Morgan Grimes
| Morgan Grimes | |
|---|---|
| Chuck character | |
| File:Morgan Grimes.jpg Joshua Gomez as Morgan Grimes | |
| First appearance | Chuck Versus the Intersect |
| Portrayed by | Joshua Gomez |
| In-universe information | |
| Nickname | Organ |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Salesman at the Burbank Buy More |
| Family | Mr. Grimes (father, location unknown), Bolonia (mother) |
Morgan Guillermo Grimes is a major character on the television series Chuck. He is portrayed by actor Joshua Gomez, and is the best friend of Chuck Bartowski.
Biography
Morgan Grimes and Chuck Bartowski have been best friends for most of their lives, dating back 23 years before the events of "Chuck Versus the Fat Lady." Much of the time has been spent being looked out for and protected by Chuck, including from bullies, but Morgan has also been there for him through many of the most difficult moments of Chuck's life. When Chuck and Ellie's mother left, Morgan was there even though they were both too young to understand what it meant.[3] He also was there to provide support when Chuck was expelled from Stanford and Jill dumped him for Bryce Larkin.
As close as he is to Chuck, Morgan's relationship with Chuck's sister Ellie has been more complex. His long-time crush on Ellie is widely-known;[4][5] he claims to have "dedicated [himself] to the study of [Ellie] for the better part of 19 years"[6] and in 1998 she established a "No Touch" policy.[7] He's confessed to having hidden under Ellie's bed when younger to watch her undress.[8]
His mother's name is Bolonia (Patricia Rae), but little is known about his father other than he and Bolonia are no longer together.[1] Morgan has implied in at least one episode even his own mother doesn't think much of him.[9] Despite Bolonia's heavy Latin American accent, Morgan does not know how to speak Spanish. Morgan is also the only Hispanic employed at the Burbank Buy More.[8] As a child he was teased with the nickname "Organ."[10]
Series
Morgan is unaware of Chuck's secret life. For much of the first season, Morgan was primarily used for comic relief in Chuck's personal life, although as the series progressed he began to develop and gained more independence from his use as Chuck's foil. However, like Ellie and Devon Woodcomb Morgan has rarely been directly involved with the main plot of the episode. Much of Morgan's development as a character has continued to center around his friendship with Chuck and events at the Buy More.
On occasion, Morgan has been drawn into the main story. In "Chuck Versus the Wookiee," Sarah agreed to get him a date with her DEA friend Carina, in part to distract her from getting too curious about Chuck, and Carina later hid the diamond she stole in Morgan's bag. He was inadvertently involved in the events of "Chuck Versus the Crown Vic" and "Chuck Versus the Marlin." Morgan's biggest role in the main plots were in "Chuck Versus Santa Claus," where he played a key role in helping Awesome and "Big Mike" subdue Ned, and in "Chuck Versus the Best Friend," when he is misidentified by Smooth Lau as a spy. Morgan has also at times unwittingly given Chuck ideas that allow him to complete a mission.[9][11][12]
Morgan is typically the main focus of the Buy More subplots, and as the series progressed he has begun to see more responsibility in the store. He was asked by "Big Mike" to help Poppy Tang pick out a gift for Harry,[13] and was twice placed in charge of preparing the store for Black Friday.[4][14] Morgan was also involved with helping Chuck interview candidates for the assistant manager's position in the first part of season two, before deciding the position by pitting Jeff and Lester against themselves in a Thunderdome fight in the storage cage.[15] Morgan also led revolts against Harry Tang[16] and Lester[6] when they each exceeded their authority as assistant manager. Ironically, he became assistant manager himself under Emmett, until he quit the Buy More to pursue his dream as a Benihana chef in Hawaii.[17]
In "Chuck Versus the Pink Slip" Morgan revealed to Chuck that he was failing in his class, and Anna left him for another classmate. In "Chuck Versus the Three Words" he resumed his pursuit of Carina. Initially she was disinterested in him, but when he told her off over her disregard Carina was turned on and slept with him.
Development
In March, 2007, Joshua Gomez was cast in what was then the role of "Morgan Pace," joining Zachary Levi (Chuck), Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah), and Adam Baldwin (John Casey).[18] Prior to the beginning of filming his last name was changed to Grimes. Much like the character he portrays, Gomez is an avid gamer. Additionally, Levi and Gomez quickly established a close friendship when production began and Levi describes themselves as "Two little peas in a pod."[19]
As the series has progressed, the show involved less of the relationship between Chuck and Morgan. Morgan began to feature more into the Buy More sub-plots, and although Gomez enjoys them, misses the interaction between Chuck and Morgan from earlier in the series.[20] Gomez has also expressed an interest in being involved in more of the show's action.[21]
At WonderCon 2009, it was indicated Big Mike would be upgrading Morgan's position at the Buy More.[22]
Personality
Morgan begins the series as very immature and spends most of his time at the Buy More, hanging out with Chuck, playing video games, or some combination of the above. Throughout the series, Morgan is frequently involved in antics in the store, often including misuse of store equipment: he has destroyed a store display computer by picking up a virus when surfing for porn,[11], he has become the store champ of a TV show guessing competition on the video wall[16] and has used the storage cage for a Thunderdome match to determine the new assistant store manager.[6] Chuck has told Morgan he's not allowed access to Chuck's advanced demos of new games without "adult supervision."[23] Morgan has also been known to "borrow" Buy More's DVDs off the shelf, copy them, and then re-shrinkwrap them before returning them.[6] He has also nearly gotten in trouble for sexual harassment and has skipped work to visit an arcade.[24]
He has, however, shown signs of growing responsibility. Though Morgan is a poor salesman,[8] Big Mike placed him in charge of the store for Black Friday in both seasons,[4][14] and when Emmett Milbarge is threatening to fire much of the staff, Morgan takes it upon himself to try to hold the store together despite having to endure abuse from all sides.[17]
Morgan's most important relationship since childhood is his friendship with Chuck. Morgan was there for Chuck through the abandonment by his parents and his painful break-up with Jill; in turn, Chuck has saved Morgan countless times. He is very nosy about Chuck's personal life (to the extent that he doesn't see why Chuck would object to Morgan knowing his ATM PIN)[6] and believes his approval of Chuck's girlfriends is important.[25] Like Ellie, Morgan can be highly protective of Chuck. So when Ellie tried to push Chuck into moving forward with his life, Morgan objected on the grounds that Chuck was not ready for the "real world" and insisted on having a part in drawing up a five-year plan for Chuck.[26] Morgan stood up to Milbarge to protect Chuck,[12] and when Chuck skipped his interview for an emergency mission, Morgan tried unsuccessfully to interview on his behalf.[24] Recalling the long-term pain that Jill caused Chuck with their first break-up, Morgan was upset when he thought Chuck was cheating on Sarah with Jill.[14] Morgan was even willing to go to the extreme measure of delaying Ellie's wedding to cover for Chuck.[27]
However, for most of the first two seasons he was less supportive of any career or romantic progress that might drive him and Chuck apart. At the end of the first season, Morgan was aghast to find an engagement ring in Chuck's bag that he assumed was meant for Sarah,[23] but by late in the second season, Morgan is distressed to learn that Ellie supported Chuck's intent to break up with Sarah, and quickly reminded her that Sarah was the best thing to have happened to Chuck since the Jill break-up.[2] He still felt betrayed when, late in the second season, Chuck interviewed for a job at Roark Instruments, where Morgan could not join him, without even informing him.
Morgan's other major relationship is with his on again/off again girlfriend Anna Wu, who also works at the Buy More as a member of the Nerd Herd. Morgan's immature behavior acts as a barrier to a stable relationship between them. When they are together, his antics and fear of commitment (to someone other than Chuck) often create problems, and when they are apart, his jealousy leads him to stalkerish behavior.[9][3] When Morgan and Anna first explored moving in together, he borrowed $2500 from Captain Awesome for a deposit on an apartment, which he then impulsively spent on a used, broken-down DeLorean.[28] When Anna found an apartment lease intended for Chuck and himself, mistakenly believing Morgan intended to move in with her, Morgan attempted to repel her indirectly rather than tell the truth.[29] Later, he realized he truly did want to be with her and accepted.[29] However, Morgan has evidently never finalized living arrangements with Anna and still lives with his mother.[30] Anna has proven protective and supportive of Morgan: she fought a much larger, stronger man on Morgan's behalf[31] and, in "Chuck Versus the Colonel," encouraged Morgan to stop tolerating mistreatment at the Buy More and chase his dreams. He follows her advice and asks her to accompany him to Hawaii while he trains to be a Benihana chef, and she accepts.
A recurring thread throughout much of the first season is Morgan's obsessive love for Ellie Bartowski, which is not reciprocated. However as the series progressed, the two came to an understanding and developed something of a friendship after "bonding over an "I miss Chuck" moment".[8] Morgan has admitted that he sees Ellie as a sister, albeit one with which he wants to have sex.[7] Morgan's crush on Ellie generated some problems in "Chuck Versus the Nemesis" when he brought Anna Wu to Thanksgiving dinner.
Despite Morgan's practically non-existent love life and frequently demonstrated failures with women, he is apparently very skilled in bed. In "Chuck Versus the Three Words" Carina remarks that while he wasn't the best lover she's had, there were very few better.
The Morgan
In "Chuck Versus the First Kill" Chuck introduces a move he calls "The Morgan." It is performed by twisting the body to the side and raising one knee to cover the groin, while covering both face and groin with his hands. According to Chuck, Morgan used this stance to protect himself from being hit in school, often by girls.
References
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Suburbs"
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Beefcake"
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Best Friend"
- ^ a b c "Chuck Versus the Nemesis" Cite error: The named reference "nemesis" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Captain Awesome's Blog: Captain Awesome's Tips for Being Awesome
- ^ a b c d e "Chuck Versus the Seduction"
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover"
- ^ a b c d "Chuck Versus the Sizzling Shrimp"
- ^ a b c "Chuck Versus the Crown Vic"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the Wookiee"
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Intersect"
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Fat Lady"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the Truth"
- ^ a b c "Chuck Versus the Gravitron"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the First Date"
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Alma Mater"
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Colonel"
- ^ Development Update: Friday, March 16, The Futon Critic
- ^ IGN.com: Chuck Versus the Lost Producter
- ^ Interview, November 17, 2008: BuddyTV.com interview with Joshua Gomez
- ^ Attack of the Show: Attack of the Show Video Preview
- ^ WonderCon, March 2, 2009: WonderCon Spoilers
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Marlin"
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Sandworm"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the Imported Hard Salami"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the Helicopter"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the Ring"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the DeLorean"
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the Predator"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the Break-Up"