Trivia, Nerd Notes, and Pop Culture References

This page is a list of Trivia, Notes, Allusions and Pop or Geek Culture References in Chuck sourced from viewer contributions, TV.com, and numerous other sources.

Season One

Disk set

• The public announcement for pirating in the season one disk set uses "Casablanca", although not connected, ties the message nicely to the show.

Chuck Versus the Intersect

Trivia

• In the opening scene, a poster for the 1959 Hitchcock movie North by Northwest is seen on Chuck's wall. In it, the hero, Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant), is chased by government agents.

• Chuck has a movie poster of Tron, a Disney sci-fi motion picture about a software engineer abducted into a computer world.  Tron is about a man trapped inside a supercomputer, Chuck is about a supercomputer inside a man.
• Dropping a computer wouldn't destroy a computer hard drive. At worst, it would damage the mechanical linkages inside the drive, but the physical damage wouldn't affect the data stored on the platters. The CIA/NSA would easily be able to recover data from the damaged drive. The damage was probably incurred from the Intersect, given that Chuck is not seen using the computer between the download and the drop.
• When Sarah is pursuing Chuck in the hotel lobby through a fountain, it can be clearly seen that after Sarah passes the fountain she is wearing flat, maybe rubber, black boots, when she was wearing high heeled boots in the scene before and in the scene after.
• Chuck's footwear of choice are Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars, most commonly referred to simply as "Chucks".
• During the scene on the roof, Casey mentions that after he shoots Sarah, he'd go out for a snack, "maybe pancakes." Pancakes are referenced several times throughout the series.

Allusions

• Zork is a reference to a real computer game which was one of the first interactive fiction computer games.
• In the scene where agent Bryce is trying to evade capture before being shot, he uses free running or "parkour" to escape. This is an extreme sports started in France and is seen most notably in the film District B13.  Much of the chase scene is copied shot for shot from District B13.
• As Chuck is walking in the Large Mart store, he turns the corner you can see a pallet of Astro diapers. Possibly an allusion to disgraced astronaut, Lisa Nowack, who drove 1,000 miles while allegedly wearing a diaper to negate the need for stops, to confront a romantic rival.
• The Nerd Herd at the Buy More, is an allusion to the real life Geek Squad at Best Buy.
• The console interface for the Intersect is a 1985-era Apple Macintosh computer. Apple products are a regular product placement throughout the series.
• After Chuck has uploaded the Intersect, and is suffering a headache, he asks Morgan to drive the Nerd Herder and "stay off the 5...", Morgan responds with "Thanks for the tip, Ponch." This is a reference to the 1977-1983 television series C.H.I.P.S. and the character played by Erik Estrada, Frank "Ponch" Poncherello.
• When Sarah first comes to the Buy More, Morgan compares her to "Vicki Vale," a name Chuck then repeats in a rap-style. Vicki Vale is a character in the DC Comics universe, often appearing as a romantic interest for Bruce Wayne/Batman. Morgan and Chuck paraphrase the lyrics Prince did for "Batdance / Vicky Vale" mix of the 1989 Batman movie.
• As Chuck goes to hand in his application for Buy More Supervisor, Morgan bows his head and raises his left fist. This is a nod to the 1968 Olympics in Mexico where Tommie Smith and John Carlos placed first and third in the 200-meter sprint. Morgan mimics Carlos.

Continuity

• When Chuck accidentally uploads the Intersect initially, it takes several hours to complete. In each subsequent upgrade/upload, it only takes a few minutes.
• Chuck does not have a "flash face" as yet so, when he flashes on the motorcade, Sarah doesn't see anything odd, and Chuck says that he just "zoned out." Later in the series, whenever Chuck flashes, Sarah (and others) can recognize it, and often ask "did you just flash"?
• Chuck refers to the "Nerd Herd" car as the "Nerd Herd Mobile," in all subsequent mentions of the car, it is known as a "Nerd Herder" or as a "Herder."

Chuck Versus the Helicopter

Trivia

• In the opening scene Harry Tang makes a reference to real-world store Costco.
• It seems highly unlikely that a covert explosive would have an audible alert to notify individuals of its presence and the imminent explosion.
• A few minutes into the episode the camera lingers on a Nerd Herd banner with a URL. The website once existed: http://www.nerdherdhelp.com/.
• Tony Todd (Graham), John Flek (Zarnow), and Robert Duncan McNeill (director) all had previous connections to Star Trek. Todd played numerous roles including Worf's brother Kurn, Flek appeared on Star Trek: Enterprise and McNeill played Tom Paris on Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• The headline of Bryce's obituary stated he died in a robbery. However, in the actual text of the article he is said to have died in an "automobile crash" while on a fishing trip.
• Lester claims that he and Jeff are only interested in repairing Apple products. It is unknown what, if any, specialties any of the other Nerd Herders may have. By contrast, Chuck can, and does, repair anything.

Allusions

• The chase of the shoplifter at the start of the episode, along with with the shot of the running legs, accompanied by Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" are a nod to the British film Trainspotting.
• While being examined by Dr. Zarnow, Chuck flashes on a photo with encoded intel saying that Oceanic Flight 815 was shot down by a missile. This is in reference to the ABC program, Lost, in which the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 crash land on a remote tropical island. Zachary Levi was a fan of the show.

Continuity

• When Chuck recaps for the viewers, he calls Casey the best the NSA has to offer, and Sarah the best from the CIA; as seen in Chuck Versus the Cougars, Sarah was recruited by the CIA while still in high school.

Chuck Versus the Tango

Trivia

• La Ciudad translates to English (from Spanish) as "The City".
• When Morgan attempts to describe Chuck, he tells the hotel employee that Chuck is 6'1", when in actuality, Zachary Levi is 6'4".
• In Madrid, the Land Rover has a California plate.
• La Ciudad's pistol fires with a loud bang when shooting at John and Sarah through the door even though the pistol has a silencer on it. This is actually much more accurate than the silent "pfft" frequently used in films and television.
• When Harry brings the cart into the storage cage, it actually consist of two CPU's, two CRT monitors, a printer and several keyboards.
  • Despite the fact that the Nerd Herd consists of Chuck, Lester, Jeff, Anna, Skip, and several other unnamed employees, the task of fixing the broken computers falls primarily to Chuck, who only recruits Lester, Jeff, and Anna to assist.

Popular Culture

• Morgan calls Chuck a "gelding," referring to the main character of the Jim Henson fantasy film The Dark Crystal. The character's actual race is called a "Gelfling." A gelding is a castrated male animal, particularly a horse.
• The frequent references to the tango are a nod to the Arnold Schwarzenegger action-comedy True Lies. In the film, Schwarzenegger's character is distracted several times on missions while dancing the tango.
• Chuck references the painting of interest as very "Bob Rossian." This is in reference to the PBS painter Bob Ross. He is noted for his oil landscapes, his natural, gentle manner, and his afro.
• When Morgan is locked in the storage cage, the opera music is a reference to The Shawshank Redemption when Andy Dufresne locks himself in the warden's office listening to an opera on record
• When Chuck is asked to flash on the photographs of the people who were murdered, Chuck asks if the people are sleeping. This is a reference to Episode 39 of Red vs. Blue, when Caboose asks Sarge if all of the dead people are sleeping.

Continuity

• Earlier in the season, in Chuck Versus the Helicopter, Lester and Jeff claim to only work with Apple products; however, the repairs they make while Chuck is on an assignment are not Apple products.

Chuck Versus the Wookiee

Trivia

• The sentence Carina speaks in a foreign language is "Om jag slänger nycklarna till dig, kommer du tappa dem då?" which is Swedish for "If I throw you the keys, will you drop them?" Sarah answers in Polish: "Tylko jak rzucisz jak twoja mamusia", which means "Only if you throw it like your mommy".
• We find out that Sarah's middle name is Lisa.
• When Carina hides the diamond in Morgan's bag, the bag displays the name Tyrell Corporation. Tyrell Corporation is the company that builds the replicants in the movie Blade Runner (1982)

Chuck Versus the Sizzling Shrimp

References to popular culture

• Actor James Hong played David Lo Pan in the action film Big Trouble in Little China. His name in this episode, Ben Lo Pan, is in reference to his previous role.
• When Morgan says to Chuck, "Help me, Chuck Bartowski; you're my only hope," he references Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when a hologram of Princess Leia appears, saying "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope."
• During the shoot-out in the nightclub and The Bamboo Dragon, the cinematography with zooms and slight freeze frames mimics and pays homage to John Woo's Hong Kong films Hard-Boiled and The Killer.
• Chuck mentions the films The Hunt for Red October and White Nights as examples of foreign agents defecting.
• When attempting to arrest Lo Pan in his mansion, Casey calls him "Ironside," in reference to the Raymond Burr character. Ironside was a detective who was confined to a wheelchair.
• Chuck tells Lo Pan; "Forget it Ben, it's Chinatown" when he is stopped while trying to escape. This is in reference to the last line of the film Chinatown, a film in which James Hong had a role.
• While waiting in the car, Chuck listens to a radio show featuring a "Dr. Stu," which is a reference to the L.A. based radio show Loveline.
• During the "sales competition" Morgan is in last place. He rambles on about being fired and starving in a soup line. Morgan then makes the comment "Soup's not a meal..." This could be a reference to the Seinfeld episode "The Soup" (S6E7) where Kenny Bania gives Jerry an Armani suit in exchange for a "meal".

Chuck Versus the Sandworm

References to popular culture

• When Chuck cuts the wire on the Herder's self-destruct, the timer stops at 7 seconds. This echoes the scene in Goldfinger when Bond disarms a bomb set to explode inside Fort Knox, which also stops at 7 seconds. However, the Herder's timer has an extra digit, making the time read 00:07 rather than 0:07 (Double-Oh 7). The film Goldfinger was mentioned on several occasions leading up to this scene.
• The end scene when Chuck runs back home in slow-motion while Finlay Quaye's song "Dice" plays, is a copy of the end sequence from The O.C. episode The Countdown. The O.C. was the debut series of Chuck producer Josh Schwartz.
• Greg Baine is credited as Special Agent Ben Katz. Benjamin Katz is the titular character of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist.
• After Sarah gives Chuck a photo of them together at Comic-Con, Chuck mentions that they never actually went to Comic-Con together,  however, Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski attended San Diego Comic Con International in July 2007 as part of the promotion for the show.
• When Laszlo reveals the Home Theater Room can access Air Force command channels, he asks Chuck, "How about a game of Thermonuclear War?"  a reference to the 1983 film War Games centered on a computer system (the W.O.P.R--War Operations Plan Response) that mistook a game for a real order to launch its missiles. The name of the "game," that David (Matthew Broderick) asked to play was "Global Thermonuclear War."
• Laszlo is a nod to Casablanca character, Victor Laszlo.
• The game Morgan is playing at the pier is called Guitar Shredder, a reference to the Guitar Hero series of games.
• Chuck and Morgan's Halloween costume is a sandworm from Frank Herbert's Dune franchise, and several posters for the 1984 film adaptation of the 1965 novel Dune can be seen throughout the episode.
• This episode reveals Harry Tang's middle name to be "Tiberius". A reference to Star Trek's Captain James Tiberius Kirk.
• The HR interviewer refers to Morgan as " ...you in the Gorden Gekko costume," referring to Michael Douglas' role of the same name in the 1987 movie Wall Street.

Continuity

• When Chuck "Flashes" on Laszlo, he recalls a wanted poster of Laszlo, with a current photos. Since Chuck would have "uploaded" the Intersect several months prior to Laszlo's escape; this would suggest that the Intersect some how gets updates. (?)

Chuck Versus the Alma Mater

References to popular culture

• Ironically, although set at Stanford, filming of the episode--with the exception of stock footage--actually took place on the campus of rival UCLA. The two schools were playing each other in a football game in this episode.
• Devon remarks that instead of Stanford, he'd rather see UCLA play SC (the University of Southern California), the Alma Mater of series creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak.
• Chuck's fraternity at Stanford is Gamma Delta Phi. There is no such fraternity. There is, however, Phi Gamma Delta, known as Fiji, founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848, and Gamma Phi Delta Sorority, founded in 1943. Chuck's Fraternity is apparently drawn from these actual social groups, or possibly, the Phi Delta Gamma (the reverse of Chuck's) established in 1942 in Puerto Rico.
• The Library of Congress Classification code for the copy of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire seen in the episode is incorrect.
• The number on the paper (219 F5U922) given to Chuck by Professor Fleming does not correspond to a Library of Congress Classification code nor a Dewey Decimal number.
• The TV remote game the Buy More employees play is called "fingers of fury". A nod to the classic Bruce Lee film, Fist of Fury.
• The "One Remote" used by Harry in this episode appears to be a Logitech Harmony 880 or 890 model remote. Since only the Harmony 890 can use RF (as opposed to IR), it is presumed that the remote must be a Harmony 890, as only RF capability would allow such broad-sweeping ability to change channels from a distance.
• The "One Remote" is also a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Where the remote is like the "One Ring" to rule them all.
• The ending of this episode seems to contradict the story of how Chuck and Jill met that Chuck told at the beginning of Chuck Versus the Intersect. The Pilot describes Chuck and Jill meeting by "bumping" into one another in the quad, whereas this episode seems to indicate Bryce introducing Chuck to Jill.

Trivia

• They mention a covert program code named "Omaha".
• Professor Fleming is likely a nod to author Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond.

Chuck Versus the Truth

References to popular culture

• When Sarah tells Chuck it's time for them to make love, he chokes on his drink and mutters "Hot coffee!" Hot Coffee was a hidden mini-game in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that received significant media attention because it allowed players to perform sexual acts on NPCs in the game.
• The use of pentothal as a truth agent is a common convention of the spy genre, although there is no medical basis to support its effects.
• The display of martial arts by Payne easily combated by a single gunshot by Sarah Walker is a nod to a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Payne's scream that follows the gunshot (Wilhelm scream) features in every Indiana Jones film and throughout the Star Wars films as well as the Zachary Levi short, No Rest for the Wicked.

Trivia

• Adam Baldwin said at a Chuck panel, that Harry's wife's first name was originally Poon.

Continuity

• Big Mike tells Morgan that he felt that he had to give Harry the Assistant Manager's position due to his romantic involvement with Harry's wife. It seems that in fact, a corporate representative promoted Harry because Chuck missed his interview.

Chuck Versus the Imported Hard Salami

Trivia

• The shipping container containing Bryce's human transport container has biological hazard symbols printed on it.
• When Chuck tells Morgan that he has broken up with Sarah, he says that they are "no mas" this translates from Spanish as "no more".
• Bryce tells Sarah "We'll always have Omaha." As Chuck points out, this is a direct reference to Casablanca. The Omaha portion was used by Bryce (Chuck versus the Alma Mater) during the recorded conversation where Professor Fleming told Bryce that Chuck was selected for the "Omaha" project.

Popular Culture

• In the Buy More, when Chuck is talking to Morgan, just as he references Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, they walk past the TV wall which is displaying the game.
• When Chuck 'breaks up' with Sarah in the Home Theater Room, Jeff and Lester quote the Pat Benatar song "Heartbreaker": "Heartbreaker, Dream-maker, Love-taker".
• While Chuck is making up with Lou, one of the deli employees says "He had me at pastrami," in reference to the quote, "You had me at hello," from Jerry Maguire starring Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger.
• The family smuggling Bryce's container is named Stavros. This could be a reference to and an amalgamation of the characters Stavros Cassadine and Dimitri Cassadine. As the Cassadines is the nemesis to Luke, Laura Spencer and Robert Scorpio on the daytime drama General Hospital in the 1980's. The Demitrios family ran their smuggling operation from the piers, paralleling the story line of General Hospital's location at Port Charles. Lou possibly being a reference to Luke Spencer of the same series.

Chuck Versus the Nemesis

Trivia

• After Casey shoots Bryce in his apartment, Chuck sits by Casey's fireplace. It is apparent that there is no flue present.

Allusions

• Morgan: Turn on your heart light, buddy. Let it glow.

Morgan paraphrases the Neil Diamond song Turn on your Heartlight, which he wrote to commemorate the movie E.T.

• Chuck realizes that Bryce's farewell line to Sarah "We'll always have Omaha" is a nod to Casablanca. The final shot of this episode in which Sarah is deciding between phone calls from both Chuck and Bryce also evokes Ingrid Bergman's romantic dilemma in the airport climax of that movie.
• The drug Bryce injects Chuck with is dehalcynate, the fictional drug from the movie, The Island (2005).
• The language spoken by Chuck and Bryce is Klingon, an alien language created for the Star Trek film and series franchise.

The Klingon dialogue between Chuck and Bryce appears to be generally correct, however, the pronunciation by both actors is poor (additionally, in the various incarnations of Star Trek Klingon is a harsh, barked language even when spoken by human characters).

• Morgan and Jeff's conversation when the computers are down mimics the conversation between Private Albert Blithe and Captain Ronald Speirs in the 2001 mini-series Band of Brothers; Jeff says "I'm scared" and Morgan replies "We're all scared!" Joshua Gomez's brother, Rick, co-starred in the mini-series as George Luz.

Chuck Versus the Crown Vic

Trivia

• When Chuck picks up the hundred dollar bill on the floor just before he flashes, it is bent and slightly crumpled. After the ladies pass by and the flash sequence happens, the bill is completely clean and flat.
• Just as the missile is about to hit the Crown Vic, you can clearly see the windshield and other windows have been removed to avoid injury in the upcoming explosion.
• Agent Casey's 1985 Crown Victoria has a 4.6L V8, however the Crown Victoria wasn't equipped with the 4.6L V8 until 1992. The 1985 Crown Victoria was originally equipped with a 5.0L V8. The actual vehicle shown is a 1991 5.0L model.
• Chuck apparently is mistaken on the contents of a crate thought to contain counterfeit plates. As it turns out, it contains medical supplies. A similar error also occurred in Chuck Versus the Imported Hard Salami, where Chuck mistakes Lou's crate to contain smuggled weapons when in fact, it had imported meat in them.
• After Chuck receives the photo from Morgan and jumps to the computer, The Year without a Santa Clause is playing on the monitors behind him.
• Throughout the Buy More scenes, the Rankin & Bass stop action Christmas specials The Year without a Santa Clause and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is playing on a loop in the background.
• After the Buy More gambling scene, Burl Ives version of Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas which was recorded for Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer special.

Allusions

Chuck: Well she sure is shiny.
Casey: Yeah, she's shiny!
In the universe of the television series, Firefly and the movie Serenity, the word "shiny" was commonly used as a synonym for "cool".

• Big Mike calls Morgan  "Captain Stubin" when he was wearing a yachting outfit. A reference to the TV show Love Boat.
• While Morgan is at the Nerd Herd desk wearing his captain's outfit, Chuck says "Looking Good, Morgan." Morgan then responds, "Feeling Good, Chuck." This is an allusion to the Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy film Trading Places (1983).
• Chuck calls Morgan "little buddy"  a reference to the Skipper and Gilligan in the show Gilligan's Island (1964-1967).
• While Morgan is on a yacht with Anna's parents, he stands leaning over the bow with arms held wide yelling "I'm King of the World!" This is mirroring the scene in Titanic (1997).

Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover

Trivia

• In the beginning of the episode, when Ilsa is trying on the necklace, subtitles say "I love it", while the Russian phrase that she says "Ya obozhayu eto" really means - "I adore it".

The phrase that Casey says, "Ya rada, chto tebe nravitsya" ("I am glad you like it") is actually a phrase for a woman to say, while a man would say "Ya rad, chto tebe nravitsya."

• Sarah does not say "Don't touch me again, pig." in Russian to her assailant (as the subtitles say). Her statement isn't very clear because of a very heavy accent, but it sounds more like: "Touch me again, and I'll break-off not only your finger." (Datronsya do menya otkruchu ne tolko paletz.)
• The dance the Russian arms dealers are performing at the hotel is called Kalinka and is a national Russian dance.

Allusions

• Casey: "Where did you learn how to tie people up? From a 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' cartoon?"

This is a reference to animator Jay Ward's animated show that originally aired in 1959, which features the flying squirrel, Rocket J. "Rocky" Squirrel and his friend, Bullwinkle J. Moose. The duo were chased by two bungling Russian spies, Boris Badenov and Natasha. The comment is a direct reference to the cartoon spies and their ineptness to capture the elusive "Moose and Squirrel."

• This episode includes many references to the 1942 movie Casablanca including:

1.  The name of Casey's ex-girlfriend is Ilsa, the same name as Rick's ex-girlfriend in Casablanca.
2.  Ilsa is about to marry Victor,  Ilsa's husband in the film is named Victor.
3.  Casey's ex-girlfriend gets on a plane never to see him again.
4.  Chuck says "Don't worry buddy, you'll always have me." In Casablanca the line was "We'll always have Paris."
5.  Chuck says to Casey: "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." The same famous line used in Casablanca by Rick to Captain Louis Renault.
6.  When Ilsa meets Casey in the Buy More, the movie playing on the TV is Casablanca.

• Chuck's reaction when Casey does manage, even minimally, to open up -"It's alive!" - is a quote from the 1931 classic version of Frankenstein, by the doctor at the first stirrings of the monster.
• The fall from the balcony is a nod to Lethal Weapon II (1989).
• When Ellie wakes up Morgan, he mumbles, “Damn mom, I’ve got my headgear on”, This line is spoken by Anthony Michael Hall’s character in Sixteen Candles when he is woken up after falling asleep next to an unattainable girl.

Chuck Versus the Marlin

Trivia

• The rooftop helipad where Sarah confronts the  agent code named "Longshore" when he attempts to extract Chuck, is the same location where she took Chuck after requesting extraction to protect him from Casey in Chuck Versus the Intersect.
• Chuck sends the photograph of the Shawarma Girl to Sarah's iPhone via an email to "sarah@wienerlicious.net".
• Sarah: (To a customer) Danke, dass Sie uns im Wienerlicious besucht haben. The translation of this German phrase is: "Thank you for visiting us at Wienerlicious."
• The code to reveal Sarah's hidden computer console at Wienerlicious is 720 + enter on the cash register.
• When the delivery girl walks in with the food, Chuck says: "29 deliveries, 29 bugs." It was 29 minutes into the show.

Allusions

• Sarah mentions that their "bugs" were "EM-50's". This is a reference to the Urban Assault Vehicle in the movie Stripes.
• The chip name GLG 20 comes from the 1985 movie Spies Like Us with Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. Aykroyd and Chase played two bumbling decoy spies. GLG-20 is a reference to their status; as GLG-20s, they would be considered "international covert operatives."
• Big Mike's assertion that, when he finds the thief who robbed the Buy More, "I'm gonna break my foot off in his behind." is the same one made to King Jaffe Joffer by Cleo McDowell in Coming to America.
• The marlin is identical to that featured in the 1990 David Lynch TV series Twin Peaks.
• When Jeff and Lester are thumb wrestling, Lester says "Oh, he's taking him Over the Top". This is a reference to the 1987 movie of the same name staring Sylvester Stallone (Lincoln Hawk). Hawk was a Truck Driver that arm wrestled on the side. His signature move was to take his hand "over the top" of his opponent in order to win.
• Plot was recycled closely in Real Steel.

Season Two

Chuck Versus the First Date

Trivia

• Jeff's Resume: (Written on a napkin) I've worked here forever...18 years and know where all the bodies are buried. Ha Ha Ha My coworkers have nice feet. I like to take pictures of them and then [obscured] them.
• When Casey sticks his needle in his chest, we can see in a point of view that he passes it through his tie, in another POV, you can see the needle stuck near to the tie.
• On the roof top fight between Sarah and Colt, when Sarah is in a choke hold, the move she uses to get out of the choke hold is identical to that used by Jet Li in the fight against "Hercules O'Brien".
• When Chuck returns with the tactical team, his tie is hooked into his left shirt pocket, and in another POV, his tie is hanging normal.
• There is no explanation given for Sarah's cover job change from the Weinerlicious to the Orange Orange.

Allusion

• During Chuck's interview with Lester for the position of Buy More Assistant Manager, Lester was doing an impression of Don Vito Corleone, the head of the fictional Mafia family in the Godfather films.
• Ellie: If you say pilot of the Millennium Falcon, I will hit you. The Millennium Falcon is the star ship flown by Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies.
• Morgan's way to pick the next assistant manager is a knock-off of the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, where two people enter and only one person leaves.

Chuck Versus the Seduction

Trivia

• When Roan ask Chuck to kiss Sara, Chuck hesitates and responds "It's just that I had a burrito earlier, and I'm trying to be respectful." This may be an allusion to the scene in Chuck Versus the Imported Hard Salami where Sarah kisses Chuck when they thought they were going to die. During the commentary of this scene, Zachary Levi states that he was in the middle of eating a Philly cheese steak sandwich with peppers and onions when he was called to the set.
• Ellie tells Devon that her favorite movie is Casablanca.

Allusion

• The character name Sasha Banacheck is a nod to Linda Fiorentino's character of the same name in Gotcha! She portrayed a CIA agent who seduced Jonathan, a college student (played by Anthony Edwards), in order to have him unknowingly smuggle a film canister out of East Germany.

This allusion may also be self-referential, as it is revealed in Chuck Versus the Alma Mater that Chuck and Bryce played a version of "Gotcha!" (aka Tag! or Assassin) in Stanford's library.

• Chuck: Remember, we'll always have Paris.
• This is in reference to the famous phrase from the 1942 classic movie Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

Chuck Versus the Break-Up

• When Chuck flashes the mugshots of various CIA/NSA agents, including Sarah Walker and John Casey, the mugshots mistakenly identifies National Security Agency (NSA) agents, including Casey, as part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), that is incorrect. The NSA is actually a branch of the US Department of Defense (DOD), which is why Team Bartowski's superior officer is General Beckman. Beckman is a US Air Force General.
• When Chuck flashes on the Intersect data drive, pictures of the following persons are shown in split seconds:

Mock, Kevin; NSA Agent ID 3234-2808; Status: Active

Cruz, Sarah; NSA Agent ID 8842-6367; Status: Active

Agent Code Name: Scott Hatcher (CIA)

Agent Code Name: Sarah Walker (CIA)

Agent Code Name: Lauren Goldenberg (CIA)

Casey, John; NSA Agent ID 5498-5684; Status: Active

• The Fulcrum agent posing as a doctor has a name tag with "Dr. J. Rosenbaum" on it. Scott Rosenbaum is writer and executive producer of this episode.
• While Mitt (Micheal Strahah) plays the Madden game, his team on the game is the New York Giants; the same team he spent his professional career.
• Jeff mentions The Faces of Death, a movie made in 1978 that supposedly publicize recording real deaths.
• This is the first episode of many that the line "Sweep the leg" from the Karate Kid is used.

Chuck Versus the Cougars

• A few of Sarah's aliases are revealed by CIA Director Graham: Jennifer Burton (San Diego), Katie O'Connell (Wisconsin), Rebecca Franko (Cleveland). However, the name on her birth certificate, which is her real name, is never revealed.
• Chuck: Of all the semi-tart, Asian-influenced frozen yogurt shops in all the towns in all the world, you walked into hers? Chuck parodies the famous line from the 1942 movie Casablanca: Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.
• This episode flashbacks to Sarah's high school experiences. Several allusions are made to various high school-related movies:
• Heather Chandler is also the name of the main "Heather" in Heathers, who was similarly part of a vicious, popular clique.
• Mark Ratner is also the name of a character from Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
• Sarah wins a crown at the reunion covered in blood, a possible homage to the prom queen scene in Carrie.
• The reunion was filled with hit men trying to kill one another, much like in the film, Grosse Point Blank.

Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer

• During the interviews with Emmett, Anna says she speaks "Binary" and gives "00011010". This code actually turns out to be Dec = 26 which translate to ASCII's "Substitute."

• The flashback scene featuring Jeff Barnes flanked by models while being interviewed after his moment of triumph is similar in setup and tone to Jeff Spicoli's dream sequence in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), where he imagines himself a world class surfer.
• Missile Command was actually created by Dave Theurer and does not feature a kill screen. After level 256, it instead returns to level 1.
• The new Assistant Manager of Buy More is named Emmett Milbarge, a reference to the 1985 film Spies Like Us where the two main characters were Emmett Fitz-Hume and Austin Millbarge played by Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd respectively.
• The thug with the name Farrokh Bulsara is probably a reference to Queen band front person, Freddie Mercury. Farrokh Bulsara was Freddie's original name.
• As Jeff prepares himself for his challenge to reach the "Kill Screen," the song "The Touch" by Stan Bush is played which premiered in the 1986 Transformers the Movie.
• The scene after the closing credits of Fast Times at Ridgemont High is the Missile Command screen showing "The End."
• The episode is called Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer, Tom Sawyer is the name of the Rush song that provides the winning rhythm for playing Missile Command in this episode.

Continuity

• At the end of the episode, when Jeff drops a quarter in to play Missile Command, the previous high-score is shown to be 161,550; however, when Chuck beat the game and reached the kill screen, the score was 200,000.

Chuck Versus the Ex

Trivia

• When Chuck is performing the computer support at the BioScience conference, he announces that he is using 10BaseT to connect the servers. 10BaseT only runs at 10 megabits per second, and is far too slow to connect modern servers.
• When Sarah begins giving the lecture in Jill's place she assumes an Australian accent. This is Yvonnne Strahovski's 'Hollywood Australian' accent which is ironic considering her own natural accent is Australian.
• Although Ellie's full first name has previously been revealed to be Eleanor, Lester refers to her as Elizabeth. This is not be an error by the writers, but instead in keeping with Lester's character.
• This is the first episode in which Chuck is shown to carry a badge. Additionally, while Chuck has also been seen working directly with law enforcement officers and tactical teams before, such as leading a team onto the roof to apprehend Colt in Chuck Versus the First Date, this episode is the first explicit indication that he has some level of authority over local and federal law enforcement agencies.
• Jill's boss is named Guy LeFleur which is the name of a well known hockey player.

Continuity

• When Chuck asks Emmet if there are any "Boston Cream" doughnuts in the box, Emmet responds, "yes," however, when Emmet opens up the box for Big Mike, it is plain to see that there are no filled doughnuts of any kind (4 powdered sugar, 4 sprinkles, and 4 that appear to be either cinnamon or plain).

Chuck Versus the Fat Lady

Trivia

• When Jill asks Chuck when they should meet at Buy More he gives her a "nerd code" so Casey won't be able to follow them. Chuck tells Jill to take the latent heat of aquatic fusion (in calories/gram) and then to subtract the atomic number of the element thulium. The latent heat of aquatic fusion (the heat required to turn ice to water) is approximately 80 calories/gram. The atomic number of thulium is 69. 80 - 69 = 11. Chuck and Jill went on their date while the sun was up so Chuck probably intended for Jill to meet him at 11 o'clock am.
• When Chuck looks at Morgan's locker at the Buy More, there is a sticker on it from the San Diego Comic Con. If Morgan had gone to it, he may have seen the cast of Chuck there talking about their second season.
• While Chuck is talking to Morgan at the Buy More, the Looney Tunes short "What's Opera, Doc?" is playing on all of the TV screens in the background. It stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in a parody of opera. This is especially fitting as part of the episode is related to opera.
• The Fibonacci sequence that Chuck mentions for the puzzle is also used in The Da Vinci Code
• The Fibonacci sequence uses addition where the sum equal the addition of the two preceding numbers ( i.g. 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13...)
• While "Team Chuck" was in the theater trying to solve the next puzzle, Chuck ask Jill if she took violin lessons. As seen in Chuck Versus the Cougars, Sarah should have know the violin as well, since in the flash back she is carrying a violin while walking the school's hall.
• The Fulcrum agent who infiltrates the hotel is wearing a patch bearing the name "Tuttle Electric". This is almost certainly a reference to Harry Tuttle, the commando-like repairman played by Robert DeNiro in Terry Gilliam's 1985 film, Brazil.

Allusions

• Jill mentions that LeFleur's computer log-on was a random word from a piece of Vogon poetry. This is a reference to the best selling novel, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adam which also saw iterations as a television series, radio series, and feature film.

Chuck Versus the Gravitron

Trivia

• When Big Mike hits Leader you can clearly see his gun come flying out of his hands, but when they cut and show you the scene from the back as he lands in the pile of boxes, his gun is back in his hand.
• In the scene where Morgan and Lester are getting ready to eat their "turkey dinner," Morgan's response is reminiscent of when Cypher on the Matrix is about to pull the "plug" on Switch and she says "Not like this."

Allusions

• Chuck faces Leader in a room full of mirrors similar to Bruce Lee facing Mr. Han in Enter the Dragon (1973).
• While interrogating Jill, Casey states that she is "damaging my calm". Casey uses this several times during the series as a reference to his role as Jayne on Firefly.

Chuck Versus the Sensei

Trivia

• When Morgan goes into the Buy More break room to talk to his buddies about the Employee Of The Month program, Jeff Barnes is playing a classic Mattel Electronics Pocket Electronic Football game. This hand held game which used a 9 volt battery was originally released in 1977 and re-released in 2000.
• Whilst determinedly ignoring Ty Bennett, Morgan appears to be reading a copy of Ambush Bug: Year None #1, (the first issue of a six part series) with a cover publication date of September 2008. The story was drawn by Keith Giffin and renowned artist Al Milgrom.
• The address Chuck gives to Casey as his Sensei's Dojo of 1919 Mulholland Dr,  is not an actual address. The location is at a bend in the road between a fire station and a heliport. Although when you look up the address, a photo of an Modern Asian style house appears in the search, which is actually located near 3548-3698 Caribeth Drive.
• Captain Awesome's father, Dr. Woody Woodcomb, was played by Bruce Boxleitner. Boxleitner also played Alan Bradley in the often mention motion picture, Tron (1982),

Allusions

• Casey:This from the agent that can't keep her chocolate out of Bartowski's peanut butter.  Casey alludes to the classic advertising campaign for the Reese's peanut butter cups.
• Casey tells Chuck that "you are damaging my calm." In the movie Serenity, Adam Baldwin's character Jayne says of another character (River) that "She is startin' to damage my calm."

Chuck Versus the DeLorean

Trivia

• When the real employees of the building are returning to the upper floor, the elevator incorrectly shows them traveling downwards rather than upwards.
• Stefanie Scott (Young Sarah) was nominated for the 2009 Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Series-Guest Starring Young Actress".
• When Chuck checks his ATM account there is $10,002,520.00 in his account which would have left him $20.00 after lending Morgan $2,500.00 to repay Devon, and if the 10 million was not deposited in his account by Sarah's father, which Chuck did not know was there.
• According to Jack Burton's discussion with Sarah about the "Schnook," he mentions that Chuck actually has $2,200 in his bank account. That would mean Chuck deposited approximately $300 during the time Jack saw Chuck's account and Morgan borrowing the money. This would be consistent with the $12.50 an hour Chuck would make for one weeks work and a small amount of activity on his account.

Allusions

• The building being "sold" is the Nakatomi Plaza, a reference to Die Hard.
• Chuck's German impersonation is similar to the accent used by Hogan's Heroes character Col. Klink. Casey actually comments on the similarity of Chuck's accent to Klink's.
• Chuck finds the money that the team just conned hidden in his bank account. In the movie Office Space, which co-stared Gary Cole, Sarah's father, Peter Gibbons finds the money he stole from Initechin his account.
• The music that plays when Morgan first sees the DeLorean is the same that is played in a similar scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off where the characters admire and then "borrow" Cameron's Father's 1961 Ferrari.
• When Sarah confronts Chuck, he is hiding behind a menu similar to the character Skinner in Ratatouille, and Chuck says in a Skinner-like voice, "Yes, I'd like the linguini with clam sauce please." Linguini is the main character in Ratatouille. Zachary Levi is a self confessed Disney fan.
• Sarah's father is named Jack Burton, the name of Kurt Russel's character from Big Trouble in Little China.
• According to General Beckman, Sarah's father checks into a hotel using the name Guido Merkens after obtaining the money. Guido Merkens was an NFL Football player from 1978 to 1987.

Chuck Versus Santa Claus

Trivia

• Milbarge claims that his grandmother is dying of Leukoplakia. A condition, according to the Mayo Clinic site, are white patches within the mouth that are not able to be scraped off. It continues to state that the cause is unknown but tobacco use may irritate the condition.
• When Sarah shoots Mauser in the Christmas tree lot, she is holding her pistol in her right hand. The shot then quickly cuts away to Chuck to show his reaction and then quickly back to Sarah who is now holding the pistol with both hands. The shot then cuts quickly once again and Sarah is once again holding the pistol in her right hand. Also note that the image is mirrored left-to-right; the pistol's ejector, located on the left, is viewed on the right side of the pistol.
• The hostage taker/gunman is named Ned Rhyerson, which is the name of the insurance agent in the movie Groundhog Day, which Zachary Levi has said is one of his favorite films.
• Big Mike's Cousin is Sgt. Al Powell, played by Reginald VelJohnson, who played a character with the same name and occupation in Die Hard 1 & 2.
• As another nod to Die Hard, the episode takes place during Christmas.
• VelJohnson has portrayed the character of a Police Officer in many films and TV, most notably in the above mentioned Die Hard series and the TV series Family Matters.
• Lt. Mauser is the name of the bumbling officer in the Police Academy movies.

Chuck Versus the Third Dimension

Trivia

• In the scene where Achmed Gambir is attacking Chuck, the knife that came out of Achmed's sleeve has a bank handle and a serrated knife. When Achmed puts the knife down, it has a gold handle and smooth blade. When Achmed goes for the knife the last time, it again has a black handle and serrated knife.
• Dominic Monaghan also played a rock star in the ABC series Lost, which is another Chuck go to reference.
• The singer Tyler has a tattoo in Arabic which is supposed to contain information about a terrorist plot. In reality is just a decorative medallion you can find inside a mosque that says, among other things "Allah (God) in his supremacy and majesty", all of it is from the Qur'an.
• At the concert, Casey and Sarah communicated with Chuck using their wrist-watches and talking to Chuck on his cell-phone, but when Chuck was running away from the assassin he used his own wrist-watch-radio to speak to Sarah and not his phone.
• The background for the theme song in this episode was altered to have more of a 3D effect.
• One of the last scenes in the courtyard, Strahovski apparently breaks character a bit by saying, "See you tomorrow" without the American accent.

Pop Culture References

• When Emmett is going over the rules for Tyler Martin's appearance, he yells "No touching!" which was a line frequently used in Arrested Development. Tony Hale played Buster Bluth in Arrested Development.
• The grenade that Chuck flashes on is identified as an IG-88. IG-88 is the droid bounty hunter from Star Wars episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
• Tyler Martin announces that there are golden tickets hidden in his CD's which is from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
• Tyler points at an apparently Asian symbol tattooed on his arm and says "This one means Serenity..." A reference to the ship from Firefly.
• One of the contest to get the Golden Ticket was the Molly Ringwald underpants challenge to see who could be the first to get a pair of woman's underpants. This is a reference to Sixteen Candles (1984) where Ted (Michael Anthony Hall) was challenged to get Sam's (Molly Ringwald) panties as proof that he had been physical with her.
• When Morgan decides to give Butterman the Golden ticket, the music is from the scene where Andy Dufresne's character from Shawshank Redemption plays opera to the courtyard.
• When Butterman, an ex-con, sells the Golden Ticket, he says the money will buy a ticket to Zihuatanejo which is the same place that the characters from Shawshank Redemption reunite after escaping and being released from prison.
• Jeff quotes/references Shawshank at different points saying "You put anything in my mouth, I will bite down hard", and "Get busy living, or get busy dying", the last being the signature and defining quote of the movie.
• Lester also responds to "Get busy living or get busy dying" by saying "True Dat", similar to Red (Morgan Freeman) saying "Damn straight" near the end of the movie.

Chuck Versus the Suburbs

Trivia

• When Chuck flashes on the electronic bug, he says that the bug was stolen from a CIA sub station in Omaha. Omaha has been referenced in several episodes. Most notably in Chuck Versus the Alma Mater where it was learned that Omaha is the project Chuck would have been recruited for had Bryce not interfered.

• The phone number on the grocery list given to Chuck by Sarah is the information number (805) 555-1212 which has a California area code.
• When Chuck is playing with his iPhone on his Valentine's Day date with Sarah he is playing the Missile Command game Application made by Atari. This is the same game Chuck had to play in Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer to get the codes for the satellite.

Pop Culture References

The Nerd Herd was referencing Big Mike may have been a Cybernetic Organism sent from the future and a "Skin Job" giving nods to Terminator (1984) and Blade Runner (1982)

• The scene when Chuck is hooked up to the Fulcrum machine to install the "Dark Intersect" is an allusion to the Ludovico Technique from the movie A Clockwork Orange
• The scene of Chuck and Sarah having their eyes closed while the "Dark Intersect" was running is reminiscent of Indiana Jones and Marion doing the same when the Ark was opened and the Nazis were destroyed in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
• When Casey came to rescue Sarah and Chuck, Casey mentioned the "cable guy" reference from the Cable Guy (1981).

Chuck Versus the Best Friend

Trivia

• Anna's full name is revealed to be Anna Melinda Wu,
• Jeff's actual first name is revealed to be Jefferson.
• When Lester is unsure about the audition, Jeff convinces him to participate by reciting the opening lines of Eminem's song "Lose Yourself"

Pop Cultural References

• Casey refers to Chuck as the "Skin covered robot" as used before, a reference to Terminator (1984) or Blade Runner (1982).

Chuck Versus the Beefcake

Trivia

• In the scene where Lester is taping green shirts on a picture of five women, between cuts the picture changes from one with only one shirt taped on to one with all five women in green shirts and back again.
• Casey asks for surveillance from a NASA satellite. However, NASA is a civilian space agency and doesn't control or have access to any surveillance satellites. USA surveillance satellites are the responsibility of the NRO (National Reconnaissance Office).
• On the Queen's Order to Cole Barker, "recognized" is spelt the American way. An order from the Queen of the United Kingdom would use the British spelling "recognised".
• On the information Sarah sees about Cole Barker it says he was "born in to Jason Barker and Mary Fields", although it should say "born to" instead of "born in to"
• The scene where they are hand-cuffed and hanging about to be tortured, is a nod to the original Lethal Weapon in a scene where Riggs is about to be tortured.
• Fulcrum agent Alexis is played by Katrina "Kat" Law. Also known for her role as Nyssa al Ghul in Arrow.

Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon

Trivia

• When Cole Barker is shot for the first time, Sarah says, "Oh, my God, you're shot," she pronounces the word shot in an Australian accent. This is Yvonne Strahovski's real Australian accent.
• When Chuck tells his sister he's not moving in with Sarah, you can for a few seconds see that the room doesn't have a roof
• The t-shirt Sarah is wearing to sleep in, is the same shirt Chuck wore under his white dinner jacket at the end of Chuck Versus the Seduction.
• The title of the episode is a reference to the movie, Lethal Weapon.

Allusion

• Morgan walks in as Jeff and Lester are poking fun at Big Mike dating Morgan's mother. Morgan makes the comment, "Laugh it up fuzzball." A direct reference to Han Solo's remark in the scene in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back when Chewbacca laughs at Leia's insult to Han.
• When Cole remarks "go for the knee" in referencing taking out the Fulcrum agents, Chuck responds "...sweep the leg?" Chuck is referring to the 1984 movie The Karate Kid. This line is used several times throughout the Chuck series.
• The actor who played Dr. Busgang,  Robert Picardo,  also played the holographic doctor in Star Trek Voyager, with Chuck's supervising producer, Robert Duncan McNeill.

Chuck Versus the Predator

Trivia

• In Hong Kong, when Orion notices Fulcrum agents closing in on him, he turns his screen to the black message screen. When the scene cuts to another camera angle, the screen is back to normal and then black again in the next camera change.
• The Ex Machina comic book series details the life of Mitchell Hundred (also known as the Great Machine). This is an obvious parallel to Chuck having the Intersect in his head.
• In Chuck's flash on Vincent, a service history of LTC Vincent Smith is shown, that falsely calls him LTC Wolfe
• This episode has several references to the Mummy series:

1. The main villain in this episode is Arnold Vosloo who played Imhotep.
2. The Buy More was TP'd or "mummified".
3. Emmett, while at the Burbank Buy More, hits the cardboard cutout and knocks down the DVD/Music display racks in the exact same way both Evelyn and Alex did it to the book cases and columns in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns.
4. Smith (Vosloo) takes "tetrodotoxin" which makes him appear to be dead. Smith later comes out of the body bag. This ties back into the Mummy where Imhotep was resurrected.

Allusions

• The music used when Jeff and Lester used the "Roark 7" is reminiscent to the music used in Inspector Gadget (1983-1986). A spy/agent that is part machine. The voice of Inspector Gadget was Don Adams, who also played Maxwell Smart, a bumbling spy, in Get Smart''' (1965-1970).

Chuck Versus the Broken Heart

Trivia

• In the vault, Casey turns the valve of the nitrous oxide tank anti-clockwise, which opens the valve, instead of clockwise to close the valve.
• One of the names that scrolls by as Sarah begins her search for Chuck's father is Robert Duncan McNeill, the show's supervising producer and sometimes director. McNeill also played the role of Tom Paris in Star Trek The Next Generation and Voyager.
• The female agent sent to evaluate Sarah is named Alex Forrest (Tricia Helfer). Alex Forrest was the name of Glenn Close's character in the 1987 motion picture Fatal Attraction. This is appropriate in that the episode's Forrest wants to disrupt Chuck's relationship with Sarah as the movie character tried to disrupt Michael Douglas' relationship with his on screen wife.
• Ahmad uses the alias "Harry Lime" for checking into the hospital. Harry Lime was the character played by Orson Welles in the 1943 classic film The Third Man.
• When Devon is waking up with his hangover, he tells Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) "...don't mention the word 'Bell'". A possible reference to Lancaster's roll in Saved by the Bell.

Chuck Versus the Dream Job

Trivia

• The episode has a smattering of indirect references to Silicon Valley execs. The whole NextExpo is a reference to Steve Job's second computer company "NeXT Computer". During the Expo, Ted Roark brags about money similar to Larry Ellison's wealth. The entire casual dress and office atmosphere is reminiscent of Google and others. The line where Ted states to Chucks father "I always had the way with the girls" is a reference to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Woz was always the computer guy who could create anything while Jobs was the master salesman. Ted's glasses, monster image, and goals of taking over the world seem to be a reference to Bill Gates and Microsoft.
• Chuck's father tells Chuck "Aces, Charles." This was said by Chuck's sister Ellie in the pilot episode where Chuck replied, "A dad quote, I'm impressed."
• When Stephen Bartowski meets Ellie for the first time in years. The first thing he says is "Oh, boy" a reference to Scott Bakula's series, Quantum Leap.
• After Chuck's interview he ask a series of "What's this?" questions. This mimics the Honda commercial where young actor, Cole Sands, continually asking a salesman questions. Both Chuck and the youth's barrage of questions end with the answer "That's the restroom." .

Pop Culture Reference

• Ted Roark is played by Chevy Chase. This is a nod to his role as Emmett Fitz-Hume in Spies Like Us (1985)

Chuck Versus the First Kill

Trivia

• When Morgan, Lester and Jeff are in the break room trying to brainstorm and foil Emmett's plan, they ramble on about "...but he knows that we know..." is a nod to the Princess Bride (1987) poison scene.
• Casey, Chuck, and Sarah dragging Bernie's dead body out of the party while pretending he is alive is likely a reference to the 1989 film Weekend at Bernie's, as is Bernie's name.
• Lester: "Yes captain, my captain."  Referencing Walt Whitman's 1865 poem "O Captain! My Captain!", a metaphor poem referring to Lincoln's assassination. The phrase was also used repeatedly in the 1989 film, Dead Poets Society and the pilot episode of the Flintstones, "The Flintstone Flyer" (1960).
• The scene where Big Mike kisses Morgan and says, "I know it was you, Morgan. You broke my heart. You broke my heart!" is an allusion to the movie The Godfather where Al Pacino kisses "Fredo" and says much  the same thing
• Emmett: Welcome back to gen pop, Michael.  Gen pop is shorthand in corrections institutions for "general population," the main housing area where prisoners are kept when not absent in special circumstances or discipline.
• Fulcrum agents in the past have mentioned they were working for America. In this episode during the Leader seminar's "short training video" they say "good luck - comrades"; and throughout the building are posters that represent cold war propaganda for Communism.
• When Chuck flashes on the name "Black Rock", the coordinates 34 degrees 53' 56.40" -117 degrees 1' 19.20" in Barstow, CA. The coordinates are located near 504 Clark Street in Barstow, where there is a vacant lot, but not a drive-in theater.

Continuity

• Jill mentions that it was her "Uncle Bernie" that first inducted her in to Fulcrum. When they first interrogated Jill during Chuck Versus the Gravitron, she mentioned that she was recruited at Stanford (as the CIA did with Bryce).

Chuck Versus the Colonel

Trivia

• The Dodge Challenger that Sarah and Chuck drive appears to be the same car from the FOX TV series Drive.
• Towards the end of the make-out scene, Sarah is lying diagonally with her head on the edge of the mattress during the wide shots, but lying with her head on her pillow for all of the intercut close-ups.
• At the very end of the episode, when Ted Roark gets in a truck, as it drives away you can see the shadows of the film crew reflected in it.
• During the episode, Emmett has labeled Morgan as his assistant manager or "ass man". This was also a running joke during Chuck Versus the Seduction, when Chuck leapt from the Buy More roof using of a "new assistant manager" banner. After it was ripped down and put back up it read "new ass man".
• Ted Roark's uses a drive-in theater as a base. In the movie Spies Like Us , starring Chevy Chase, the bad guys use a drive-in theater as a base.

Pop Culture References

• Morgan and Big Mike continue the reference to The Godfather (1972). Mike tells Morgan "never take sides against the family again". Then Morgan replies "I'll do anything--Stepfather."

Chuck Versus the Ring

Trivia

• In the beginning of the episode General Beckman is telling Sarah and Bryce that they're supposed to be leaving for Zurich (Switzerland) the next morning. She ends her speech by saying "Auf Wiedersehen" which is, however, German for "good-bye". The Swiss term would have been "Uf Wiederluege"
• Towards the end of the episode, Chuck drops into an all white room which contains the Intersect computer and re-downloads an updated version of the Intersect into his head then destroys it. This scene mirrors the scene in the pilot episode that introduces Bryce Larkin.
• Bryce lies bleeding in the all white room; but when he is moved, there is no blood seen anywhere in this room.
• Casey's personal phone number is 323-555-0173.
• Chuck's address is listed as: 1838 Franklin St. Los Angeles, CA 90026
• While Jeffster! sets up to play, Jeff says to the cellist: "Watch me for the changes." This is a reference to Back to the Future when Marty McFly tells the band to "watch me for the changes" as he plays at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance.
• Jeffster! plays a rendition of "Mr. Roboto", on the Kilroy Was Here album (1983) by Styx. A story of a Rock and Roll performer (Robert Orin Charles Kilroy; ROCK) who escapes a prison while in a robot's hull.
• After being updated with the new Intersect and beating the enemy spies with martial arts moves, Chuck says, "Guys, I know Kung Fu." This is a reference to the movie, The Matrix, directed by the Wachowski brothers. In this movie, Neo (Keanu Reeves) is plugged into a machine that can download skills into someone's brain, once accomplished, Neo says to Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), "I know Kung Fu."
• When Chuck's Intersect 2.0 goes online. There are a few words in the mix of pictures. Some of them are actually Japanese words in Chinese characters, which is also know as Kanji:

1. Karate (a Japanese martial art)
2. Kyūdō (Japanese art of archery, "Way of Archery")
3. Gong Fu (which is a popular name for Chinese martial arts)

Season Three

Chuck Versus the Pink Slip

Trivia

• The capitol city of the Czech Republic, Prague, is portrayed in this episode. But there are some flaws:
  • Sarah tells Chuck: For now, go to the training facility in Prague, then meet me at the Nadrazi train station…" but the word "nadrazi" has in Czech meaning of "station". The name of this particular train station is "Praha hlavní nádraží", which means "Prague - main station". Sarah should have said for example: "meet me at the Hlavni nadrazi station".
  • Although the Czech texts on the station are correct, there is a window with a sign "Letenky" which means "airline tickets". Maybe there should have been "Jízdenky" which means "train tickets".
  • There is no such view from the main railway station in Prague, like it is portrayed in the show.

Pop Culture References

• When Chuck does nothing but lie on the couch eating cheese balls, grows out a beard, and wears nothing but a bath robe while the song "Just dropped in (To see what condition my condition was in)" plays over the montage,  is a reference to Jeff Lebowski, who is the titular character in the film The Big Lebowski, who spends most of his days on the couch in a bathrobe. The song also appears in the film.
• When Casey and Chuck start to spar, Casey tells Chuck "You have a lot to learn Grasshopper". This is a reference to the television show Kung Fu (1972-1975) Staring David Carradine.
• The boxing scene at the end of the episode with "Eye of the Tiger" playing that ends on a freeze frame of Casey and Chuck punching is a reference to the ending of Rocky III.

Chuck Versus the Three Words

Trivia

• Karl Stromberg, played by Vinnie Jones, also played Cain Marko/Juggernaut in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and Marco in Swordfish (2001), a film mentioned in a later episode.
• Karl Stromberg (Curt Jurgens) is also a character from the 1977 James Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me.

Chuck Versus the Angel of Death

Continuity

• In Chuck Versus the Truth, Devon states that he met Ellie in epidemiology class. In this episode they are shown to have met on their "first day of medical school" while skipping a dissection of a cadaver's femoral artery in favor of making out in a broom closet.

Chuck Versus Operation Awesome

Pop Culture References

• The entire Buy-more plot line is an homage to Fight Club (movie and book).
  • Lester says he feels like a man for the first time in years after he gets hit by Chuck.
  • Lester's sunglasses are the same kind that Brad Pitt wears as Tyler Durden.
  • Many of the lines are direct quotes from the movie, such as Jeff saying "I want you to hit me as hard as you can."
• When Ellie and Awesome arrive at Chuck and Morgan's apartment at the end of the episode, they are greeted with, "Hidely Ho Neighbors", a reference to the Simpsons character Ned Flanders.
• Lester taunts Morgan by rattling PEZ and calling out "Morgan, come out and Playyyy-ay" is referencing the scene in the film The Warriors (1979).
• At the end of the episode, Shaw pulls out a ring and places it on his finger. This is foreshadowing Chuck's taking down the "Ring" and Shaw's defection.

Chuck Versus First Class

Trivia

• Chuck is sent to Paris on a mission. This is a recurring reference to Casablanca.
• Morgan is continually hazed by his fellow Buy Morons. In one scene Morgan obtains Casey's help as his "muscle" to end the pranks played on Morgan. Morgan refers to his new muscle as "Mr. Casey" as Casey extinguishes his cigar into the palm of his hand. This references Lethal Weapon as Mr. Joshua (Gary Busey) performs the same act.
• Hannah plays a game with Chuck guessing other passengers' occupation. Hannah turns and guesses that Ring agent Hugo Panzer's ('Stone Cold' Steve Austin) occupation is a professional wrestler.

Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler

Pop Culture References

• When Chuck, Casey and Sarah are walking through weap-con one of the pitchmen is advertising a mobile interrogation vehicle titled EM-50. The EM-50 was the "urban assault vehicle" from the comedy movie Stripes.
• The music used while Manoosh is on reminiscent of some of the score used in the Inspector Gadget cartoons.
• When Manoosh sits down at the bar, Chuck is reading the graphic novel Y: The Last Man. A story of the only man who survived a plague that wiped out all mammals with a Y chromosome. The main character at one point travels to Paris while running from factions that are pursuing him. Zachary Levi has named the graphic novel as a favorite.
• The movie poster in Morgan's office Sans Respirer refers to the French new wave movie A bout de souffle (Out of Breath) (American title: Breathless - 1960) The main character Michel Poiccard is captivated by Bogart's film persona. This ties into the show's Casablanca recurring theme.

Trivia

• As Captain Awesome is running out of the apartment to avoid Ellie's barrage of questions, he mentions that he needs to get to the hospital because 'there are kidney's failing as we speak.' Devin states often that he is a heart specialist.

Continuity

• At the end of the episode, Sarah has a flashback to the events leading up to her meeting Chuck for the first time. In this flashback, she receives a photograph of Chuck on her Blackberry. In the pilot episode, Sarah does not have a Blackberry. In Chuck Versus the Baby Sarah is shown to have received the picture of Chuck by hand from Director Graham.

Chuck Versus the Mask

Pop Culture References

• The first scene in Castle, Chuck enters introducing himself by saying "Hey, hey, hey". This is likely a reference to the animated  show Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972 - 1985) hosted and staring Bill Cosby as Fat Albert and several other characters. Albert's signature salutation was "Hey, Hey, Hey!" Many may think that this is from another sit-com, What's Happening!! (1976-1979) where Dwayne Nelson (Haywood Nelson) introduced himself in a similar manner but with a different cadence with a pause between the first "Hey" and the second.
• When Hannah describes Shaw as "ridiculously good looking", Chuck responds with "Yeah, if you're into the strong, kinda superman-y type..." which is a reference to the fact that Brandon Routh portrayed Superman. Also Hannah (Kristen Kreux) portrayed Lana Lang, on the show Smallville, who was a love interest of young Clark Kent/Superman
• When Chuck is looking for the poison's counter agent, he looks at the vases and says "Come on Chuck, 'one of these things is not like the other'." This is in reference to the segment on Sesame Street playing a game with the viewer to find the object that is different from the rest.

Chuck Versus the Fake Name

Pop Culture References

• At the end of the episode Casey makes the shot over a half mile and remarks "Hum, only five guys could make that shot. Guess I'm one of them." A reference to Mel Gibson's role as Martin Riggs as a sharp shooter in Lethal Weapon who claims to have "done a guy in Laos from a thousand yards (.568182 miles) out in high winds."
• Gruber is a nod to Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) in the 1988 film Die Hard.

Trivia

• Sarah tells Shaw her name (or nickname) is Sam.

Continuity

• When Chuck walks into the hotel room with the thugs, one tells Chuck that Shaw "is with a real hot piece of tail." Sarah, however, arrived just before Chuck and his accomplices entered the room without looking through the scope, and therefore would not have known if anyone was even with Shaw.

Chuck Versus the Beard

Trivia

• This episode represents the directorial debut of Zachary Levi, who portrays Chuck. He also says it's one of his favorite episode since Morgan is finally included in Chuck's secret.

Pop Culture References

• When Morgan tells Chuck about his discovery of Castle, Morgan rambles on mimicking the comedic style of late comedian actor Phil Silvers most noted in the 1955-1959 TV series Sergeant Bilko as the shifty, scheming Master Sgt Ernest G. Bilko and the Phil Silvers Show (aka "You'll Never Get Rich) (and It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, 1963, The Strongest Man in the World, 1975)

• The picture that the Buy More employees take while planting the flag of Buymoria is a reference to the famous "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima" photo taken during WW2 during the battle of Iwo Jima.
• The photo taken of the flag raising is not quite the position the Buy More employees were in when it is actually snapped.
• The song Jeffster! sang to show their protest against the selling of the store was "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) released in 1969.
• During the fight with Ring agents in the Castle dojo, Chuck says, regarding the wooden training sword, "mine's bigger than yours." This is a reference to the 1987 Mel Brooks movie, Spaceballs when Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) says the same line to Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) regarding his "Schwartz"-saber.
• After Big Mike receives the call from "corporate" to give all the Buy More employees their jobs back, two employees embrace in a kiss mimicking the photo in Life magazine taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt of a sailor kissing a young woman in Time Square, New York on August 14th 1945 at the announcement of the surrender of Japan (V-J Day) ending World War II. A 25 foot statue of the pair in the photo stands near the decommissioned Naval aircraft carrier the "Midway" in San Diego Harbor near a statue of Bob Hope.

Chuck Versus the Tic Tac

Pop Culture References

• Col. James Keller (Robert Patrick) played the T-1000 in Terminator 2 (1991). Besides the movie being a cult classic, the terminator is, as Col. Casey called Chuck "...[a] skin covered robot."

Continuity

• It is in this episode that we learn that John Casey is actually Alex Coburn. Earlier during Chuck Versus the Santa Claus, Casey allegedly calls his mother on his cell phone and says "...it's Johnny Boy."
• At the end of the episode, Sarah is in a cab and the driver ask if Sarah was from D.C. where she answers "No." This contradicts the pilot where Sarah is telling Chuck that she just moved from D.C. because she realized that all her friends were "Bruce's" [Bryce] friends, making that a tale she simply spun as cover.

Chuck Versus the Final Exam

Pop Culture References

• In the steam room the villain's name is "Ivan Drago," the nemesis of Rocky Balboa in Rock IV.

Continuity

• During the stake-out, Chuck plays "Private Eyes" by Hall & Oats (1981). Sarah remarks "Also from our first stake-out." Although the song was playing (Chuck Versus the Sizzling Shrimp), only Chuck was in the car. Sarah would not have heard the song since she and Casey were trying to capture the Chinese Intelligent operative in Ben Lo Pan's building.

Chuck Versus the American Hero

Pop/Geek Culture References

• When Morgan attempts to convince Casey not to give up on helping Chuck win Sarah back, Casey says, "this isn't exactly combat, Morgan," to which Morgan replies, "that's where you're wrong Casey, because love is a battlefield." This is a reference to the 1983 Pat Benatar hit "Love is a Battlefield."

Chuck Versus the Other Guy

Pop Culture References

• When Casey gives Chuck the contact information for tactical support, he mentions a Col. Sanders; this is an obvious reference to KFC's founder, Col. Sanders. (Casey: "Don't make fun of his name")

Trivia

• When Sarah (Yvonne Strahavski) comes to Chuck's (Zachary Levi) apartment, she momentarily switches to her native Australian accent for a moment when telling Chuck about the new mission and asking what Morgan (Joshua Grimes) is doing.

Chuck Versus the Role Models

Pop Culture References

• The introduction of the episode is a tribute to TV's action/drama Hart to Hart (1979-1984). Morgan portrays the voice of Max (Lionel Stander) the couple's butler.

Trivia

• When Sarah (Yvonne Strahavski) believes that the marshals arrived to retrieve the Turners, she momentarily slips into her native Australian accent as she says, "Good, the marshals are here."

Chuck Versus the Tooth

Pop Culture References

• When Chuck is pacing in the home theater room at the Buy More, the screens are showing images akin to the Rorschach "ink blot" test.
• When Dr. Dreyfus (Christopher Lloyd) reveals to Chuck that everyone in the psychiatric facility is a former spy, Chuck responds, "Spies, like me"; this is another reference to the 1985 comedy Spies Like Us that Chuck and Sarah were watching earlier in the episode.
• Several times Chuck refers to Christopher Lloyd's character as Doc, an homage to his previous role as Doc in Back to the Future.

Chuck Versus the Subway

Pop Culture References

• When Beckman is talking to Morgan and Devon in Castle, the glitching TV causes the line "You are our only hope" to loop, which is a reference to the message Luke Skywalker sees on the malfunctioning R2-unit in the movie Star Wars: A New Hope, which is "Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!" looped.
• Chuck flashes on a placard on a control panel, stating that McTiernan Industries is a Ring subsidiary. John McTiernan directed Die Hard (1988) and Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995).

Trivia

• During the hearing, General Beckman review's Team Bartowski's successes. One of the examples she quotes that Hugo Panzer was taken down by a "fencing foil" and "nunchucks". In fact, the sword that Chuck used was a fencing saber. A foil is thin and bends and is scored due to the "stabs" the opponents inflict on each other. The saber is wider and thicker and scored by "slashing/cutting" their opponent. These motions that were used in actual duals using the respected weapons. Although Chuck was able to practice some moves with his nunchucks... Chuck himself, mentioned that he was not able to use his them.

Chuck Versus the Ring, Part II

Trivia

• In the final fight between Daniel Shaw (Brandon Routh) and Chuck (Zachary Levi) at the Buy More, Chuck spares Shaw's life, which Shaw identifies as a weakness in Chuck. Sarah (Yvonne Strahavski), retorts that it is what makes Chuck great.
  • Ironically, had either Chuck or Sarah killed Shaw, the events involving Clyde Decker (Richard Burghi) at the end of Season 4, through midway through Season 5 would not have taken place.

Season Four

Chuck Versus the Anniversary

Trivia

• The FAA registry lists N2000A (the jet Sarah and Casey take to Moscow) is a Dassault Falcon 2000.
• There is no explanation given for Sarah's droping her cover-job.
• This Season's special guest is Linda Hamilton who starred in Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, (1991).
• Although Hamilton and Lawrence did not share a scene together, the two worked together in the beginning of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Lawrence was one of the attendants in the institution trying to capture Hamilton.

Chuck Versus the Cubic Z

Trivia

• Hugo Panzer (Steve Austin) has a fight with Greta #3 (Stacey Keibler) in Castle. Both Austin and Keibler are former professional wrestlers.
• In the scene on the Buy More roof, after Hugo Panzer smiles, and Casey remarks that the helicopter is filled with Volkoff's men, Sarah remarks, "They must have intercepted our transport"; this line is said in Strahavski's native Australian accent.
• Chuck and Hugo are in an "air duct" and Hugo warns Chuck about the gas line, in reality, building code would not allow a gas line (or any other type of conduit) within an ventilation duct.
• Chuck and Panzer fall into the Buy More's cage and engage in a "cage match."

Chuck Versus the Coup d'Etat

Pop Culture References

• In the scene, in the Costa Gravan nuclear control room, Hortencia Goya (Tia Texada) says the line "shot through my heart," which is a reference to the 1986 Bon Jovi song "You Give Love a Bad Name."

Chuck Versus the First Fight

Pop Culture References

• Timothy Dalton, who played James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987) and License to Kill (1989), portrays Alexei Volkolff.
• The agents standing guard when Chuck enters Castle before going to speak with Mary are named Tom and Jerry, which is a reference to the famous cartoon cat and mouse of the same names.

Trivia

• Alexei Volkoff is possibly named after Russian MMA fighter Alexander Volkov.
• Timothy Dalton also played Hollywood actor/German spy Neville Sinclair in Disney's Rocketeer (1991).

Continuity

• When Chuck takes Mary to Orion's secret base, Mary showed Chuck a device that blocked the intersect. This would mean that Stephen Bartowski would have known that the intersect could be removed, hence the plan to restore Hartley to his old self and Mary's apparent sub-mission. Stephen would have known, or at least thought about, that it was possible to remove the intersect from Chuck in episode Chuck versus the Colonel.
• When Mary gets down to the secret base, she asks "how long has this been here?" This may have been to throw Chuck off, since Mary knew where the suppression device was, and of it's existence.

Chuck Versus the Fear of Death

Pop Culture References

• When Casey relieves "Greta" (Summer Glau), he tells her "Well, listen, Agent Greta, I don't know who you've worked with or what crew you were on." This is a direct reference to both of their roles on Firefly and Serenity.
• Agent Rye ask Chuck if he is ready to start the testing, Chuck says "Let's get physical." This is a reference to the 1981 song "Physical" by the British born Australian singer - Olivia Newton-John. The single was at #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts for 10 straight weeks.

Chuck Versus the Leftovers

Pop Culture References

• After saving Chuck and Sarah, Mary Bartowski (Linda Hamilton) tells the two of them "Come with me if you want to live." Referencing Kyle Reese's (Michael Biehn) remark to Sarah Connor in The Terminator (1984).
• During the game of charades Chuck (and Devon) calls out The Bourne Identity to Volkoff's clues. References the 2002 film starring Matt Damon where a spy has his identity erased, similarly to Volkoff's previous identity had been erased.

Chuck Versus the Balcony

Pop Culture References

• During the wine tasting, Morgan instructs Chuck to find the missing chip hidden in a bottle with "A stable on the label and a stork on the cork" is reminiscent of the tongue twister of "The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle; The flagon with the dragon has the brew that is true"  followed by "the Chalice with the palace has the brew that is true," between Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, and Mildred Natwick in classic comedy, The Court Jester (1955).
• While Team Bartowski is in France, Morgan quarter-backs a sub-mission at Castle. During the communication between the two friends, Morgan tries to get information from Chuck with the quote, "Talk to me Goose." This is a reference to the movie Top Gun (1986) when Maverick (Tom Cruise) requests a response from his friend and radar intercept officer Goose (Anthony Edwards).

Trivia

• In Chuck's interchange with the pompous Frenchman at the wine-tasting, a reference is made to "Two Buck Chuck." This was the nick-name for Charles Shaw wine, which sold at Trader Joe's for $1.99 per bottle, until the costs associated with it rose, requiring the wine to increase in price.

Chuck Versus the Gobbler

Trivia

• Yuri 'the Gobbler' (Matthew Willig) played Uri, one of La Ciudad's henchmen, in Chuck Versus the Tango in season one.

Chuck Versus the Push Mix

Trivia

• As Devon and Chuck are discussing the push mix in the Buy More, all the monitors are showing clips of babies.

Allusions

• When Morgan is trapped on the Contessa he evaded the lasers by using Yoga positions mimicking Catherine Zeta-Jones' cat burglar moves in the movie Entrapment (1999) .

Chuck Versus the Cat Squad

Pop Culture References

• The Cat Squad is a take off of the Police action/drama TV show Charlie's Angels (1976-1981). The voice in the intro is reminiscent of the show's unseen boss Charlie Townsend (John Forsythe), but the voice was gruff to possibly replicate the Angel's male counterpart in the organization John Bosley (David Doyle).
• According to sources Charlie's Angels was first to be titled Alley Cats but changed due to Kate Jackson's involvement in the creative process.

Continuity

• During the intro, the narrator introduced the members of the cat squad by their "current" aliases. During the episode Chuck Versus the Wookiee, Carina and Sarah re-introduce themselves with their current cover names. This would indicate that when they worked together in the cat squad they used different names and the other members of the cat squad would not be familiar with the name Sarah Walker. Sarah Walker must also be a reoccurring cover name for her as Director Graham gives her the name when he inducted her into the CIA, as shown in Chuck Versus the Cougars.

Chuck Versus the Masquerade

Trivia

• On the wall behind Chuck when they are packing, the covers for Infinity, Inc. (1984 series) #s 20, 21, & 22, and Detective Comics (1937 series) #581 are framed together. On the wall to his left is the cover of Martian Manhunter (1998 series) #17.

Continuity

• When Chuck and Morgan divide up the Han Solo and Chewbacca figurines, the camera pans around Chuck's room, and only Chuck is there; a moment later, Sarah is seen packing for the mission, with a mostly-packed suitcase, even though neither were there a moment before.

Chuck versus the First Bank of Evil

Allusions

• When robbing the First Bank of Macau, Chuck and Sarah pay homage to The Matrix as they enter the bank through security. Sarah is dressed similar to Trinity with a Neo type leather duster.

Chuck Versus the A-Team

Pop Culture References

• While Chuck distracts Morgan for Sarah to slip in behind him, Morgan says, "Clever Girl." This is reference to Jurassic Park (1993).
• After Sarah tranqs Morgan to gain access to the apartment to obtain Casey's hand-print, she explains the special glasses to Chuck; Chuck says, "sounds like a CBS show."

Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff

Pop Culture References

• During the teaser scene when Chuck is eating breakfast, he makes the comment, "Eddard, you don't let your kids keep a dire wolf, that's a terrible idea." This is a reference to the A Game of Thrones, the first novel in the epic George R. R. Martin series, A Song of Ice and Fire.
• When Volkoff explains how rare the killing agent for the Norseman Device is, he first says that to retrieve it, they had to mine a sacred tree; he reveals this to be a joke, and a reference to the 2009 James Cameron film, Avatar.

Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner

Pop Culture References

• After attempting to arrest Daphne Peralta and her scene on the super shuttle, Chuck tells Sarah "I'm fine how are you?" This is a reference to Han Solo in the detention area when he is talking to security while attempting to rescue Princess Leia.

Trivia

• Lisa LoCicero (Dalphne Paralta) rejoined Robert Duncan McNeill on this episode. LoCiero played on Star Trek Voyager 'Endgame' as Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres' daughter.

Chuck Versus Agent X

Continuity

• While hiding out in the woods, Morgan confides to Devon "...are you kidding? They don't even give me a gun." Casey actually has given Morgan a gun several times. Just that Casey purposely neglected to load the weapon before doing so.

• It is revealed that Volkoff is Hartley Winterbottom who's memory was accidentally erased due to a faulty Intersect cover, an invention of Stephen Bartowski.
  • Despite no previous reference, and a statement of Mary's in a previous episode, Chuck Versus the Push Mix, indicating that Volkoff could not measure up to her husband either dead or alive, it is revealed that a part of the reason for Mary's long-term deep cover assignment was specifically because she knew Volkoff's true/former identify of Winterbottom (Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger).
  • It is in this episode that team Bartowski retrieve Hartley's spy will. In Chuck Versus First Class the team was able to retrieve the same type of container. Shaw had to explain to the crew that it was a Will "locker." The rub is that Hartley used the same container for his will decades before Evelyn Shaw.  If it was standard policy for agents to place their will into these lockers, then Sarah and Casey would have recognized the container previously and they did not.
  • When Sarah gives Chuck her "Spy Will" during season 3, it is in a red container rather than the silver disc lock box that Hartley and Evelyn had used before and after Sarah had become a spy.
  • When Chuck tells Ellie  that he is the intersect, Chuck says "Ellie, you found him. You're looking at the first human intersect." The team was astonished that Agent X was the first intersect. Chuck actually knew there was one before agent X and himself. Chuck's father admits that he uploaded the intersect on himself before anyone else (Chuck Versus the Ring). Chuck actually may have been the first one to receive an alpha version of the program as seen in the flash back during the fight with Shaw when Chuck had to 'Reboot'.

Chuck Versus the Last Details

Pop Culture References

• While team Bartowski is marching into Volkoff's underground prison, Chuck tells Casey, playing the role of his prisoner, "Move along Chewy." Chuck even starts to tell Sarah that is was a reference to Star Wars. Shortly after that, Casey remarks "I have a bad feeling about this" mimicking Han Solo's comment about Luke's plan of marching into the detention area.
• Once the plan wrong, Casey then informs Chuck, "That's what happens when you draw your plan from Star Wars"
• As the guard looks at the monitors, there is a shot of Mary Bartowski doing pull-ups on an up ended bed frame. Hamilton does the same thing in Terminator II (1991), right before she escapes from the mental hospital.
• After Chuck and Sarah are married and are in the limo, Chuck and Morgan speak. As Morgan raises up the privacy window, he says "As you wiiish". This references to the movie, The Princess Bride (1987).

Season Five

Chuck Versus the Zoom

Pop Culture References

• In the opening scenes, Jean-Claude is played by  Mark Hamill who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise.

• This episode's new client Woodley (Ethan Phillips) played Neelix on Star Trek: Voyager (1995 - 2001) along with his then co-star, this episodes director, Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris).

Trivia

• When Chuck and Morgan confront Lester and Jeff regarding the insurance scam, the "Shame" sequence seems clearly referenced in Cercei Lanister's Walk of Shame in Season 5 of Game of Thrones (about 3.5 years later).

Chuck Versus The Bearded Bandit

Pop Culture References

• When Morgan is sent to wait in the van, he read issue #5 of The Goon.The plot included that the 'Buzzard' was being held and tortured by Grave and then rescued by Goon and company.
• In Sneihder's compound one of his guards swings around swords as Morgan looks on in boredom and then tranq's him. Mimicking the scene in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
• Carrie-Ann Moss plays Verbanski, noted for playing Trinity from The Matrix, (1999). Again a nod to the movie where people are imprisoned in a computer matrix, and the freed were able to upload skills similar to the intersect.

Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips

Pop Culture References

• The bike Morgan rode in on was the Mono Racer. An electric enclosed cabin motorcycle giving homage to the bikes in Tron (1982).
• Again a nod to The Matrix (1999) Morgan dodges "bullets" (or tranq darts in this case) the same way as Neo did.

Chuck Versus the Hack-Off

Pop Culture References

• The female cult leader (Beau Garrett) also played Gem in Tron: Legacy (2010)
• When Morgan comes in to help Casey escape, he calls in "Prisoner transfer from CB-11 Section 38." This is a reference to the detention scene in Star Wars: New Hope (1977). Luke reply's to the detention officer about the transfer of Chewbacca is "Prisoner transfer from Cell Block 1138."

Chuck Versus the Curse

Pop Culture References

• Agent Robin Cunnings (Rebecca Romijn) is known for her role she played as Mastique/Raven Darkholme in the X-men films
• On the bottom corner of the lid of Chuck and Morgan's box of P.A.N.T.S. ( Private Artifacts Never To Share) is the symbol for Marvel Comics spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Agent Cunnings torture device 'the Toy' is a reference to the device used on Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon (1997)

Chuck Versus the Santa Suit

Pop Culture References

• Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee makes a cameo at the CIA Christmas party.
  • Interestingly, while Chuck and Morgan often riff on comics, and sometimes on Marvel Comics, it is more typically DC Comics, possibly because the Chuck comic book was published by an imprint of DC Comics.

Chuck Versus the Baby

Continuity

• Although Sarah's past is mostly unknown, we see glimpses of her backstory through flash backs. During Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner, Sarah and her father Jack Burton (Gary Cole) return from a Cookie Scam. Since Jack drops Sarah off at her grandmother's house, this may indicate that Sarah's mother may not be the primary care taker. This puts into question the extent of the relationship between Sarah and her mother.
• In a flashback, Sarah is shown to have received a photograph of Chuck (along with a file), as her next assignment, directly from Director Graham, however in Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler, she received the photo of Chuck on her phone.

Chuck Versus the Kept Man

Trivia

• Verbanski's meet is set with Rocky Falcone. Falcone's character is a call-back to Don Carmine Falcone, a DC Comics character in the Batman universe. While Batman is not referenced in this particular episode, it is referenced throughout the series, and the short-lived Chuck comic book was published by DC.
• In the scene where Sarah runs over St. Germaine, she says, for Chuck's benefit, "Don't worry; I wore my seat belt." In the first season, Chuck chastises Sarah for not wearing her seat belt during a car chase.

Chuck Versus Bo

Pop Culture References

• Bo Derek guest stars as a fictionalized version of herself. Morgan and Chuck reference the movie 10 which she starred in, in 1979.
• Lester and Jeff repeatedly waking up in the car, repeating the same dialog, is a reference to the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray.

Continuity

• In his monologue explaining who he is, Nicholas Quinn (Angus Macfadyen) claims that Bryce Larkin stole the Intersect which was originally intended to be uploaded to him, however, when Bryce emailed the Intersect to Chuck (Chuck Versus the Intersect) it was apparent that the Intersect was not intended to be uploaded into a person, the first version of the Intersect only contained data and was not a weapon, and there is no mention of Quinn at any time to this point, and no reference that he was ever involved at any part of the Intersect Project at any point.
• Dr. Zarnow revealed in season one (Chuck Versus the Helicopter) that the entire Intersect was never intended to be seen by one person.

Chuck Versus the Bullet Train

Continuity

• When Quinn goes to Sarah's hotel room at the end of the episode, he introduces himself as being her handler. However, it is revealed at the end of Chuck Versus the Baby that following the Ryker incident, before Operation Bartowski began, that CIA Director Graham agreed with Sarah that she should no longer have a handler. As that took place prior to the events that were apparently erased by Quinn, she should have remembered that.

Chuck Versus Sarah

Trivia

• Sarah performs the same Parkour sequence as Bryce in the opening scenes of the pilot when breaking into the intersect room.
• Ellie is able to injure Sarah by crashing the car because she doesn't wear her seat belt.

Pop Culture References

• Morgan sees a "cloak of invisibility" shortly after the team infiltrates DARPA and says, "You're a wizard, Harry." This is a reference to Harry Potter.
• Morgan states as Casey pulls him away, "it was the one armed man". This is referencing TV series The Fugitive (1963-67) and the movie of the same name (1993).

Chuck Versus the Goodbye

Trivia

• Amnesia has been used as a plot device (notably in Chuck Versus Phase Three and Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips arcs), Sarah's amnesia seems to be worse somehow due to Sarah flashing as many times in a week as Morgan did in a month.
  • There are different forms of amnesia, and there are different treatment modalities; helping amnesiacs whether by story-telling or imagery can be helpful (which Ellie, Morgan, Casey, and Chuck all attempt), as can cognitive and occupational therapy. An article published in Medical News Today suggests that many forms of amnesia may fix themselves without any formal treatment.

• In the ending beach scene, Yvonne Strahavski slips into her native Australian accent when Sarah asks Chuck to tell her their story.
• The writers and directors did a nice job of completing and reversing the series loop. In the pilot Sarah found Chuck on the beach when he was completely unsure of the future and being reassured by Sarah, now it is Chuck finding and reassuring Sarah.