Chuck Versus the Broken Heart

Chuck Versus the Broken Heart
Season 02, Episode 18

Air Date	March 30, 2009
Writer	Chris Fedak
Director	Jeremiah Chechik
Previous	Chuck Versus the Predator
Next	Chuck Versus the Dream Job

"For you it's a job. For me, it's my life."

―Chuck

Chuck Versus The Broken Heart is the eighteenth episode in season two, which aired on March 30, 2009. It is the thirty-first episode overall.

Synopsis[]

Concerned that Sarah has developed an emotional attachment to Chuck, General Beckman sends Agent Alex Forrest (Tricia Helfer) to assess Sarah's job performance, and to act as Chuck's temporary handler. During a mission, the team steals Devon's hospital key card, despite Chuck's objections, in order to plant a bug in the pacemaker of an Afghan terrorist. Their plan backfires, however, when the terrorist's personal physician discovers the bug, they kidnap Chuck, thinking he is the surgeon responsible. Sarah, after being dismissed by Beckman, discovers Chuck is missing and helps Casey and Forrest to rescue him. Noting that their close relationship may be an asset, Beckman reinstates Sarah as Chuck's handler. Having located Chuck's long-absent father, Sarah takes Chuck to meet him.

Full Story[]

The episode begins with Chuck returning to his apartment after work. He's ambushed before he can get in the door by three masked figures, but Casey interrupts them before they can take him away and forces them to unmask. They are revealed to be Morgan, Jeff and Lester, who are rehearsing kidnapping Devon for his bachelor party; to which, Chuck reminds them, they're not even invited. Casey chases them off with a blast from a hose, while Chuck goes home. At 2 AM, he is looking over The Intersect information Orion provided him, when General Beckman contacts him through his computer. She questions Chuck on the nature of his and Sarah's relationship, but when Chuck tries to tell her they're strictly professional, she shows him surveillance footage of him confessing how he feels to Sarah. Beckman advises him she's instituting a "49-B."

The next morning when Chuck wakes up, Devon comes knocking on his door Chuck with a health shake, which he refuses. He sees a note on Chuck's computer screen remarking that his conference with General Beckman has ended, and Chuck attempts to cover it saying it's part of a video game with Morgan. Devon asks if Morgan is "General Beckman," who is Chuck? Chuck says, "Special Agent Carmichael." This triggers a conference call with Beckman, and when Awesome turns his back, Chuck promptly turns off the tv before he can see it.

Chuck goes to the Orange Orange to advise Sarah of what happened, but he is surprised to find another woman working the counter, on whom he flashes. In a briefing with Beckman in Castle, Sarah tells Chuck that the new agent, Alexandra Forrest, has been assigned to evaluate her, and will be temporarily taking over her role as Chuck's CIA handler.

Beckman then explains that their next mission is to investigate a suspected Afghani terrorist, Rashad Ahmad, receiving heart surgery in the US, as he is a link to their leader Hassan Khalid's whereabouts in the cavernous region on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan; Casey and Forrest simultaneously announce their desire to find Khalid. More importantly, Chuck has to use his "unique skill set" to identify the terrorists. Chuck tries inquiring about the 49-B, but Sarah says that to discuss the matter further would be a breach of protocol.

When Chuck and Casey return to the Buy More, Chuck tries discussing what's going on. Casey guesses that he wants to talk about his feelings and then scolds Chuck, reminding that his feelings are what got the 49B involved in the first place. As Casey leaves, Chuck's co-workers approach him to plead their case for a chance to be invited to Devon's bachelor party, as they have never been to one. Chuck says no. Morgan tries suggesting that they use the Buy More for the party, as it is better than his mother's place and make some quick cash but Chuck refuses.

Chuck goes to the Orange Orange to ask Sarah if Forrest knows about him being the Intersect. No, and won't unless her position becomes permanent. Chuck tries apologizing for getting the 49B invoked but Sarah says that it's okay. He then half jokes about Sarah helping him find his father with Castle data bank. Sarah says that what he's asking is impossible. Forrest enters saying that doing so would result in Sarah being fired and face charges for misusing government resources.

Moving on to the mission, the plan is to affix a GLG-4000 bug in Ahmad's pacemaker before it is implanted. That way, they can track even in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan. However, the hospital where Ahmad is staying is Westside Medical, where Chuck's sister and Devon work. Sarah assures Chuck that they've checked; Ellie is not working, and Devon is in surgery. As the team heads in, Forrest orders Sarah to remain in the van, while Chuck, Forrest, and Casey infiltrate as staff. Chuck is uncomfortable with Forrest willing to tranq even the most harmless person. Worse, Ellie's shifts were shuffled, and she was in the hospital and came close to noticing Chuck and Forrest, when one nurse called Ellie to return her pen. Chuck narrowly avoids his sister by ducking into a patient room with Forrest, where he flashes on two men: the patient, and his personal physician Dr. Mohamed Zamir, confirming their intelligence report. While Chuck delays them, Casey attempts, but fails, to break into the hospital secure area. Forrest suggests stealing the ID badge of one of the doctors, and zeroes in on Devon in spite of Chuck's objections. Unable to dissuade them, he does manage to convince them on a plan to lift his ID using Devon's bachelor party. Therefore, he agrees to his co-workers' proposal and they kidnap Devon as he is leaving the hospital and bring him to the Buy More. The plan is to make Devon drunk enough to slip his key card off him.

Meanwhile, in Castle, Forrest tells Beckman that Sarah's performance is compromised by her personal feelings for Chuck. Sarah is summarily recalled to Langley, and Forrest is assigned to take her place. Sarah is upset but seems to accept the General's decision. Forrest refuses to allow her to say her goodbyes to Chuck. Sarah then takes advantage of her access to help Chuck's search for his father by secretly searching the CIA database for his location as a parting gift. She then packs up her belongings for the trip back east.

Back at the Buy More, Casey picks Devon's pocket but he doesn't have his key card in his wallet. Forrest disguises herself as a stripper with a police officer routine at the party and takes Devon into the Buy More Home Theater room, cuffed. He refuses to participate, so she tranquilizes him and steals his ID. Chuck is very upset about her high-handed manner, Forrest refuses to listening to him. He threatens to call Beckman and tell her he won't work with anyone but Sarah, but Forrest informs him that she has been assigned as his new handler.

Next morning, Beckman congratulates the team for a job well done. Chuck tries cutting in, asking why the government would just send Sarah away, why he was lied to. Beckman responds that they disclosed any information that was pertinent to him, before signing off.

Meanwhile, as Devon wakes up from the tranquilizer's effect, he notices that his key card is gone. Tensions grow between him and Ellie, when it appears he had taken his shirt off at the party, and she wonders why. A trip to the Buy More to question Morgan ends with her seeing pictures of Devon, unconscious, with Forrest, taken by Lester, who was told by Morgan not to do so.

Meanwhile, Zamir discovers the bug planted in Ahmad. Checking the lists, he determines that Devon, the surgeon of record, had planted it. Chuck sees his men arrive at the apartment and takes Devon's place when they come to apprehend him. Worse, Zamir's scanner determines his watch to be government issue and throws it away.

While Sarah is on the road, her search for Stephen Bartowski returns results, and she decides to immediately return to Burbank to tell Chuck what she found. She arrives after Chuck has been abducted and is about to leave him a note when she sees his phone lying on his bed. Knowing that he never goes anywhere without it, Sarah immediately returns to Castle, but her access has been revoked. She signals Casey and warns him that Chuck is missing. Casey realizes that she's right and outright disagrees with Forrest, stating that Sarah was the best partner he ever had, and lets her in. Forrest attempts to overrule her because Chuck's watch's GPS transponder places him in his apartment's courtyard. Sarah activates their surveillance cameras: his watch is at the bottom of the fountain. Determining that the sudden cease of Ahmad's bug is no coincidence, they track them to a bank vault, which Zamir is using to shield the bug while forcing Chuck, who he believes is Devon, to operate and remove it.

Chuck tries to stall, but when Sarah, Forrest, and Casey come to rescue him, they accidentally give his identity away and Zamir tries to kill him, knocking over a tank of nitrous oxide which Casey sees as they arrive at the vault shortly before Zamir seals the door. Forrest wants to blow the vault open, but the blast could ignite the nitrous and kill Chuck. Sarah works on cracking the combination lock while the others try to convince Chuck to open the door. Chuck and Zamir, however, are high on the gas and the former refuses to budge until Forrest brings Sarah back. Zamir complements his desire to stand his ground, comparing him to Khalid. Chuck then gets Zamir to tell him where Khalid is located. Sarah succeeds in opening the vault and rescues Chuck. Chuck asks her if she is really here or is he really stoned. She answers "both."

Later in a debriefing, Chuck speaks up for Sarah, and Casey backs him. Beckman reluctantly admits that Chuck and Sarah's relationship makes them more effective together, rather than acting as a liability. Forrest is recalled, and Sarah is reactivated as Chuck's CIA handler.

Chuck tries to return Devon's ID, but Ellie discovers him attempting to stow it in Devon's bag. She assumes that he's covering for Devon's indiscretion, but he swears nothing had happened at the party. Chuck then goes to speak with Sarah, feeling that his life is screwed up by being involved with the government, how he hates lying to those he loves, and how hurt they are by his involvement with the government. Sarah decides the government should repay him by leading him to his father.

Quotes[]

Casey: I disagree with your assessment.

Agent Alex Forrest: About what?

Casey: Walker. She's a pro. Not only that, she's the best damn partner I ever had!

~

Chuck [on nitrous oxide]: Think about it, lady bugs can't all be ladies, then how would we get little lady bugs?

~

Chuck [to Casey and Forrest]: Wow, you two are a match made in a very frightening part of heaven.

Nerd Notes[]

Rashad Ahmad uses the alias Harry Lime which was the name of the antagonist of a classic 1949 film noir called The Third Man, adapted from the novel of the same name.