Chuck Versus the Anniversary
Encyclopedia
"Chuck Versus the Anniversary" is the fourth season
Chuck (season 4)
The fourth season of Chuck was announced on May 13, 2010. Having initially ordered 13 episodes, NBC ordered an additional 11 on October 19, 2010 for a total of 24 episodes....

 premiere of 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...

. It originally aired September 20, 2010. When the CIA gains control over 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....

, 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:...

 begins searching for his mother
Mary Elizabeth Bartowski
Mary Elizabeth Bartowski is a character on the television series Chuck. Mary is the estranged mother of Chuck and Ellie Bartowski. She is portrayed by Linda Hamilton.-Biography:...

 (Linda Hamilton
Linda Hamilton
Linda Carroll Hamilton is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Sarah Connor in The Terminator and its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Catherine Chandler in the television series Beauty and the Beast, for which she was nominated for two Golden Globes and an Emmy...

). Sarah
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...

 and Casey
John Casey (Chuck)
Colonel John Casey 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....

 follow a trail to Russia as they investigate the mysterious Volkoff Industries
Volkoff Industries
Volkoff Industries is a major organization on the television series Chuck. It is a public business front owned by an international arms dealer named Alexei Volkoff, portrayed by Timothy Dalton. Volkoff Industries is introduced in the third season finale as a threat against which Stephen J...

 and its operative, Marco (Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren is a Swedish actor, director, and martial artist. He belongs to a generation of film actors who epitomise the movie action hero stereotype including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme.A graduate in chemical...

). Back at home, Ellie
Ellie Bartowski
Eleanor Faye "Ellie" Bartowski Woodcomb, M.D., Ph.D., is the older sister of title character Chuck Bartowski on the television series Chuck. She is portrayed by actress Sarah Lancaster.-Biography:...

 delivers big news to her family.

Main plot

In the Bartowski home at Encino, CA 1994, Mrs. Bartowski
Mary Elizabeth Bartowski
Mary Elizabeth Bartowski is a character on the television series Chuck. Mary is the estranged mother of Chuck and Ellie Bartowski. She is portrayed by Linda Hamilton.-Biography:...

 (Linda Hamilton
Linda Hamilton
Linda Carroll Hamilton is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Sarah Connor in The Terminator and its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Catherine Chandler in the television series Beauty and the Beast, for which she was nominated for two Golden Globes and an Emmy...

) reads her son Chuck
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:...

 a bedtime story. She eventually finishes the story and gets up to leave saying she'll be back in a few days. The scene changes to 2010, in the basement, where Chuck is reading his father
Stephen J. Bartowski
Stephen J. Bartowski is a recurring character on the television series Chuck portrayed by actor Scott Bakula. Stephen is the estranged father of Chuck and Ellie Bartowski, and under the government codename "Orion" was the chief designer of the Intersect....

's research into his mother's whereabouts, where it is confirmed that she was a spy. He asks Morgan
Morgan Grimes
Morgan Guillermo Grimes is a major character on the television series Chuck. He is portrayed by actor Joshua Gomez, and is the best friend of Chuck Bartowski....

 to help him find her, and to keep it a secret, because Sarah
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...

 and Casey
John Casey (Chuck)
Colonel John Casey 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....

 would try to stop him.

Chuck and Morgan travel all over the world in search of clues as to where his mother could be, until they arrive back in Los Angeles at Mary's safehouse, where she supposedly got all of her missions during Chuck's childhood. They find and open a safe, only to find it empty. Their only clue is a menu Morgan finds for a Chinese dumpling shop called Imperial Dragons, with a stylized Asian logo on the cover in red and black. Morgan suggests starting the search for Mary from scratch, but Chuck gives up entirely. The scene then turns to a security camera, and shows Mary sympathetically watching them.

The two start walking to their car when a repo man (Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...

) threatens to shoot them if they don't give him the keys. He takes the car and drives off. When Chuck questions why Morgan is in debt on a $900 loan, Morgan confides in him that their journey has left them $43,000 in debt. Retired from the spy world in "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...

," Chuck goes through a series of strange job interviews, which are each—we later learn—sabotaged by General Beckman. Chuck and Morgan return in desperation to 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 they are forcibly reinstated in the CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

. While at the Buy More, Chuck flashes on the EMP generator Sarah and Casey captured, identifying a manufacturing facility in Venezuela run by Volkoff Industries.

As Sarah closes the case for the EMP, Chuck notices that the red and black logo on the case is the same one that was on the Imperial Dragons menu. Chuck and Morgan go to the repo man's holding lot to get the menu out of Morgan's repossessed car, nearly losing the menu when the repo man expresses a liking for good Chinese food. Back in the hidden basement of Chuck's childhood home, Morgan notices a few menu items which are not Chinese food, and one of them triggers a flash on military equipment for submarines. By pretending to be a member of the New Ring
The Ring (Chuck)
The Ring is a major spy organization on the television series Chuck. The main antagonist of the second season , Fulcrum, is revealed in the Season Two finale to be only one part of the Ring, which then serves as the main antagonist of Season Three...

, Chuck arranges a meeting at Volkoff's facility in Moscow.

After flying to Moscow, Chuck and Morgan infiltrate the facility and start downloading a file on Mary. They receive text messages from Sarah and rescue her and Casey and return to the computer to retrieve the file. Marco informs them on the intercom that the whole building has been sealed. Chuck realizes the only way to escape is by firing the EMP, thus sacrificing the information on his mother. After escaping with AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...

s and boarding a bus, Chuck and Sarah celebrate nine months together.

Back in Burbank, CA, Chuck attempts to tell Ellie
Ellie Bartowski
Eleanor Faye "Ellie" Bartowski Woodcomb, M.D., Ph.D., is the older sister of title character Chuck Bartowski on the television series Chuck. She is portrayed by actress Sarah Lancaster.-Biography:...

 that he has rejoined the CIA and is searching for their mother, but she interrupts him, under the assumption that he has taken a job at the Buy More. After she confides in him that she is pregnant, he decides to wait to reveal his secrets.

Spy world

Sarah and Casey are on a mission in Hong Kong, where they are chasing a man named Marco (Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren
Dolph Lundgren is a Swedish actor, director, and martial artist. He belongs to a generation of film actors who epitomise the movie action hero stereotype including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme.A graduate in chemical...

), who is holding a handheld EMP
Electromagnetic pulse
An electromagnetic pulse is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field...

 generator, made by Volkoff Industries. They chase him up a skyscraper, where he is given orders to use the device. Volkoff's men arrive, but Sarah and Casey escape with the device by jumping off the building with parachutes.

After Chuck's flash on the EMP generator, they board a plane for Venezuela. Unfortunately, Marco is on board, incapacitates them and has them transported to Moscow, where he attempts to interrogate them as to the identities of two spies, Chuck and Morgan, who have gotten very close to Volkoff during their search for Chuck's mother. At the same time, Chuck and Morgan have infiltrated the same facility, attempting to hack Volkoff computers for information on Mary. Eventually, they figure out that Casey and Sarah are being held prisoners through text messaging. They are able to free them, but Marco announces over the intercom that the entire building is completely sealed so Team Bartowski uses an EMP device they found to escape. Once they return to Burbank, Casey and Sarah agree to assist Chuck in finding his mother.

Later, Marco goes to Mary to tell her that her family is looking for her. Spurred on by this information, Mary quickly kills Marco and his men and escapes.

Buy More

The Buy More has been rebuilt by the CIA and NSA, and is predominantly — if not fully — staffed by government operatives and analysts working under General Beckman, who has taken over as the new manager, using at least her real forename, Diane, for her cover. A senior Nerd Herd employee codenamed "Greta" (Olivia Munn
Olivia Munn
Lisa Olivia Munn is an American comedic actress, model, television personality and author. She began her career being credited as Lisa Munn. Since 2006, she has been using the name Olivia Munn personally and professionally....

) informs Chuck and Morgan when they arrive that, although the store is not yet open for business, they are looking for new employees. When Chuck reluctantly goes to the manager's office in search of a Nerd Herd position, Greta gives Morgan a classified tour of the base and acknowledges her awareness of his and Chuck's billets as operatives. Beckman forceably reinstates Morgan and Chuck to the CIA, and they are each involuntarilly dropped through a new tunnel to a rebuilt Castle.

Production

At Comic-Con 2010, Josh Schwartz
Josh Schwartz
-Film school at USC:In 1995, Schwartz realized his boyhood dream of attending film school to study screen and television writing at the University of Southern California...

 and Chris Fedak
Chris Fedak
Chris Fedak is a co-executive producer of Chuck. He has also co-written several episodes with Josh Schwartz.Chuck is Fedak's first television credit.Schwartz says that the idea for Chuck originally came from Fedak:-External links:*...

 announced that from season four
Chuck (season 4)
The fourth season of Chuck was announced on May 13, 2010. Having initially ordered 13 episodes, NBC ordered an additional 11 on October 19, 2010 for a total of 24 episodes....

 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....

 will be run by the CIA as a base of operations (much like the Orange Orange was in Season Two and Three) with an agent named Greta working undercover as a Buy More executive and "badass greenshirt." This episode introduced the rotating character of Greta, portrayed by Olivia Munn.

Continuity

  • This episode takes place nine months after Chuck and Sarah started dating 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...

    ".
  • Morgan makes the same mistake that Chuck does in "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...

    " by using an alias that has essentially the same first and last names.

Flashes

  • Chuck locates Volkoff's Venezuela facility after a flash on the EMP device.
  • A flash on "Shimira Chicken" tips off Chuck that the Chinese restaurant menu is in fact a means of selling weaponry.
  • Chuck flashes on a floor plan while at Volkoff Industries and sees that the building is a former KGB facility.
  • Chuck flashes (off-screen) on kung-fu for the first time in months to subdue Volkoff's men.


The scene with a bus serving as a "getaway car" features in its background the Golden Gate, one of the historical landmarks of Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

.

Cultural references

  • Actor Dolph Lundgren
    Dolph Lundgren
    Dolph Lundgren is a Swedish actor, director, and martial artist. He belongs to a generation of film actors who epitomise the movie action hero stereotype including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme.A graduate in chemical...

     twice references his role as Ivan Drago
    Ivan Drago
    Ivan Drago is a fictional character that appeared as Rocky Balboa's rival in the 1985 film Rocky IV. He is portrayed by Dolph Lundgren. The character and his catchphrases have gone on to inspire multiple mentions in popular culture like Clubber Lang , including in the Family Guy episode "Brian...

     in the film Rocky IV
    Rocky IV
    Rocky IV is a 1985 American film written by, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the fourth and most financially successful entry in the Rocky franchise...

    . When preparing to torture Casey and Sarah, he uses Drago's famous quote, "I must break you." He later references Drago again when saying of the team, "If you die, you die." The character was previously referenced by name in "Chuck Versus the Final Exam
    Chuck Versus the Final Exam
    "Chuck Versus the Final Exam" is the eleventh episode of Chucks third season. It originally aired on March 22, 2010. Chuck faces his final test as a spy, under the watchful eyes of Sarah and Shaw. Meanwhile, Casey must readjust to his life as a civilian....

    ".
  • The travel sequence at the beginning of this episode makes several references to popular culture:
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark
    Raiders of the Lost Ark
    Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...

    - The travel map references the map used throughout the Indiana Jones
    Indiana Jones
    Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...

    series. The map used by the episode was also created by Dan Curry
    Dan Curry
    Dan Curry is a visual effects producer and supervisor, as well as a main title designer in the film and television industry. He is most famous for his work on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager , and Enterprise., Retrieved September 8, 2011 His work on...

    , who also created those for the Jones films.
  • I Spy - The shadow silhouettes.
  • The Avengers
    The Avengers (TV series)
    The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...

    - Morgan posing with an umbrella.
  • Harry Dean Stanton plays a repo man, referencing a previous role.
  • Chuck interviews at "Vandalay Industries," a reference to Seinfeld.
  • While Mary finishes reading "The Frost Queen" in 1994, a close-up shows Superman
    Superman
    Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...

    , Batman
    Batman
    Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...

    , Joker
    Joker (comics)
    The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...

    , and Transformers
    Transformers
    A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling.Transformer may also refer to:* ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet computer manufacturer by Asus...

     action figures with Chuck's token Tron
    Tron (film)
    Tron is a 1982 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Lisberger, and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It stars Jeff Bridges as the protagonist Kevin Flynn; Bruce Boxleitner in a dual role as security program Tron and Tron's "User", computer programmer Alan Bradley; Cindy...

    poster.
  • Chuck's trip through the tube slide recalls that of James Bond
    James Bond
    James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

     in Japan from the movie You Only Live Twice
    You Only Live Twice (film)
    You Only Live Twice is the fifth spy film in the James Bond series, and the fifth to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name...

    , both in respect to the tunnel's appearance, and the protagonist being lured into the trap door by another protagonist. The scene also is a nod to a similar scene involving Luke Skywalker
    Luke Skywalker
    Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...

     on the Bespin
    Bespin
    Bespin is a fictional planet, a gas giant in Star Wars films and books. The planet was first seen in the 1980 feature film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back...

     Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back, both aesthetically and that it was immediately preceded by the protagonist's (Luke/Chuck) refusal to work for his nemesis (Vader/Beckman).
  • Chuck says "I am a smooth operator like Sade" referring to Sade
    Sade (band)
    Sade is a British smooth jazz band that formed in 1983, named for Nigerian lead singer Sade Adu. Their music features elements of R&B, soul, jazz, and soft rock....

    's song "Smooth Operator
    Smooth Operator
    "Smooth Operator" is a song by the English group Sade, released as the fourth and final single from their debut album Diamond Life . It was released as a 7" single with "Spirit" as its B-side, and as a 12" maxi single with "Smooth Operator" and "Red Eye" on side A and "Spirit" on side B...

    ".
  • When Chuck said that they have to go to Russia, Morgan told that he had to sell the Millennium Falcon
    Millennium Falcon
    The Millennium Falcon is a spacecraft in the Star Wars universe commanded by smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca...

    , another reference to Star Wars
    Star Wars
    Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

    .

Music

  • "Howlin' For You" - Black Keys (Sarah and Casey jump with the parachutes from the Hong Kong skyscraper)
  • "We're Here To Save The Day" - The Constellations
    The Constellations (band)
    The Constellations are an American hip hop/rock band formed in Atlanta, GA. They have a psychedelic soul-rock sound.Their song “We’re Here To Save The Day” was featured in the NBC season premiere of Chuck on Sept...

     (Chuck and Morgan enters the new Buy More)
  • "In Response" - Peter Wolf Crier (Chuck sets of the EMP as Team Bartowski escapes Volkoff Industries)
  • "Generator ^ First Floor" - Freelance Whales
    Freelance Whales
    Freelance Whales is an American indie rock band from Queens, New York, formed in 2008. Consisting of frontman Judah Dadone , and bandmates Doris Cellar , Chuck Criss , Jacob Hyman...

    (Casey and Sarah agreed to support Chuck to find his mom; Also Ellie informed Chuck that she is pregnant)

External links

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