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John Casey (Chuck)
Encyclopedia
Colonel
John Casey (born Alexander Coburn) is portrayed by actor Adam Baldwin
on the television show Chuck
on NBC
. Prior to the episode "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
," he was partnered with CIA agent Sarah Walker
to protect Chuck Bartowski
.
In episode 21 of season 2, "Chuck Versus the Colonel
," Major
Casey was promoted and subsequently addressed as "colonel." In episode 10 of season 3, "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
," Colonel Casey was dismissed, adopting his cover of an overaged retail electronics salesman as his life. He was reinstated in "Chuck Versus the Other Guy
" as a condition of his turning over the Ring director whom he captured in Paris.
He is either retired or dismissed again at the end of the season 4 finale "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger
", and is hired by Chuck and Sarah for their private spy operation.
Even his age is unknown, though there are clues in his revealed career history. He was attempting assassinations in the 1980s, he left the Marines to become an agent in January 1989, 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.
Although Casey has flown a stealth fighter
, he holds his rank through the US Marine Corps. "Chuck Versus the Fake Name
" reveals that Casey is a world-class sniper, and it is confirmed two episodes later that he began his career as a hot-shot Marine sniper. He served as a Lieutenant in a Marine amphibious force in Honduras in January 1989. While serving there, Casey was informed that he had not qualified to train with Special Operations Command
, and immediately after receiving this news was recruited into the NSA by Colonel James Keller.
"Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" reveals that Casey served in the Marine Corps as Alex Coburn and had a fiancée named Kathleen McHugh. However, Col. Keller ordered Casey to fake his death, requiring him to give up his life and Kathleen, whom he did not know was pregnant at the time. She told him over the phone that she had some news for him, but before she could finish, Keller cut them off and gave Casey his order of faking his death. Later in that episode, after Chuck rescues Kathleen from Keller's men who were sent to kill her, Casey arrives to help him clear everything up and finds out that Kathleen has a daughter named Alex whom Casey fathered, and who is named after him. When Casey is dismissed from the NSA by Beckman, Chuck tries to persuade him that all is not lost and that it is not too late to make amends for the past now that he is a civilian because Kathleen lives around town and he can finally get to know his daughter. Casey tells Chuck that he made the choice of love of country over love of a woman a long time ago, and that it was and still is the best decision for him. In season four, Casey reveals that he had proposed to Kathleen prior to being sent overseas, noting that there was no such thing as the perfect place to propose (he proposed at the bus depot); the only thing you need is the girl.
In the NSA, despite lacking the usual qualifications, Casey was eventually accepted into the tutelage of the aforementioned Ty Bennett, under whom he trained for "a long time" (Sarah's words) and 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." Since then, Casey survived torture by Baath separatists and spent two years undercover in Afghanistan. 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" to let go.
During the Clinton-era
, Casey was the tactician in a special forces unit that included Packard, a special weapons expert, T.I., a hand-to-hand combat expert, and MacKintosh, an electronics expert. In 1999, the team travelled to the Zargos Mountains of Iran
and planted charges to seal a safe full of gold used to fund terrorists. Packard, T.I., and MacKintosh attempted to steal the gold, but Casey managed to incapacitate them. He sealed the vault so that it could only be opened with his handprint identification. He then dragged the team to safety and had them court martialed.
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. 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.
He has had previous dealings with CIA agents Bryce Larkin
and Sarah Walker and has been intimately involved in some capacity with Sarah's DEA friend Carina as well.
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
. However, during "Chuck Versus the Beard
" Casey jokingly suggested a populist tilt when he convinces the Buy More employees, who had besieged the store in a coup, to allow him to enter so he could save Chuck from "Ring" operatives by saying to the employees, "the only thing I hate more than hippie, neo-liberal fascists, anarchists are the hypocrite fat-cat suits they eventually grow up to become." He is staunchly anti-Communist, and several times attempted to assassinate Premier Alejandro Goya, (Armand Assante
) the Communist revolutionary and president of the fictional Latin American nation of Costa Gravas. His actions against the nation earned him the nickname "Angel de la Muerte." ("Angel of Death")
He feels strongly about the misuse of taxpayer money. He reveals to Walker that his priorities are "God
, country
, duty, Corps
."
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. 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 is given a job at the Buy More
where he works as a "Green Shirt" selling appliances. Despite poor customer service skills, Casey is nonetheless an effective, if aggressive, salesman, and he is ruthless in dealing with shoplifting. When interviewed for a Buymore instructional video, it was revealed that he nearly eliminated shoplifting from the Burbank, California
branch. Although most of his coworkers are afraid of him, they also know to come to him in dangerous situations. In the transition from Season 2 to Season 3, Casey quits his job at the Buy More at the same time as Chuck, only to be re-hired along with Chuck and Morgan less than a year later when it once again becomes a useful cover. When Morgan needs help to put down an employee revolt led by Lester, a visibly gleeful Casey remarks, "Insurgents? I hate insurgents!." Promoted by Morgan to "Lieutenant Assistant Manager;" Casey intimidates the staff by putting out a burning a cigar using his arm and not flinching a muscle, and (without fully disclosing to Morgan) ultimately brainwashes Lester, and for his success Morgan rewards him with a raise.
Casey spends much of his downtime monitoring Chuck's home with listening devices from his apartment in the same complex. His preferred listening device is the EM-50. When Chuck discovers the bugs after a tipoff from Laszlo and confronts his handler, Casey shows little reaction despite it being one of the first times Chuck directly stands up to him. Casey also keeps a "Chuck diary", which he keeps hidden in his Buy More locker. Chuck later admits to being a fan of Casey's work.
Casey is forced to face a painful chapter from his past when Chuck flashes on a list of Russian mobsters staying in Los Angeles, and one of the names, Ilsa Trinchina, pointes directly to "Sugar Bear," a name Chuck realizes was her pet name for Casey. Chuck innocently teases Casey over it and Casey's temper nearly drives him to strangle Chuck. Sarah then reveals to Chuck that Trinchina was apparently killed by a bomb in Chechnya. Later, Chuck and Casey learn that Ilsa is a French spy and had faked her death in the blast. Chuck convinces Casey to fight for her, and although they rekindle their relationship, Casey and Ilsa ultimately part ways.
He meets with a very personal betrayal when he discovers his old mentor and sensei, Ty Bennett, had turned rogue and is building a criminal empire with former students, even inviting Casey to join him. The mission to capture Bennett nearly proves fatal to Chuck when Casey allows the vendetta to distract him. As a result, Beckman orders Casey to stand down and pulls 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 takes advantage of Chuck's empathy and compassion to facilitate his escape, then goes after Bennett himself. Casey duels with Bennett, who taunts him over his lack of focus and calm. Chuck, realizing that Casey's anger is his strength, tricks Casey into instead channeling his anger to defeat Bennett. For this, Casey shows a rare moment of sincere gratitude to Chuck.
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 changes when Ned Rhyerson, a Fulcrum agent posing as a frightened amateur criminal, takes the Buy More hostage as a setup to discover what the CIA and NSA were protecting there. When Ned discovers Casey, secretly knowing that Casey is with the NSA, he feigns an inexperience with firearms, pretended not to know how to uncock his revolver; when the weapon "accidentally" fires, the bullet severs a substantial part of Casey's left pinky toe.
Unknown to Sarah and Chuck, who believed that Chuck would be allowed to return to his civilian life once the Intersect mission is finished, Casey was under orders to execute Chuck to prevent the data from falling into the wrong hands once Chuck's Intersect became redundant. After recovering the Cipher, a key component of the rebuilt Intersect, the command to terminate Chuck is given. Casey attempts to appeal the decision, but Beckman and Graham believe there is no other choice; Graham specifically asks Casey if could remove the Intersect from Chuck's head and guarantee that Chuck would not be kidnapped and tortured, and Casey admits he could not. However, before Casey could carry out his orders, the Trojan horse Cipher explodes, 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, and the orders naturally become moot after Chuck's father removes the original Intersect from Chuck's brain. The order appears to remain rescinded following Chuck's decision to implant the Intersect 2.0 into his brain. After failing his spy training, Chuck is dismissed from the agency, and Casey appears ready to pull out of Burbank without any mention of execution orders.
Despite his aforementioned hatred of Alejandro Goya, Casey is forced to save the Premier's life from an attempted assassination by The Ring. As he had the same blood type, his blood is also used to save the premier. Goya is so grateful he acknowledges Casey for his great skills, and gives him a gift of pre-revolution cigars. Later in the series, Goya is deposed in a coup d'état led by his wife, Hortencia, causing Goya to flee his homeland, Costa Gravas; Goya decides that the safest place for him to stay is with Casey. Casey reveals that Goya's trusted advisor, Turinni, is infatuated with Hortencia, and exposes him as one of the driving forces behind the coup. To save Casey's life, Goya knocks Casey out and agrees to go back to Costa Gravas. Casey, who has extensive knowledge of Costa Gravas and Goya's palace, leads Sarah and Chuck through Costa Gravas' sewers in a mission to save Goya. As Chuck and Sarah successfully mediate between Goya and Hortencia, Casey captures Turrini, and the three prevent a nuclear attack on the States. Goya addresses Casey as the man that saved Costa Gravas from civil war and leads him from the nuclear control room to the palace where he had a more fitting reward for the Angel of Life.
In "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
," Casey is coerced by his former commander, Col. Keller, who is now a Ring spy, to steal a combat-performance-enhancing pill. Keller threatens to have Casey's ex fiancee, Kathleen McHugh, killed unless he cooperates. Despite General Beckman's orders to stand down, and facing charges of treason, Casey does everything he can to save Kathleen, eventually getting help from Chuck and Sarah. In the end, Keller is taken down, Kathleen is saved, and instead of going to prison for treason, Beckman gives Casey a something of a "second second chance", dismissing him from the Marine Corps and NSA service, and allowing him re-enter civilian life without his pension.
Casey finds readjusting to life as a civilian difficult, and nearly ends up sued for assault by Jeff and Lester after he catches them goofing off in the store. Big Mike successfully mediates the situation in an effort to "smooth" Casey's jagged edges. He is surprised to learn Chuck has been called in for his "final exam," and later breaks the law by killing Chuck's "red test" target when Chuck himself hesitated. Casey subsequently warns him not to reveal what happened, as Casey had committed an unsanctioned murder and in the process defrauded the government.
In "Chuck Versus the American Hero
," Casey sees Chuck as his opportunity to get back to spy work when he learns Chuck is authorized by Beckman to choose his own team. After Chuck announces his intentions to win Sarah back first before making any other decisions, Casey agrees to join forces with Morgan and Devon to help. Unfortunately their efforts are not entirely successful and the three of them end up in jail for the night. Later, Casey helps Sarah escape Castle when Chuck locks her in while going to rescue Shaw. After the mission, with Sarah packing to meet Chuck at the train station, Casey meets her at her apartment, admits that he killed Perry, and wishes her a good life.
Casey is reinstated by General Beckman following the events of "Chuck Versus the Other Guy
," after he apprehended Ring head The Director while Chuck stopped the now-rogue Shaw and rescued Sarah. Recognizing the part he played in the operation, Casey also vouches for Morgan with Beckman and arranges for him to be officially hired on to Team Bartowski.
When Chuck and Sarah go AWOL yet again while in Paris in the episode "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners
," Beckman orders Casey to track the two with Morgan's assistance. Although initially reluctant to accept Morgan's help, he is eventually forced to acknowledge that Morgan was more useful than he first considered; as Beckman had noted, "Mr. Grimes and the Intersect have a strangely co-dependent relationship." After tracking down his missing partners and helping them apprehend a defecting Basque terrorist, Casey decides to let the two run away to leave the spy life. The mission nearly ends disastrously when two Interpol
agents coming to take the prisoner into custody are revealed to be members of the terrorist ETA
, but Casey and Morgan are rescued by Chuck and Sarah. After the mission, Casey personally vouches to General Beckman for Morgan's role in locating Chuck and Sarah and his decisive actions in securing the Basque prisoner.
Though it starts relatively genial, Ellie and Casey's relationship becomes strained and uneasy at the start of Season Three, when Chuck protects Devon by lying to Ellie that Devon was getting Casey out of jail for being drunk and disorderly (Devon adds that Casey exposed and wet himself) during the time Devon was on a Ring mission to kill Shaw. Frequently in the third season, Ellie is distrustful of Casey, mentioning her being aware of his public indecency, and taking any alcohol away from him, much to Casey's constant confusion. While it plays primarily to the comedy of the series, the mistrust also allows the Ring to use Ellie later.
In "Chuck Versus the Tooth
" Casey is unwittingly involved in a Ring plot to seize Stephen Bartowski, when a Ring operative named Justin Sullivan, Ellie meet in Africa identifies Casey as a double-agent attempting to get his hands on her father. She becomes convinced when she sees Casey's cache of weapons. In "Chuck Versus the Living Dead
", Casey is told by Chuck to keep and eye on Ellie and he tails her. However, when he finds her attempting to meet with her Ring contact, Casey presumes that she is having an affair and tells Morgan to question Devon. Casey later attempts to plant bugs around Ellie's apartment, thinking that she would not be home for a while. When she arrives back and heard him upstairs, Justin tells her to use the gun inside set of speakers he gave her to deal with Casey. Ellie cannot bring herself to do it and instead bludgeons Casey with a frying pan before running to Justin, who secretly holds her captive.
It is revealed in "Chuck Versus the Subway
" that Casey has re-established contact with his daughter, Alex, and is a regular visitor to the diner in which she works although she is unaware of his identity. When Justin captures Casey at the restaurant, Casey escapes, "kidnapping" Alex, later revealing his identity as her father. At the end of "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II
", Alex comes to dinner at Chuck's apartment with Morgan, to whom she gave her number, Casey, and the rest of the growing Team Bartowski. Casey has shown to be very protective of his daughter. He threatens to break Morgan's fingers (his thumbs were already broken) if Morgan does not stop flirting with Alex. After Casey is drugged and rescued, Morgan is forced to awaken him by confessing that he is dating Alex. Morgan willingly nearly electrocutes himself to save Chuck, Sarah and Casey. Impressed by Morgan's courage and loyalty, Casey relents and deems Morgan fit to date Alex. After convincing Alex to get back together with Grimes he threatened Morgan "If you break her heart, I break your everything." When Casey sees Alex leave Morgan's and Chuck's apartment one morning in one of Morgan's shirts, he intimidatingly confronts Morgan. Morgan initially attempts to deny his the sexual component to his relationship with Alex but eventually explains that he cares deeply about Alex; Casey then releases his grip on Morgan and explains, "That's all I wanted to hear." Despite his love for Alex, he is uncomfortable expressing it in words and admonishes Morgan likewise to show it with actions rather than stating it in words. Alex tells Morgan over Casey's injured and comatose body that, while she's only known Casey a short time, she loves him very much; Morgan assures her that Casey loves her more than she can know.
At four years, Team Bartowski is the longest assignment Casey has ever had, and he has effectively put down roots. Consequently, he initially refuses an offer to leave the NSA to command a CIA National Clandestine Service
team because he does not wish to leave Burbank; NCS Director Jane Bentley (Robin Givens), however, then shows him to the new section of Castle from which he would be based. He is retired or dismissed again after he and his team go rogue in "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger
" to save Sarah's life; he and Morgan are then hired by Chuck and Sarah's new private spy operation.
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. Most lately, Casey's beginnings, along with the revelation that John Casey was not his birth name, was hinted in during "Chuck Versus the Fake Name
" before being revealed in "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
", along with significant present-storyline development, including his dismissal from government employment. 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. Chris Fedak has also confirmed that Casey's family will be revisited later in Season 3.
," when he both identifies himself as a Marine
and the letters USMC are clearly visible stamped on his dog tags. "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
" had previously supported the theory that Casey was a Marine officer, and his recruitment into the special forces is depicted in a flashback. Furthermore, he constantly wears a class ring resembling the United States Naval Academy
, a commissioning source for Naval and Marine officers. He wears his Marine Corps Blue Dress "B" uniform when staging his own funeral in "Chuck Versus the Couch Lock".
." Throughout the episode, he is referred to as "Colonel Casey." Although normal rank progression from major is to be promoted to lieutenant colonel, the episode never establishes whether he was promoted to this rank or full colonel, as both ranks are frequently referred to as "colonel" in casual usage, and "colonel" is the proper honorific used when addressing officers of either rank.
"Chuck Versus the Couch Lock
" ultimately clarified Casey's rank when he is seen wearing the eagle insignia of a full colonel with his dress uniform, confirming that by this episode Casey had received a promotion to "bird colonel." However it is still unknown whether he skipped ranks directly to full colonel, or if he was initially promoted to lieutenant colonel
during the events of "Chuck Versus the Colonel" and had since been promoted again.
The character's age is implied to be considerably older than that of Baldwin in "Chuck Versus the Couch Lock". His ribbons include the Vietnam Service Medal
with three campaign stars
, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross (unit award), Vietnam Civil Actions Medal
(unit award), and Vietnam Campaign Medal
. Even if his three campaign stars are for the final three campaigns in Vietnam for which campaign stars were awarded, he would have had to have been fighting in-country on or before 29 March 1972, the last eligible day of "Consolidation II" (see Vietnam service campaign dates
), thereby placing Casey well into his fifties. Still more out of place is his Philippine Independence Medal
which has not been awarded since 1948. See #Awards and decorations.
The series has yet to address these continuity conflicts.
" as a "burnout," although the exact meaning of this was never explained. Chuck describes him as having an "angry center," as opposed to the traditional "calm center". 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), and takes a dark delight in playing on the insecurities and romantic awkwardness of his teammates (most often Chuck, but has teased Sarah on occasion; in one deleted scene, he seemed to enjoy Jill Roberts' discomfort upon meeting Sarah). He is often impatient and views what he knows as common knowledge, making him an incredibly poor instructor: when stuck flying a helicopter, a panic ridden Chuck demanded that Casey put Sarah on the phone as Casey's instructions were too technical for him to understand; when tasked to train Morgan Grimes, he gives Morgan a number of tasks to test him as a field agent, but fails to demonstrate how to accomplish the tasks, subsequently causing Morgan to fail each task set. He has an adversity to those rebelling against the "order" of things, as shown with his formed alliance with Morgan against Lester's "insurgent" (as Casey put it) uprising.
Despite the humour, Casey is a killer and assassin who has no compunction about solving problems with violence, often has difficulty distinguishing the value of human life, and seems to enjoy the prospect of killing a little too much. In the pilot, he apparently kills Bryce, he permits his fellow NSA agents to kill Sarah, and, later, comes close to killing them both Chuck and Sarah, calling it a night and going out for pancakes. A number of times, Casey has only been kept from killing Lester and Jeff because of Chuck, most notably when Lester stole Chuck's Orion Laptop and almost blew up the Burbank and Beverly Hills Buy Mores with a predator. When Anna claimed to know someone that could arrange Harry Tang to have an 'accident,' Chuck immediately asked Casey if he offered his services to Anna; Casey's reaction was an overenthusiastic "No... Why? Do you want me to kill him?" When Devon broke into (and got trapped in) Casey's apartment to ascertain why Casey was so interested in Chuck, Casey is only stopped from killing Devon by Sarah's timely arrival. He has also let his anger come to the point that he almost killed Chuck when his former sensei locked Chuck in his trunk and goaded Casey to a game of chicken; Casey acquiesced despite knowing Chuck was in the trunk. In a bonus feature in the season two DVD, Casey instructs how to become a deadly spy, starting with shooting two guys who were talking off camera and ending with advice on getting a second job during down time and advocating the elimination the other applicants ('... so go out and find a goat. Start practicing').
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. 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 and admits that she is the best partner he's ever had. Chuck has even stated that even the reason Casey acts tough is because deep down, he really does care for Chuck and Sarah not only as his partners, but as his friends and that he's just scared to show his true emotions. The depth of his personal feelings for Sarah and Chuck are illustrated in "Chuck Versus the Final Exam" and "Chuck Versus the American Hero," when he helps Chuck "cheat" on his Red Test by killing the mark. He later confessed to Sarah that he pulled the trigger because Chuck could not, as he believed the knowledge would convince Sarah she really did still love him (although Sarah had already decided to leave with Chuck). Twice in "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners" Casey offered Chuck and Sarah the chance to escape to live out their lives together, reminding Sarah of his own choice when he faked his death to be sure it was what she genuinely wanted. Despite his support for the couple's relationship, Casey is nonetheless disgusted by their public displays of affection. In "Chuck Versus the Tooth
" the sincerity of Casey's regard for Chuck is revealed when he independently visited Dr. Leo Dreyfus to offer his help in determining what was happening with Chuck when the Intersect apparently began to malfunction.
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. He also showed genuine pride with Chuck in "Chuck Versus the Subway
" when Chuck discovers and infiltrates Shaw's Ring base (clearing his, Sarah's and Casey's names and exposing Shaw as a Ring Operative and enemy Intersect) instead of directly attempting to rescue Sarah and Casey, visibly causing Shaw distress; both Sarah and Casey smile at Shaw's discomfort and Casey admits to Sarah that "Bartowski's a spy."
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. Later, in "Chuck Versus the Colonel," Casey apprehends Chuck and Sarah for going AWOL (an act of treason and perceived personal betrayal, he expresses disappointment that they didn't ask him for his help) 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.
The importance Casey puts on loyalty and honor is a catalyst for his growing fondness of, and respect for, the excentric, juvenile and essentially untrained Morgan Grimes. Casey repays Morgan for the loyalty and support Morgan provided during Casey's dismissal and humiliation, by insisting that the government hire him. Casey vacates his prohibition against Morgan dating Alex after Morgan saves the team's lives at great risk to his own, and is perfectly accepting of the relationship's obvious sexual component as soon as Morgan professed that he cares deeply for Alex. When Morgan defies Casey's order to retreat and goes to save his employees from terrorists, Casey immediately belays his prior order and loans Morgan a sidearm. While initially against allowing Morgan to move into his apartment, Casey is pleased with Morgan's resistance to torture and his demonstrated reliability.
Casey is a staunch gun rights advocate. He keeps a photo of former President Ronald Reagan
in his apartment which he has a habit of saluting and addressing directly as "Sir," is a Republican
, 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
and his Bonsai tree, though he deliberately killed the tree in a fit of rage when he learned his former mentor had turned rogue. He also purchased himself a new gun for Christmas. Although he expressed a dislike of President Clinton
and his "mouthy wife" during the 90s, Casey is nonetheless a strict adherent to duty and continued to follow his orders.
"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, and is one of five men in the world who could make a particularly difficult shot
at half a mile's range. 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
." In "Chuck Versus the Fake Name
" Casey not only encouraged Chuck to torture him to secure his cover with a pair of mobsters contracting for The Ring, but took Chuck completely removing one of his teeth without anesthesia
in stride and casually shrugged it off as no longer needing a trip to the dentist for treating a cavity. 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," and, on several occasions, has lifted and throttled fully grown men off the floor literally single-handedly: Chuck Bartowski in "Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover
"; Col. James Keller (whose neck he then snapped) in "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
"; and Morgan Grimes in "Chuck Versus the Couch Lock
". He can turn almost anything into a weapon, including the aforementioned bed frame and radiator, as well as household appliances. Casey carries a custom SIG Sauer P229 with a two-tone accented design, often being confused with the Equinox model (Equinox model being equipped with accessory rails, where as Casey's is not). Casey's sidearm is also modified with Crimson 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. This led to a 49-B, a practice wherein another Agent (in this case, Agent Forrest), would assess whether or not the emotions between the two were a liability; which, eventually, Agent Forrest decided they were. While Casey admired Forrest's thinking, he also realized she was a greater liability on the team than Sarah, despite (or perhaps even due to) 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. One of Casey's favorite movies is Steel Magnolias
. 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. Casey, along with his Special Forces unit, was the planner of Ellie Bartowski and Devon Woodcomb's second, more successful, wedding ceremony. Casey is also fond of quiche, a dish which he takes very seriously, and takes his coffee "black and bitter." He is also somewhat vain as shown in Chuck Versus the Three Words. When instructed to pose as Carina's father, he insists that he be a young uncle.
He frequently responds to situations with monosyllabic grunts, which Chuck can recognize and has even numbered, and often tosses off one-liners reminiscent of cliché action films, sometimes quoting Baldwin's own previous roles.
At the beginning of season four in "Chuck Versus the Anniversary
", Casey's respect and affection for Chuck were confirmed when he shows restrained anger after a moment of grief when it seems that Chuck was executed, threatening to tear Marco "limb from limb from limb". Earlier in the episode, he remarks that Chuck should be on the mission to destroy Volkoff with Walker and himself, candidly stating that "Chuck's a spy... he's good at it." After he admits to being ticked that Chuck didn't ask for his and Sarah's help after he learns Chuck and Morgan had set out alone to search for Chuck and Ellie's missing mother, Chuck officially asks Casey and Sarah for their help, and they enthusiastically agree to help Chuck and Morgan's search. Casey tells Chuck that, even without the Intersect, he's the second best spy with whom Casey has ever worked.
Casey goes rogue again; along with Morgan, Chuck, and Mary Bartowski; to save Sarah's life. With Operation Bartowski cancelled and the team all dismissed from government service, Casey and Morgan are hired by Chuck and Sarah for their private spy operation. He told Jane Bentley in "Chuck Versus the Masquerade
" that he had no intention of leaving Burbank, indicating that Castle would be the terminal assignment of his military career. It is unclear whether Casey was dismissed again or if he retired from the Marine Corps.
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
John Casey (born Alexander Coburn) is portrayed by actor Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin is an American actor, known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard, Knowle Rohrer in The X-Files, and Marcus Hamilton in Joss Whedon's Angel...
on the television show Chuck
Chuck (TV series)
Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...
on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. Prior to the episode "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
"Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" is the tenth episode of the third season of the television series Chuck, airing on March 15, 2010. When Casey's former commanding officer returns, Chuck and Sarah take it upon themselves to clear his name when he is arrested for treason...
," he was partnered with CIA agent Sarah Walker
Sarah Walker (Chuck)
Sarah Lisa Bartowski is the alias of one of the main characters of the fictional 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...
to protect Chuck Bartowski
Chuck Bartowski
Charles Irving "Chuck" Bartowski is the main and titular character of the American fiction television show Chuck on NBC. He is portrayed by Zachary Levi.-Character profile:...
.
In episode 21 of season 2, "Chuck Versus the Colonel
Chuck Versus the Colonel
"Chuck Versus the Colonel" is the 21st episode of Chuck's second season, and the 34th episode overall. It aired on April 20, 2009. Chuck and Sarah go on the run in an effort to locate Chuck's father. At the Buy More, Morgan becomes a pariah among his coworkers after Big Mike's demotion.-Main...
," Major
Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
Casey was promoted and subsequently addressed as "colonel." In episode 10 of season 3, "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
"Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" is the tenth episode of the third season of the television series Chuck, airing on March 15, 2010. When Casey's former commanding officer returns, Chuck and Sarah take it upon themselves to clear his name when he is arrested for treason...
," Colonel Casey was dismissed, adopting his cover of an overaged retail electronics salesman as his life. He was reinstated in "Chuck Versus the Other Guy
Chuck Versus the Other Guy
"Chuck Versus the Other Guy" is the thirteenth episode of Chuck third season, and originally aired on April 5, 2010. Sarah and Shaw are ordered to track down the Director by Beckman, but Chuck has misgivings over whether Shaw can be trusted after the revelation that Sarah killed his wife.-Main...
" as a condition of his turning over the Ring director whom he captured in Paris.
He is either retired or dismissed again at the end of the season 4 finale "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger
Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger
"Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger" is the fourth season finale of the American NBC action-comedy television series Chuck. Aired on May 16, 2011, it is the season's 24th episode, and the 78th overall episode of the series. The episode was directed by Robert Duncan McNeill and written by series...
", and is hired by Chuck and Sarah for their private spy operation.
Biography
Only scattered information has been revealed about John Casey's past or his family. "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" reveals that his real name is Alexander Coburn (Chuck had flashed on this name in a previous episode, but the face is redacted and Casey cautions him not to dig further) and that under the command of Col. James Keller, he faked his death and was given a new identity of John Casey. In a second-season episode, Casey was shown calling someone he referred to as his mother, but considering the situation and the fact that he referred to himself as "Johnny Boy," it seems he was speaking in code. He was a choirboy and has perfect pitch.Even his age is unknown, though there are clues in his revealed career history. He was attempting assassinations in the 1980s, he left the Marines to become an agent in January 1989, 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.
Although Casey has flown a stealth fighter
F-117 Nighthawk
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk was a single-seat, twin-engine stealth ground-attack aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force . The F-117A's first flight was in 1981, and it achieved initial operating capability status in October 1983...
, he holds his rank through the US Marine Corps. "Chuck Versus the Fake Name
Chuck Versus the Fake Name
"Chuck Versus the Fake Name" is a third-season episode of the television series Chuck. It was the eighth episode of the season, and the first to air after a two-week hiatus for the 2010 Winter Olympics...
" reveals that Casey is a world-class sniper, and it is confirmed two episodes later that he began his career as a hot-shot Marine sniper. He served as a Lieutenant in a Marine amphibious force in Honduras in January 1989. While serving there, Casey was informed that he had not qualified to train with Special Operations Command
United States Special Operations Command
The United States Special Operations Command is the Unified Combatant Command charged with overseeing the various Special Operations Commands of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps of the United States Armed Forces. The command is part of the Department of Defense...
, and immediately after receiving this news was recruited into the NSA by Colonel James Keller.
"Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" reveals that Casey served in the Marine Corps as Alex Coburn and had a fiancée named Kathleen McHugh. However, Col. Keller ordered Casey to fake his death, requiring him to give up his life and Kathleen, whom he did not know was pregnant at the time. She told him over the phone that she had some news for him, but before she could finish, Keller cut them off and gave Casey his order of faking his death. Later in that episode, after Chuck rescues Kathleen from Keller's men who were sent to kill her, Casey arrives to help him clear everything up and finds out that Kathleen has a daughter named Alex whom Casey fathered, and who is named after him. When Casey is dismissed from the NSA by Beckman, Chuck tries to persuade him that all is not lost and that it is not too late to make amends for the past now that he is a civilian because Kathleen lives around town and he can finally get to know his daughter. Casey tells Chuck that he made the choice of love of country over love of a woman a long time ago, and that it was and still is the best decision for him. In season four, Casey reveals that he had proposed to Kathleen prior to being sent overseas, noting that there was no such thing as the perfect place to propose (he proposed at the bus depot); the only thing you need is the girl.
In the NSA, despite lacking the usual qualifications, Casey was eventually accepted into the tutelage of the aforementioned Ty Bennett, under whom he trained for "a long time" (Sarah's words) and 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." Since then, Casey survived torture by Baath separatists and spent two years undercover in Afghanistan. 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" to let go.
During the Clinton-era
Presidency of Bill Clinton
The United States Presidency of Bill Clinton, also known as the Clinton Administration, was the executive branch of the federal government of the United States from January 20, 1993 to January 20, 2001. Clinton was the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second full term...
, Casey was the tactician in a special forces unit that included Packard, a special weapons expert, T.I., a hand-to-hand combat expert, and MacKintosh, an electronics expert. In 1999, the team travelled to the Zargos Mountains of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and planted charges to seal a safe full of gold used to fund terrorists. Packard, T.I., and MacKintosh attempted to steal the gold, but Casey managed to incapacitate them. He sealed the vault so that it could only be opened with his handprint identification. He then dragged the team to safety and had them court martialed.
Casey suffered a devastating personal tragedy while stationed undercover in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
. He was involved with an Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
photographer named Ilsa Trinchina who was apparently killed in a bomb blast near the hotel where they were staying. 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
Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover
"Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover" aired on January 24, 2008. It is the 12th episode of the first season of Chuck, and aired alongside "Chuck Versus the Marlin" to close out the season. Casey is forced to revisit his past when his presumed-dead girlfriend resurfaces...
" 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.
He has had previous dealings with CIA agents Bryce Larkin
Bryce Larkin
Bryce Larkin is a recurring character on the spy comedy series Chuck on NBC. Bryce is the ex-college roommate and fraternity brother of the series' main character, Chuck Bartowski and was formerly partnered and once romantically involved with Chuck's CIA handler Sarah Walker. Bryce was responsible...
and Sarah Walker and has been intimately involved in some capacity with Sarah's DEA friend Carina as well.
Casey is seen as a staunch Republican. He is a supporter of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, 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
Presidency of Barack Obama
The Presidency of Barack Obama began at noon EST on January 20, 2009 when he became the 44th President of the United States. Obama was a United States Senator from Illinois at the time of his victory over Arizona Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election...
" has discontinued waterboarding
Waterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, thus causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning...
. However, during "Chuck Versus the Beard
Chuck Versus the Beard
"Chuck Versus the Beard" is a third season episode of the television series Chuck. It originally aired March 8, 2010, and was the television directorial debut of series star Zachary Levi...
" Casey jokingly suggested a populist tilt when he convinces the Buy More employees, who had besieged the store in a coup, to allow him to enter so he could save Chuck from "Ring" operatives by saying to the employees, "the only thing I hate more than hippie, neo-liberal fascists, anarchists are the hypocrite fat-cat suits they eventually grow up to become." He is staunchly anti-Communist, and several times attempted to assassinate Premier Alejandro Goya, (Armand Assante
Armand Assante
-Personal life:Assante was born in New York City and raised in Cornwall, New York, the son of Katherine , a music teacher and poet, and Armand Anthony Assante, Sr., a painter and artist. His father was Italian and his mother was Irish, and was raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic family...
) the Communist revolutionary and president of the fictional Latin American nation of Costa Gravas. His actions against the nation earned him the nickname "Angel de la Muerte." ("Angel of Death")
He feels strongly about the misuse of taxpayer money. He reveals to Walker that his priorities are "God
God in Christianity
In Christianity, God is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe. God is believed by most Christians to be immanent , while others believe the plan of redemption show he will be immanent later...
, country
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, duty, Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
."
Series
Casey was on-hand when Bryce Larkin stole the IntersectThe Intersect
The Intersect is a fictional secret technology appearing in the television series Chuck. Within the series, it is used to house and analyze large quantities of encoded data...
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. The National Intelligence Director (Wendy Makkena
Wendy Makkena
-Career:Born in New York City, Makkena started her acting career in 1986 and appeared in the TV show Santa Barbara. She later landed her first movie role in Eight Men Out...
) 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 is given a job at the Buy More
Buy More
Buy More is a fictional big box electronics retail chain in NBC's action-comedy series Chuck. The Buy More is a parody of similar chains, particularly Best Buy....
where he works as a "Green Shirt" selling appliances. Despite poor customer service skills, Casey is nonetheless an effective, if aggressive, salesman, and he is ruthless in dealing with shoplifting. When interviewed for a Buymore instructional video, it was revealed that he nearly eliminated shoplifting from the Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
branch. Although most of his coworkers are afraid of him, they also know to come to him in dangerous situations. In the transition from Season 2 to Season 3, Casey quits his job at the Buy More at the same time as Chuck, only to be re-hired along with Chuck and Morgan less than a year later when it once again becomes a useful cover. When Morgan needs help to put down an employee revolt led by Lester, a visibly gleeful Casey remarks, "Insurgents? I hate insurgents!." Promoted by Morgan to "Lieutenant Assistant Manager;" Casey intimidates the staff by putting out a burning a cigar using his arm and not flinching a muscle, and (without fully disclosing to Morgan) ultimately brainwashes Lester, and for his success Morgan rewards him with a raise.
Casey spends much of his downtime monitoring Chuck's home with listening devices from his apartment in the same complex. His preferred listening device is the EM-50. When Chuck discovers the bugs after a tipoff from Laszlo and confronts his handler, Casey shows little reaction despite it being one of the first times Chuck directly stands up to him. Casey also keeps a "Chuck diary", which he keeps hidden in his Buy More locker. Chuck later admits to being a fan of Casey's work.
Casey is forced to face a painful chapter from his past when Chuck flashes on a list of Russian mobsters staying in Los Angeles, and one of the names, Ilsa Trinchina, pointes directly to "Sugar Bear," a name Chuck realizes was her pet name for Casey. Chuck innocently teases Casey over it and Casey's temper nearly drives him to strangle Chuck. Sarah then reveals to Chuck that Trinchina was apparently killed by a bomb in Chechnya. Later, Chuck and Casey learn that Ilsa is a French spy and had faked her death in the blast. Chuck convinces Casey to fight for her, and although they rekindle their relationship, Casey and Ilsa ultimately part ways.
He meets with a very personal betrayal when he discovers his old mentor and sensei, Ty Bennett, had turned rogue and is building a criminal empire with former students, even inviting Casey to join him. The mission to capture Bennett nearly proves fatal to Chuck when Casey allows the vendetta to distract him. As a result, Beckman orders Casey to stand down and pulls 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 takes advantage of Chuck's empathy and compassion to facilitate his escape, then goes after Bennett himself. Casey duels with Bennett, who taunts him over his lack of focus and calm. Chuck, realizing that Casey's anger is his strength, tricks Casey into instead channeling his anger to defeat Bennett. For this, Casey shows a rare moment of sincere gratitude to Chuck.
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 changes when Ned Rhyerson, a Fulcrum agent posing as a frightened amateur criminal, takes the Buy More hostage as a setup to discover what the CIA and NSA were protecting there. When Ned discovers Casey, secretly knowing that Casey is with the NSA, he feigns an inexperience with firearms, pretended not to know how to uncock his revolver; when the weapon "accidentally" fires, the bullet severs a substantial part of Casey's left pinky toe.
Unknown to Sarah and Chuck, who believed that Chuck would be allowed to return to his civilian life once the Intersect mission is finished, Casey was under orders to execute Chuck to prevent the data from falling into the wrong hands once Chuck's Intersect became redundant. After recovering the Cipher, a key component of the rebuilt Intersect, the command to terminate Chuck is given. Casey attempts to appeal the decision, but Beckman and Graham believe there is no other choice; Graham specifically asks Casey if could remove the Intersect from Chuck's head and guarantee that Chuck would not be kidnapped and tortured, and Casey admits he could not. However, before Casey could carry out his orders, the Trojan horse Cipher explodes, 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, and the orders naturally become moot after Chuck's father removes the original Intersect from Chuck's brain. The order appears to remain rescinded following Chuck's decision to implant the Intersect 2.0 into his brain. After failing his spy training, Chuck is dismissed from the agency, and Casey appears ready to pull out of Burbank without any mention of execution orders.
Despite his aforementioned hatred of Alejandro Goya, Casey is forced to save the Premier's life from an attempted assassination by The Ring. As he had the same blood type, his blood is also used to save the premier. Goya is so grateful he acknowledges Casey for his great skills, and gives him a gift of pre-revolution cigars. Later in the series, Goya is deposed in a coup d'état led by his wife, Hortencia, causing Goya to flee his homeland, Costa Gravas; Goya decides that the safest place for him to stay is with Casey. Casey reveals that Goya's trusted advisor, Turinni, is infatuated with Hortencia, and exposes him as one of the driving forces behind the coup. To save Casey's life, Goya knocks Casey out and agrees to go back to Costa Gravas. Casey, who has extensive knowledge of Costa Gravas and Goya's palace, leads Sarah and Chuck through Costa Gravas' sewers in a mission to save Goya. As Chuck and Sarah successfully mediate between Goya and Hortencia, Casey captures Turrini, and the three prevent a nuclear attack on the States. Goya addresses Casey as the man that saved Costa Gravas from civil war and leads him from the nuclear control room to the palace where he had a more fitting reward for the Angel of Life.
In "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
"Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" is the tenth episode of the third season of the television series Chuck, airing on March 15, 2010. When Casey's former commanding officer returns, Chuck and Sarah take it upon themselves to clear his name when he is arrested for treason...
," Casey is coerced by his former commander, Col. Keller, who is now a Ring spy, to steal a combat-performance-enhancing pill. Keller threatens to have Casey's ex fiancee, Kathleen McHugh, killed unless he cooperates. Despite General Beckman's orders to stand down, and facing charges of treason, Casey does everything he can to save Kathleen, eventually getting help from Chuck and Sarah. In the end, Keller is taken down, Kathleen is saved, and instead of going to prison for treason, Beckman gives Casey a something of a "second second chance", dismissing him from the Marine Corps and NSA service, and allowing him re-enter civilian life without his pension.
Casey finds readjusting to life as a civilian difficult, and nearly ends up sued for assault by Jeff and Lester after he catches them goofing off in the store. Big Mike successfully mediates the situation in an effort to "smooth" Casey's jagged edges. He is surprised to learn Chuck has been called in for his "final exam," and later breaks the law by killing Chuck's "red test" target when Chuck himself hesitated. Casey subsequently warns him not to reveal what happened, as Casey had committed an unsanctioned murder and in the process defrauded the government.
In "Chuck Versus the American Hero
Chuck Versus the American Hero
"Chuck Versus the American Hero" is the 12th episode of the third season of Chuck. It first aired on March 29, 2010. Chuck is given a week's paid leave before being sent on his first mission as a real agent, and chooses to use that time in an effort to win back Sarah's heart.-Main plot:Chuck...
," Casey sees Chuck as his opportunity to get back to spy work when he learns Chuck is authorized by Beckman to choose his own team. After Chuck announces his intentions to win Sarah back first before making any other decisions, Casey agrees to join forces with Morgan and Devon to help. Unfortunately their efforts are not entirely successful and the three of them end up in jail for the night. Later, Casey helps Sarah escape Castle when Chuck locks her in while going to rescue Shaw. After the mission, with Sarah packing to meet Chuck at the train station, Casey meets her at her apartment, admits that he killed Perry, and wishes her a good life.
Casey is reinstated by General Beckman following the events of "Chuck Versus the Other Guy
Chuck Versus the Other Guy
"Chuck Versus the Other Guy" is the thirteenth episode of Chuck third season, and originally aired on April 5, 2010. Sarah and Shaw are ordered to track down the Director by Beckman, but Chuck has misgivings over whether Shaw can be trusted after the revelation that Sarah killed his wife.-Main...
," after he apprehended Ring head The Director while Chuck stopped the now-rogue Shaw and rescued Sarah. Recognizing the part he played in the operation, Casey also vouches for Morgan with Beckman and arranges for him to be officially hired on to Team Bartowski.
When Chuck and Sarah go AWOL yet again while in Paris in the episode "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners
Chuck Versus the Honeymooners
"Chuck Versus the Honeymooners" is the 14th episode of the third season of Chuck. It originally aired on April 26, 2010. When Chuck and Sarah go AWOL after the death of Daniel Shaw, Beckman sends the newly-reinstated Casey and Morgan to bring them back...
," Beckman orders Casey to track the two with Morgan's assistance. Although initially reluctant to accept Morgan's help, he is eventually forced to acknowledge that Morgan was more useful than he first considered; as Beckman had noted, "Mr. Grimes and the Intersect have a strangely co-dependent relationship." After tracking down his missing partners and helping them apprehend a defecting Basque terrorist, Casey decides to let the two run away to leave the spy life. The mission nearly ends disastrously when two Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
agents coming to take the prisoner into custody are revealed to be members of the terrorist ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
, but Casey and Morgan are rescued by Chuck and Sarah. After the mission, Casey personally vouches to General Beckman for Morgan's role in locating Chuck and Sarah and his decisive actions in securing the Basque prisoner.
Though it starts relatively genial, Ellie and Casey's relationship becomes strained and uneasy at the start of Season Three, when Chuck protects Devon by lying to Ellie that Devon was getting Casey out of jail for being drunk and disorderly (Devon adds that Casey exposed and wet himself) during the time Devon was on a Ring mission to kill Shaw. Frequently in the third season, Ellie is distrustful of Casey, mentioning her being aware of his public indecency, and taking any alcohol away from him, much to Casey's constant confusion. While it plays primarily to the comedy of the series, the mistrust also allows the Ring to use Ellie later.
In "Chuck Versus the Tooth
Chuck Versus the Tooth
"Chuck Versus the Tooth" is the 16th episode of Chuck third season, and originally aired on May 10, 2010. When Chuck struggles with disturbing dreams, he believes his most recent one predicts danger for a visiting head of state. Beckman, however, is unconvinced and assigns Chuck to meet with a CIA...
" Casey is unwittingly involved in a Ring plot to seize Stephen Bartowski, when a Ring operative named Justin Sullivan, Ellie meet in Africa identifies Casey as a double-agent attempting to get his hands on her father. She becomes convinced when she sees Casey's cache of weapons. In "Chuck Versus the Living Dead
Chuck Versus the Living Dead
"Chuck Versus the Living Dead" is the 17th episode of the third season of Chuck. It was originally aired May 17, 2010. Chuck has another dream which he interprets as indicating Daniel Shaw may actually be alive. Tension mounts as he, Sarah, and Casey search for the truth surrounding Shaw's supposed...
", Casey is told by Chuck to keep and eye on Ellie and he tails her. However, when he finds her attempting to meet with her Ring contact, Casey presumes that she is having an affair and tells Morgan to question Devon. Casey later attempts to plant bugs around Ellie's apartment, thinking that she would not be home for a while. When she arrives back and heard him upstairs, Justin tells her to use the gun inside set of speakers he gave her to deal with Casey. Ellie cannot bring herself to do it and instead bludgeons Casey with a frying pan before running to Justin, who secretly holds her captive.
It is revealed in "Chuck Versus the Subway
Chuck Versus the Subway
"Chuck Versus the Subway" is the 18th episode of the third season of Chuck. It originally aired on May 24, 2010 in a special two-hour block with "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II." As the Intersect continues to malfunction Stephen hurries to complete the Governor for his son...
" that Casey has re-established contact with his daughter, Alex, and is a regular visitor to the diner in which she works although she is unaware of his identity. When Justin captures Casey at the restaurant, Casey escapes, "kidnapping" Alex, later revealing his identity as her father. At the end of "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II
Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II
"Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II" is the 19th episode and season finale of the third season of Chuck. It was originally aired May 24, 2010 in a special two-hour block with "Chuck Versus the Subway." Team Bartowski escapes execution by Shaw, thanks to Morgan and Devon...
", Alex comes to dinner at Chuck's apartment with Morgan, to whom she gave her number, Casey, and the rest of the growing Team Bartowski. Casey has shown to be very protective of his daughter. He threatens to break Morgan's fingers (his thumbs were already broken) if Morgan does not stop flirting with Alex. After Casey is drugged and rescued, Morgan is forced to awaken him by confessing that he is dating Alex. Morgan willingly nearly electrocutes himself to save Chuck, Sarah and Casey. Impressed by Morgan's courage and loyalty, Casey relents and deems Morgan fit to date Alex. After convincing Alex to get back together with Grimes he threatened Morgan "If you break her heart, I break your everything." When Casey sees Alex leave Morgan's and Chuck's apartment one morning in one of Morgan's shirts, he intimidatingly confronts Morgan. Morgan initially attempts to deny his the sexual component to his relationship with Alex but eventually explains that he cares deeply about Alex; Casey then releases his grip on Morgan and explains, "That's all I wanted to hear." Despite his love for Alex, he is uncomfortable expressing it in words and admonishes Morgan likewise to show it with actions rather than stating it in words. Alex tells Morgan over Casey's injured and comatose body that, while she's only known Casey a short time, she loves him very much; Morgan assures her that Casey loves her more than she can know.
At four years, Team Bartowski is the longest assignment Casey has ever had, and he has effectively put down roots. Consequently, he initially refuses an offer to leave the NSA to command a CIA National Clandestine Service
National Clandestine Service
The National Clandestine Service is one of the four main components of the Central Intelligence Agency...
team because he does not wish to leave Burbank; NCS Director Jane Bentley (Robin Givens), however, then shows him to the new section of Castle from which he would be based. He is retired or dismissed again after he and his team go rogue in "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger
Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger
"Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger" is the fourth season finale of the American NBC action-comedy television series Chuck. Aired on May 16, 2011, it is the season's 24th episode, and the 78th overall episode of the series. The episode was directed by Robert Duncan McNeill and written by series...
" to save Sarah's life; he and Morgan are then hired by Chuck and Sarah's new private spy operation.
Development
Adam Baldwin was cast in the role of John Casey, announced on February 8, 2007. 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
Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover
"Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover" aired on January 24, 2008. It is the 12th episode of the first season of Chuck, and aired alongside "Chuck Versus the Marlin" to close out the season. Casey is forced to revisit his past when his presumed-dead girlfriend resurfaces...
" 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. Most lately, Casey's beginnings, along with the revelation that John Casey was not his birth name, was hinted in during "Chuck Versus the Fake Name
Chuck Versus the Fake Name
"Chuck Versus the Fake Name" is a third-season episode of the television series Chuck. It was the eighth episode of the season, and the first to air after a two-week hiatus for the 2010 Winter Olympics...
" before being revealed in "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
"Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" is the tenth episode of the third season of the television series Chuck, airing on March 15, 2010. When Casey's former commanding officer returns, Chuck and Sarah take it upon themselves to clear his name when he is arrested for treason...
", along with significant present-storyline development, including his dismissal from government employment. 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. Chris Fedak has also confirmed that Casey's family will be revisited later in Season 3.
Branch of Service
Confusion throughout the series over Casey's branch of service was resolved in "Chuck Versus the Angel de la MuerteChuck Versus the Angel de la Muerte
"Chuck Versus the Angel de la Muerte" is the third episode of the third season of Chuck. It aired on January 11, 2010 as part of the season's three-part premier, following "Chuck Versus the Pink Slip" and "Chuck Versus the Three Words" on January 10...
," when he both identifies himself as a Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and the letters USMC are clearly visible stamped on his dog tags. "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
"Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" is the tenth episode of the third season of the television series Chuck, airing on March 15, 2010. When Casey's former commanding officer returns, Chuck and Sarah take it upon themselves to clear his name when he is arrested for treason...
" had previously supported the theory that Casey was a Marine officer, and his recruitment into the special forces is depicted in a flashback. Furthermore, he constantly wears a class ring resembling the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
, a commissioning source for Naval and Marine officers. He wears his Marine Corps Blue Dress "B" uniform when staging his own funeral in "Chuck Versus the Couch Lock".
Rank
In addition to confusion over his branch of service, the series was also ambiguous over the rank Casey was promoted to in "Chuck Versus the ColonelChuck Versus the Colonel
"Chuck Versus the Colonel" is the 21st episode of Chuck's second season, and the 34th episode overall. It aired on April 20, 2009. Chuck and Sarah go on the run in an effort to locate Chuck's father. At the Buy More, Morgan becomes a pariah among his coworkers after Big Mike's demotion.-Main...
." Throughout the episode, he is referred to as "Colonel Casey." Although normal rank progression from major is to be promoted to lieutenant colonel, the episode never establishes whether he was promoted to this rank or full colonel, as both ranks are frequently referred to as "colonel" in casual usage, and "colonel" is the proper honorific used when addressing officers of either rank.
"Chuck Versus the Couch Lock
Chuck Versus the Couch Lock
"Chuck Versus the Couch Lock" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of Chuck. It originally aired October 18, 2010. When Colonel John Casey's Clinton-era team returns looking for him, Chuck Bartowski must decide what he's willing to sacrifice in order to find his mother...
" ultimately clarified Casey's rank when he is seen wearing the eagle insignia of a full colonel with his dress uniform, confirming that by this episode Casey had received a promotion to "bird colonel." However it is still unknown whether he skipped ranks directly to full colonel, or if he was initially promoted to lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
during the events of "Chuck Versus the Colonel" and had since been promoted again.
Awards and decorations
Awards and decorations identified from a close-up of Casey's/Coburn's "fruit salad". |
|||
| Scuba Diver | |||
| Navy & Marine Corps Parachutist | |||
| Navy Cross Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all... |
Navy Distinguished Service Medal Navy Distinguished Service Medal The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military award of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was first created in 1919. The decoration is the Navy and Marine Corps equivalent to the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, and the Coast... |
Silver Star Silver Star The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy.... |
|
| Navy Good Conduct Medal | Defense Superior Service Medal Defense Superior Service Medal The Defense Superior Service Medal is a senior United States military decoration of the Department of Defense, awarded to members of the United States armed forces who perform "superior meritorious service in a position of significant responsibility."... |
Legion of Merit Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements... |
Bronze Star with Valor device Valor device The Valor device is an award of the United States military which is a bronze attachment to certain medals to indicate that it was received for valor... |
| Defense Meritorious Service Medal Defense Meritorious Service Medal The Defense Meritorious Service Medal is the third-highest award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense... |
Meritorious Service Medal Meritorious Service Medal (United States) The Meritorious Service Medal is a military decoration presented to members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguished themselves by outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the United States subsequent to January 16, 1969... |
Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration which is presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. For valorous actions in direct contact with an enemy force, but of a lesser degree than required for the award of the Bronze Star, the Valor device may... with 2 service star Service star A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a United States military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service... s indicating 3 awards |
|
| Nebraska Outstanding Soldier Medal | Joint Service Achievement Medal Achievement Medal The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States military. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize the contributions of junior officers and enlisted personnel who were not eligible to receive the higher Commendation Medal or the Meritorious Service... |
Navy & Marine Corps Combat Action Ribbon Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon is a personal military decoration of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard which is awarded to those who, in any grade including and below that of a Captain in the Navy and Coast Guard , have actively participated in ground or... |
Navy & Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation with 4 service star Service star A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a United States military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service... s indicating 5 awards |
| Navy Unit Commendation Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation of the United States Navy is an award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944... |
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation | Navy E Ribbon Navy E Ribbon The Battle Efficiency Ribbon, Navy "E" Ribbon, or the Battle "E" ribbon was established in July 1976 by Secretary of the Navy J. William Middendorf. The Navy "E" Ribbon denotes permanent duty on U.S. Navy ships, squadrons, or units that have won a battle efficiency competition after July 1, 1974... |
Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal The Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal is a decoration of the United States Marine Corps which was first created on 8 May 1919. Originally known as the Marine Corps Expeditionary Ribbon, a full-sized medal was authorized in July 1921 by Presidential Order of Warren G. Harding... |
| Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States military, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John Kennedy... |
Vietnam Service Medal Vietnam Service Medal The Vietnam Service Medal is a military award which was created in 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The distinctive design was the creation of sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, a former employee of the Army Institute of Heraldry. The medal is issued to recognize military service during... with 3 campaign stars Service star A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a United States military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service... |
Humanitarian Service Medal Humanitarian Service Medal The Humanitarian Service Medal is a military service medal of the United States armed forces which was created on January 19, 1977 by President Gerald Ford under... |
Sea Service Deployment Ribbon |
| Philippine Independence Medal Philippine Independence Medal The Philippine Independence Medal is a military decoration of the Republic of the Philippines which was created by order of the Philippine Army Headquarters on July 3, 1946... |
Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation | Vietnam Civil Actions Unit Citation | Vietnam Campaign Medal Vietnam Campaign Medal The Vietnam Campaign Medal is a military recognition awarded by the Republic of Vietnam, , to any member of the United States, Australian, New Zealand and allied military forces serving six months or more in support of Republic of Vietnam military operations.Established in 1966, the decoration is... |
| Expert Rifle Badge | Expert Pistol Badge | ||
Continuity
"Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" introduced further confusion into Casey's age, service, and background. Although in "Chuck Versus the Angel de la Muerte" he mentions having attempted to assassinate Premiere Goya at Beckman's personal orders on several occasions in the early 1980s (once as early as 1982) and further admitted pride in the number of Goya's men he killed fighting against the Communist revolution in Costa Gravas, the name "John Casey" did not even appear in the government's records until 1989. Beckman herself gave no indication of having known Casey was born as Alexander Coburn until his file was opened after his apparent treason. In "Chuck Versus Santa Claus" Casey is seen calling his "mother" and identifying himself as "Johnny Boy."The character's age is implied to be considerably older than that of Baldwin in "Chuck Versus the Couch Lock". His ribbons include the Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
The Vietnam Service Medal is a military award which was created in 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The distinctive design was the creation of sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, a former employee of the Army Institute of Heraldry. The medal is issued to recognize military service during...
with three campaign stars
Service star
A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a United States military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service...
, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross (unit award), Vietnam Civil Actions Medal
Vietnam Civil Actions Medal
The Vietnam Civil Actions Medal was a decoration of South Vietnam which was first established in 1964. The decoration is a mid-level service award which was awarded to any member of the Vietnamese military who performed outstanding civic service to the state or who participated in civil service...
(unit award), and Vietnam Campaign Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
The Vietnam Campaign Medal is a military recognition awarded by the Republic of Vietnam, , to any member of the United States, Australian, New Zealand and allied military forces serving six months or more in support of Republic of Vietnam military operations.Established in 1966, the decoration is...
. Even if his three campaign stars are for the final three campaigns in Vietnam for which campaign stars were awarded, he would have had to have been fighting in-country on or before 29 March 1972, the last eligible day of "Consolidation II" (see Vietnam service campaign dates
Vietnam Service Medal
The Vietnam Service Medal is a military award which was created in 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The distinctive design was the creation of sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, a former employee of the Army Institute of Heraldry. The medal is issued to recognize military service during...
), thereby placing Casey well into his fifties. Still more out of place is his Philippine Independence Medal
Philippine Independence Medal
The Philippine Independence Medal is a military decoration of the Republic of the Philippines which was created by order of the Philippine Army Headquarters on July 3, 1946...
which has not been awarded since 1948. See #Awards and decorations.
The series has yet to address these continuity conflicts.
Personality
John Casey was described by Sarah in "Chuck Versus the IntersectChuck Versus the Intersect
"Chuck Versus the Intersect" is the pilot episode of the American action-comedy television series Chuck. The episode was directed by McG and written by series co-creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak...
" as a "burnout," although the exact meaning of this was never explained. Chuck describes him as having an "angry center," as opposed to the traditional "calm center". 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), and takes a dark delight in playing on the insecurities and romantic awkwardness of his teammates (most often Chuck, but has teased Sarah on occasion; in one deleted scene, he seemed to enjoy Jill Roberts' discomfort upon meeting Sarah). He is often impatient and views what he knows as common knowledge, making him an incredibly poor instructor: when stuck flying a helicopter, a panic ridden Chuck demanded that Casey put Sarah on the phone as Casey's instructions were too technical for him to understand; when tasked to train Morgan Grimes, he gives Morgan a number of tasks to test him as a field agent, but fails to demonstrate how to accomplish the tasks, subsequently causing Morgan to fail each task set. He has an adversity to those rebelling against the "order" of things, as shown with his formed alliance with Morgan against Lester's "insurgent" (as Casey put it) uprising.
Despite the humour, Casey is a killer and assassin who has no compunction about solving problems with violence, often has difficulty distinguishing the value of human life, and seems to enjoy the prospect of killing a little too much. In the pilot, he apparently kills Bryce, he permits his fellow NSA agents to kill Sarah, and, later, comes close to killing them both Chuck and Sarah, calling it a night and going out for pancakes. A number of times, Casey has only been kept from killing Lester and Jeff because of Chuck, most notably when Lester stole Chuck's Orion Laptop and almost blew up the Burbank and Beverly Hills Buy Mores with a predator. When Anna claimed to know someone that could arrange Harry Tang to have an 'accident,' Chuck immediately asked Casey if he offered his services to Anna; Casey's reaction was an overenthusiastic "No... Why? Do you want me to kill him?" When Devon broke into (and got trapped in) Casey's apartment to ascertain why Casey was so interested in Chuck, Casey is only stopped from killing Devon by Sarah's timely arrival. He has also let his anger come to the point that he almost killed Chuck when his former sensei locked Chuck in his trunk and goaded Casey to a game of chicken; Casey acquiesced despite knowing Chuck was in the trunk. In a bonus feature in the season two DVD, Casey instructs how to become a deadly spy, starting with shooting two guys who were talking off camera and ending with advice on getting a second job during down time and advocating the elimination the other applicants ('... so go out and find a goat. Start practicing').
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. 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 and admits that she is the best partner he's ever had. Chuck has even stated that even the reason Casey acts tough is because deep down, he really does care for Chuck and Sarah not only as his partners, but as his friends and that he's just scared to show his true emotions. The depth of his personal feelings for Sarah and Chuck are illustrated in "Chuck Versus the Final Exam" and "Chuck Versus the American Hero," when he helps Chuck "cheat" on his Red Test by killing the mark. He later confessed to Sarah that he pulled the trigger because Chuck could not, as he believed the knowledge would convince Sarah she really did still love him (although Sarah had already decided to leave with Chuck). Twice in "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners" Casey offered Chuck and Sarah the chance to escape to live out their lives together, reminding Sarah of his own choice when he faked his death to be sure it was what she genuinely wanted. Despite his support for the couple's relationship, Casey is nonetheless disgusted by their public displays of affection. In "Chuck Versus the Tooth
Chuck Versus the Tooth
"Chuck Versus the Tooth" is the 16th episode of Chuck third season, and originally aired on May 10, 2010. When Chuck struggles with disturbing dreams, he believes his most recent one predicts danger for a visiting head of state. Beckman, however, is unconvinced and assigns Chuck to meet with a CIA...
" the sincerity of Casey's regard for Chuck is revealed when he independently visited Dr. Leo Dreyfus to offer his help in determining what was happening with Chuck when the Intersect apparently began to malfunction.
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. He also showed genuine pride with Chuck in "Chuck Versus the Subway
Chuck Versus the Subway
"Chuck Versus the Subway" is the 18th episode of the third season of Chuck. It originally aired on May 24, 2010 in a special two-hour block with "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II." As the Intersect continues to malfunction Stephen hurries to complete the Governor for his son...
" when Chuck discovers and infiltrates Shaw's Ring base (clearing his, Sarah's and Casey's names and exposing Shaw as a Ring Operative and enemy Intersect) instead of directly attempting to rescue Sarah and Casey, visibly causing Shaw distress; both Sarah and Casey smile at Shaw's discomfort and Casey admits to Sarah that "Bartowski's a spy."
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. Later, in "Chuck Versus the Colonel," Casey apprehends Chuck and Sarah for going AWOL (an act of treason and perceived personal betrayal, he expresses disappointment that they didn't ask him for his help) 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.
The importance Casey puts on loyalty and honor is a catalyst for his growing fondness of, and respect for, the excentric, juvenile and essentially untrained Morgan Grimes. Casey repays Morgan for the loyalty and support Morgan provided during Casey's dismissal and humiliation, by insisting that the government hire him. Casey vacates his prohibition against Morgan dating Alex after Morgan saves the team's lives at great risk to his own, and is perfectly accepting of the relationship's obvious sexual component as soon as Morgan professed that he cares deeply for Alex. When Morgan defies Casey's order to retreat and goes to save his employees from terrorists, Casey immediately belays his prior order and loans Morgan a sidearm. While initially against allowing Morgan to move into his apartment, Casey is pleased with Morgan's resistance to torture and his demonstrated reliability.
Casey is a staunch gun rights advocate. He keeps a photo of former President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
in his apartment which he has a habit of saluting and addressing directly as "Sir," is a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, and has a "Rogues Gallery" he uses for target practice, including pictures of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
. His two prized possessions are his 1985 Crown Vic
Ford Crown Victoria
-1992–1994:Released in March 1991 as an early 1992 model, the Crown Victoria sedan was completely redesigned with a rounder, eight-window roofline . The redesign reduced the coefficient of drag from 0.42 to 0.34; the suspension setup was also heavily revised...
and his Bonsai tree, though he deliberately killed the tree in a fit of rage when he learned his former mentor had turned rogue. He also purchased himself a new gun for Christmas. Although he expressed a dislike of President Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and his "mouthy wife" during the 90s, Casey is nonetheless a strict adherent to duty and continued to follow his orders.
"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, and is one of five men in the world who could make a particularly difficult shot
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
at half a mile's range. Casey is also a skilled martial artist, which is demonstrated when he fights his old sensei
Sensei
' is a Japanese word that basically means "person born before another." In general usage, it means "master" or "teacher," and the word is used as a title to refer to or address teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers, CPA and doctors, politicians, clergymen, and other figures of authority...
in "Chuck Versus the Sensei
Chuck Versus the Sensei
"Chuck Versus the Sensei" is the ninth episode of the second season of Chuck. It originally aired on December 1, 2008. Chuck Bartowski is still reeling from the discovery that his ex-girlfriend Jill Roberts was a Fulcrum agent and goes on a mission to take his mind off of his shock...
," 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
Chuck Versus the Dream Job
"Chuck Versus the Dream Job" aired on April 6, 2009. It is the 19th episode of the series' second season. Chuck interviews at Roark Industries to investigate a possible virus, while his father, Stephen J. Bartowski, returns home.-Plot summary:...
." In "Chuck Versus the Fake Name
Chuck Versus the Fake Name
"Chuck Versus the Fake Name" is a third-season episode of the television series Chuck. It was the eighth episode of the season, and the first to air after a two-week hiatus for the 2010 Winter Olympics...
" Casey not only encouraged Chuck to torture him to secure his cover with a pair of mobsters contracting for The Ring, but took Chuck completely removing one of his teeth without anesthesia
Anesthesia
Anesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away...
in stride and casually shrugged it off as no longer needing a trip to the dentist for treating a cavity. Casey is also exceptionally strong. When Carina cuffed him to a bed in "Chuck Versus the Wookiee
Chuck Versus the Wookiee
"Chuck Versus the Wookiee" is a first-season episode of the television series Chuck. It originally aired on October 15, 2007. Chuck and the team are ordered by Graham and Beckman to recover a stolen diamond to assist Sarah's old DEA friend, whose tendencies towards improvisiation tend to get her...
" 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," and, on several occasions, has lifted and throttled fully grown men off the floor literally single-handedly: Chuck Bartowski in "Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover
Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover
"Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover" aired on January 24, 2008. It is the 12th episode of the first season of Chuck, and aired alongside "Chuck Versus the Marlin" to close out the season. Casey is forced to revisit his past when his presumed-dead girlfriend resurfaces...
"; Col. James Keller (whose neck he then snapped) in "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
Chuck Versus the Tic Tac
"Chuck Versus the Tic Tac" is the tenth episode of the third season of the television series Chuck, airing on March 15, 2010. When Casey's former commanding officer returns, Chuck and Sarah take it upon themselves to clear his name when he is arrested for treason...
"; and Morgan Grimes in "Chuck Versus the Couch Lock
Chuck Versus the Couch Lock
"Chuck Versus the Couch Lock" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of Chuck. It originally aired October 18, 2010. When Colonel John Casey's Clinton-era team returns looking for him, Chuck Bartowski must decide what he's willing to sacrifice in order to find his mother...
". He can turn almost anything into a weapon, including the aforementioned bed frame and radiator, as well as household appliances. Casey carries a custom SIG Sauer P229 with a two-tone accented design, often being confused with the Equinox model (Equinox model being equipped with accessory rails, where as Casey's is not). Casey's sidearm is also modified with Crimson 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. This led to a 49-B, a practice wherein another Agent (in this case, Agent Forrest), would assess whether or not the emotions between the two were a liability; which, eventually, Agent Forrest decided they were. While Casey admired Forrest's thinking, he also realized she was a greater liability on the team than Sarah, despite (or perhaps even due to) 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
Hanson (band)
Hanson are an American pop rock band formed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by brothers Isaac , Taylor , and Zac Hanson . They are best known for the 1997 hit song "MMMBop" from their major label debut album Middle of Nowhere, which earned three Grammy nominations...
's "MMMBop
MMMBop
"MMMBop" is a song written and performed by the American pop rock band Hanson from their 1997 album Middle of Nowhere. The song was nominated for two Grammys at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards in February 1998, and is the band's most successful single to date.By any measure, "MMMBop" was phenomenally...
") while undercover as a DJ at Sarah's high school reunion. One of Casey's favorite movies is Steel Magnolias
Steel Magnolias
Steel Magnolias is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross that stars Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah and Julia Roberts....
. 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. Casey, along with his Special Forces unit, was the planner of Ellie Bartowski and Devon Woodcomb's second, more successful, wedding ceremony. Casey is also fond of quiche, a dish which he takes very seriously, and takes his coffee "black and bitter." He is also somewhat vain as shown in Chuck Versus the Three Words. When instructed to pose as Carina's father, he insists that he be a young uncle.
He frequently responds to situations with monosyllabic grunts, which Chuck can recognize and has even numbered, and often tosses off one-liners reminiscent of cliché action films, sometimes quoting Baldwin's own previous roles.
At the beginning of season four in "Chuck Versus the Anniversary
Chuck Versus the Anniversary
"Chuck Versus the Anniversary" is the fourth season premiere of Chuck. It originally aired September 20, 2010. When the CIA gains control over the Buy More, Chuck Bartowski begins searching for his mother . Sarah and Casey follow a trail to Russia as they investigate the mysterious Volkoff...
", Casey's respect and affection for Chuck were confirmed when he shows restrained anger after a moment of grief when it seems that Chuck was executed, threatening to tear Marco "limb from limb from limb". Earlier in the episode, he remarks that Chuck should be on the mission to destroy Volkoff with Walker and himself, candidly stating that "Chuck's a spy... he's good at it." After he admits to being ticked that Chuck didn't ask for his and Sarah's help after he learns Chuck and Morgan had set out alone to search for Chuck and Ellie's missing mother, Chuck officially asks Casey and Sarah for their help, and they enthusiastically agree to help Chuck and Morgan's search. Casey tells Chuck that, even without the Intersect, he's the second best spy with whom Casey has ever worked.
Casey goes rogue again; along with Morgan, Chuck, and Mary Bartowski; to save Sarah's life. With Operation Bartowski cancelled and the team all dismissed from government service, Casey and Morgan are hired by Chuck and Sarah for their private spy operation. He told Jane Bentley in "Chuck Versus the Masquerade
Chuck Versus the Masquerade
"Chuck Versus the Masquerade" is the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of Chuck. Although taking place on and around Valentine's Day, the episode actually aired originally on February 21, 2011, one week later. Valentine's Day is ruined when the team is dispatched to protect heiress Vivian...
" that he had no intention of leaving Burbank, indicating that Castle would be the terminal assignment of his military career. It is unclear whether Casey was dismissed again or if he retired from the Marine Corps.