Buy More

Buy More (Burbank)

Industry	Retail
Founder	Moses Finkelstein
Headquarters	Burbank, California, United States
Key people	Chuck and Sarah Bartowski (owners) Morgan Grimes (Manager) Big Mike (Assistant Manager) Chuck Bartowski (Nerd Herd department head) Diane Beckman (NSA Director)
Products	Consumer electronics
Subsidiaries	Nerd Herd

Buy More is a fictional big-box electronics retail chain in NBC's action-comedy series Chuck. The Buy More is a parody of similar chains, particularly Best Buy.

The notable employees of the Buy More fit into three categories: management, Nerd Herd (technical support), and sales associates (who are called "Green Shirts" on account of their uniforms). Current and recent notable employees are listed by their last held position.

Series

The series' eponymous character Chuck Bartowski, and most of the principal characters, are employed at the Burbank branch of the Buy More for most of the entire series. The store is located at 9000 Burbank Boulevard.^[1] Every episode touches on the store at some point, whether for a substantial comedic side plot or as the scene of some of the series' spy action, particularly in the first two seasons. The Burbank Buy More is involved in a fierce rivalry with the nearby Beverly Hills location, often involving vicious pranks between the stores, as highlighted in "Chuck Versus the Predator". Neighboring "big box" stores in the shopping center are Large Mart^[2] and Underpants Etc.^[3] The employees of Buy More and Large Mart have a fragile truce concerning pranks and sabotage of each other's store.^[4] Restaurants across the parking lot include Wienerlicious, a fast-food retailer specializing in hot dogs and sausages, in season 1;^[5] Orange Orange, a frozen yogurt store, in seasons 2 and 3;^[6] and a Bennigan's.^[7] Sarah Walker maintains a cover as an employee of the Wienerlicious and, subsequently, the Orange Orange. The Orange Orange – like the Buy More – is a façade for, and secret entrance to, the underground Castle base.

Fulcrum, the Ring, and Volkoff Industries have identified the store as a place of interest in connection to their search for The Intersect and Operation Bartowski. Despite this, the federal government continued to operate the store as a nominal cover.

"Chuck Versus the Nemesis" reveals that a total evacuation of the store can be triggered by the safe word "Pineapple". Although the store's employees make light of the code word, it is twice used to safely remove the staff and patrons who would otherwise be endangered by the espionage activities going on around them.

The store was destroyed in "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II" after Daniel Shaw set explosive charges to lure Chuck into a final confrontation and Morgan inadvertently triggered the detonator. By the end of the episode, Jeff and Lester are wanted for questioning in connection to the blast. Prior to Season 4, it was rebuilt by the US Government to be used as a CIA substation.

As base for spy operations

In the first season of the series, the Buy More serves as the team's primary base of operations before moving to Castle in the beginning of Season 2. However, passages in the employee break room and home theater rooms continued to link the store to the facility. Morgan discovered Castle's existence and Chuck's spy life when Ring operatives infiltrating the store located these access tunnels.

In the season finale of Season 3, the Buy More is destroyed in an explosion. However, sometime before the events of Season 4, the government funds its rebuilding as a front of a CIA and NSA joint-agency base of operations, much like (but on a larger scale) the Orange Orange in Seasons 2 and 3. General Beckman selects Morgan as manager, as someone who has knowledge of the location's spy activity that had the experience to help maintain the store's cover. Morgan, in turn, hires Big Mike back to be his Assistant Manager, essentially swapping their managerial posts from Season 3. Chuck and Casey continue to maintain their cover as Buy More employees, and various other agents frequent the store as both staff and customers, including various undercover agents code-named "Greta".

With Operation Bartowski cancelled in the season 4 finale, "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger", and the team dismissed, the government's front company strips Castle and sells the Buy More. Newlyweds Chuck and Sarah, having been given Volkoff Industries as a wedding present in appreciation for giving the Volkoffs new lives, are the buyers. With more than ample funds, they re-outfit Castle for their private spy operation and hire Morgan and Casey.

In the series finale, "Chuck Versus the Goodbye", as Team Bartowski breaks up, Buy More is soon purchased by Subway, much to the delight of Big Mike.

Management

The Buy More management team have tended to become romantically involved with each other's female relatives. Harry Tang's wife cuckolded him with Big Mike Tucker. With the Tangs' departure, Big Mike became involved with and engaged to the mother of Morgan Grimes, and began to treat Morgan as his de facto stepson. Morgan, meanwhile, is in a serious relationship with Alex, the daughter of his "lieutenant assistant manager," John Casey.

Big Mike

Michael "Big Mike" Tucker (Mark Christopher Lawrence) is the manager of the Burbank Buy More in seasons 1–3 and assistant manager in season 4. For the first two seasons he prefers to work, and especially deal with his subordinates, as little as possible. However, Big Mike is also frequently and closely involved with Morgan, Jeff and Lester in the store's B plots, such as when the employees raid the Beverly Hills Buy More.^[7] When briefly deposed by Emmett as store manager the other employees show a strong sense of continued loyalty to him. He is an avid fisherman and frequently takes breaks during work to go fishing.^[8][9] He is demoted to a Green Shirt after Morgan and the other Buy More employees are tricked into making Emmett Milbarge look good in the eyes of corporate,^[9] but returns to being manager at the start of the third season with a new, innovative view on how to manage the company and life.

Big Mike played college football as a linebacker, forming the "Defense of Death" with friend and teammate Jimmy Butterman (Jerome Bettis),^[10][11] and has inadvertently defeated two Fulcrum agents, Leader^[8] and Ned.^[10] He has an affair with Harry Tang's wife.^[12] Later, after Big Mike's wife divorces him, he begins dating Morgan's mother.^[13] Since then, he has taken Morgan under his wing as his de facto stepson and mentors his professional development.

For a brief period in 1988, Big Mike was a member of Earth, Wind and Fire, naming himself as "Rain". Although he failed at his own musical dream, his experiences led Lester to accept him as Jeffster!'s new manager. "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II" reveals that Big Mike is on a first-name basis with Buy More's founder, Moses. When Moses informs him that the Burbank branch is on the verge of closing, Mike holds a "going out of business" sale. By the end of the episode, the store has been evacuated by Jeff. When Jeff and Lester suggest burning down the Buy More to collect the insurance, Big Mike wishes them good riddance, citing Lester's singing as torture and their antics such as answering phones that aren't ringing.

While the store was being rebuilt and Big Mike was unemployed, he visited the Encino branch of Buy More and stood on line for the release of Halo: Reach, as the Halo video games have an aphrodisiac effect on Bolonia Grimes.^[14] When the antics of the fugitive Jeff and Lester caused all three to be ejected, he joined with them in a plot to steal copies of the game. Big Mike's weight caused the air duct to collapse, but the operation was ultimately successful, and he was able to take a copy home to Bolonia.^[14]

Big Mike returned in the Season 4 episode "Chuck Versus the Cubic Z". Rather than expressing anger over Morgan succeeding him as store manager, he greeted the promotion with pride and subsequently asked for permission to propose to Bolonia. Morgan also rehired him initially as a Green Shirt, but after his aid in quelling a near-riot in the store, promoted him to Assistant Manager. First seen in: Chuck Versus the Intersect (Pilot)

Morgan Grimes

Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez) is the manager of the Buy More, beginning in season 4. Many side plots taking place at Buy More revolve around him, in large part due to his close friendship with Chuck, to whom many employees look for leadership. As a Green Shirt in the first two seasons, he chafes under any marginally restrictive rules even when they didn't affect him, extends his "mad work avoidance skills" to lead the other non-managerial staff in goofing off, and is a particularly poor salesman, leading to frequent conflicts with management. Morgan later accepts promotion to assistant manager by Emmett to hold the store together and keep Emmett from firing everyone. Morgan quits the Buy More with the encouragement of Anna Wu,^[15] and asks her to accompany him to Hawaii. He later returns without her, after which Big Mike promotes him back to assistant manager.^[16] Morgan learns of Chuck's spy life after discovering one of the secret entrances to Castle from the Buy More, and is later made a member of Team Bartowski by General Beckman, (at Casey's insistence) who directs him to keep the Buy More job as cover.^[17] Morgan loses his Buy More job when the store is incinerated by Daniel Shaw's bomb.^[18] With the store rebuilt as the cover for an NSA/CIA station, Morgan returns initially as a green shirt.^[19] Manager Diane Beckman promotes him to store manager shortly after the store's reopening, in recognition of his knowledge of Buy More operations.^[20] First seen in: Chuck Versus the Intersect (Pilot).

Timeline

Buy More Manager	First appearance as Manager	Episode	Reign (episodes)
Big Mike	Chuck Versus the Intersect	01	33
Emmett Milbarge	Chuck Versus the Colonel	34	3
Big Mike	Chuck Versus the Three Words	37	18
Diane Beckman	Chuck Versus the Anniversary	55	2
Morgan Grimes	Chuck Versus the Cubic Z	57	Present

Assistant Manager timeline

Manager	Assistant Manager
Big Mike	N/A
Big Mike	Harry Tang
Big Mike	N/A
Big Mike	Lester Patel
Big Mike	Emmett Milbarge
Emmett Milbarge	Morgan Grimes
Big Mike	Morgan Grimes
Big Mike	N/A
Big Mike	Morgan Grimes
Diane Beckman	Greta
Morgan Grimes	Big Mike

Sales staff ("Green Shirts")

John Casey

John Casey (Adam Baldwin), as part of his cover, works at the Buy More.^[5] (He also poses as a member of the Nerd Herd while on a mission.)^[21] Despite poor customer service skills, Casey is nonetheless an effective, if aggressive, salesperson. Although most of his coworkers are afraid of him, they also know to come to him in dangerous situations.^[22] He is also ruthless in dealing with shoplifting.^[5] Casey quits his job at the Buy More at the same time that Chuck does,^[23] but returns with Chuck at the start of the third season. When Morgan Grimes is appointed assistant manager, Casey uses his special operations skills to quell Jeff and Lester's insurrection; Morgan gives him a raise and appoints him "deputy assistant manager" in appreciation. Casey retains his Buy More sales position when he is dismissed from the Marine Corps and NSA. He assists Morgan in forceably rehiring Jeff Barnes and Lester Patel (if not other former employees) in order to restore the base's façade as a typical retail store, using a tranquilizer gun to kidnap them back to the Buy More. First seen in: Chuck Versus the Intersect (Pilot).

Fernando

Fernando,^[24] played by Jesse Heiman, is a Green Shirt at the Buy More. For most of the series, he was a background character, although his appearance was sometimes used for comedic effect. In the finale, "Chuck Versus the Goodbye", he has a minor speaking role helping Jeff and Lester to find Sarah.

Bunny

Bunny (Hope Shapiro) is a Green Shirt at Buy More. Bunny made her speaking debut in "Chuck Versus the Cougars", when Lester who became assistant manager at the time, has the bright idea to cut all the prices on stock to sell more while Big Mike is on a fishing trip. First seen in: Chuck Versus the Cougars.

Nerd Herd

The Nerd Herd, the computer and electronics technical support division of Buy More, is a parody of the Geek Squad that operates out of Best Buy stores. At least some of the company vehicles used by the Nerd Herd, called "Herders", have been secretly modified for spy missions. Zachary Levi's audition reveals that the division was originally to be named the Geek Force.

Chuck Bartowski

Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) is department head of the Nerd Herd for almost the entire series. He quits at the end of season 2 and is assigned to work at Buy More again at the beginning of season 3 as part of his cover. Chuck's frequent absences from the Buy More during work hours are explained as being on-site service calls.^[25] As of the epilogue in the season 4 finale, "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger", Chuck and Sarah are the store's owners, known only to Morgan and Casey.

Although his department supervisor position is not considered store management per se, both the sales associates and Nerd Herd staff look to him for guidance and leadership. Co-worker Anna Wu (Julia Ling) explains to a corporate efficiency expert that the store's chain of command is "There's Chuck, then there's the rest of us. Oh, and then there's Jeff," and Lester Patel reports that when unsure in a situation, asks himself, "WWCD, what would Chuck do?" When asked "Who personifies the Buy More ideal? Who makes the trains run on time? Who provides your moral compass? Who holds the team together?" the staff unanimously answers "Chuck."^[26] Even Big Mike holds Chuck in high regard, and has frequently turned to Chuck when he has things that need to be done and done right, and prefers him as Assistant Manager over Harry Tang.^[27] When Ned asks who is in charge at the Buy More, after he took the people there hostage, everyone, including Emmett and Big Mike, answers "Chuck." When Big Mike's new girlfriend reveals her son works at the Buy More, he openly hopes that it is Chuck.^[13]

Jeff Barnes

Jeffrey "Jeff" Barnes is a member of the Nerd Herd specializing in Apple products.^[5] An alcoholic in his forties, he was champion of Missile Command in 1981 and is significantly older than his coworkers, aside from Casey and manager Big Mike.^[21] Jeff has been named a Buy More employee of the month^[28] despite his actions and attitude towards working there. He has a ferret named Roscoe as a pet.^[21] He only has eight toes and does not pay for toilet paper.^[7][10] His father is evidently part-Native American, allowing Jeff to satisfy a quota at the Buy More.^[21] His mother is in prison,^[12] and his sister works (at least part-time) as an exotic dancer and performs at Devon's bachelor party.^[10][29]

Lester Patel

Lester Patel is a member of the Nerd Herd who specializes in Apple products.^[5] He has a cousin familiar with legal work,^[30] and helped Morgan compose his Morganuptuals. Lester is of Indian descent,^[15][23] comes from Canada^[31] and is Jewish.^[15][32] He frequently takes advantage of other aspects of his faith, such as scamming his coworkers with a dreidel. He is proud of his heritage and keeps kosher,^[32] and corrects Big Mike several times when he refers to the store's holiday party as a "Christmas Party." His parents arranged a marriage for him when he was younger,^[33] which Lester says: "They're from Canada; they have those there". Once she arrives, Big Mike says "Mr. Patel, you lucky little Canadian".

Michael "Skip" Johnson

Michael^[34] "Skip" Johnson (Michael Kawczynski) first appears in "Chuck Versus the Intersect" and appears sporadically in the background as a member of the Nerd Herd throughout the series. He is awarded a 65" flat screen TV for being Buy More's "Employee of the Month" for the month of November 2008. He is distinguished by his large, red afro. He was first addressed as Skip, and his first speaking part came in "Chuck Versus the Sensei." His second speaking appearance occurred in the finale episode, "Chuck Versus the Goodbye".

Government Agents

After the store was rebuilt by the CIA and NSA it is initially staffed by government operatives and analysts working under Brigadier General Beckman in her guise as the store's manager.^[19]" Their excessive efficiency, pleasant demeanor and helpful service renders the store's cover virtually transparent, as noted by Morgan Grimes to Beckman; with the latter's approval, Grimes augments government personnel with the store's former lazy, creepy, and surly staff.^[20] A senior undercover employee is the rotating character codenamed "Greta."

Greta

G.R.E.T.A. is the codename^[35] for government operatives undercover as senior Buy More employees. This position has been filled by various characters as prospective Intersect candidates.

At Comic-Con 2010, Chris Fedak announced that from season four the Buy More will be run by the Central Intelligence Agency as a base of operations (much like the Orange Orange was in Season Two and Three) with an agent named Greta working undercover as a Buy More executive and "badass greenshirt."^[36]

According to Fedak, "Greta" is actually an acronym. As he and Josh Schwartz "are terrible with acronyms", they are letting fans of the series pitch ideas for what G.R.E.T.A. stands for.^[35] Chuck later suspected the codename of being an acronym.^[37]

National Clandestine Service Director Jane Bentley revealed that the G.R.E.T.A. program was a proving ground for prospective Intersect candidates. Though there were other Gretas, including those portrayed by Olivia Munn and Summer Glau, the two that were ultimately accepted were Captain Richard Noble (Isaiah Mustafa) and Captain Victoria Dunwoody (Stacy Keibler), being assigned to a team under the leadership of Colonel John Casey. After a botched operation in which Noble and Dunwoody kill the target they were supposed to capture, the NCS Intersect experiments are shown to be dangerously flawed. When General Diane Beckman learns of Bentley's actions, she has the Intersect extracted from Noble and Dunwoody, transferring them to points unknown. She gives control of the Intersect project to Chuck Bartowski.^[37]

First Greta

Model Olivia Munn was the first to wear the Greta namebadge in "Chuck Versus the Anniversary". She welcomes unemployed Chuck and Morgan to the still-closed Buy More, explains that the store is not yet open, and encourages them to see the store manager for job applications. Instead of Big Mike Tucker, the manager is revealed to be Brigadier General Diane Beckman who had conspired to keep Chuck unemployed and thus force him back to the Burbank Buy More and the United States intelligence community.

Rick Noble

Isaiah Mustafa portrays the second Greta in "Chuck Versus the Suitcase". Morgan Grimes points to this Greta's unusually friendly and helpful customer service when demonstrating to Diane Beckman the transparency of Castle's retail façade.

He is later identified as Captain Rick Noble.^[38][39] Assigned to the CIA's National Clandestine Service, Noble becomes an Intersect via the late Stephen J. Bartowski's laptop and is placed under the command of Col. John Casey. With the NCS Intersect experiments shown to be dangerously flawed, his Intersect is extracted at the end of "Chuck Versus the A-Team", and he is transferred to points unknown. Although he openly projects an arrogant sense of superiority to Chuck and Sarah during his period as an Intersect, he is grateful for the software's extraction and pities Chuck for having to continue to live like that.

Victoria Dunwoody

A Greta's first direct involvement in the main plot occurred in "Chuck Versus the Cubic Z" when former WWE star Stacy Keibler guest starred as Greta. This Greta, posing as a Nerd Herder rather than a Green Shirt, retreats to Castle in disgust at the leering of the store's normal employees and the customers. While downstairs in Castle, she attempts to disable Panzer following his escape. Panzer quickly disables her with a single punch, and she is last seen being dragged away, her ultimate fate not revealed at the end of the episode. Morgan Grimes makes a meta-reference to the rotating guest stars in the role by referring to her directly as "the new Greta." Lester also notes upon the fact that all the new employees have been named "Greta".

Subsequently identified as Captain Victoria Dunwoody,^[38][39] she is assigned to the CIA's National Clandestine Service. Like Noble, Dunwoody becomes an Intersect via the late Stephen J. Bartowski's laptop and is placed under the command of Col. John Casey. Unlike Chuck, Dunwoody and Noble readily shoot and kill without remorse or, unfortunately, thinking. Despite Sarah Walker's statement not to fire (and despite the mission to capture Dragan Pichushkin alive), Dunwoody fatally shoots Pichushkin, thereby activating the detonator on his tactical nuclear weapon. With the NCS Intersect experiments shown to be dangerously flawed, her Intersect is extracted at the end of "Chuck Versus the A-Team", and she is transferred to points unknown. Although she openly projects an arrogant sense of superiority to Chuck and Sarah during her period as an Intersect, she is grateful for the software's extraction and pities Chuck for having to continue to live like that.

Fourth Greta

Greta's cover is almost compromised in "Chuck Versus the Fear of Death" when she (portrayed by Firefly and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles star Summer Glau) attracts the attention of Jeff Barnes and Lester Patel by seemingly disappearing from sight and reappearing unexpectedly. After they lure her to the storage cage, Greta begins threatening them with a tactical folding knife. However, Casey covers with a story that Greta has been stealing from the store and customers, ending the duo's investigation. As Greta packs up, she complains that the operation at the Buy More is too unprofessional and expresses disappointment with Casey, but Casey retorts that Team Bartowski is the finest spy team he has ever served on, before sending her on her way.

Former Employees

Anna Wu

Anna Melinda Wu
Chuck character
First appearance	"Chuck Versus the Intersect"
Last appearance	"Chuck Versus the Tooth"
Portrayed by	Julia Ling
Information
Gender	Female
Expertise	Highly skilled in martial arts

Anna Melinda Wu (Julia Ling) is a former member of the Nerd Herd. She is of Chinese descent, and her mother and father are dignitaries working for the government of Taiwan. Her parents are very traditional. Whenever they visit, Anna changes her behavior and manner of dress to fit their expectations of their "perfect" daughter, even though her lack of freedom to be herself with them embarrasses her greatly.^[32] Anna is a highly skilled martial artist, even impressing Casey; she handily defeated the leader of the Mighty Jocks, despite his being several times her size.^[22] Anna also hints she has more sinister connections by mentioning she knows someone who could rid them of Harry Tang for a reasonable rate.^[34]

Anna's style of dress in the series is highly eccentric. She typically wears a lot of makeup and jewelry, and is fond of very short skirts, heels and fishnet pantyhose. Emmett Milbarge specifically commented on her dress by calling it a "whore skirt", in a dressing-down before his efficiency review.^[15] Several episodes have suggested that Anna is bisexual.^[40][41]

Anna is one of the more mature employees of the store, but still enjoys the antics of her coworkers. She joined the crowd of onlookers during Morgan's "Mystery Crisper" challenge, and ran the store's channel-surfing game.^[34] She is ready to move her relationship with Morgan forward, and agreed to move with him to Hawaii while he trains to become a Benihana chef.^[15] She also found Morgan's silly quirks listed in his Morganuptials amusing, and accepted them without argument.^[30]

Series

Anna has rarely figured prominently into the main arc of the series, and primarily appears in the Buy More or family subplots. In a plot dedicated to her, when Chuck flashes on her new boyfriend, he discovers her boyfriend is connected with the Chinese Triad.^[40]

She and Morgan begin dating after Morgan attempts to kiss her during a game of Call of Duty.^[42] Anna's first prominent role in the main plot occurs when she and Morgan take a yachting trip with her parents. Lon Kirk attempts to murder another dignitary with whom he had illicit business dealings by destroying the boat, but the plot is foiled by Chuck, Sarah, and Casey.^[32] Her relationship with Morgan hits a rough patch after Morgan chooses to buy a used DeLorean with money loaned to him instead of using the loan to get an apartment together.^[43] However, she also angrily rejected Lester's advances, when he kisses her^[10] before she and Morgan reconciled.^[40]

Anna agrees to move with Morgan to Hawaii^[15] and attends Ellie and Devon's wedding with him in the season two finale. Nonetheless, she leaves him for another member of his Benihana class.^[44] Although no longer part of the staff, she returned to Burbank in "Chuck Versus the Tooth." After seeing Morgan's new-found sense of responsibility and purpose, and the way he put her off several times to help Chuck with a mission, Anna admitted that she realizes she wants him back. However she was left stunned when Morgan rejected her.

Development

Julia Ling starred as Anna Wu.

Beginning with the second season premiere, Ling was listed in the opening credits as a series regular. Ling filmed the fight scene between Anna and the leader of the Mighty Jocks herself, as she has an extensive martial arts background; in 2007, Ling was selected as a finalist in the international competition for Jackie Chan Disciples^[45] and she provided a demonstration of her abilities on the Chuck Season 1 DVD special features.

Ling was cast by Patrick Rush and Todd Sherry after reading for several roles for the series, and was eventually offered Anna, whom she describes as very into punk rock and the Goth subculture. Ling also compares Anna to an anime character, and cites a fascination with the genre as one reason she fell in love with and accepted the role. Ling herself shares many of the same interests as Anna, and injected much of her personal life into the role.^[46] Ling returned to the show at the end of Season 3.^[47]

Diane Beckman

M. Diane Beckman^[48] (Bonita Friedericy) takes over management of the store prior to the events of "Chuck Versus the Anniversary", rebuilding it as a CIA/NSA substation. Among her acts under this cover is to block all of Chuck's other job interviews and force his and Morgan Grimes' return to the store's Nerd Herd and sales staffs, and, more importantly, to the CIA.

While her Buy More name badge reads "Diane" and she poses as a private sector civilian manager, her staff of undercover agents and analysts continue addressing her as "General". Only Morgan Grimes is shown to call her by her forename, and even he reverts to her rank in response to her glare. Whether she uses Beckman or a cover surname is unknown.

Morgan brings to Beckman's attention that her secret agents are far too efficient and friendly, rendering the store's cover virtually transparent. She is dubious but grants him five minutes in which to plead his case. He needs only two to convince her of the need to rehire the store's former staff of surly, creepy and lazy employees, which she immediately directs him to handle with the help of his former "deputy assistant manager" John Casey.

Her on-site management ends shortly after the store's reopening. While Morgan readilly acknowledges that he knows nothing of running a CIA/NSA base, Beckman confirms Morgan's assertion that he does know about running a Buy More. In "Chuck Versus the Suitcase", she appoints him as manager in her stead. Beckman returned to Washington by "Chuck Versus the Cubic Z". She did not appear to use a Buy More corporate cover to interact with the team in the field for the rest of the government's ownership of the store, as she wore her Air Force service uniform during her visits to Castle, indicating that she used an entrance outside of the Buy More.

Hannah

Hannah (Kristin Kreuk) is a civilian woman Chuck meets on a flight to Paris for his first solo mission. She is returning to Paris to clean out her office after having been let go and subsequently takes up Chuck's offer to join the Nerd Herd. Chuck's efforts to train her are repeatedly frustrated by his current mission.^[24] Hannah herself is unknowingly caught up in another operation during her first Nerd Herd service call; after Chuck's team steals a mask of Alexander the Great, a Ring operative uses her as bait to force Chuck to return the mask, and the cyclosarin gas being smuggled within.^[49] Afterwards, she and Chuck begin a relationship, but Chuck breaks up with her to protect her from the lies he would have to tell her as part of his double life.^[50] Hannah believes he lied so he could sleep with her and subsequently quits the store.^[51] First seen in "Chuck Versus First Class".

Emmett Milbarge

Emmett Milbarge (Tony Hale) is for some time the manager of the Buy More. He enters the store as an efficiency expert sent by Buy More corporate headquarters to evaluate the staff and procedures of the store. "Big Mike", who prefers to minimize his own work load and who dreads interviewing his own employees for promotions, keeps the strict and vigilant Emmett on and makes him assistant manager (also known as the "AssMan"). Emmett is promoted to store manager after tricking Morgan and the other employees into making him look good and simultaneously making Big Mike look bad.^[9] He claims to have a girlfriend named Henrietta who works at the Buy More Ontario branch in accounts payable.^[21] Emmett is removed from the series in the third season premiere when he is murdered in the Buy More parking lot by an assassin who was searching for Chuck. When asked about his whereabouts, Casey tells Chuck that Emmett had moved to Anchorage, Alaska to manage a branch of rival big-box chain Large Mart.

Emmett was an effeminate antagonist that would frequently abuse his power to the point of frustrating employees and often unintentionally interfering with Chuck's missions. His few redeeming traits are overshadowed by his obnoxious behavior, and it is revealed that as of his take-over of the Buy More, he has the store running with robotic efficiency and has become drunk with power. He often bullies employees that he believes that he can control, but will back off when shown the slightest amount of courage.

His name is a reference to the comedy Spies Like Us, combining the names of Chevy Chase's character Emmett Fitz-Hume and Dan Aykroyd's character Austin Milbarge. First seen in: "Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer." Last seen in: "Chuck Versus the Pink Slip."

Harry Tang

Harold "Harry" Tiberius Tang (C.S. Lee) is a Buy More sales supervisor appearing at the beginning of the first season who applied for and received the Assistant Manager position.^[27] Harry is a tyrant, controlling everything from the timing of employee lunches, socializing in the break room, and the channel to which the TVs were tuned. While he appears to have an axe to grind with Morgan, the only rival he viewed as such was Chuck: Harry received the assistant manager position primarily because Chuck was unable to attend the interview^[27] (though, later in the season, Mike discloses that he made Harry A.M. because he and Harry's wife were having an affair),^[42] and, where Harry's tyranny was the focus of the Buy More's sub-plot, Chuck gives Morgan the code to reprogram Harry's master remote.^[34] While attempting to get Morgan into trouble, he stumbles upon Chuck, Sarah, and Casey video-conferencing with their superiors. In order to keep him quiet, the U.S. government relocates him and his wife to Hawaii, where he now manages a pineapple factory. First seen in: Chuck Versus the Intersect (Pilot)

Founder

Buy More was founded by Moses Finkelstein. He has only two significant mentions throughout the entire series. He is first mentioned by Emmett Milbarge early in the second season, when Milbarge brings back "an old Buy More tradition" of Employee of the Month. The employee with the highest sale service would have the name and photo immortalized on the wall next to the photo of the Buy More founder, Moses Finkelstein. Finkelstein is referenced again in "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II". Big Mike is in his office when he hears a phone ringing and locates it in his drawer, where he has a phone labeled "Moses". Big Mike tells Jeff and Lester that the Burbank store has a great risk of being closed due to poor management. This leads them to decide to have a "Going Out of Business Sale".

Other Buy Mores

In "Chuck Versus the Predator", the Burbank Buy More comes into conflict with a rival Buy More from Beverly Hills, which later reappears in "Chuck Versus the Ring (Part II)" as they have to take all of the merchandise from the Burbank Buy More as it is going out of business. In "Chuck Versus Bo", Team Bartowski visits the Vail, Colorado, store, where, it is believed, Morgan stashed a pair of Intersect glasses. Most of the employees have had skiing injuries, and the store has a climbing wall.

Production

The Buy More and the Nerd Herd in particular play a significant role in the series' branding, and the Nerd Herd's "Running Man" logo features prominently into the opening credit sequence.

References

1. "Chuck Versus the Sensei"
2. "Chuck Versus the Intersect"
3. Exterior establishing shots throughout season 4
4. "Chuck Versus the Muuurder"
5. "Chuck Versus the Helicopter"
6. "Chuck Versus the Seduction"
7. "Chuck Versus the Predator"
8. "Chuck Versus the Gravitron"
9. "Chuck Versus the First Kill"
10. "Chuck Versus Santa Claus"
11. "Chuck Versus the Third Dimension"
12. "Chuck Versus the Truth"
13. "Chuck Versus the Suburbs"
14. Buy Hard: The Jeff and Lester Story
15. "Chuck Versus the Colonel"
16. "Chuck Versus Operation Awesome"
17. "Chuck Versus the Other Guy"
18. "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II"
19. "Chuck Versus the Anniversary"
20. "Chuck Versus the Suitcase"
21. "Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer"
22. "Chuck Versus the Break-Up"
23. "Chuck Versus the Ring"
24. "Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler"
25. "Chuck Versus the Fat Lady"
26. "Chuck Versus the Ex"
27. "Chuck Versus the Sandworm"
28. "Chuck Versus the Three Words"
29. "Chuck Versus the Broken Heart"
30. "Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon"
31. "Chuck Versus Agent X"
32. "Chuck Versus the Crown Vic"
33. "Chuck Versus the Balcony"
34. "Chuck Versus the Alma Mater"
35. Skerry, Kath (2010-09-27). "CHUCK Versus G.R.E.T.A. – Help The Producers of CHUCK!". Give Me My Remote. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
36. "Chuck Panel: Comic-Con 2010". NBC.com. July 29, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
37. "Chuck Versus the A-Team"
38. Porter, Rick (February 25, 2011). "'Chuck': 'Gretas' Isaiah Mustafa and Stacy Keibler return in March". Zap 2 It. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
39. Goldman, Eric (2011-03-11). "Chuck: Stacy Keibler and Isaiah Mustafa Return!". IGN. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
40. "Chuck Versus the Best Friend"
41. "Chuck Versus the Tango"
42. "Chuck Versus the Imported Hard Salami"
43. "Chuck Versus the DeLorean"
44. "Chuck Versus the Pink Slip"
45. http://www.prweb.com/releases/ling/actress/prweb548912.htm
46. Interview: April 15, 2009: MediaBlvd.com
47. "Julia Ling Returns to Chuck!". ChuckTV.net. February 3, 2010.
48. Although consistently identified in dialogue as Diane Beckman, her identification card reads "M. Beckman", as shown on Chuck's Chart, which clearly refers to Friedericy's character by its acknowledgement of her relationship with Roan Montgomery.
49. "Chuck Versus the Mask"
50. "Chuck Versus the Fake Name"
51. "Chuck Versus the Beard"