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troperville

This is a "Wild Mass Guess" entry, where we pull out all the sanity stops on theorizing. The regular entry on this topic is elsewhere. Please see this programme note.

Chuck

Captain Awesome is a spy.

He's extremely fit and healthy, and what he does for a living is kept rather vague. He also talks and behaves like an awkward parody of "youth" culture by someone not involved in it. For example, he may have heard that young, hip people use the word "awesome", and so he says it all the time. He's obviously a spy, deep undercover, and maybe he's been observing Chuck ever since the Stanford incident.

It's been stated that he and Ellie work at the same hospital. A possible cover?
And, in the second season, their conflicting shifts are a source of relationship woes. So they work together long enough for her to have no reason to disbelieve him, then conveniently he doesn't have to be there when she is there to confirm that he is still at the hospital?
He's now aware that Chuck is a spy.
Word Of God is that he was intended to be exposed as a Russian Spy at the end of Season 1, but his character became so popular that the creators dropped that plotline... Or Did They?
- It's still possible. And if he's not a spy now, Captain Awesome may yet be recruited or become involved in spy missions. We just don't know about them.
As of season 3, he's certainly getting involved in the spy work, although he isn't an official spy yet.
- And, as it turns out, he appears not in the least cut out for it. Though that maybe Obfuscating Stupidity.

The CIA almost gave Chuck the Intersect on purpose.

In his CIA recruitment videos in "Chuck Versus the Alma Mater", Professor Fleming commented on Chuck's ability to retain subliminal images and mentioned the Omaha Project, which the CIA intended to assign Chuck to. If not for Bryce's interference, Fleming would have recruited Chuck, and the CIA would have used his brain to store the Intersect. As it happened, during his time at the CIA, Bryce learned that the Omaha Project was the Intersect. (This may explain why he said "We'll always have Omaha" to Sarah at the end of "Chuck Vs. the Nemesis".) When he needed someone to send the Intersect to, he recalled his conversation with Fleming and sent it to Chuck, knowing that Chuck would be able to absorb the information.

Confirmed.

Chuck was never supposed to receive the whole Intersect.

Most of the spy bosses seemed at least a little surprised that he'd absorbed the whole thing. We even find out that some, if not most, people can't handle Intersect downloads. Project Omaha gave a large portion of data (for example, everything on the Russian mob) to a number of protected "analysts", allowing agents not to spend days or weeks learning extensive knowledge. Chuck would have been the star analyst.

The Intersect was always supposed to be uploaded into a human being.

Ties into the above. This explains why Fleming would be interested in a person's ability to retain subliminal images. Also, why Bryce would even think to do it. The encoding and streaming technology to do so obviously was developed at the same time as the Intersect itself. Further, it makes sense to bring the Intersect to things when you can't bring things to it. The subject (Chuck, in this case) is essentially an Intersect mobile unit. Finally, when it comes to finding patterns, Humans Are Special. That property of the brain improves the Intersect's performance beyond what can be achieved technologically. Neither the General nor Sarah and Casey know this, so learning it will be what makes Casey spare Chuck.

This seems supported by the end of one episode (late first season or early second) where they finish the new Intersect computer before it blows up, have a line of agents remove their presumably Intersect-blocking sunglasses, and stand there waiting.
Confirmed in "Chuck Versus the Suburbs."

Buy More and Large Mart will have a merger in the future.

Forming, of course, Buy N' Large.

This show's plot did seem familiar...

Morgan is being groomed to take the Assistant Manager position.

Season 2 has spent a significant amount of time showcasing Morgan's growth as a character separate from Chuck, forcing him to make decisions for the employees and give advice that normally he would have just let Chuck take care of. Characters are beginning to consult him about minor things, and he's even begun going against his stated policy of 'doing as little as possible'. One of the long term arcs of the show will be Morgan taking over Chuck's former Buy More role as the employee mascot as Chuck's 'extracurricular activities' take more of his time...

Assuming Emmett Milbarge doesn't stick around. (And, completely off-topic, Emmett Milbarge? Seriously, how screwed up were his parents trying to make him?)
- We all know that already.
The events of "Chuck Versus the Gravitron" (specifically, Big Mike's comments after his CMoA) indicate this very thing, as it appears that Morgan called in Casey to deal with the 'shoplifter' that Big Mike subsequently took out.
Only if Morgan's not leaving.
Update: Emmett is dead, and Morgan is back from Hawaii... who knows, it just might happen! Of course, Chuck would have to turn the position down first, since he's easily the most competent employee in the entire store.
Confirmed in Chuck vs. Operation Awesome.
Funnily enough in season 4 Beckman hands over the role of manager to Morgan - so apparently he was destined for even greater responsibilties. Only time will tell if the duration he spent under the wing of Big Mike's guidence was enough for him to not screw up.
- Since Mark Christopher Lawerence is still listed as a series regular for the fourth season, chances are he'll take on an Obi Wan role & advise Morgan in regards to his duties as manager.
  - Well, Morgan did make Big Mike his assistant manager in "Chuck Versus the Cubic Z".

Anna is a Slayer

Mostly because Julia Ling played a potential Slayer in one episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She may have died, but still — it would give us a good reason why she's so seldom seen onscreen. She's busy killing vampires.

And she has mad kung fu abilities, good enough that Casey wanted her tested for recruitment.

Anna is away at spy school

Rather than just simply being Put on a Bus, Casey's recommendation to have her tested resulted in her being recruited. Running off with a classmate was just her cover story.

Things like Casey's recruitment suggestion usually do not happen without having something to do with the plot.
- They do when they're funny.
@JuliaLing: "...heehee! =) Loving Chuck so far. I'll be back on set next week!..." Hurm...
Jossed. She came back to give Morgan his stuff back, and he rejected her after the cold-shoulder rekindled her interest. Hmm... this gives me an idea.

Orion is still alive

We never got to see his face. We also never saw him die. It's possible that he found a way out, maybe by tricking Fulcrum into taking someone else and then blowing up the 'copter to cover the evidence. If he was able to do this, then it's possible that he didn't want the CIA to find him. Since he chose the location, he could have controlled the situation so he would not be in any danger.

Confirmed! And not only is Orion alive, but he's also Chuck's father, Stephen Bartowski.
Not anymore he isn't. :(
- Although he was right in front of the entrance to a room with equipment for cellular regeneration, which was how Daniel Shaw was brought back. That, or Papa Bartowski is now going to exist as a virtual personality a la Jor-El. So, fingers crossed :).
  - There is one problem with that theory - they made a point of having Orion state that the Governor was the only thing keeping him alive & then explicitly showing his Governor smash against the floor after Shaw shot him.

Orion is FULCRUM

He went to school with the FULCRUM leader. He knew he wouldn't be back when he went to Roark Instruments (because he'd be "caught"?). He did something with his arm computer when they entered the Intersect room (called for backup?). He didn't bother to put on the sunglasses when he tried to run the program (knew it'd fail?).

He didn't need to put on the sunglasses. He has an Intersect in his head, so he knew he would survive the experience.

Chuck is becoming a Fake Ultimate Hero.

"Chuck Versus the Predator" hints that the villain recognizes and seems to respect Chuck's alter ego Carmichael. FULCRUM are reluctant to investigate the Buy More because they've lost too many agents there. By the end of the series, FULCRUM will be terrified of the legendary "Agent Carmichael".

Implausible now that Chuck has Intersect 2.0 in his head.
- But the Intersect is faulty, and he needs to be able to work when there is none...
- Now that the intersect is gone he will probably become this, but to an even higher degree.

Fulcrum is also the organization responsible for co-opting Michael Westen.

Inspired by the existence of a crossover fic between the two shows, although it's not explored within the story. Both groups snatch up talent from all walks of intelligence and special forces agencies for as-yet-undefined goals.

This needs to be canonized.

Plenty of people are aware that Chuck is the Intersect - or at least involved with the government.

Seriously, this is just screaming The Not Secret. Awesome (who, as noted up top, is almost certainly a spy himself) and Big Mike (and probably most of the rest of the Buy More - why else is he allowed to randomly disappear and do so many "external installs"?), to name but some. On the other hand, Morgan and Ellie quite pointedly do not know - probably because the Government decided that they were too close (personally) to the Asset to risk informing.

Morgan knows now. Ellie, however...

The Intersect was based on neuralizer technology.

They're both based on memory modification, they both use optical interfaces, and they can both be blocked by sunglasses. It totally fits.

The Intersect was based on imprinting technology.

They both use image sequences and wide electromagnetic spectrum visual patterns. It totally fits.

the first time the intersect was tested on a human it basically had this effect unintentionally

The Intersect is imprinting technology in its infancy.

First, Chuck became able to know and "remember" things that he couldn't have known without the Intersect. Then he was given new physical abilities (though Word Of God says those abilities will be erratic at first). We've even seen evidence of memory erasing when Orion removed the original Intersect from Chuck. The technology hasn't developed far enough to give him an entire new personality, but it's easy to see that this could be the eventual goal.

The other people exposed to the Intersect, such as in "Chuck Versus the Suburbs", died because they hadn't had their original memories wiped first. If the technology had progressed a little farther, they might have become like Alpha instead. Chuck, as suggested above, has specific mental traits that enable him to contain the Intersect without being wiped first. These traits are probably shared by Echo, since she did not go insane when she became Omega. They're probably also hereditary, since Orion also has an Intersect in his head... maybe Chuck and Echo are related?

How Chuck is in season 3 is very similar to how Echo is in the second half of season 2 of Dollhouse. At least Chuck doesn't have full personalities in his head to deal with.

Casey is Sarah's brother.

Casey is a single, heterosexual man who's been working closely with a woman who looks like Yvonne Strahovski for months; nevertheless. he's never shown the slightest sign of being attracted to her. The obvious explanation is that he's her brother.

Sure, we've seen her as a child without any brother. But Casey is somewhat older than she, and he could easily have become disgusted with his con-artist father and left forever.

Maybe he doesn't even know Sarah is his sister - she's not using her original name, and they could have been separated for years. But on a subconscious level, he recognizes her as related and can never be attracted to her.

That's not quite how that works. Take a look at these two Wikipedia articles for more info. Basically, if this guess were true, it comes down to whether they were reared together. If not, they'd actually be more likely to find each other attractive.

Or maybe he's not a fan of blondes....

(Gary Cole and Adam Baldwin are close in age. Don't think so!)

Casey's too busy crushing on Beckman to notice the gorgeous crazy woman right next to him.

Chuck's mother is/was a spy.

Think about it. Everyone in his life except his sister and his best friend seems to be a spy anyway. That'd explain why she left to an extent, and it would draw a nice parallel with Chuck and Sarah, if Orion was also an asset who fell for his handler.

Makes a hell of lot of sense, especially since she died in mysterious circumstances and Orion was a spy.
Like many other things in the series, it would be like Alias.
Specifically, Chuck's mother is either the woman on that shadowy Fulcrum panel, or... General Beckman. Possessive, pushy, keeps trying to sabotage his relationship with Sarah and has cameras in his room. She's My Beloved Smother with the resources to back it up!
She's gotta be a former Soviet spy. The timeline works for the fall of the soviet union when she disappeared.
Possibly justified in the third season finale.
- Oh-so very much Confirmed as of the fourth season

Chuck's emotions are the key to the Intersect

People keep telling Chuck he has to keep calm and suppress his emotions to be a better spy, but the only time the Intersect has worked perfectly so far is when Sarah was threatened. It's actually Chuck's feelings that activate it in the first place.

Considering it was modified by Orion, who in universe ships Chuck and Sarah...
It's almost certainly related to Chuck's psychological state to some degree. It's not necessarily dependent on Sarah specifically, but he definitely has to be in the right frame of mind to use it.
Anger seems to trigger it, as seen in "Chuck Versus the Pink Slip" where Chuck has to suppress himself attacking Emmett.
Well, in "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac", Laudanol lets Chuck use the Intersect at full capacity, flashing on multiple moves at once. Anyone want to call this one?
- Simple. The Intersect is triggered by emotion. Emotion is caused by the body producing certain chemicals in reaction to environmental circumstances and those chemicals reacting with a particular section of the brain. Clearly, the chemical that is produced by emotion and the chemical produced by the pill have the same effect on the Intersect inside a Human brain, but the pill version works better.
There's also "Chuck Versus the Beard", in which telling Morgan everything relieves Chuck's bottled-up feelings and lets him flash. Honestly, I think the Intersect is affected by Chuck's emotional state but not in any predictable way.

Hannah works for The Ring, or some other spy organization

Hannah seems to be more capable than she's letting on, and "had" a job as basically a cleaner for another organization. Seems to fit for me.

Chuck and Sarah will have to use Just Friends as a cover for their rekindled relationship

They can't deny the incredibly obvious forever, and once they do get involved they'll try to pretend to be the same old UST poster children to fool Casey and Beckman.

~~Confirmed~~ Jossed. And I've rarely been happier to be wrong.
- Even Beckman was happy!

Sarah's last name is...

Kent, originally the character's name was Sarah Kent but the writers changed her name to Sarah Walker for some unknown reason.

Samantha Lisa Kent, eh? ...huh... Not half bad of a ring to it...

The Ring's endgame is to create disposable Intersects.

With the introduction of the pill in "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac", there is now a way to turn your average Joe off the street into a sociopath. Combine that with FULCRUM's research on a new Intersect, the portable kung fu glasses, and we got ourselves a problem.

Given the events of "Epitaph One", this could be more evidence for the Dollhouse crossover theory above. The Ring must be run by the Rossum Corporation!

Casey's not out of the game.

Calling it now. Casey's dismissal in "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" was cover for a larger mission.
- Conversely...
- He was reinstated with full rank in "Chuck Versus the Other Guy".

Laudanol was always meant to be tested on Chuck.

Why would The Ring smuggle in just one pill? Assuming they can create the drug, they could just take suitcases full to their plant to HQ. Casey was at the tail end of a Ring op that wanted a proof of concept test on an active intersect, and who better than Chuck Bartowski? Unfortunately for them, it went horribly right, and Chuck kicked the Ring agents to the curb, but they know it works.

Chuck will be forced to kill Shaw

He can't kill a man on orders, but he will to protect Sarah. How she will react is up in the air.
- Confirmed in "Chuck Versus the Other Guy". But as WMGs go, it was a gimme.

Beckman will end up doing a Drayfus-Clouseau routine with Morgan

Morgan, though well-intentioned, has the common sense and physical abilities of a child. Even so, he is incredibly perceptive, and twice as lucky. In other words, much like Clouseau. Beckman is a by-the-book general who always goes for the obvious answer. Beckman will continually find herself looking for reasons to fire him, all while he bumbles upon the correct answers for cases. After the insanity test that Operation Bartowski is already putting her through, this does not bode well.

As of "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners", it seems to be going that way; in putting together intelligence and doing computer tasks he even puts Chuck to shame.

The Director and the guy in the middle of the Ring Elders are the same person.

Think about it... the Ring Elders is obviously a group of highly renowned leaders to the Ring, and the Director has been repeatedly said to be the agency's big cheese. There's also the fact that the Director meets Shaw as a hologram in a room very similar to the Ring Council Chamber. And when he speaks in "Chuck Versus the Mask", it really sounds like he's using a voice changer, so he obviously wouldn't have sounded like the Director we would "first meet" in "Chuck Versus the American Hero".

Chuck's dad is Sam Beckett.

He finally got back to the present and, deciding he'd had enough of time travel, switched to another top-secret project, the Intersect. He was put in witness protection as "Stephen Bartowski" (note the initials!) when Roark went rogue.

Shaw is a timelord

He's been 'killed' how many times now? Plus there's a rule that someone has to be.

Stephen Bartowski is a timelord

He's been "working for himself" for centuries due to his long timelord life and is regenerating as we speak.

No one is a Time Lord...

...but they are Highlanders.

Chuck's mother is a Ring member

She was kidnapped by the Ring threatening the lives of Ellie and Chuck, forcing her to work for them; but when Chuck finds out, he puts her though a Heel Face Turn.

Still unsure... but in Season 4, looks like we're going to find out.
- She's being played by Linda Hamilton a.k.a. Sarah Connor, so she'll either be solidly on Chuck's side, or the writers will go for the subversion and make her Ring.

The Big Bad in Season 4 will be Daniel Shaw

Surprised that this one has not made it here yet. He is presently The Dragon, but considering how the Big Bad has changed between seasons (none in Season 1, Roark in Season 2, and Ring!Mark Sheppard in Season 3) he could very well end up in the Big Bad chair come next season.

As of "Chuck Versus the Living Dead", he has downloaded an Intersect into his brain, pushing him into the position of Dragon-in-Chief.
As of "Chuck Versus the Ring, Part II", he's out (but probably not completely). There are so many other bad guys now, that anyone could be the 'Big'.
Alexei Volkoff is the fourth season's Big Bad, though that does not necessarily preclude Shaw's return.

Stephen Bartowski is not dead.

That "cellular regeneration" thingy is such a Chekhov's Gun. It worked for Shaw, bet it can work for Stephen.

Sub-WMG: Ellie had something to do with it.
Schwartz and Fedak have stated in multiple interviews that Stephen is really, truly dead. But you never know...

Season 4 theories regarding Orion's old enemies

I got the impression these "old friends" of Orion we saw the codenames for (Hydra, Phase Two, CYGNUS, The Aries Papers, The Triangulum (CAPTURED), The Fornax Group and that) weren't specifically a big bad evil group like the Ring but brilliant scientists/tech engineers etc who were going to use the intersect technology and whatever else they came up with for their own purposes. That they are currently all working separately on projects along with each hunting for Mrs. B., especially now that Orion is dead.

Consider the elder Bartowski's words on this. "For the last twenty years, I've been a spy... for myself", which implies that, while he did work for the CIA, he may have been involved in several other personal endeavors (possibly involving many private interests and rival agencies) that may be more directly related to his constant paranoia and disappearances than just his involvement in the Intersect project. Whatever they are, they likely personally involve Chuck and Ellie as more than just pawns, since Mr. Bartowski mentioned that he had been actively protecting them from those involved with their mother

Hydra was marked "Identity: Hydra," just like Orion was. This implies that Orion was not the only code name Stephen Bartowski used - he may have had different identities for dealing with different opposing forces. As this identity's connection to Orion is presumably unknown in the spy community, and given Mr. Bartowski's tendency to avoid showing his face when operating under his code name, Chuck may take up the mantle to utilize Hydra's connections in his search for his mother.
- "Hydra" looks to be Volkoff's network.

Chuck's Mother

The hunt for Chuck's mom and her joining Team Bartowski may start off seeming like a repeat of them finding his dad but I think she'll probably have some "darker" motives and possibly try to "save" them by having them be with her as she joins the enemy.

I disagree. The search for Stephen Bartowski/Orion began with very little to go on. The end of Season 3 seems to give indication of a lot of information that's being imparted to Chuck right off the bat about their mother, if the files being seen at the end are any indication.
Seeing as she's being played by Linda Hamilton a.k.a. Sarah Connor odds are she's going to be an extremely difficult person to catch up to. Kind of like Carmen Sandiego.
She returned home with Team Bartowski in "Chuck Versus the Push Mix".

Anna will be turned against Morgan and Chuck by whatever group ends up being the Season 4 Big Bad.

Casey's recommendation to have her tested resulted in her being recruited, but by an agent of The Ring, likely by the chef she ran off with in Hawaii. She came back to the Buy More to get back together with Morgan, and worm her way into Team Bartowski.

I like the idea but I think she'll turn back to the good side at the end of the episode.
"The Ring was eliminated!"

Shaw will finally get Killed Off for Real by Chuck.

It's as obvious as what we all thought was going to happen in the first place, but hey. I vote for Chuck to decapitate and/or gut him like a fish with a samurai sword.

If the decapitation happens, it will be the perfect chance to make a Highlander reference. AND IT WILL BE AWESOME.

The Intersect is an early version of Snow Crash

It can impart vast amounts of information to human beings through purely visual stimulus, but usually results in insanity or a comatose state. Even those who can handle the information overload will lose their mind before long without a device to regulate their system for them. By the time of the events in Snow Crash, it will either have been weaponized or become corrupted due to being tinkered with by people who didn't know what they were doing some time after the United States government fell apart.

Casey is Jewish.

Or at least knows Yiddish. He said oy gevalt, after all.

Sarah's spy will is a Chekhov's Gun that has yet to be fired

We get an entire episode where spy wills are a big plot element, and we not only see Sarah give hers to Chuck, but see him write his own. Given what is in a spy will, there is a very good chance that there will be something in there that Chuck flashes on. The writers can also be extra sadistic by adding something in there that might shake up the Chuck/Sarah relationship.

Sure Chuck will have to believe Sarah is dead in order to bring it out, but hey, there are plenty of ways for that to happen without her actually being dead.

Possibly confirmed, if you consider Agent X's Spy Will being recovered and revealing him to be Alexei Volkoff to be 'firing' the spy will gun. And then in Chuck Versus the Last Details Vivian kills Sarah. Well, probably not, but if they do want to do the whole 'everyone thinks Sarah's dead' bit, now would be the time to do it

Chuck's mom is on...

Her own side. She just doesn't know if she wants the family, and her country, or if she wants to helm Volkoff's group instead.

The box under the car Ellie is left is...

A supercomputer containing a gestalt of Orion as an AI.

"Chuck Versus Phase Three" reveals that it's one of Orion's laptops. In "Chuck Versus the Leftovers", Ellie solves the data storage problem her dad posed, Devon gives Chuck the computer, and Chuck subsequently re-Intersects himself with it.

Sarah's mother is Sally Draper.

Sally grew up, married a con artist who reminds her of her dad, and produced a spy baby

◊ who looks almost exactly like Grandma Betty

◊.

If the show is given the opportunity to have a proper series finale, the show will end with a Distant Finale And the Adventure Continues where one of either Chuck/Sarah or Capt. Awesome/Ellie's grown up kids gets sucked into the spy life in a manner meant to echo how it began for Chuck back in season 1.

Spy life is kind of the family business, what with both the elder Bartowskis being spies and the way all of Chuck's family has gotten sucked into it at one point or another. I wouldn't be all that surprised if Chuck's grandparents were all spies, too. So it would make sense that their kids would get in on the action when they become old enough. It might be a stretch to actually show this all happening, but they could at least leave the show on a note where the audience is given the kind of spark needed to imagine what kind of adventures the next generation of Bartowskis might have.

Vivian's Heel Face Turn was all part of Beckman's Batman Gambit.

In order to infiltrate the next carnation of Volkoff Industries, Beckman needed someone relatively inexperienced to take the job and actually knew more about Vivian and the safe deposit box than she was letting on. Beckman chose Chuck's team because she knew Chuck had similarities to Vivian and could get her to work with the CIA. But then she purposely screwed her over by not letting her meet her dad (despite promising it earlier) so Vivian would decide to work for Volkoff Industries.

Chuck and Vivian have got the same mom.

The ages don't quite work out, but seriously—look at that hair! And if not, who is her mother?

And their eyes, too. And anyways, Vivian is, what, twentysome, and Mama B. has been working with Volkoff for a little over 20 years, so...
- The actress that plays Chuck's mother supports this as a possibility.

Stephen J. Bartowski is not dead.

Something about Clyde Decker's laugh at the end of "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger" when Chuck points out that he is just seems to say, "Oh, does he reeeeally believe that?
- Interesting. Either that, or...
- Perhaps he'll show up in the series finale, or a few episodes before that? It is the last hurrah for the show, and having Papa Bartowski show up for one more (or few?) appearance likely makes sense.

Stephen J. Bartowski is dead, but will be revived.

He IS dead, but, he's brought back similarly to Shaw.

alternatively, his consciousness is uploaded into a new body via Intersect.

In the upcoming season, the Intersect will react poorly with Morgan's brain, which will be a problem because the team no longer has access to government resources

I like this idea a lot. Its true to canon, reminds us that Morgan is a pretty normal guy, and adds a lot of tension and conflict. Bonus points if Morgan doesn't tell anyone until its serious because he doesn't want them to worry about him
Kinda/sorta half-confirmed in "Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips", but apparently invoked by whomever really sent those Intersect glasses.

In the final episode, Chuck will deliver a Badass Boast to Clyde Decker.

He'll start it with, "Hi. I'm Chuck. Here's a few things that you might need to know."

Jossed. Given that Decker's dead now, the boast would be pointless.

Those bugged Intersect glasses were sent not by Decker but Daniel Shaw.

Which would furthermore mean, of course... we haven't seen the last of him...

Casey was the one Who sent that hitman to kill Morgan at the end of "Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips"

After all, the trailer for the next episode shows Decker visiting Chuck & crew and asking for Casey.

Jossed. Decker's visit was because Casey murdered his hit(wo)man.

The series will end with the Intersect passing to Jeff.

Morgan is following the same arc as Chuck, which ended (sorta) with Chuck as a competent spy in his own right who doesn't need the Intersect.
Carmichael Industries wouldn't pass up a chance to have an Intersect on the team, since it's such an awesome resource.
Captain Awesome has been helping Jeff to stop being... you know, Jeff and start being a normal human being.
Ipso facto, Jeff will join the team as the new Intersect in the series finale.
- Alternatively, Captain Awesome will become the new Intersect.

By the time series concludes, Casey & Gertrude will be a couple and be on good terms with Chuck & Sarah. Plus, Gertrude will "leave" Verbanski Corp. and join Carmichael Industries.

It would just be heartwarming to see that the winking and hints and nudges that we've seen every time the topic pops up pay off in this manner, and we see that the two become a couple by the end.

The person about to be let out of prison at the end of Chuck Versus the Curse isn't the man behind the overall plot to get Chuck and the team...

Yes, it may be Shaw being let out, and yes, he's been consistently a large threat to Chuck, but, let's consider the below points...:
- He's at least The Dragon to whoever the real mastermind is.
- Seems kinda early for the show to reveal the real Big Bad and rather blatantly in the "Next Time" promos...
- Let's face it, a computer virus that plans to wipe out all technology just to get Shaw out of prison, something not impressive on its own has to have a larger strategy behind it.
- Word Of God states that next week's episode will have "the craziest cliffhanger ever done on the show", and it's doubtful that the NBC promo department would just spoil that cliffhanger in the teasers.
- If anything, it's possible that the real architect of the plan to terminate Chuck is just using Shaw as one part of the plan, while he formulates his ultimate strategy, which will take up the final few episodes after.
- There's a line in Versus the Curse where the Enemy Spy of The Week mentions that Gen. Beckman is "not her general''. Could the real Big Bad be another high-ranking CIA official?

Chuck still has the original home-brewed Intersect in his brain

Near the end of season 2, Stephen sabotages Roark's attempt to create an Intersect by building a device to remove the Intersect from Chuck's brain. This doesn't remove the early Intersect from Stephen's brain, even though his eyes were unprotected. When Chuck "reboots" in his battle with Shaw in season 3, it's revealed that he had an early Intersect in his brain from witnessing Stephen's work when he was a child — meaning that Intersect has been in his head since childhood and wasn't removed by Stephen's removal device either. It appears that Intersect removal is at least somewhat dependent on the specific version of the Intersect, so it's possible — even probable given the indications — that when the CIA forcibly removed the Intersect from Chuck they missed Stephen's original version, which they didn't even know was there. And since Chuck's "reboot" in his fight indicated that the original can have a supportive effect on later versions, this may be important.

The "baby" that's alluded to at the end of Chuck Versus the Santa Suit is...

An orphaned baby that's with another family after Sarah (unintentionally) orphaned the baby by killing their birth parents during a mission in Hungary.

The one Kidnapper in Chuck Versus The Bullet Train is Colonel Mitchell

The SGC is infiltrating Quinns Organisation to steal the Intersect and then load it with an Ancient Repositorium of Knowledge or (Atlantis Database) to create a safe way to access it. They just don't ask the CIA for a pristine copy because after the whole NID stuff they don't trust the intelligence community. In the finale they will also send in SG-12 and trying to switch Casey for Colonel Dixon for this purpose. They only don't know yet who will get the Ancient Intersect (O'Neill already said "No!" repeatedly and they all are ignoring McKay)

That drawing of Sarah and Chuck's post-spy life is a Chekhov's Work of Art.

Given the circumstances presented at the end of Chuck Versus the Bullet Train, my guess is that Under Quinn's orders, Sarah will come after Chuck, who then shows Sarah the drawing, which will help in restoring her memories to normal. They really emphasized the fact that she remembers the drawing the most, even with the tainted Intersect erasing her other memories, which makes one wonder.

Chopped

WMG/Live Action TV

The Closer