Sarah Walker

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. 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.

The relationship between her parents began to fall apart after her father's disastrous proposal, and Sarah and her father were largely on their own at least as early as 1988. 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.

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. She also spent a year with the Secret Service.

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.

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.

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, 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. 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, 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 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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

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.

Team Bartowski's new leader, Daniel Shaw, began romantically approaching Sarah in "Chuck Versus the Mask." Although initially Sarah very vocally rejected his advances, when she and Shaw were exposed to cyclosarin gas Sarah admitted that she overreacted and somewhat enjoyed Shaw's attention. Sarah and Chuck agreed that they were free to pursue relationships with other people, and Sarah began allowing Shaw to get closer. In "Chuck Versus the Fake Name", Sarah tells Shaw that this job is making her slowly forget who she was before and says that for the last three years, she has never once told anybody her real name. When Shaw asks her what it is, Sarah reveals that her real name is Sam (most likely from Samantha). Chuck also finds out her real name after he overhears this conversation while posing as an assassin the Ring hired to kill Shaw. She is still initially reluctant to allow herself to become involved with him, but by the end of the episode relents.

Sarah administered Chuck's "final exam" as a spy alongside Shaw in "Chuck Versus the Final Exam." During the mission, Chuck tried to talk about what happened in Prague, but the mission interrupted them. Although pleased with Chuck's successful handling of the assignment, Sarah was greatly disturbed when Shaw instructed her to order him to kill a rogue CIA agent. She attempted to resist, fearing what it would make Chuck into, but eventually gave Chuck his instructions. When Chuck finally cornered his target he hesitated and Casey completed the hit from the shadows, however from Sarah's perspective it looked like Chuck pulled the trigger. After the mission, she refused to answer when he attempted to call and expressed to Shaw her distaste over what she had turned Chuck into. When Shaw pressed if she was still in love with Chuck, she replied she no longer was.

Season 4

At the beginning of the fourth season, Sarah continues working for the CIA partnered with Casey, while Chuck is retired. "Chuck Versus the Anniversary" reveals that the two have been assigned to investigate Volkoff Industries, run by a notorious black-market arms dealer. Their mission dovetails with Chuck's own search for his mother, which she and Casey agree to aid. Most of Sarah's actions for the remainder of the season revolve around this combined mission and around the personal challenges from her past that she confronts as she and Chuck decide to commit to marriage.

Sarah confronts her old high school enemy Heather Chandler again in "Chuck Versus the Cubic Z." Heather admits that she tried the route that Sarah is currently traveling (with Chuck being her personal moral beacon), but her nature overwhelmed any inclination at a normal life; she further doubts that Sarah will be any different. Under fire, Sarah denies being anything like Heather; the two come to an understanding and as a peace offering, Heather surrenders what she knows about Project Beacon and Frost (Chuck's mother).

In Chuck Versus Phase Three, after Chuck is captured, Sarah goes on a rogue mission to find him, during the course of which Casey describes her actions as those of Langston Graham's "wild card enforcer," a side of her he didn't like. Sarah ultimately agrees with Casey's statement and says "I'm different without Chuck, and I don't like it." When she finally finds him, Sarah resolves her expressed fear of marriage in multiple previous episodes by telling an unconscious Chuck that she loves him and wants to spend the rest of her life with him, with or without the Intersect.

Sarah tells Beckman in "Chuck Versus the Balcony" that if there is anything she can do to bring back Chuck's mother to let her do so. Just as Chuck is about to propose to her, she is pulled away to establish her cover as a rogue CIA agent and goes undercover in Volkoff Industries to help Mary bring it down. After Alexei Volkoff is defeated, Chuck finally proposes to Sarah while waiting for the arrival of Clara Woodcomb.

The pending wedding with Chuck presents Sarah with a number of personal hurdles owing to her childhood. In "Chuck Versus the Seduction Impossible" Chuck's family starts prying the couple with questions about their wedding plans causing Sarah to panic. She suggests eloping, as she would have no one to invite to the large family wedding Chuck desired. To help her reconnect with her friends, Chuck reunites Sarah with her old team, in "Chuck Versus the Cat Squad", prompting the return of their nemesis Augusto Gaez and some internal grudges. Sarah had long suspected her teammate Zondra of being a traitor working with Gaez, having found a transmitter in her boot. When it was discovered that Amy was, in fact, the traitor, Sarah mended her friendship with Zondra, inviting her and Carina to be her bridesmaids. Sarah also deepens friendship with Ellie, agreeing to discuss her family issues, and inviting her to be maid of honor.

Season 5

Sarah's devotion to the spy life wanes, subtly at first, but much more pronounced in later episodes. Her decisions become more geared towards using her emotions and believing in her friends rather than relying on distrust, suspicion, and self-sufficiency. The start of this mindset began most notably in "Chuck Versus the Frosted Tips", when she believed (correctly) that Morgan's drastic change in attitude was due more to a malfunctioning Intersect than a power trip, even when Chuck believed that Morgan was simply acting like an overconfident ass.

She further displays a dislike for her spy life when she asks Chuck not to get reintegrated with the CIA. This dislike proceeds further as she suggests that Carmichael Industries become an Electronic Security Company, focusing on Chuck's primary strength with computers, and minimizing the amount of gunplay they would be subjected to in "Chuck Versus Bo". However, Nicholas Quinn's emergence and the reintroduction of the Intersect glasses lead to the team having a "last mission", which was successful, though Quinn kidnaps Chuck in exchange for the glasses. Sarah and Casey go to save him but are ambushed by Quinn's men and heavily outnumbered. Sarah, after running out of ammunition, puts on the glasses and uploads the Intersect into her head, which allows her to save both her and Casey after she flashes on how to neutralize Quinn's men and go to rescue Chuck, but Sarah begins to suffer uncontrollable flashes shortly after.

She's kidnapped by Quinn after he realizes that she has the Intersect and forces her to flash on Intersect images, wiping her memories, including those of her relationship with Chuck. He then manipulates Sarah into believing that he's her CIA handler and that she has orders to bring him the Intersect glasses and kill Chuck. Sarah is able to get the glasses, but Chuck had managed to switch them. Sarah then takes Ellie hostage as leverage against Chuck and Chuck agrees to give her to the glasses and Sarah threatens to kill Ellie if she senses that it's a trap. As they drive to where Chuck hid the glasses, Ellie notices that Sarah isn't wearing her seatbelt and tells her that if she had her memories back, she would want her to do whatever needed to protect Chuck and then crashes her car, which knocks Sarah out. Chuck then tells Ellie that he knows where to take Sarah to help her get her memories back. Sarah awakens in the house she and Chuck had planned to buy and Chuck tells her that he brought her there hoping that she'd remember the house, if not him. Sarah tells him that their relationship was nothing more than a cover and he was just an assignment. Chuck tells her that he was an assignment, but then that she fell in love with him. With tears in his eyes, he tells her about their first real, non-cover kiss was when they thought they were going to die from a bomb and how he closed his eyes and felt her grab him and then kiss him and how they tried to pretend it never happened and how one day he was so sure that she could never love a nerd like him, she came over and he asked if she loved him and that she said yes. Chuck then tells her that when he proposed, they knew they would be together for the rest of their lives, living in this house and raising a family.

Development

On February 12, 2007, Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski was announced for what was then the role of "Sarah Kent," joining Zachary Levi (Chuck) and Adam Baldwin (Maj. John Casey). Prior to the beginning of filming the character's name was changed to Sarah Walker. Strahovski was unable to come to the US for an audition so the producers allowed her to make her audition via the internet. The character is a reversal of typical action film gender roles, with Sarah Walker portraying the protector and fighter while Chuck is the more emotional "brain."

Strahovski herself is highly active and performs all her own fight scenes. She considers this one of her favorite parts of the role, especially the fight scene in "Chuck Versus the First Date" against Michael Clarke Duncan's towering Mr. Colt. She also speaks fluent Polish, which she worked into the role in the Season One episode "Chuck Versus the Wookiee."

Very little of Sarah's background is revealed in Season 1 other than her relationship with Bryce Larkin and middle name. However real attention was paid to her past in the first half of Season Two. In June 2008 Nicole Richie was announced to be appearing in a role as a former classmate of Sarah from high school, and in September Gary Cole was revealed to be playing Sarah's father in an upcoming episode. It has not been announced if the name Graham hints at on her birth certificate is actually her real name, or if it will ever be revealed.

At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak revealed that Sarah's mission would shift somewhat in Season 3. According to dialogue quoted during interviews, Sarah's role would begin to change from protecting Chuck from the world to protecting the world from Chuck due to the unpredictability of Intersect 2.0. Sarah would also have a significant effect on Chuck's development during the third season, due to the profound impact she has on his emotional state. As described by Fedak, with the Intersect being affected by Chuck's emotions, Sarah has the potential to be both his "kryptonite" and his "spinach." Other interviews and panels have indicated Sarah's role with Chuck would also change from more of an asset/handler relationship, to becoming Chuck's "sensei."

Personality

At the beginning of the series, Sarah's complicated upbringing and government training have made her deadly, determined and guarded.

Her childhood experience in conning and concealing secrets has been sharpened by spy training; she is highly capable at combat, especially with throwing knives (she typically wears several in a sheath strapped to her leg when her wardrobe allows,) and to a lesser extent her favored side arm throughout the series, the Smith & Wesson Model 5906; she is able to speak in several foreign languages (Polish, Russian, Spanish and German, and can understand at least some Swedish) and accents.

Before she meets Chuck she is apparently, in Casey's words, "Langston Graham's wild-card enforcer," and in her own words in "Chuck Versus the Tooth", does not envision a future for herself beyond her next mission. She is determined to personally resolve Bryce's perceived personal and professional betrayal.

And finally, her professional need to keep her past and emotions a closely guarded secret also suits her temperamentally. She does not readily discuss her personal history or reveal her real name, and repeatedly states the conventional wisdom of the spy community that emotion and love create vulnerabilities. It is later revealed that a key event in her becoming cold and distant was the day of her "red test," or first kill, which she considers to be the worst day of her life and the details of which she never forgot; and one of her greatest stated fears is Chuck becoming like her when he is ordered to undergo his own red test.

Still, she is immediately receptive to Chuck's good nature and humor, and she much later admits to Chuck that she fell for him during the first episode "after you fixed my phone and before you started defusing bombs with computer viruses." While Sarah lacks Chuck's openly trusting nature, she quickly recognizes that Chuck is just a regular guy and not a threat, and chooses to protect him from the NSA team led by John Casey. A series-long character arc involves her gradually overcoming both professional barriers and deep-rooted relationship baggage from her past to let her guard down and develop a relationship with Chuck.

The first two seasons show her to be much more empathetic and sympathetic to Chuck's plight than Casey, and is highly protective of Chuck, to an extent beyond the requirements of her mission to safeguard the Intersect. Where Casey for a long time only seems concerned with physical threats to Chuck's safety (things that might cost the government the use of the Intersect information in Chuck's head), Sarah is more concerned for him as an individual:

Reception

She was included in TV Guide's list of "TV's Sexiest Crime Fighters".