All in the Family

Count me among those who never saw it coming.  Until Chuck was on the floor watching him bleed, I had absolutely no clue that the elder Bartowski was not going to live past this season's stellar finale.  But before we get to that fateful moment, we should back-up and take a look at what led up to the face-off between Chuck and super baddie Shaw.  We learned during the previous episode that Shaw was still alive, at least, we assumed as much after seeing him from behind and then seeing his picture on the screen as he gained access to the Intersect.  This, of course, also let us know that he had the Intersect inside his head.  This meant one thing: his brain was slowly being fried just like Chuck's and he, too, needed the one thing that could stop that process.  Chuck's father had that one thing and the knowledge to build more.  Thus, the showdown was set.


Thankfully, Chuck's dad was able to build a "Governor" for his son's Intersect 2.0.  As soon as Chuck put the watch on, the adverse effects of the Intersect began to cease.  Things were looking up.  But, they soon took a turn for the worse.  After being "gaslighted" by Shaw and other high-ranking members of the CIA who were also Ring agents, Chuck, Sarah and General Beckman wound up in CIA custody.  Chuck's dad got him out, but a phone call from Morgan brought him back to Burbank to save Sarah and Casey.  Morgan and Devon got them loose while Chuck and his father snuck into a secret Ring base to find out what was going on with Shaw and co.  Shaw found them and a showdown between the Intersects was about to begin.  Shaw decided to increase his chances by causing Chuck to be emotional (and therefore, unable to flash onto one of the Intersect's abilities), so he shot and killed the elder Bartowski!  So.  Not.  COOL!!  I'm going to miss him, and I'm wondering who's going to help Chuck with his Intersect issues in the future?

Meanwhile, Chuck bumped into Ellie at the CIA, and the encounter led to him telling her about his spy life.  Finally!  Devon isn't the only one happy to have Ellie in on the Bartowski family secret.  She needed to know, and she was able to help them since she had been (unknowingly) in contact with a member of the Ring.  There was just one little problem -- Ellie made Chuck promise to quit the spy world after completion of the Shaw mission.  And he agreed.  Now, I don't think for a second that Chuck is going to give up being a spy, so this means that he'll be lying to her once again when things resume next season.

And speaking of next season... it looks like Chuck is going to be trying to locate a different parent: HIS MOTHER!  The Bartowski that we have yet to meet or hear much about is alive and well and just might be somehow involved in the family secret.  Chuck's dad told him in his video spy will that he had done everything for her.  Chuck found his father's secret basement chamber and that led to him finding the charm from his mother's bracelet.  It looks like this family act is about to expand.  You know what they say... a family who spies together, stays together!  Can't wait to meet Mrs. Bartowski next season!!

Chuck will return to Monday nights next season on NBC.  If you missed this week's finale, you can watch it for free at Hulu.com.