Sarah Walker (Chuck)
| Sarah Walker | |
|---|---|
| Chuck character | |
 Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker | |
| First appearance | "Chuck Versus the Intersect" (Pilot) |
| Portrayed by | Yvonne Strahovski |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Sarah Walker Jenny Burton Katie O'Connell Rebecca Franco |
| Nickname | Lisa (known middle name) Angel Hair (father's pet name) |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | CIA Agent |
| Family | Jack Burton (father), Unknown Mother |
Sarah Walker is the alias[1] of one of the main characters of the fictional television show Chuck on NBC. She is portrayed by Yvonne Strahovski and is one of two agents assigned by the NSA and CIA to protect Chuck Bartowski after he accidentally downloads the secret government computer known as the Intersect into his brain.
Biography
Very little information about Sarah's past has been revealed so far. The only person outside of her family confirmed to know her real name (via her birth certificate) is Director Graham,[1] and it is otherwise only known for certain her middle name is Lisa.[2] Her father was a con artist and much of her youth was spent moving from city to city as part of his ongoing schemes. Among the aliases she used as a child were Katie O'Connell and Rebecca Franco. She attended at least her senior year of high school—and graduated in 1998—under the alias of Jenny Burton.[1] In one episode she mentioned having a sister but it is currently unknown whether this is true or part of the identity she created as part of her cover. Nothing has been revealed about Sarah's mother, except presumably she left Sarah and her father were largely on their own from a young age.[3]
Recent episodes have revealed that as a child growing up Sarah was not only aware of her father's activities, but actively participated in them. One of their scams involved Sarah fooling an armored car driver into thinking she'd been hit by the vehicle while riding her bike, while her father claimed to be a doctor and examined her. During the confusion he would then lift money from the vehicle. Another trick was the "Lichtenstein," in which her father would masquerade as a struggling German inventor or businessman attempting to unload an invention or other valuable commodity that never actually existed.[3] Christmases were spent scamming the Salvation Army.[4]
Sometime around 1998 Sarah's father was arrested for his own protection after a scam went wrong and put his life in danger. He left her a hidden cache of money for just such an emergency, and it was while recovering this that she was first approached by CIA director Graham. He took her in as a protege after remarking on her many aliases as a child and gave her the cover name of Sarah Walker. Although apparently 'recruited' at this point, flashbacks make it clear that she continued in high school; several of the popular children cruelly mocked her as the 'jailbird's daughter' because of her father's imprisonment.[1] Although tacitly recruited by Graham before finishing High School, Sarah was officially brought into the CIA out of college, which she attended at Harvard University.[5]
Beginning sometime between 2003 and the present day Sarah was partnered with Chuck's former friend and college roommate Bryce Larkin. Their professional relationship eventually evolved into an intimate one. When Bryce apparently went rogue to steal the Intersect computer—not realizing that he did so to protect it from a hostile government cabal known only as Fulcrum—Sarah felt both personally and professionally betrayed.
Sarah was subsequently assigned by Graham to attempt to recover the Intersect. The only lead was the e-mail Bryce sent to Chuck, and she tracked him down to the Buy More where, posing as a customer with a broken phone, she first made contact.[6]
Series
Sarah is one of Chuck Bartowski's two government handlers. She was partnered with NSA agent Major John Casey and assigned the task of protecting Chuck.[6] This extends to acting on information Chuck "flashes" on.
As part of her cover Sarah is pretending to be Chuck's girlfriend. One of the complications and the main focus on the development of her character throughout the series is that although initially she insisted this was only part of her cover, the two have steadily grown closer. While Sarah herself was initially reluctant to either recognize or acknowledge her feelings other characters have readily picked up on her attraction to Chuck. Sarah's DEA friend Carina is one of the first to recognize that Sarah's feelings for Chuck are more than merely professional.[2] Casey[7] and retired agent Roan Montgomery[8] have also recognized that she is falling for him.
The development of Chuck and Sarah's relationship in the series has been delayed both by the return of Bryce Larkin[9] and Chuck's own interest in finding a real relationship.[10][11] However she has displayed a willingness to go to great lengths for him, and was even prepared to go rogue and draw her gun on another CIA agent attempting to take him into government custody.[12]
During the first half of Season Two Chuck and Sarah have steadily begun moving towards establishing a real relationship. Sarah agreed to go on a first "real" date with Chuck when the second Intersect was due to go online and he was being released back to civilian life.[13] In the closing moments of the following episode Roan Montgomery attempted to offer Chuck advice towards pursuing Sarah, which was derailed by Larkin's second return.[8] However unlike during his Season One appearance, this time Sarah's feelings are clearly for Chuck. Bryce led Chuck to believe that a relationship with Sarah would put her life and job at risk so Chuck would end any thoughts of pursuing her.[14]
The following episodes have shown that Chuck and Sarah's feelings for each other have lingered and they continue moving towards a real relationship. This is seen most strongly by the emotional support Chuck provides Sarah when a mission forces her to revisit part of her childhood,[1] and later when Sarah's father returns.[3] Although neither Chuck nor Sarah have so far openly told the other they were in love, Chuck strongly suggests this in the mid-season finale when he gives Sarah his mother's charm bracelet, a gift Sarah says is something he should save for a "real girlfriend."[4]
Sarah's personal feelings for Chuck led to her temporary replacement as Chuck's handler in "Chuck Versus the Broken Heart," as Beckman was concerned those feelings jeopardized the mission. However the replacement agent, Forrest, (Tricia Helfer) failed to effectively protect Chuck and he refused to work with her because of her methods. Sarah's feelings also gave her a close insight that warned her something was wrong when Forest couldn't. Beckman reluctantly acknowledged Sarah and Chuck's feelings for each other were actually a benefit to their working relationship rather than a danger, and allowed Sarah to resume her role as his handler. During this time Sarah made an unauthorized search of the CIA database at Langley to locate Chuck's father when his own efforts failed. She was with Chuck when they tracked him down to a trailer in the middle of nowhere.
In "Chuck Versus the First Kill" General Beckman ordered Sarah to lure Chuck to Castle so he could be taken into custody and brought back to Washington. Sarah objected, but was about to carry out her orders when at the last minute she warned Chuck that it was a setup and took him on the run[15].
While on the run, Chuck and Sarah spend the night in a motel, and share a bed. While not under surveillance, they make out and are close to having sex but are interrupted by a lack of a condom followed by the appearance of Agent Casey.
Development
On February 12, 2007 Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski was announced[16] for what was then the role of "Sarah Kent," joining Zachary Levi (Chuck) and Adam Baldwin (Maj. John Casey). Prior to beginning of filming the character's name was changed to Sarah Walker. Strahovski was unable to come to the US for audition so the producers allowed her to make her audition via the internet.[17] The character is a reversal of typical action film gender roles, with Sarah Walker portraying the protector and fighter while Chuck is the more emotional "brain."
Strahovski herself is highly active and performs all her own fight scenes. She considers this one of her favorite parts of the role, especially the fight scene in "Chuck vs. the First Date" against Michael Clark Duncan's towering Mr. Colt.[18] She also speaks fluent Polish, which she worked into the role in the Season One episode "Chuck vs. the Wookie."
Very little of Sarah's background was revealed in Season 1 other than her relationship with Bryce Larkin and middle name. However real attention was paid to her past in the first half of Season Two. In June 2008 Nicole Richie was announced to be appearing in a role as a former classmate of Sarah from High School,[19] and in September Gary Cole was revealed to be playing Sarah's father in an upcoming episode.[20] To-date the only part of Sarah's name that has been revealed is her middle name, Lisa. It has not been announced if the name Graham hints at on her birth certificate is actually her real name, or if it will ever be revealed. These two episodes ("Chuck vs. the Cougars" and "Chuck vs. the DeLorean") are the only ones so far to have provided any significant amount of information on the character's past, and most of her development has focused on the character's relationship with Levi's Chuck.[citation needed]
Reports have indicated that Jonathan Cake will be appearing as an MI-6 agent named Cole Barker as part of a three-episode story arc, in which the agent will be catching Sarah Walker's eye. This will be followed by an appearance by Battlestar Galactica actress Tricia Helfer, who will be playing a CIA agent assigned by General Beckman to take over as Chuck's CIA handler. The reports suggest that Helfer's character is assigned due to Beckman's concerns over the developing relationship between Sarah and Chuck.[21]
Personality
Although a highly-trained CIA agent, Sarah is presented as warm, kind and compassionate, although she can be ruthless when she needs to be.[4] She lacks Chuck's openly trusting nature but displays a great deal of intuitiveness about others' character: Sarah quickly recognized that Chuck was just a regular guy and not a threat, and chose to protect him from the NSA hit team led by John Casey.[6] She is also shown to be much more empathic and sympathetic to Chuck's plight than Casey, and is highly protective of her asset, to an extent beyond the requirements of her mission to safeguard him. Where Casey only seems concerned with physical threats to Chuck's safety (things that might cost the government the use of the Intersect information in Chuck's head,) Sarah is more concerned for him as an individual. She typically objects to any orders by Graham and Beckman to put him in dangerous situations and openly warned both Lou[7] and Jill[22]—with whom Chuck carried on brief relationships—not to hurt him.
Sarah is quick to acknowledge and reinforce Chuck's own abilities beyond the Intersect, and has told him on several occasions that he has made an excellent spy.[13][23] During a hostage situation at the Buy More Sarah promised to Chuck that she would never let anyone hurt him and proved determined and willing to go to any extreme to protect him. This is demonstrated when she cold-bloodedly kills an unarmed enemy agent (who had learned Chuck was the Intersect and threatened to reveal the secret to his entire organization) in order to protect Chuck.[4] Although she has denied any romantic interest in Chuck several times, she openly acknowledges a desire to remain friendly with Chuck on a personal level. She objects to lying or concealing information from Chuck and using him without his knowledge under orders from her superiors.
Only a little information about Sarah's real life has been revealed in the course of the series, and as a result she is shown to be highly secretive, with a past built around false identities. She jealously guards her personal life and even violently threatened Chuck when he attempted to learn more about her.[1] As a nod to continuity when Sarah does talk to Chuck about her past and family she continues to use the name "Burton," as it has not yet been revealed to Chuck that even Jenny Burton is not her real name.[3][4]
Sarah has also been shown to mask her emotions and she seldom lets anyone in close enough to see how she genuinely feels. Bryce Larkin,[14] Casey,[7] Carina,[2] Roan Montgomery,[8] and even her father[3] have all had dialog pointing out that she is indeed in love with Chuck, which she has yet to openly admit to him and to an extent still denies. Her father even commented on how he "Made a $10 million bet" that Chuck loved his daughter. However Chuck is also one of the few people she's also allowed to get close to her, and in the few times she has been in a vulnerable state Chuck has been the one there to offer comfort. Unlike Casey, who she insultingly describes as a "burnout,"[6] Sarah has not completely shut herself off from her emotions.
She is skilled in a variety of espionage techniques, and is adept at taking on different roles and covers. Sarah's current cover previously had her working at the Wienerlicious[24]—a restaurant across the street from the Buy More where Chuck works—and later at a frozen yogurt shop called the Orange Orange.[25] She has also portrayed a ditzy party-goer,[2] the receptionist and personal assistant to "Mr. Lichtenstein",[3] a hotel staff member,[26] a call girl,[22] a waitress, a scientist,[11][27] and a member of the Nerd Herd.[28] Sarah has also used her appearance both as a distraction and an angle on missions as well, at times flirting with the team's targets when needed.[2][23][29] Sarah speaks several languages, including Polish,[2] Russian[26] and German,[3][30] and can put on a convincing Australian accent[11] (see below).
Sarah is highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, including against multiple enemies and even managed to hold the substantially larger Colt at bay.[13] She is also a very good shot with extensive firearms training. Most notable is her expertise in the use of throwing knives, and is one of the skills witnessed by Graham that led him to recruit her into the CIA.[1] She typically wears several in a sheath strapped to her lower leg when her wardrobe allows,[1][6] and has also used specially-designed hair pins for the same purpose.[6]
Several episodes have implied that Sarah misses or envies the "normal" life Chuck desires to return to. There are indications that she is concerned that Chuck's experiences in espionage work might not only threaten him physically, but might also disillusion him and destroy his kind, trusting nature (for example, his being used and betrayed on a personal level by Jill Roberts threatening to destroy his idealistic views and tendency to trust others). She has also displayed domestic skills, and is a skilled cook.[31]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Chuck vs. the Cougars"
- ^ a b c d e f "Chuck vs. the Wookie"
- ^ a b c d e f g "Chuck vs. the Delorean
- ^ a b c d e "Chuck vs. Santa Claus"
- ^ Spy Dossiers, nbc.com/chuck
- ^ a b c d e f "Chuck vs. the Intersect"
- ^ a b c "Chuck vs. the Imported Hard Salami"
- ^ a b c "Chuck vs. the Seduction"
- ^ "Chuck vs. the Nemesis"
- ^ "Chuck vs. the Truth"
- ^ a b c "Chuck vs. the Ex"
- ^ "Chuck vs. the Marlin"
- ^ a b c "Chuck vs. the First Date"
- ^ a b "Chuck vs. the Breakup
- ^ Chuck versus the Colonel
- ^ Development Update: Monday, February 12, The Futon Critic
- ^ Interview: January 23, 2008, YvonneStrahovski.net
- ^ Interview: October 8, 2007, BuddyTV.com
- ^ Cast Update: June 26, 2008, TV Decoder
- ^ Cast Update: September 10, 2008, IGN.com
- ^ Blog Entry: November 21, 2008,YvonneStrahovski.net
- ^ a b "Chuck vs. the Fat Lady"
- ^ a b "Chuck vs. the Crown Vic
- ^ Season One
- ^ Season Two
- ^ a b "Chuck vs. the Undercover Lover
- ^ "Chuck vs. the Sensei
- ^ "Chuck vs. Tom Sawyer"
- ^ "Chuck vs. the Third Dimension"
- ^ "Chuck vs. the Sandworm"
- ^ "Chuck vs. the Suburbs"