Morgan Grimes - Series

Series

Morgan was unaware of Chuck's secret life until the Season 3 episode, "Chuck Versus the Beard." For much of the first season, Morgan is primarily used for comic relief in Chuck's personal life, although as the series progresses he begins to develop and gains more independence from his use as Chuck's foil. However, like Ellie and Devon Woodcomb, Morgan is rarely directly involved with the main plot of the episode. Much of Morgan's development as a character continues to center around his friendship with Chuck and events at the Buy More.

On occasion, Morgan is drawn into the main (spy) plot. Sometimes, Morgan simply unwittingly gives Chuck ideas that allow him to complete a mission. At other times, Morgan is inadvertently involved in the events of an episode, such as in "Chuck Versus the Crown Vic" and "Chuck Versus the Marlin." Prior to Season 3, Morgan's biggest roles in the main plots were in "Chuck Versus Santa Claus," where he plays a key role in helping Devon and Big Mike subdue Ned, and in "Chuck Versus the Best Friend," when he is misidentified by Smooth Lau as a spy.

But typically, Morgan is simply the focus of the Buy More subplots. For most of the first two seasons, he avoids a great deal of work and leads the other employees in mischief-making and rebellions against the tyrannical assistant manager of the moment, but is nevertheless gradually given more responsibility. Parallel to this development is his romantic development, mostly encapsulated in his on-again, off-again relationship with coworker Anna Wu.

In an early episode in the series, Morgan pursues Sarah's DEA friend Carina, and he unknowingly becomes involved in the spy intrigue of the episode. Carina is uninterested enough in Morgan to frequently forget his name, but feigns a romantic interest in him at her convenience.

Morgan's professional life and romantic life both make a transition at the end of the second season and beginning of the third season. When Emmett tricks Morgan into helping him take Big Mike's position as manager, Morgan reluctantly accepts a promotion to assistant manager to protect the other employees from Emmett and hold the store together. With Anna's encouragement, he shrugs off that burden, quits the Buy More, and asks Anna to accompany him to Hawaii where he chases his dream of becoming a Benihana chef. Over six months later, Morgan returns to Los Angeles and reveals to Chuck that he was failing in his class, and that Anna left him for another classmate.

Since the later episodes of the second season, Morgan is also dealing with the unpleasant and awkward situation of a romantic relationship between Big Mike and his mother, of the graphic details of which he is frequently made aware.

After returning from Hawaii and getting reinstated at the Buy More, Morgan takes the opportunity to move in with Chuck after Devon and Ellie take the lease on the apartment next door. In an effort to cheer Chuck up, Morgan takes him out on the town after sitting around their largely unfurnished apartment playing video games. By chance they end up at the same club as Sarah and Carina. While at the club, Morgan repeatedly fails to hook up with any of the women there, or even get close to the bar. The next day at work he mentions to Jeff and Lester how his "girlfriend" Carina is back in town, but neither are very convinced Carina would have anything to do with him. The three concoct a plan for him to get together with her by throwing a housewarming party for himself and Chuck at their apartment, She shows him even greater disregard, but when Morgan stands up to her and says "No", actions to which she is unaccustomed, Carina becomes interested and they sleep together.

Shortly thereafter, Morgan is again promoted to assistant manager, this time by Big Mike. At first, Morgan must quell the kinds of mischief and rebellions he used to lead, and he enjoys some early success with advice from Big Mike and help from John Casey. Afterward, he begins to enlist Lester and Jeff's help in stalking Hannah (in whom he takes a romantic interest) and Chuck (who he learns is lying to him). Both investigations converge with a shattering effect on Morgan as he discovers them beginning a relationship.

When Chuck ends that relationship and Hannah leaves, Chuck's secrets take Morgan to the breaking point of their friendship, but then Morgan stumbles into Chuck's spy life, and Chuck (initially under duress) reveals the secret story of the last two and a half years. Morgan is tremendously relieved. Despite the risks associated with Morgan knowing of this, Chuck convinces his handlers to allow Morgan to stay a part of his life, allowing him to finally reaffirm their friendship on new terms. Morgan is one of only a handful of people outside Team Bartowski who know Chuck is the Intersect and who are not imprisoned. Morgan accepts Chuck's spy life, and is relieved that his friend was only trying to protect him. For his part, Chuck's relief that Morgan accepts him as-is allows him to regain the confidence to access the Intersect again, and he saves both of their lives when he flashes on martial arts.

Morgan played a pivotal role in the rescue of Sarah in "Chuck Versus the Other Guy." After quitting the Buy More when promised a place on Chuck's team, he recognized that the fight between Shaw and several Ring agents had been staged to make it look like Shaw had fought off the agents. He also proved instrumental in waking Casey out of the funk he had been in following his dismissal from the NSA and convincing him to help Chuck stop Shaw from killing Sarah in retaliation for his wife's death. Morgan subsequently got his job at the Buy More back when Big Mike revealed he didn't have the heart to advertise for a replacement, and at Casey's request was officially made a member of Operation Bartowski.

When Chuck and Sarah went AWOL together at the end of "Chuck Versus the Other Guy," Beckman ordered Casey to enlist Morgan's aid in tracking the couple down in "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners." Morgan quickly proved himself a valuable asset in the search due to his nearly encyclopedic knowledge of Chuck's life, and helped Casey narrow where to begin the search. During the mission, Morgan helped them apprehend a defecting Basque terrorist, and his obsession with preparing for the mission to Europe—including exhaustive study of and fascination with Lake Como—helped him recognize the two Interpol agents who arrived to take custody of terrorist were in fact a trap.

Anna returned to Burbank in "Chuck Versus the Tooth," and Morgan was forced to contend with lingering feelings which he likened to Chuck's own relationship with Sarah. When Anna witnessed Morgan's new-found sense of responsibility and purpose, and the manner in which he casually brushed her off on two occasions in order to help Chuck with a mission, she realized she wanted him back. Despite his feelings, Morgan admitted that if it took leaving him for Anna to realize she truly wanted him, then she wasn't the woman he wanted to be with and shot her down when she attempted to reconcile with him.

In "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II", Morgan worked with Ellie and Devon to save Sarah, Casey and Chuck from imminent death at the hands of Shaw using a rocket from Casey's Crown Vic. He also helped apprehend the Ring Elders and broke his thumbs in order to free himself and help evacuate the Buy More when Shaw tried to blow it up. He later found the detonator and accidentally blew up the store by dropping it since his hands were heavily bandaged. Also, in the finale, he became acquainted with Casey's daughter Alex, but was warned by Casey to cease flirting with her. Morgan, nevertheless, continued to speak with Alex.

Morgan was promoted to manager of the Buy More by Brigadier General Beckman in "Chuck Versus the Suitcase," after successfully identifying that the Buy More functioned too efficiently and pleasantly to successfully operate under the cover of a retail chain, and rectifying it by rehiring the store's former civilian employees. After beginning to date Alex in "Chuck Versus the Coup d'Etat," Morgan was placed in the position of having to tell Casey, who nearly strangled Morgan after the revelation. However when Morgan was first shot and then nearly sacrificed himself to electrocute members of Casey's former team to save Casey, Chuck and Sarah, (dying for three seconds in the process) Casey relented and gave his blessing with the warning of what would happen if Morgan were to break Alex's heart. Following his actions in "Chuck Versus the Couch Lock," Casey began including Morgan more directly in spy operations, acknowledging that he may indeed have value as part of the team. Casey admired Morgan's courage and dedication to his subordinates' safety in "Chuck Versus the Leftovers", and loaned him a sidearm for close-quarters combat despite Morgan's less than stellar marksmanship.

In "Chuck Versus Phase Three", Morgan explained to Sarah that folded up paper she found in Chuck's workshirt pocket was Chuck's proposal plan because he was wanting to marry her. The plan was put on hold while Chuck had to deal with losing the intersect.

In "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger", Morgan puts on a pair of sunglasses found in a box left for Chuck in Castle, not realizing at the time that he was downloading the Intersect. Though the team assumed that Beckman sent the glasses, they were in fact sent by Clyde Decker, intended for Chuck. The Intersect Morgan had was faulty, altered his personality, made him reckless, caused memory loss, joined Gertrude Verbanski and made Morgan break up with Alex over a text message. Chuck was able to coax Morgan back to himself by reminding him of how they got back at a bully in grade school. However, Morgan had also let out that he was the Intersect, causing Decker to put a kill order out on him. After Beckman removed the Intersect, she managed to call off the assassins, all but one: the Viper. When the team apparently caught the Viper and Morgan felt safe enough to try and apologize to Alex, the real Viper showed up, but she was stopped by the Bartowskis. Morgan and Alex eventually get back together with help from the Woodcombs.

In "Chuck Versus the Goodbye", Alex officially moves in with Morgan and Casey but her father moves out to be with Verbanski.