Sarah Lisa Bartowski ( Walker)Use of her real middle name, Lisa, with her Sarah Walker alias was revealed on the prenuptial agreement shown in "Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff" is the alias"Chuck Versus the Cougars" of one of the main characters of the television show Chuck on NBC. She is portrayed by Yvonne Strahovski and is one of two agents assigned by the NSA and CIA to protect Chuck Bartowski after he unwittingly downloads the secret government computer known as the Intersect into his brain. Throughout the series, she is Chuck's primary love interest and initially poses as Chuck's girlfriend to conceal their identities as spies from the public. In the Season 4 finale, "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger", Chuck and Sarah were married, dismissed from government service, and given ownership of Volkoff Industries, with which they bought the Burbank Buy More and the secret Castle base thereunder. During the final three episodes of season 5, Sarah gets her memories suppressed due to a faulty Intersect upload, the signs of recovery from which are exhibited throughout the final episode. At an episode later in the series her real first name is known to be Sam, and a while later her real middle name is said to be Lisa.
Biography Very little about Sarah's past is revealed throughout the series. According to one dossier, she was born in May 1982, though Chuck stated she was 28 years old before he met her father for the first time in a 2008 episode."Chuck Versus the DeLorean" The only people outside of her family confirmed to know her real name, "Sam", were Director Graham, Daniel Shaw, and Chuck; she confessed her middle name is Lisa."Chuck Versus the Wookiee"
The relationship between her parents began to fall apart after her father's disastrous proposal,"Chuck Versus the Balcony" and Sarah and her father were largely on their own at least as early as 1988."Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner" Her father was a con artist she introduced to Chuck as "Jack Burton," and much of her youth was spent moving from city to city under a series of aliases, actively participating in her father's schemes."Chuck Versus Santa Claus"
Sarah spent at least some of the ten years between 1988 and 1998 in the care of her grandmother, who did not think much of her father. Sarah attended at least her senior year of high school—and graduated in 1998—under the alias of Jennifer Burton or "Jenny Burton". Sometime in 1998 before her graduation, Sarah's father was arrested for his own protection after a scam went wrong. He left her a hidden cache of money for just such an emergency, and it was while recovering this cache that she was first approached by CIA Director Graham. He took her in as a protege after remarking on her many aliases and gave her the cover name of Sarah Walker. Although apparently "recruited" at this point, flashbacks make it clear that she continued in high school; several of the popular children cruelly mocked her as the "jailbird's daughter" because of her father's imprisonment.
Sarah was (officially) recruited out of Harvard University.NBC.com: Spy Dossiers She also spent a year with the Secret Service."Chuck Versus the Angel de la Muerte"
Sarah's earliest known assignment after being recruited was with the C.A.T. (Clandestine Attack Team) Squad, a team of female spies that also included Sarah's DEA friend, Carina Miller. The team eventually broke up in 2003, when Sarah discovered a bug indicating one of the members, Zondra, was a traitor. Although Zondra was cleared by a government inquiry, their relationship was strained.
Sarah's CIA "red test," or first kill, was Evelyn Shaw in 2005. Sarah was given no background information about her target, and couldn't check on the kill because she had to flee from the scene before police arrived.
Also beginning in 2005 Sarah was partnered with Chuck's former friend and college roommate Bryce Larkin. Their professional relationship eventually evolved into an intimate one.
After Bryce went rogue, Sarah was assigned to Budapest under the handling of Kieran Ryker."Chuck Versus the Baby" In 2006 Ryker assigned Sarah to retrieve a "package" that turned out to be a baby girl, but Sarah discovered Ryker was corrupt and left the baby with her mother, who was unknown to the CIA. Sarah cut off all contact in order to protect them and to make sure the baby grew up having the normal life Sarah never got. Afterward, Director Graham sent Sarah to Burbank to investigate why Larkin sent an email to Chuck Bartowski.
In 2011, when Ryker resurfaced and found out that Sarah's mother had the child, now called Molly, Sarah saved them from him and was reunited with her mother and adopted sister.
Series
Season 1 When Bryce apparently goes rogue to steal the Intersect computer, Sarah—not realizing that he did so to protect it from a cabal of rogue spies called Fulcrum—feels both personally and professionally betrayed. Sarah is subsequently assigned by Graham to attempt to recover the Intersect. The only lead is the e-mail Bryce sent to Chuck, and she tracks Chuck down to the Buy More where, posing as a customer with a broken phone, she first makes contact."Chuck Versus the Intersect"
Sarah soon becomes one of Chuck Bartowski's two government handlers. She is partnered with NSA agent John Casey and assigned the task of protecting Chuck. This extends to acting on information Chuck "flashes" on.
As part of her cover, Sarah pretends to be Chuck's girlfriend. One of the complications and the main focus on the development of her character throughout the series is that although initially she insists this is only part of her cover, a genuine romantic interest grows between them. While Sarah herself is initially slow to recognize or acknowledge her feelings, other characters have readily picked up on her attraction to Chuck. Sarah's DEA friend Carina is one of the first to recognize that Sarah's feelings for Chuck are more than merely professional. Casey also recognizes that she is falling for him,"Chuck Versus the Imported Hard Salami" something he teases her and Chuck about frequently.
The development of a relationship between Sarah and Chuck meets with two major sets of obstacles throughout the series. First, professionally Sarah is supposed to avoid romantic entanglements, and her affection for Chuck sometimes does put him in danger."Chuck Versus the Break-Up" Second, both characters become jealous of competing romantic interests, including instances where one of them has to seduce someone for a mission.
There are two particularly notable cases of these love triangles in the first season. Chuck's interest in finding a real relationship leads Chuck to "break up" his cover relationship with Sarah and pursue Lou the sandwich girl,"Chuck Versus the Truth" which causes Sarah to become jealous and protective. Just after the "break up" Sarah passionately kisses Chuck seconds before a bomb is meant to explode. Soon afterwards, Bryce Larkin returns"Chuck Versus the Nemesis" and competes for Sarah's affections. Sarah is torn but ultimately decides to stick with her mission protecting Chuck rather than follow Bryce, largely due to her feelings for Chuck.
By the end of the season, Sarah displays a willingness to go to great lengths for Chuck, and is even prepared to go rogue and draw her gun on another CIA agent attempting to take him into government custody."Chuck Versus the Marlin"
Season 2 In the second season, Chuck and Sarah haltingly move towards establishing a real relationship. Sarah agrees to go on a first "real" date with Chuck as it appears he is being released back to civilian life."Chuck Versus the First Date" However, the rebuilt Intersect is sabotaged, pulling Chuck back into his spy life and re-establishing Sarah's professional barrier.
Then, as Chuck attempts to pursue Sarah anyway, Larkin returns a second time."Chuck Versus the Seduction" This time Sarah's feelings are clearly for Chuck, but when her affection for Chuck places both her life and Chuck's at risk, Bryce convinces Chuck to "break up" with her.
Shortly thereafter, Chuck runs into his ex-girlfriend Jill Roberts, creating another love triangle that makes Sarah jealous and protective of Chuck. But this time she shows more restraint, trying not to interfere, at least until she discovers Jill is a member of Fulcrum."Chuck Versus the Ex" Yet another love triangle arises later in the season with the arrival of Cole Barker, who (like Bryce) is a suave and formidable spy, but that only goes as far as a kiss.
Chuck provides Sarah with emotional support when a mission forces her to revisit part of her childhood, and later when Sarah's father returns. Chuck makes some strong suggestions that he loves Sarah, including notably in the mid-season finale when he gives Sarah his mother's charm bracelet, a gift Sarah says is something he should save for a "real girlfriend."
Sarah's personal feelings for Chuck lead to her temporary replacement as Chuck's handler in "Chuck Versus the Broken Heart", as Beckman is concerned those feelings jeopardized the mission. However, the replacement agent, Forrest (Tricia Helfer), failed to effectively protect Chuck and he refused to work with her because of her methods. Sarah's feelings also gave her a close insight that warned her something was wrong when Forrest couldn't. Beckman reluctantly acknowledged Sarah and Chuck's feelings for each other were actually a benefit to their working relationship rather than a danger and allowed Sarah to resume her role as his handler.
In the meantime, while Sarah's professional obligations to Chuck are suspended, she becomes more personally involved. Sarah makes an unauthorized and illegal search of the CIA database at Langley to locate Chuck's father after his own efforts fail, and ultimately she takes Chuck to meet his father.
In "Chuck Versus the First Kill" General Beckman orders Sarah to lure Chuck to Castle so he can be taken into custody and brought back to Washington. Sarah objects, but is about to carry out her orders when at the last minute she warns Chuck that it is a setup and takes him on the run."Chuck Versus the Colonel"
While on the run, Chuck and Sarah spend the night in a motel and share a bed. While not under surveillance, they kiss and are close to having sex but are interrupted by a lack of a condom, followed by the appearance of Agent Casey. After Chuck successfully removes the Intersect from his head, Sarah is reassigned to work on the new Intersect project with Bryce, but soon decides not to go and instead stay with Chuck. But even after learning that she turned down the assignment, Chuck consciously re-establishes the professional barrier by uploading the new Intersect.
Season 3 By the beginning of "Chuck Versus the Pink Slip" Sarah's relationship with Chuck is shattered. Flashbacks throughout the episode reveal that shortly after uploading the new Intersect, Sarah asked Chuck to go AWOL and run away with her so they could be together. Chuck was initially enthusiastic, but by the time they met with each other, he refused so he could pursue his spy training. Sarah was heartbroken and subsequently cut him off. She was forced to reconnect again when Chuck interfered with an operation against the Ring. Ultimately, Chuck was reinstated on the team and Sarah was ordered by Beckman to help train Chuck. Their relationship issues again came to a head during an assignment with Carina. Because of Chuck's remaining feelings for her, she requested a transfer from Beckman on grounds that she was a liability but was denied. They managed to partially resolve their situation, and Carina showed Sarah security footage of Chuck trying to explain to her that he chose to take his spy training because of Sarah's own encouragement, and his realization that he could help people and a desire to protect those he loved-including her.