The episode opens with Morgan walking slo-mo into Buy More, avoiding multiple booby traps set by his former compadres – except for the last one. The sales staff rebellion, newly-organized by the resentful Lester leaves him glued to a chair in the break room. Chuck is on the sales floor, trying to get information on Shaw from Casey. It turns out that when a CIA special agent takes charge of an operation, the first thing he does is conduct a review. Chuck goes into defensive spasms but is called to Castle where, to his surprise, Shaw announces the problem is that he’s been coddled by Casey and Sarah. Shaw thinks he’s ready for his first solo mission. Shaw begins preparing him for the mission by giving him a pen which squirts a powerful tranquilizer, and directing him to use Jeff’s coffee to practice on. Sadly, as soon as Chuck and Shaw depart, the cup is appropriated by Morgan who takes a header on the floor.
Sarah expresses emotion and concern as Chuck packs and departs for the airport, with the pen and a special phone that will allow him to call while in flight. He boards First Class to Paris, wide-eyed, and takes his seat. Next to him is Hannah, a lovely young lady who strikes up a conversation with him, swapping guesses about who the other passengers are, such as some Syrian dignitaries (Hannah’s pick) and the Yale Fencing Team (Chuck’s guess).
Casey, back at the Buy More, lets Morgan out of the Claw game where he was stashed among the stuffed animals while tranquilized. Casey scatters the laughing salesgeeks with a growl, and Morgan wonders aloud how he gets respect so easily. “I don’t get it. I take it,” Casey retorts. A spark lights in Morgan’s eyes.
Back on the plane Hannah asks him about one more person: a big guy behind him who looks like a pro wrestler. Chuck turns to look and flashes on Hugo Panzer, Ring operative. Chuck excuses himself with barely masked panic and calls Shaw who levels with our young spy. His mission is not in Paris, it’s on the plane! Hugo Panzer is moving a captured CIA cryptography key to Paris. Chuck has to get Hugo’s ticket (using the tranq pen), use the ticket to find Hugo’s luggage, and get back the key. Shaw has it out with Sarah over Chuck and the mission, and we see that it’s Sarah who Shaw views with suspicion.
Chuck is able to sit down next to Hugo and talks for annoying effect until Hugo snaps in some headphones and appears to tune him out. Because of the pressure in the cabin the pen won’t squirt into Hugo’s drink at first. Hugo sees him try and grabs Chuck by the throat. Chuck is able to squirt the pen into his mouth and drops him.
Morgan begs Casey for help with the Buy More rebellion. “Insurgents,” Casey growls with a twisted smirk. “I hate insurgents.”
Chuck makes his way to the cargo hold and begins hunting for the bag that matches his ticket. There is more sparring between Shaw and Sarah, now about where she was for the three days in Lisbon when she had failed to check in (this was a between-season backstory while Chuck was in spy school). On the plane, a device on Hugo’s wrist senses his low blood pressure and zaps him awake as Chuck finds his “bag” – a casket. He finds the key on the dead body just as Hugo arrives in the cargo hold. As he tries frantically to call, Shaw tells Sarah if she answers it he will never become a real spy. She doesn’t, so Chuck hides with the corpse in the casket. As Hugo searches, Chuck connects with Casey who rolls his eyes at the obvious hiding spot, but gives him some good advice. Chuck is promptly found, characteristically panics so that Hugo assumes he’s an amateur and not a threat. He beats Chuck, but casually enough to allow him to locate the bags of – wait for it – the Yale fencing team he’d spotted earlier, and to grab a sword. As Hugo is about to knife him he flashes swordsmanship from the Intersect and fights Hugo off, burying him under an avalanche of luggage then tying him up.
Back at Buy More, Morgan introduces the team to his new ‘lieutenant assistant manager’ (Casey) and offers those who don’t want to experience his wrath the chance to drop the rebellion. All but Jeff and Lester do so, but even the last holdouts depart when Casey puts out his cigar. On his own hand. “Lester says this isn’t over.” Jeff mutters over his shoulder.
Chuck makes his way back up to first class and resumes his conversation with Hannah, but now he’s shaken, not stirred. She gets the truth out of him about what he does and that he has never been to Paris, but he covers by saying he’s on an install for a very happy customer’s Paris home. She confesses in turn that she just got fired and is flying to Paris to clean out her office. Meeting you, though, she tells him, makes it almost worth it.
While Chuck is regaling her with tales of the insanity that plays regularly at Buy More we see Lester chloroformed and dragged from his bed. When he wakes, he is in the dark, taped to a chair before a television with a red dancing dot in the center. “You’re asleep,” croons a quiet voice behind him. The voice goes on to extol the virtues of Lester’s boss as the red swirling dot resolves into and out of the face of Morgan.
We unexpectedly switch back to the plane. Chuck realizes he didn’t order the drink he’s putting away. As dizziness begins to wash over him he looks around to see Hugo, back in his seat across the way, raise his own glass to Chuck with a smile. Chuck races to the lavatory and updates Shaw and Sarah. They are interrupted by a sympathetic flight attendant… who sticks a gun in his face. She says she has the only antidote; Chuck manages to convince her that the key’s hidden in the cargo hold, and she takes him there at gunpoint.
As our hero works to resist their interrogation, Shaw takes over control of the plane by satellite and puts Sarah on the stick. Then he calls Chuck’s phone. By the flight attendant’s voice he identifies her and tries to talk her out of killing Chuck. When she refuses, Sarah rolls the plane and Chuck grabs the antidote. Then he sees his own checked bag, and grabs his nunchucks. With newfound confidence he is able to flash intentionally on the skills to use them, but it’s not necessary. Both Ring operatives are under piles of luggage.
Shaw disengages the satellite and confesses to Sarah he lost a spy and that is why he is so thorough. Sarah confesses to him why she went AWOL in Lisbon: to bury Bryce’s ashes at the site of their first op.
Chuck’s flight lands and Hannah asks him if he’d like her to show him the city. Shaw calls and tells him the CIA in Paris has taken the Ring operatives – and he must stay on the plane. They need the key back ASAP. Chuck is crestfallen but invites Hannah to visit Buy More if she finds herself back in Burbank and he’ll get her a job.
Jeff paces the break room, livid at Morgan’s parries. Lester, though, seems thoughtful, sitting at the table and stirring his coffee aimlessly. “What are we gonna do about Morgan?” Jeff hisses. Lester intones distantly, “Morgan is the most thoughtful, kind-hearted…” Jeff staggers back in shock. In the hallway outside Morgan observes in amazement. Casey will only explain by raising his hand and telling Morgan, “Don’t ask. Plausible deniability.” Morgan ponders this as Casey walks off.
Shaw opens the gold briefcase they’ve been holding, and removes the saucer-shaped object the general had told them to forget they had ever seen. It’s not a weapon, though. The key is inserted and the object opens. It’s a lockbox with a number of computer disks. “With this intelligence we might have a chance,” Shaw tells them. “And one of our best might not have died in vain.” From beneath the disks he pulls a small envelope and walks away. Sarah follows him and asks what was in the envelope. He hands it to her and she opens it. Into her palm falls a pair of rings, and Shaw tells her the name of the operative who died on his watch: Eve Shaw.
Chuck reclines in the Nerd Herd kiosk as Morgan and Casey approach. Morgan briefs Chuck on the leadership situation and Chuck feigns boredom with the home install he was away on. Casey can’t resist a poke: “Bored now?” he snorts with mock disdain, but flashes a smirk. As Chuck thinks about what’s happened and twiddles a model of the Eiffel Tower, Hannah walks into the Buy More and waves to him.
