[2] At the outset of the show, Chuck Bartowski is presented as a twenty-something underachiever who lives in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California and works at a dead end job at the Burbank Buy More in its Nerd Herd division (a fictionalized Geek Squad).

That's his job at the time of the pilot, when the viewers are introduced to the key people in Chuck's current life: his older sister, Eleanor Fay "Ellie" Bartowski, M.D.

(Sarah Lancaster), her live-in boyfriend, Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb (Ryan McPartlin) and Chuck's best friend since childhood, Morgan Grimes.

The CIA dispatches field officer Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) to retrieve a copy of the Intersect, while the NSA sends then-Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin) to capture Chuck.

Sarah maintains that it would be unprofessional of her to actually engage in a real relationship with Chuck while she is serving as his CIA handler,[5] and indeed her feelings for him have proven to be a liability at times, placing the mission and both of their lives at risk.

The longest-running triangle involved Chuck's nemesis Bryce Larkin, who was previously partnered with Sarah and developed a romantic relationship with her which he still wishes to pursue.

Sarah also has a minor love triangle with Cole Barker, an MI6 agent who, like Bryce, contrasts with Chuck—he is a skilled spy who excels in combat, has a high tolerance for pain and a suave personality.

The other two love triangles involved Chuck seeking a real relationship, with Lou the sandwich girl (Rachel Bilson) and later with his ex-girlfriend Jill Roberts.

In many episodes Chuck has adopted a fantasy alias, "Charles Carmichael", who is endowed with all the characteristics he believes a super-spy should have, except he doesn't really have the physical abilities to go with the skills.

[10] His operational aliases are numerous; various false passports and identity documents are stored in a shoebox under his bed, as seen in the beginning of "Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer".

Moments later, it is further revealed that Chuck carries a badge and credentials which give him some degree of authority over local and federal law enforcement agencies, including the police and FBI.

This is demonstrated in the episode when, upon arriving at an emergency situation where an assassin released a biological weapon on a scientific conference, Chuck promptly assumed command of the operation without dispute from the senior officer on-site.

[11] Chuck has been charting every piece of information he can find on Fulcrum unknown to his handlers, the Intersect and various figures connected to the CIA and NSA on a board hidden behind the Tron poster in his bedroom,[12] and continues to express a desire to have the intel removed from his brain.

When confronted by agents belonging to the Ring who had been intent on taking control of the system, he uses the knowledge received from the Intersect to quickly disable them in hand-to-hand combat.

At the beginning of season 5, Chuck, Sarah, Casey, and Morgan, have started a freelance spy organization known as "Carmichael Industries" using the assets formerly owned by Alexei Volkoff as start-up money.

Although Stephen J. Bartowski would appear in "Chuck Versus the Dream Job", no real information about their mother has been given, except that she left them at a young age and her name is Mary Elizabeth.

The most significant is that Chuck's emotional state will have a direct impact on the functionality of his abilities, as the modifications his father made at the government's request were designed for Bryce Larkin, a trained agent capable of controlling his feelings.

Chuck is portrayed as a sincerely well-meaning underachiever, so when he is caught up in a larger struggle, he has to draw on his potential and become something new to meet the threat, while trying to maintain his good nature.

He is portrayed as a romantic in a situation in which he can't have a real relationship: all potential girlfriends may have ulterior motives,[4][28] his main love interest must maintain professional distance (in part to keep them safe[29]), and people in the spy business are often used/manipulated.

Chuck's loyalty and dependability to his best friend and his family have given him people he can always fall back on throughout the series, despite the strains introduced by his spy life as mentioned above.

Co-worker Anna Wu (Julia Ling) explained to a corporate efficiency expert that the store's chain of command is "There's Chuck, then there's the rest of us.

[41] Chuck became the Intersect unwittingly, and was essentially forced into a life in which he has no privacy and greatly reduced personal freedom, in which his relationships with his friends and family are strained, and in which he and those around him are in constant danger.

His perception of himself as less than heroic despite repeatedly saving the day seems to be based on his aversion to violence, low tolerance for pain, and lack of skill in combat.

Chuck frequently expressed a desire to return to a "normal" life, based partly on his understanding that having the Intersect in his head is a barrier to a real relationship with Sarah.

When he finds Bryce dying and is suddenly faced with the choice of downloading the Intersect again or just destroying it, he reflects on the confidence that others have in him (that he is both good and capable) and his sense of duty to protect those close to him.

Later, he explains that he made that choice because he has a unique ability to help a lot of people, including his friends, his family, and Sarah, and because he had learned from her to act for the greater good despite his personal feelings.

In particular, in "Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler" he was able to pick up and accurately fire a tranq gun at Manoosh from a substantial distance with almost no time spent aiming and no observable flash.

By Season 4 Chuck has proven himself to be a fully capable agent, even without the aid of the Intersect (although he still uses flashes for assistance in combat, and for other skills Sarah and Casey have picked up over years of training).

[47] By the fifth season, Chuck no longer works for the CIA, but remains in the spy life by launching a freelance espionage and security company, Carmichael Industries.

Since then, he has developed romantically with Sarah despite constant setbacks, he has (with the help of the government) attained his degree from Stanford and is able to successfully get a job at a top technology company (although for a mission), and is determined to take control of his life.