CHUCK Season 2 Episode 5 - Chuck Versus the Tom Sawyer

CHUCK SEASON 2 - EPISODE 05



Efficiency expert Emmett Milbarge pays the Buy More a visit to inspect the branch, while a global terrorist looks for Jeff. Chuck needs to socialize with Jeff to find out about his connection to the terrorist. Finally, it all comes down to video games and the prevention of World War III.

Read episode recap - Below


Cast and Crew

Writer: Phil Klemmer

Director: Norman Buckley

Star: Zachary Levi (Chuck Bartowski), Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah Walker), Joshua Gomez (Morgan Pace), Adam Baldwin (Major John Casey), Sarah Lancaster (Ellie Bartowski), Ryan McPartlin (Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb), Julia Ling (Anna Wu), Mark Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike), Vik Sahay (Lester), Scott Krinsky (Jeff).

Recurring Role: Bonita Friedericy (General Beckman), Tony Hale (Emmett Milbarge)

Guest Star: Clyde Kusatsu (Mr. Morimoto), Faran Tahir (Farrokh Bulsara), Mitchell Fink (Airman)


Featured Music:
"All Out Of Love" by Air Supply (Jeff's montage of Anna)
"On Sale Now" by Daniel May
"Council Estate" by Tricky (Sarah in a Nerd Herd disguise)
"Tom Sawyer" by Rush (Mr. Morimoto plays "Missile Command")
"At The Checkout Counter" by Billy Martin
"The Touch" by Stan Bush (The gang prepares for the game)
"Tom Sawyer" by Rush (Chuck plays "Missile Command")
"Sleepdriving" by Grand Archives (Chuck and Sarah share a moment)
"Tom Sawyer" by Rush (Jeff plays "Missile Command")


Episode Recap



Episode 205 | Season 2 | 10/27/2008


In the Buy More employee break room, Jeff daydreams about his glorious past - and the day 25 years ago when he won the Missile Command Championship 25. His reminiscence is rudely interrupted by Big Mike calling everyone to the sales floor immediately, even Chuck, who is apparently late for work.



Chuck, rushing to get dressed for work, realizes he is still wearing part of his disguise from the previous night's assignment. As he gets ready to leave the apartment, he's cornered by Ellie and Awesome with questions about when he's going to move on from the Buy More and make something of himself. They remind him of the potential he showed at Stanford before he was kicked out for cheating.



Big Mike announces to the staff that they've been slacking - but that those days are over. He introduces Emmett Milbarge, a corporate efficiency expert who, Mike explains, has been hired to "tighten your slack asses up." Emmett commences a series of one-on-one interviews, each of which begins with the question, "Why do you belong at Buy More?"



As Chuck begins his interview, he flashes on a tough guy in the store: radioactive material and a bomb. Chuck scurries for the protection of Casey, but is caught by the thug who wants to know where to find Chuck's co-worker, Jeff. Chuck tells him Jeff doesn't work there, then heads to Castle for a briefing with General Beckman, Casey and Sarah. They identify the thug as Farrokh Bulsarra, a terrorist trafficking in nuclear material, but don't know what his connection to Jeff is. Chuck is tasked with hanging out with Jeff.



Hanging in the home theatre room drinking lots of beer and playing videogames, Chuck tells Jeff about the guy who was looking for him earlier. Jeff explains that he was famous in an earlier life and produces a videotape showcasing his Missile Command success. As Jeff passes out next to him, Chuck flashes while watching the tape: a Japanese videogame designer, a nuclear power plant, and a death star satellite. Casey bursts in - terrorists are outside trying to get into the store to capture Jeff, so they sneak him out the back.



Sarah is at Chuck's apartment having a girl-to-girl talk with Sarah about Chuck's future. As Sarah explains to Ellie that, despite appearances, Chuck really is really a mature and responsible guy, Chuck staggers in with a drunken Jeff slung over his shoulder.



The next day Chuck, Casey, and Sarah learn that Maury Moto, the Japanese videogame developer that Chuck flashed on, not only developed the Missile Command game, he was also working on a killer satellite that's still in orbit. Their mission is to pose as Nerd Herders to infiltrate Moto Industries and secure the satellite before the terrorists can take control of it.



Casey and Chuck are rebuffed when they try to enter the company. In a company filled with gaming geeks, two computer repair specialists are laughed at. "Why don't you go help an old lady log onto to AOL or something?" snickers one of the staffers. Enter Sarah, cute as a bug in her Nerd Herd outfit, and somehow the workers are more than ready to have their computers checked out. Chuck and Casey sneak into the interior of Moto to unlock a secret arcade chamber - only to come face to face with Farrokh, who locks him inside and leaves.



As a recorded voice booms, "You should not have come here!" Chuck explores the room to find an aged Maury Moto, creator of Missile Command at a super high-tech gaming console rigged with explosives. The terrorists have extracted codes from him that will allow them to control his death star satellite. Maury Moto explains because the codes were too complex to remember and comprehend, he has hidden them inside the final screen of Missile Command - a level no one has ever been able to reach. He explains to Chuck that the incredible mathematical complexity is for him the "music of the universe." As Casey bursts in to spirit them to safety, Maury Moto is left behind and the entire chamber explodes in a huge fireball.



Chuck, Sarah, and Casey return to Castle where general Beckman explains that because the terrorists now have control of the death star satellite and could start World War III, she plans to use an Air Force missile to shoot the satellite down over California, causing "acceptable human casualties." Chuck reminds them of the code locked inside Missile Command and proposes to have Jeff play the game through to the end to retrieve it, then they will disarm the satellite and prevent the bloodshed. Beckman agrees to let him try, but tells Casey that he is to coordinate the missile attack on the satellite if Chuck cannot unlock the final screen and retrieve the code in time.



Jeff agrees to come out of Missile Command retirement to try to set a new personal best: getting to the mythical "kill" screen that marks the game's final level (and where the code is hidden). His demands include his favorite arcade machine, Anna wearing a hula skirt, and a hundred fans gathered round him at the Buy More to watch him. Casey agrees to make it happen. Chuck flashes on a TV test pattern that tells him where the terrorists are hiding out: a local TV station where they'll use a satellite uplink to control the death star.



As a crowd gathers to watch the legendary Jeff Barnes play, he crumples to the floor, a victim of too much pressure and too many nights. With some urging from Morgan, Chuck steps up to the challenge. Game on.



Sarah has located the terrorists at the TV station and fought her way in; Casey is readying the launch sequence for the satellite destroying missile. All eyes are on Chuck, but the game proves to be almost impossible. Complicating matters, efficiency expert Milbarge is doing his best to shut down the exhibition altogether. Finally, Chuck's base is destroyed and the crowd at the Buy More goes silent... and then begins booing Chuck.



Suddenly Chuck remembers his conversation with Maury Moto about the complexity of the codes and the game. He asks Morgan to track down a Rush CD from the store. Morgan obliges and the Buy More is soon filled with the strains of "Tom Sawyer." Inspired by the musical patterns that seem to follow a mathematical logic, Chuck is able to crack the final levels of the game and get to the vaunted death screen that reveals the hidden codes. He contacts Sarah, who has overtaken the terrorists, and relays the codes to her - just in time to avert Casey's prescribed missile launch.



Later at the Buy More, big Mike announces that he's so pleased with Emmett's progress with the staff, that he's appointed him new assistant manager and invited him to stick around for "as long as it takes."



Back at his apartment, Chuck is greeted warmly by his sister, Ellie. She congratulates Chuck and says she now understands why he's been such a mess this past year. Chuck's a bit confused and then Ellie produces a diploma from Stanford - Chuck's diploma. She's impressed that Chuck was able to complete his degree while also holding down his job at the Buy More. Chuck, still confused, is gracious. Later Sarah explains that she and Casey had decided that in light of Chuck's outstanding service and application of himself, they were able to convince Stanford that his practical studies warranted credit in lieu of coursework - enough for him to graduate with a B.S. in electrical engineering.