring to keep their plans to buy a house for Chuck and Sarah a secret from the former's wife. But their secret does not stay hidden for long. Sarah dresses up in a seductive pose and breaks Chuck and then takes the planning binder from Morgan. After looking through the potential housing, Sarah admits to Chuck that she dreams of a white house with a red door and picket fence. At the end of the episode, Chuck is revealed to have found the perfect place, but with Decker having frozen his Volkoff accounts, he can't afford it.
Buy More
As soon as both Chuck and Morgan are out of sight, Lester raises a "Save Jeff Barnes" banner over the Nerd Herd sign. The duo later find out that Jeff is faking being a paraplegic so he and Lester can scam their customers out of money. Unfortunately for them, Jeff is tricked into getting up from his wheelchair. Chuck and Morgan then put a stop to their scam and return all the money.
Known casts
Supporting
- Mark Christopher Lawrence as Big Mike
- Ryan McPartlin as Captain Awesome
- Sarah Lancaster as Ellie Woodcomb
- Scott Krinsky as Jeffrey Barnes
- Vik Sahay as Lester Patel
Guest stars
Trivia
- Mark Hamill makes a cameo appearance as a villain forcing two hostages off a cliff. Craig Kilborn guest stars as Roger Bale, a dangerous man who steals secrets from other villains.
- Team Bartowski freelance company is revealed to be named "Carmichael Industries".
- Ethan Phillips, Neelix from Star Trek: Voyager, plays Carmichael Industries' client.
- In DC comics Zoom is an enemy to The Flash, referencing the future story arc between Morgan and Chuck's friendship.
- "Zoom" is Morgan's preferred term instead of the "Flash" used by Chuck.
- Sarah's "perfect house" is also the house from Scarecrow & Mrs. King, which, aside from sharing Bruce Boxleitner (known to this wiki as Woody Woodcomb), has an oddly similar base concept to Chuck: average citizen slowly becomes a spy and ends up falling in love with/marrying the agent assigned to protect them.
Music
- Devil’s Music - Teddybears
- Ice Cream - New Young Pony Club
- Take My Hand and Lead Me Home - Simian Ghost
- Pucho’s Descarga - Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers
- He Regresado - En La Palma Orchestra
- The Honest Truth - Typhoon