John Casey
Chuck character
Adam Baldwin as John Casey
First appearance	Chuck Versus the Intersect
Portrayed by	Adam Baldwin
Information
Nickname(s)	Sugar Bear (by former girlfriend)
Gender	Male
Age	39 or older
Date of birth	1971 or earlier
Specialty	Intelligence, Assassin
Occupation	NSA Agent, Soldier
Title	Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel
Family	Mother (referenced, but details unknown)
Address	Echo Park, Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American

(Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel) John Casey is portrayed by actor Adam Baldwin on the television show Chuck on NBC. He is partnered with CIA agent Sarah Walker to protect Chuck Bartowski.

As of episode 21 of season 2, "Chuck Versus the Colonel," Major Casey is promoted to a rank addressed as "colonel."

Contents 1 Biography 2 Series 3 Development 3.1 Branch of Service 3.2 Rank 3.3 Personality 4 References

[edit] Biography

Virtually nothing has been revealed about John Casey's past or his family. The only family member to whom the series refers is his mother, whom he seems to call during one scene in the series when characters are calling their loved ones.^[1] All that is known about his age is that he claims to have been in "the business" for 20 years, he was 23 years old when he started training with his mentor, NSA instructor Ty Bennett, and it was 1994 at some point in his training with Bennett.^[2] He was a choirboy and has perfect pitch.^[3] Although Casey has flown a stealth fighter^[4] and expressed a clear interest in American military aviation technology,^[5] he holds his rank through the US Army.^[6] At what point he was recruited into the NSA is currently unknown. In the NSA, Casey trained for "a long time" (Sarah's words) with the aforementioned Ty Bennett, who taught Casey everything he knows (Casey's words). While teaching Casey hand-to-hand combat techniques, Bennett attempted to help Casey, who already had a short temper, find a "calm center."^[2] Since then Casey survived torture by Baath separatists and spent two years undercover in Afghanistan.^[2] He also attended Roan Montgomery's course on Infiltration and Inducement of Enemy Personnel ("Seduction School") and failed it twice – although Montgomery revealed that he failed Casey because Casey's partner was "too pretty," with Montgomery also musing that he should have failed Casey's partner a few more times.^[7]

Casey suffered a devastating personal tragedy while stationed undercover in Chechnya. He was involved with an Associated Press photographer named Ilsa Trinchina who was apparently killed in a bomb blast near the hotel where they were staying.^[8] The incident left him deeply traumatized, with cameras apparently causing flashbacks to the tragedy. It was later revealed that Ilsa was a French spy who had faked her own death. Ilsa reappeared in "Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover" as the undercover fiance of a Russian crime boss. Casey also had a final tryst with Ilsa after capturing the Russian crime boss before she departed for further espionage missions.^[8]

He has had previous dealings with CIA agents Bryce Larkin and Sarah Walker in the past and has been intimately involved in some capacity with Sarah's DEA friend Carina as well.^[9]

Casey is seen as a staunch Republican. He is a supporter of Ronald Reagan, even keeping a picture of the former president in his home, he supports gun rights, and he has displayed distaste over the fact that "the current administration" has discontinued waterboarding.^[10]

[edit] Series

Casey was on-hand when Bryce Larkin stole the Intersect data, and participated in the pursuit to apprehend him. He shot Bryce during his escape attempt, apparently fatally, but not before Larkin was able to successfully send the contents of the Intersect to his old college roommate, Chuck Bartowski.^[11] The National Intelligence Director (Wendy Makkena) dispatched Casey with a team to clean up the operation. He was to find the Intersect data and capture Chuck to determine what Chuck knew and who he worked for. CIA agent Sarah Walker simultaneously attempted to recover the Intersect, and in their independent missions, Casey and Walker ended up in a standoff for control of Chuck. After Sarah proved Chuck was not a threat and both agents discovered that he contained the Intersect secrets in his brain, Casey was assigned to protect him.

As part of his cover Casey was given a job at the Buy More where he worked as a "Green Shirt."^[4] Despite poor customer service skills, Casey was nonetheless an effective, if aggressive, salesperson. Although most of his coworkers were afraid of him, they also knew to come to him in dangerous situations.^[12] He was also ruthless in dealing with shoplifting.^[4] Casey quit his job at the Buy More at the same time that Chuck did.^[13]

Although initially unknown to Chuck, Casey had been secretly monitoring his home with listening devices from his apartment in the same complex. His preferred listening device is the EM-50, which he has placed throughout the apartment Chuck shares with his sister and her then-boyfriend, Devon. When Chuck discovered the bugs after a tipoff from Laszlo and confronted his handler, Casey showed little reaction despite it being one of the first times Chuck had directly stood up to him.^[14] Chuck later admits to being a fan of Casey's work.^[15] Much of Casey's downtime is spent monitoring Chuck's apartment.

Casey was forced to face a painful chapter from his past when Chuck flashed on a list of Russian mobsters staying in Los Angeles, and one of the names, Ilsa Trinchina, pointed directly to "Sugar Bear," a name Chuck realized was her pet name for Casey. Chuck innocently teased Casey over it and Casey's temper nearly drove him to strangle Chuck. Sarah then revealed to Chuck that Trinchina was apparently killed by a bomb in Chechnya. Later, Chuck and Casey learned that Ilsa is a French spy and had faked her death in the blast. Chuck convinced Casey to fight for her, and although they rekindled their relationship, Casey and Ilsa ultimately parted ways.^[8]

He met with a very personal betrayal when he discovered his old mentor and sensei, Ty Bennett, had turned rogue and was building a criminal empire with former students, even inviting Casey to join him. The mission to capture Bennett nearly proved fatal to Chuck when Casey allowed the vendetta to distract him. As a result, Beckman ordered Casey to stand down and pulled him off the case to apprehend Bennett, bluntly telling him that he was never told Bennett went rogue because they knew he would go after him. After being confined to Castle, Casey took advantage of Chuck's empathy and compassion to facilitate his escape, then went after Bennett himself. Casey dueled with Bennett, who taunted him over his lack of focus and calm. Chuck, realizing that Casey's anger was his strength, tricked Casey into instead channeling his anger to defeat Bennett. For this, Casey showed a rare moment of sincere gratitude to Chuck.^[2]

Despite his long service, including in many dangerous hot spots spanning three wars, Casey had never lost an appendage in the line of duty. However, this changed when Ned Rhyerson, a Fulcrum agent posing as a frightened amateur criminal, took the Buy More hostage as a setup to discover what the CIA and NSA were protecting there. When Ned discovered Casey, secretly knowing that Casey was with the NSA, he feigned an inexperience with firearms, pretended that he didn't know how to uncock his revolver, and when the gun "accidentally" went off, the bullet severed a substantial part of Casey's left pinky toe.^[1]

Unknown to Sarah and Chuck, who believe that Chuck will be allowed to return to his civilian life once the Intersect mission is finished, Casey is under orders to execute Chuck to prevent the data from falling into the wrong hands once Chuck's Intersect becomes redundant. After recovering the Cipher, a key component of the rebuilt Intersect, the command to terminate Chuck was given. Casey attempted to appeal the decision, but Beckman and Graham believed there was no other choice; Graham specifically asked if Casey could remove the Intersect from Chuck's head and guarantee that Chuck would not be kidnapped and tortured, and Casey admitted he could not. However, before Casey could carry out his orders, the Trojan horse Cipher exploded, killing Graham and destroying the new Intersect. This turn of events retracted his terminate orders since Chuck still is the only copy of the Intersect,^[16] and the orders naturally become moot after Chuck's father removes the original Intersect from Chuck's brain.^[17] It is unknown whether the orders will become relevant again following Chuck's decision to implant the Intersect 2.0 into his brain. ^[13]

[edit] Development

Adam Baldwin was cast in the role of John Casey, announced on February 8, 2007.^[18] Schwartz had Baldwin in mind for the role almost from the beginning of the casting process.

Although the character of Casey has received relatively little attention, Schwartz indicated in interviews that "Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover" established a lot of what made Casey, Casey. He received further development in "Chuck Versus the Sensei," when it's revealed that his former mentor had turned rogue. Much of Casey's personality and background is revealed through small details that surface in episodes, often used to humorous effect.

Interviews with Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak at San Diego Comic-Con 2009 have indicated Casey's role will develop from strictly a protector to take on aspects of a mentor/student relationship with Chuck.^[19]

[edit] Branch of Service

Casey's branch of service in the series is a matter of confusion. In "Chuck Versus the Helicopter" he tells Chuck he once flew the stealth fighter (the F-117 Nighthawk). His special forces team in "Chuck Versus the Ring" included members of the United States Marine Corps, though the term "special forces" in the US military refers specifically to the US Army Special Forces. According to Casey's bio at the official site he holds his rank through the United States Army, and US Army paraphernalia can be seen in Casey's apartment in many episodes.

[edit] Rank

In addition to confusion over his branch of service, the series is also ambiguous over the rank Casey was promoted to in "Chuck Versus the Colonel." Throughout the episode, he is referred to as "Colonel Casey." Although normal rank progression from major is to Lt. colonel, the episode never establishes whether he was promoted to this rank or full colonel, as both ranks are frequently addressed as "colonel" in casual usage, and "colonel" is the proper honorific used when addressing officers of either rank.^[20]

[edit] Personality

John Casey was described by Sarah in "Chuck Versus the Intersect" as a "burnout," although the exact meaning of this was never explained.^[11] Chuck describes him as having an "angry center," as opposed to the traditional "calm center".^[2] He is gruff, straight-forward, cynical, and hard-edged, and tends to keep everyone at an emotional distance. He is often sarcastic and ironic, and rarely shows signs of caring for anything other than his job and country (and his bonsai tree).

On occasion, however, Casey does allow part of his human side through. This was most clearly revealed when confronted by his former lover, Ilsa, and later by the revelation that his mentor had turned rogue. He also vouched for Sarah's father and suggested his assistance in helping them apprehend a Saudi sheik with terrorist ties should be considered when Jack Burton was to be brought to trial for his own illegal activities.^[21] Although he disagreed with Sarah's feelings for Chuck in "Chuck Versus the Crown Vic," he later attempted to defend her in front of Beckman when Sarah was to be replaced by CIA agent Alexandra Forrest, insisting that Beckman allow Chuck to state his own case as to why he worked well with Sarah.

Casey's relationship with Chuck is complicated. A running gag is that Chuck (always unintentionally) will typically cause Casey distress, embarrassment or physical harm at some point during an episode (such as the destruction of Casey's prized Crown Vic). Typically, Casey is hard on and insulting to Chuck and takes a dark pleasure in making Chuck feel insecure; he shows frustration with Chuck's constant mistakes, inability to perform tasks for which he is not trained, and constantly failing to follow orders. However, although he seldom expresses it openly, he seems to recognize that Chuck is doing the best he can as a civilian forced to act as a spy with little or no training. He does at times show appreciation for him and recognizes that he has potential as an agent. He has expressed respect for Chuck's integrity, intelligence, and inventiveness. He showed particular respect for Chuck's courage in deciding to use the only sample of an antidote in their possession to save his sister's life, even though he had been poisoned and would die without it.^{[5][2][21][22]}

Casey has a deep sense of personal honor that occasionally comes into conflict with his sense of duty to his country; in particular, he personally objects when a person has served his country honorably and is nevertheless slated to suffer as a result of government actions. When it appeared that the replacement Intersect was ready, despite the antagonism he often expressed toward Chuck, he did not want to terminate him and felt that Chuck's service to the government entitled him to a better fate than termination. However he is also loyal to his government, and when it was sufficiently explained to him that leaving Chuck alive would place the country in danger, he was prepared to carry out his instructions regardless of his personal feelings.^[16] Later, in "Chuck Versus the Colonel," Casey apprehends Chuck and Sarah for going AWOL (an act of treason and perceived personal betrayal) to rescue Chuck's father, Stephen, but promises to ensure Stephen's safety, as Stephen has served his country honorably. When Beckman tells Casey that the government plans to bomb the base where Stephen is being held, he sticks to his word and embarks on a personal mission to save Stephen. He later covers for Chuck and Sarah to General Beckman about the AWOL mission, thereby saving them from prosecution for treason.

Casey is a staunch gun rights advocate.^[23] He keeps a photo of former President Ronald Reagan in his apartment which he has a habit of saluting and addressing directly as "Sir" so is likely a Republican,^[2][16] and has a "Rogues Gallery" he uses for target practice, including pictures of Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden. His two prized possessions are his 1985 Crown Vic^[23] and his Bonsai tree, though he deliberately killed the tree in a fit of rage when he learned his former mentor had turned rogue.^[2] He also purchased himself a new gun for Christmas.^[1]

"Chuck Versus the First Kill" humorously suggested Casey is not as intelligent as the other team members when he tried to cheat off Chuck's Fulcrum entrance exam, however he is an excellent shot and trained killer. Casey is also a skilled martial artist, which is demonstrated when he fights his old sensei in "Chuck Versus the Sensei," although Casey was forced to retreat when he fought Sarah in "Chuck Versus the Helicopter." He has demonstrated a remarkable tolerance to pain and extreme endurance. He broke his own thumb to escape a set of handcuffs in "Chuck Versus the Suburbs," was able to remain awake and function relatively normally after being shot with a tranquilizer dart in "Chuck Versus the Helicopter," and it took Chuck three tranq darts to put Casey down in "Chuck Versus the Dream Job." Casey is also exceptionally strong. When Carina cuffed him to a bed in "Chuck Versus the Wookiee" he managed to free himself by tearing apart the frame with minimal leverage and no assistance, and ripped an entire radiator from the wall of a motel room in "Chuck Versus the Colonel." He can turn almost anything into a weapon, including the aforementioned bed frame and radiator, as well as household appliances.^[24] Casey carries a SIG Sauer P229 modified with Trace laser grips and mounts for a suppressor throughout the series.

Despite his own nature and preference for conventional spy tactics, Casey has realized that Operation Bartowski is most effective with Sarah Walker, and omitted most of the details of Chuck and Sarah's emotional involvement from his reports to Beckman until she specifically ordered him to give an unabridged report. While he admired Agent Forrest's thinking, he also realized she was a greater liability on the team than Sarah, despite her feelings for Chuck. In a rare display of emotion he told Agent Forrest that Sarah was the best partner he ever had, and strongly disagreed with her assessment of her as a liability to the operation. He encouraged Chuck to tell General Beckman why Sarah should remain on the team.

A significant amount of humor in the series centers around Casey's demeanor and random moments that are completely incongruous with his tough image, such as unexpectedly singing a note to which a puzzle is keyed and revealing having been a choir boy with perfect pitch, and dancing to 90's music (specifically Hanson's "MMMBop") while undercover as a DJ at Sarah's high school reunion.^[5] One of Casey's favorite movies is Steel Magnolias.^[25] He frequently responds to situations with monosyllabic grunts, which Chuck can recognize and has even numbered,^[23] and often tosses off one-liners reminiscent of cliche action films.^[16] While working at the Buy More in the days leading up to Christmas, 2008, Casey had been assigned to man the gift-wrap counter and was so distraught over the resulting paper cuts he had band-aids on all his fingers.^[1] Casey is also fond of quiche, a dish which he takes very seriously.^[4]

[edit] References

v • d • e Chuck Main Characters Chuck Bartowski · Sarah Walker · John Casey Supporting Characters Ellie Bartowski · Stephen J. Bartowski · Morgan Grimes · Bryce Larkin · Jill Roberts · Devon Woodcomb · The Nerd Herd · Beckman and Graham · Other characters Creators Josh Schwartz · Chris Fedak Miscellaneous Episodes · Fulcrum · Gadgets · "Short Skirt/Long Jacket"