All images © NBC

[Ed. Note--Xavier, one of our awesome interns, will be writing recaps of Chuck for The Yeti. SPOILER ALERT, duh.]

The episode begins with someone breaking into a vault, to steal something.

It’s a mask.

But before the thief steals the mask, the support beam holding the thief’s harness begins to come loose and one of the screws falls out

The thief tries to grab the screw before it drops to the ground but barely misses it.

The screw falls to the floor and sets off the security system. The thief tries to escape through the hole in the ceiling, but the doors close and the thief is stuck.

The thief takes off his mask and reveals himself to be CIA agent Daniel Shaw. He calls Casey and the others to get him out of the vault.

Back in the Buy More, Hannah wants Chuck to be her mentor. They banter back and forth and Chuck finally agrees to let Hannah ride shotgun on the next install he has to do. In the distance, Sarah walks into the store and Chuck tells Hannah he will be right back. Sarah informs Chuck about Shaw’s predicament while Hannah watches from the background. Morgan appears behind Hannah and she asks him who Chuck is talking to.

Morgan says that is Chuck’s ex, Sarah. Chuck returns to the Nerd Herd booth to grab his bag and runs out saying, “Gotta run, Nerd Herd emergency!”

A baffled Morgan replies, “What the, I didn’t get the call… I would know… I’m the boss…”

Hannah follows Chuck out of the Buy More too, unbeknownst to Chuck.

Chuck arrives at an art museum (which looks alarmingly like the Command Center from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Turns out both shows used the House of the Book as an exterior shot. The more you know!)

From Chuck:

From MMPR

When Chuck goes inside, Casey informs him about his mission- to restart the museum’s computer server before the room where Shaw is trapped runs out of oxygen. Chuck is hesitant, saying the museum isn’t just going to let him waltz onto their server when Casey reveals to Chuck he crashed it.

Chuck reaches the computer room and is greeted by the curator.

The curator is freaking out about the computer’s lockdown, because the computers control everything in the museum. If they stop working the art could be damaged due to the temperature changes normally controlled by the computer.

Meanwhile, Sarah and Casey go above the room Shaw is in to try and open it manually from above.

Casey wants to blow the door open but Sarah says the blast could hurt Shaw.

Back in the computer room, Hannah shows up.

“Surprise!” The two get to work on resetting the server.

Running out of air, Shaw tells Sarah and Casey to just blow the door open.

“No don’t!”

“Don’t do that…computer. I talk to them because sometimes I feel like it helps,” Chuck says as the curator and Hannah look at him strangely. They reboot the server and Shaw is lifted to safety. Chuck and Hannah embrace each other, excited about their successful outcome. The curator is so impressed with their work that he tells them about the art exhibit opening the following evening. Chuck begins to decline the invitation but the curator informs them it is not an invitation but a job opening. The curator wants to hire Chuck and Hannah to make sure no more bugs or computer mishaps occur during the unveiling of the Mask of Alexander (the artifact Shaw was trying to steal). Shaw tells Chuck to take the job so the group can go back in under cover and steal the mask.

After the opening credits, Shaw brings Sarah a cup of coffee, hinting at a potential romance between the two. [Ed. Note--These are not your grandparents' sexual innuendos!] Sarah is reluctant to Shaw’s advance thus far. Chuck and Casey enter the fort and Shaw briefs everyone about the mask. He believes the Ring are using said mask and other stolen artifacts to smuggle items throughout the world, since artifacts “do not have to go through a screening process” (this is TV, after all). Shaw then assigns everyone roles for the upcoming mission: Chuck is in the computer room as noted already, Casey is on surveillance duty, and Sarah and Shaw will be people attending the art opening as guests, posing as a couple.

Morgan and Ellie meet at Ellie’s place.

Morgan believes that Chuck’s new erratic behavior is a way of protecting them. Ellie is skeptical but Morgan brings up “the dark place,” referring to Chuck after one of his other exes broke up with him.

Next we get a sequence that weaves through Chuck and Hannah preparing for their mission in the computer room of the museum to Shaw and Sarah’s preparations, first posing as guests and then going in to steal the mask while replacing it with a decoy.

While in the computer room, Hannah reveals that she has feelings for Chuck and then moves in for the kill

Bow chicka wow wow!

Hannah stops though, because she sees Sarah on the security monitor for the lobby of the museum.

Hannah confronts Chuck about Sarah and asks about their relationship. Chuck says it is completely over. Hannah is curious to know what reasons Sarah would have to be at the museum other than to make Chuck jealous with the date she brought (Shaw). Chuck looks over at the security monitor again and has a flash when he sees this guy:

Chuck rushes out of the computer room and into the lobby. He tells Sarah and Shaw about The Ring agent he flashed on, Vassilis. Shaw says they have to abort the mission because he and Vassilis have a history. When Sarah asks if Shaw is sure Vassilis would remember him, Shaw says, “You tend to remember the guy who set your face on fire.” Shaw withdraws himself from the mission to not get the group’s cover blown. Chuck and Sarah go back to the room from earlier where Casey and Sarah tried to rescue Shaw. During that whole time, Hannah watched the group’s conversation and saw Chuck run off with Sarah, leading her to believe there is still something going on between them.

Chuck sends a bug into the computer system to keep Hannah busy while he and Sarah try to steal the mask. The curator starts berating Hannah about the whole thing as she tries to fix the problem. While in the room above the vault, Chuck hoists Sarah down into the vault so she can steal the mask and put in the decoy. While holding Sarah, Chuck is attacked by one of Vassilis’ henchmen, which sends him into the vault and Sarah back up. As the clock moves closer and closer to 8 PM, when the mask is supposed to be unveiled, Hannah works harder to fix the problem so the vault will open. From the van outside, Casey and Shaw work to keep Hannah busy. Hannah proves to be adept at fixing bugs because she keeps trumping the problems that come her way.

Chuck is still trying to switch the masks..but the vault doors begin to open.

Shaw manages to close the doors using a back-door connection through Chuck’s laptop (the one Hannah is using to fix these problems). The crowd gathered outside the vault are now confused.

Chuck finally manages to switch the masks.

The team returns to Castle (the CIA base under the yogurt store), except for Chuck, who goes to talk to Hannah. She yells at him for leaving her alone on her first Nerd Herd assignment and is upset that he lied to her about he and Sarah not being “finished.” Chuck says that he and Sarah have a very “unique” relationship. Hannah is upset that she kissed Chuck and says from here on out they should just keep things professional.

The next morning Ellie and Morgan talk about the whole Chuck situation. Morgan thinks that instead of all the sneaking around they should just confront Chuck straight up and talk to him about it. Chuck interrupts the two and Morgan ends up chickening out on asking Chuck what he’s been doing lately.

Back in the museum, Vassilis watches the security tapes of what happened the previous night. He realizes he can get the mask back by using Hannah. Vassilis calls the Nerd Herd and asks them to send Hannah because the museum is still having computer problems.

Hannah arrives at the museum and meets with Vassilis. She asks where the curator is and Vassilis replies that he is “tied up” (isn’t wordplay FUN?) Vassilis lures Hannah into the vault, shuts the doors, and triggers the security system to the oxygen begins draining slowly. (Just like Shaw’s predicament earlier in the episode, callbacks HEY-OH!)

Vassilis calls the Nerd Herd again and tells Chuck to bring him the mask or Hannah dies. Morgan tries to approach Chuck about all this weird behavior but Chuck runs out to get to the museum. Morgan follows him into the home theatre room but Chuck has gone through a secret hatch in the floor that connects the Buy More to Castle.

In Castle, Sarah and Shaw are trying to figure out if the mask has anything in it when the discover a secret hatch at the bottom. A canister rolls out of it and goes off which fills the room with smoke.

The smoke is revealed to be a poison called clyclosarin. Chuck flashes on the name and discovers there is a cure that can be inhaled. Chuck and Casey head back to the museum to retrieve the counter agent while saving Hannah in the process. Chuck uses a smoke grenade on Vassilis and his men, since Vassilis doesn’t the original poison canister already went off.

Back in Castle, Shaw and Sarah have a RealTalk <3-to-<3.

Shaw wants to clear the air between them in case they don’t survive being poisoned and admits he has been making moves on Sarah. Sarah admits she has been overreacting to his advances and also admits she has enjoyed being hit on. The computer monitors indicate that the contamination has been contained. The poison is having more of an effect on Sarah, so Shaw carries her out of Castle and into a car where they head to the museum.

In the museum, Chuck presents the decoy mask to Vassilis and his men. Vassilis says that Hannah must die because The Ring is not so forgiving of Chuck stealing the mask. Chuck says he will deploy the weapon if they refuse to let Hannah free. Vassilis thinks Chuck is bluffing so Chuck drops the mask. The grenade goes off and Vassilis’ henchmen freak out, thinking they are poisoned. Vassilis says the counter agent is in one of the vases in the museum. Chuck flashes on the correct vase, since it was stolen, and uses it to knock out Vassilis.

Chuck heads to the computer room and releases Hannah before she runs out of oxygen. Sarah and Shaw arrive and Casey gives them the counter agent. Chuck runs into the vault to check on Hannah. She is happy to see Chuck and embraces him.

Back in Castle, Shaw thanks Chuck for his work. Shaw also tells Chuck that the team won’t always be together, and that Shaw, Casey, and Sarah were Chuck’s training wheels but it is apparent that Chuck will be able to ride solo soon.

Chuck is a little shocked at this revelation. As he is leaving Castle, Sarah talks to him to make sure he is alright. Chuck says he got used to everyone working as a team. Sarah says they aren’t going anywhere yet but the time is nearing. The two also talk about how each has a new romantic interest and both seem to be happy moving on.

Ellie meets Morgan at the Buy More late at night. Morgan notes that Chuck has been sneaking around somewhere in the store. They walk up to the home theatre room and both sneak a peak in.

They see Chuck, and he isn’t alone…

Ellie is thrilled about seeing Chuck with Hannah because it means he isn’t sulking over Sarah. Morgan is not so thrilled since he has feelings for Hannah.

Back in Castle, Shaw and Sarah’s relationship “begins to take shape.” Shaw begins giving Sarah a massage. She lets it happen, but notes, “We both know how dangerous this is”–referring to the fact that both of them had previously had relationships with their partners and both those partners had been killed in action.

The final scene shows Vassilis talking to The Ring.

Vassilis informs them that he saw Shaw at the museum and asks The Ring what they plan on doing. One of the members replies, “The same thing I’m going to do to you,” and then someone from the darkness emerges to kill Vassilis. The camera zooms out of the room and the episode ends.

Love was a prevalent theme in this episode, as it had a role in the budding romances of the episode–Chuck and Hannah, as well as Shaw and Sarah. The conversation towards the end of the episode between Chuck and Sarah was interesting, because it could mean they still have feelings for one another despite finding other love interests. The relationship between Morgan and Chuck is going to be interesting moving forward as well, since Morgan had a crush on Hannah, who is now with Chuck. Watching these relationships develop throughout the rest of the season should be fun.

One big looming question still remains: Who is The Ring? So far, we’ve only seen a shadowy board of figures that has problems with CIA agents. Thus far, we have no idea what their actual goal is. As the season unfolds, hopefully more and more about the Ring will become clear.

See you all next week!