Lester Patel

Template:Individual Lester Indira Golda Patel is a main character and a Nerd Herder, specializing in Apple products, which gives him a superiority complex with regard to IBMs. He is the best friend of Jeffrey Barnes, where the two would constantly plot out their pranks on the Buy More. He is portrayed by Vik Sahay.

Little information on Lester's family has been given in the series, however Template:216 reveals he has a cousin familiar with legal work, and helped Morgan compose his Morganuptuals. Lester is of Indian descent, and is Jewish, referring to himself as a "Hinjew".

Several episodes have shown that he keeps kosher, however he frequently takes advantage of other aspects of his faith, such as scamming his coworkers with a dreidel. However, Template:111 shows he's proud of his heritage, as he several times corrects Big Mike when he refers to the store's holiday party as a "Christmas Party".  Lester's Canadian citizenship has also been referenced in a number of episodes.

Biography

Lester was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, into a "Hinjew" community that, by his own admission, may very well have been a cult.There may well have been other 'branches' in places such as Montreal. Prior to the start of the series, Lester emigrated to Burbank, California.

Lester is the lead singer in the two-man band Jeffster! along with Jeff and auditioned (with Toto's Africa) to be the band for the wedding of Ellie and Devon. Jeffster!, though not officially hired for the wedding, nonetheless performed Styx's 'Mr. Roboto' before the ceremony. He has written dozens of pop songs as well as "Virus/rebuild," an experimental symphony for monophonic synthesizer. His stylistic influences include Morrisey, Kurt Cobain, Bon Scott, Billy Joel, and Madonna. He does not, in fact, have a Wikipedia entry in his name, an "accomplishment" he noted on his resume while applying for the position of Assistant Manager at the Buy More.

Lester's best friend is Jeff, and the two are frequently seen scheming together in many episodes. Stealing Big Mike's marlin was Lester's idea, and he conspired with Jeff to break into the Buy More and steal a high-tech computer he mistakenly believed was a new gaming machine. He frequents the Bennigan's bar across the street from the Buy More with Jeff, presumably to pick up women there.

Series

Lester's primary use throughout the series is in the secondary plots at the Buy More, and he has rarely contributed to the main plot. His antics with Jeff are frequently a source of comic relief. His most important contributions to the main plot came in Template:113 when he decided to steal Big Mike's fish after breaking into the store. The resulting hunt for the fish became a major focus of the plot. His performance of "Mr. Roboto" during Ellie's wedding also indirectly helped Chuck save her life.

In the second season Lester was promoted to Assistant Manager of the Buy More after beating Jeff in a cage match organized by Morgan. Much like Harry Tang before him, his tenure was highly unpopular with the rest of the employees due to his tyrannical tendencies, prompting a walkout led by Morgan Grimes. He voluntarily returned to his former position with the Nerd Herd at the end of "Chuck Versus the Cougars". Despite his previously held position of assistant manager, he holds a strong aversion to anyone in power in the Buy More and very often attempts to sabotage and humiliate them when possible.

Lester has on several occasions shown a willingness to sell out for personal gain. In Template:107 he betrayed Morgan's revolt against Harry Tang for a monogrammed Buy More polo. He also attempted to suck up to Chuck when Big Mike assigned him to interview for the assistant manager position. However, Lester freely acknowledged to Emmett Milbarge that when faced with a difficult decision he asks himself WWCD, or "What would Chuck do?" He also followed Morgan's lead in an attempt to sabotage Emmett's efficiency rating.

He is terrified of Casey, and when he attempted to hit on Sarah after Chuck "dumped" her, he panicked when she responded aggressively to his advances. Lester nearly got Chuck sued for sexual harassment when he and Jeff organized a "casting couch" to hire a new Buy More "Greenshirt," and used it as an opportunity to hit on women. As a result they mistakenly believed a FULCRUM agent who kidnapped Chuck was a police officer taking him into custody. In Chuck Vs. The Ring II, Lester suggests to Big Mike that the Buy More host a "going out of business sale", as the store was going to be closed. He also convinces Big Mike to play Jeffster!'s first music video, which took "two and a half weekends" to make. The sale turns out to be an incredible money maker, but lands the employees in hot water when the Beverly Hills Buy More employees show up. The merchandise was supposed to be sent to their store. During the fight between Shaw and Chuck, Jeffster!'s music video begins playing. Later, Lester tries to silence Jeff when he suggests burning down the Buy More to save the employees' jobs. When Morgan accidentally blows up the store, Lester and Jeff become prime suspects in the store's destruction. Believing they were arson suspects, Lester was on the run along with Jeff, but eight months later, no one even believed that they burned down their own store. In Chuck Versus the Suitcase, they were tracked down by Morgan and Casey, who wanted to rehire them at the Buy More to make the CIA substation cover seem less noticeable. Lester tried negotiating more perks, only for Casey to tranquilize him and Jeff; it took several darts and a blow from Morgan to bring Jeff down. The two were then dragged back to the Buy More.

In the series finale, Jeffster! perform a cover of "Take On Me" by A-ha in order to keep a bomb from exploding. When they return to Burbank, a German record producer who was at the concert acknowledges their talent and signs them. Jeff and Lester follow him to Germany and become stars.

Trivia

• "Indira" and "Golda" are both essentially female names, having been the famous women who led India and Israel respectively.

Character Development

Beginning with the second season premiere, actor Vikrahm Sahay was listed in the opening credits as a series regular. During the audition process actor Vik Sahay originally read for the role of Morgan,the role eventually coming down to him and Joshua Gomez. After Gomez was selected for Morgan, Sahay was offered the role of Lester. Sahay has described Lester as "fancying himself a superstar and he just does not have the nervous system to back it up." The concept for Jeffster! first appeared after Sahay mentioned to the writers Lester's "rock star" hair and swagger. He further goes on to describe Lester as "...He wants to be respected, right? He wants what Chuck has—that effortless charm and likeability. He wants it so bad that the last thing he is is effortless. He’s effort-ful." A significant amount of improvisation and riffing also occurs between the actors, which Sahay attributes to the "electric environment" resulting from the strong working relationships and friendship between the cast members.

Sahay issued a "thank you" to fans of the series following the completion of a deal between NBC and Warner Bros. to pick up the series for a third season. Josh Schwartz has also indicated that Jeffster! would make another appearance in the show's third season.