Morgan Grimes

Template:Individual

I vlogged about listening skills last night! Did anybody watch? No!

Morgan Guillermo Grimes is a main character on the NBC television series Chuck. He is portrayed by Joshua Gomez, and is the lifelong best friend of Chuck Bartowski.

Along with Captain Awesome and Chuck's older sister Ellie, he is one of the few loyal keepers of Chuck's secret life as a spy, and was the second civilian to know about the Intersect.

A valued member of the now-freelance Team Bartowski at Carmichael Industries, Morgan briefly became the new Human Intersect in the fourth season finale.

Biography

Morgan Grimes and Chuck Bartowski have been best friends for most of their lives, dating back at least as early as kindergarten. 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, followed by their father leaving as well, Morgan was there even though they were both too young to understand what it meant. He also provided support for Chuck when the latter was expelled from Stanford, as well as when Jill dumping Chuck to go out with 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, and in the mid-90s she established a "No Touch" policy. He's known to have hidden under Ellie's bed when younger to watch her undress.

His mother's name is Bolonia (Patricia Rae), but little is known about his father other than that he and Bolonia are no longer together. Morgan has implied, in at least one episode, that even his own mother doesn't think much of him. As a child he was teased with the nickname "Organ".

In the first episode, it is mentioned when Sarah made the comment about the rarity of Chuck's name, Chuck said that Morgan was raised by circus people. Morgan returned in Season Three, after previously having trying to pursue his career in Hawaii as a chef at Benihana. He returns to help out Chuck, who was devastated by his break-up with Sarah as well as failing in becoming a spy. Morgan helps Chuck through it, as he had recently broke up with Anna Wu when she decided to go out with another chef while at Benihana. In Template:309, Morgan found out about Chuck's spy life, but was not allowed to help on missions as Chuck does not want him to get hurt. However, Morgan becomes a spy as well as a valued member of Team Bartowski when Casey makes a deal with General Beckman.

At the end of Season Four, Morgan stays with Sarah while Chuck is trying to save her life. At the end of the episode he is one of the people in Chucks "freelance spy team". As Chuck, Sarah, and Casey go to plan out their spy headquarters, Morgan sees a pair of glasses in a box of stuff that was given to Chuck by General Beckman. He puts on the glasses, when they start to play the intersect files. Morgan faints and appears disoriented, and when he is awakened by Chuck, Sarah and Casey, he quotes the "Cliffhanger" Chuck line from Season 2, Chuck Versus The Ring. "Guys, I know Kung-Fu."

Series Development

Morgan is aware 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 Template:111 and Template:113. Morgan's biggest role in the main plots were in Template:211, where he played a key role in helping Awesome and "Big Mike" subdue Ned, and in Template:214, 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.

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, and was twice placed in charge of preparing the store for Black Friday. 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 each other in a Thunderdome-style fight in the storage cage. Morgan also led revolts against Harry Tang and Lester 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.

During Template:309, Morgan discovers the CIA underground base Castle, after a group of Ring operatives compromise it, and reveals its existence to Chuck. The two are later captured, and Chuck is forced to reveal to Morgan that he, Casey and Sarah are all spies.

In the events of Template:313, Morgan is able to contribute to the team by spotting a choreographed fight move, revealing Agent Shaw to be working for the Ring. Following the mission, Morgan is approached by the CIA and given a position on "Team Bartowski", much to General Beckman's chagrin. Morgan's first mission with Team Bartowski was to help locate Chuck and Sarah with Casey's help. After that mission, he starts spy training under Casey and although he fails every test, Casey passes him for having balls to go up against a tiger unarmed.

Morgan soon becomes an integral factor that led to the downfall of the Ring. Because he was the only member of the team not arrested, due to the return of Daniel Shaw, who discredits the team, he and Devon rescue the team, before going to capture the Ring Elders. During this time, Morgan becomes acquainted with Casey's daughter Alex. When Casey finds that she has his phone number, he becomes very angry. In Chuck Versus The Suitcase, Morgan is promoted to manager of Buy More after noticing that the spies Beckman placed undercover are too efficient in cleaning up messes. Therefore, he and Casey go and rehire all the former employees. In Template:404, Morgan begins to date Alex McHugh.

Morgan, as of Season 4, is now an official CIA agent in Team Bartowski. Throughout Season 4 and the second half of Season 3 he has proven to be an excellent intelligence analyst. In Chuck Versus the Honeymooners, Morgan helped Casey find Chuck when Chuck and Sarah escaped the CIA by using his knowledge of Chuck and Castle's software. During Chuck Versus Phase Three, Morgan was able to help locate Chuck, as the CIA were not able to, by analyzing intel on Anand Chanarong, revealing he does The Belgium's "dirty work" and is in Los Angeles. He also knows how to use Castle's software extensively such as using it to get detailed information on any location since Season 3. Morgan also serves as the team's morale-boosting member. Morgan lacks any field skills and is often used as "The Magnet" as a distraction. Chuck has had Morgan as his partner, however, in Chuck Versus the Fake Name and in Chuck Versus the Anniversary. Although Morgan has little field skills, it is compensated for with his bravery shown in Chuck Versus the Role Models and in Chuck Versus the Couch Lock which is acknowledged by Casey in both episodes. In the end of Chuck vs. the Cliffhanger, Morgan mistakenly uploads the Intersect, thought to be sent by Diane Beckman. His field skills in the course of Season 5 increased drastically, but the Intersect corrupted him in a similar way to Alexei Volkoff, almost making him lose his identity before getting saved by Chuck. But because he had told some people that he was the Intersect, he got a hit order on him by Decker. After he got the Intersect removed by General Beckman, the hit order was called back.

Anna Wu

See Also: Anna Wu

Throughout Season One and Season Two, Morgan was in a relationship with his coworker Anna Wu at the Buy More who worked under the Nerd Herd. They began a relationship after Morgan had revealed to Jeff and Lester that he had only accidentally kissed Anna as he assumed that she liked him.

In the Season Two episode Template:210, Anna pushes Morgan into buying a place for them to live, as she is interested in moving in with him. With the money Awesome invested to help Morgan buy a place with her, he instead uses the money to buy a DeLorean. This causes the two to breakup, before getting back together again in Template:214. In the second season finale, Morgan decides to pursue his dream in becoming a chef at Benihana, and Anna goes to Hawaii to be with him.

However, at the beginning of Season Three, Morgan returns from Benihana to help out Chuck through his breakup with Sarah. Morgan reveals that he had just broken up with Anna, who left him to go out with another chef.

Alex McHugh

See Also: Alex McHugh

Morgan first meets with Alex in the Season Three episode, Template:318. Alex visits the Buy More after her father John Casey, had left a means for her to escape and go into hiding as the Ring are currently hunting her down. Morgan, who is now assistant manager, leads her to Casey's locker in the staff room when she tells him that Casey is her father. In Template:319, it is revealed that Morgan has her phone number, much to Casey's chagrin.

Morgan and Alex are officially dating as of the Season Four episode, Template:404. Throughout Template:405, Alex pushes Morgan into telling Casey about their relationship as she does not want to lie to her father. Morgan finally tells Casey this in an attempt to strengthen his anger, which would free Casey from being under a "couch lock". Morgan breaks up with her in a quick attempt to save her from being found by men who were looking for her father at Echo Park. Casey then finally begins to accept Morgan, and asks Alex to go back to him instead. In the Season Five episode, "Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips", he dumped Alex because of the corrupted Intersect. He apologized to her later but she said that they cannot be together again but they can still be friends.

In the end they reconcile and even move in together in the series finale.

Character 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). Chuck refers to him as "Morgan Santos" in the Morgan's Vlog series, perhaps showing that this mini series was filmed prior to the first episode. 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."

Throughout Season Two, 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, he misses the interaction between Chuck and Morgan from earlier in the series. Gomez has also expressed an interest in being involved in more of the show's action.

At WonderCon 2009, it was indicated Big Mike will be upgrading Morgan's position at the Buy More.

The Intersect

Two weeks after Chuck and Sarah's wedding and the official disbandment of Team Bartowski in the fourth season finale. Morgan accidentally picks up a pair of sunglasses intended for Chuck, which were initially thought to be from General Beckman, and proceeds to upload the Intersect 2.0. Morgan becomes the new human Intersect.

Personality

Morgan begins the series as very immature and spends most of his time working, hanging out with Chuck and playing video games. He is involved with numerous antics in the store, including "Mystery Crisper," where Anna Wu remarks he can eat anything. He has also nearly gotten in trouble for sexual harassment and skipped work to visit an arcade. He has destroyed a store display computer by picking up a virus when surfing for porn, is frequently involved with misuse of store equipment, such as running a TV show guessing competition on the video wall and using the storage cage for a Thunderdome match to determine the new assistant store manager.

Chuck has also told Morgan he's not allowed access to Chuck's advanced demos of new games without "adult supervision." Morgan has also been known to "borrow" Buy More's DVDs off the shelf, copying them, and then re-shrinkwrapping them before returning them. Morgan is frequently shown to be carrying around a bag with "Tyrell Corporation" printed on it, an obvious homage to the corporation of the same name in the 1980's movie Blade Runner. 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. He later tried to repel Anna when she found an apartment lease intended for Chuck and himself, mistakenly believing it was for them. Morgan is the best Call of Duty 4 player in the store.

He has, however, shown signs of growing responsibility. Big Mike placed him in charge of the store for Black Friday in both seasons. However, Morgan himself is not a very good salesman. After initially trying to dissuade Anna from moving in with him, he realized he truly did want to be with her and accepted. However, Morgan has evidently never finalized living arrangements with Anna and still lives with his mother. Morgan has also supported Ellie when she went through a rough spot with Devon and worked with Lester, Jeff, and Emmett to try to find Big Mike a date after his divorce.

Morgan's most important relationship is his friendship with Chuck, and he has shown himself willing to go to extreme lengths for his friend. Like Ellie, Morgan can be highly protective, and when she tried to push Chuck into moving forward with his life, Morgan got into an argument with her on what sort of five-year plan he needed. He was there when Chuck's mother left them, and also helped support Chuck when he was expelled from Stanford. Morgan was distressed to learn that Ellie supported Chuck's intent to break up with Sarah late in the second season, and quickly reminded her that Sarah was the best thing to have happened to Chuck since Jill cheated on him. He was also upset when he thought Chuck was cheating on Sarah with Jill. Morgan stood up to Milbarge to protect Chuck, and when Chuck skipped his interview to stop a rogue government asset from setting off a bomb, Morgan tried unsuccessfully to interview on his behalf. He is also very nosy about Chuck's personal life and believes his approval of Chuck's girlfriends is important.

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. Although Morgan's behavior at times borders on stalkerish, he cares about her a great deal. In "Chuck Versus the Colonel," he asks Anna to accompany him to Hawaii while he trains to be a Benihana chef.

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. Morgan has admitted that he sees Ellie as a sister, albeit one with whom he wants to have sex. Morgan's crush on Ellie generated some problems with Anna Wu in "Chuck Versus the Nemesis" when he brought Anna to Thanksgiving dinner at Ellie's apartment.

Cooking Skills

Despite never becoming a master Benihana chef, Morgan has demonstrated that he has a good set of cooking skills. He has been shown to be able to cook Teriyaki Surprise, French Toast, bacon and several other dishes. He has also recently been seen to be cooking in Casey's apartment.

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.

Trivia

• When Chuck looks at Morgan's locker at the Buy More, there is a sticker on it from the San Diego Comic Con. Ironically, if Morgan had gone to it he would have seen the cast of Chuck discussing their second season.
• In season 2, episode 13, his mother mentions he is 26. Since he and Chuck are on the same age, it means they'll turn 29 in season 5, which is the last season. However, there are references to Chuck having been born in 1980 or 1981: references to him being 10 years old in 1991, being in middle school in 1994, and having started at Stanford in the fall of 1999 and one semester away from graduating by late 2002. If Chuck and Morgan are the same age and the latter sources are canon, then the two would each be at least 30 years old going into Season 5.