User:Boycool42/Greta (Chuck)

File:Greta.png

From left to right: Candidates portrayed by Olivia Munn, Isaiah Mustafa, Stacy Keibler, and Summer Glau.

The G.R.E.T.A. field test was a fictional effort on the television series Chuck. Taking the codename "Greta", government operatives went undercover as senior Buy More employees, using the store as a proving ground to determine if they are suitable candidates for the Intersect. The position has been filled by multiple characters portrayed by different actors and actresses.

Background

At Comic-Con 2010, Chris Fedak announced that from season four the Buy More will be run by the Central Intelligence Agency as a base of operations (much like the Orange Orange was in the second and third seasons) with an agent named Greta working undercover as a Buy More executive and "badass greenshirt."

According to Fedak, "Greta" is actually an acronym. As he and Josh Schwartz "are terrible with acronyms", they are letting fans of the series pitch ideas for what G.R.E.T.A. stands for. Chuck later suspected the codename of being an acronym.

Development

National Clandestine Service Director Jane Bentley later revealed that the G.R.E.T.A. field test was a proving ground for prospective Intersect candidates. Though there were other Gretas, including those portrayed by Olivia Munn and Summer Glau, the two that were ultimately accepted were Captain Richard Noble (Isaiah Mustafa) and Captain Victoria Dunwoody (Stacy Keibler). Noble and Dunwoody are uploaded with an Intersect version taken from Stephen J. Bartowski's laptop and assigned to a team under the leadership of Colonel John Casey. After a botched operation in which Noble and Dunwoody kill the target they were supposed to capture, the NCS Intersect experiments are shown to be dangerously flawed. When General Diane Beckman learns of Bentley's actions, she has the Intersect extracted from Noble and Dunwoody, transferring them to points unknown. She gives control of the Intersect project to Chuck Bartowski.

Candidates

First Greta

G.R.E.T.A.
Chuck character
First appearance	"Chuck Versus the Anniversary"
Portrayed by	Olivia Munn
In-universe information
Gender	Female
Occupation	CIA Agent Buy More Nerd Herder (cover)
Expertise	Hand-to-hand combat

The first prospective Intersect candidate, or Greta (Olivia Munn), was a member of the Nerd Herd in "Chuck Versus the Anniversary", informing people that the rebuilt Buy More had not yet opened for business. She directed Morgan Grimes and Chuck Bartowski to General Beckman for job interviews. 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. After rejecting various attempts at flirting from Morgan, she sent him to Castle and left for a mission in Thailand.

Personality

The series revealed little of Greta's personality. Munn portrayed her as somewhat insecure and overwhelmed with the series' leering male characters.

Rick Noble

Richard Noble
Chuck character
First appearance	"Chuck Versus the Suitcase"
Portrayed by	Isaiah Mustafa
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Title	Captain
Occupation	CIA NCS Agent
Expertise	Considerable accuracy; Instantaneous access to high-level classified government information and advanced skills via "flashes" from the Intersect

The second Greta (Isaiah Mustafa) was a greenshirt in "Chuck Versus the Suitcase." He demonstrates strength by carrying a flat-screen television with one hand, and considerable accuracy by shooting a box with a price tag from thirty feet away. His-and all the other agents'-excessive efficiency, pleasant demeanor, and helpful service rendered the store's cover virtually transparent, as noted by Grimes to Beckman. With Beckman's approval, Grimes augments the government personnel with the store's former lazy, creepy, and surly staff.

Mustafa's portrayal of Greta as being the perfect agent references Mustafa's role as the main character in the Old Spice advertising campaign The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.

Mustafa reprised the role in "Chuck Versus the A-Team", where the character's name is revealed to be Captain Richard Noble, nicknamed "Rick" by Chuck. Along with Victoria Dunwoody, Noble is uploaded with the Intersect, becoming members of John Casey's NCS team. Their efficiency soon threatens Chuck's worth in the spy world. After a botched operation in which Noble is unable to disarm a nuclear bomb, the NCS Intersect experiments are shown to be dangerously flawed. When this comes to General Beckman's attention, she has the Intersect extracted from Noble and Dunwoody's brains, and they are transferred to points unknown.

Personality

The series has so far revealed little of Noble's personality. In contrast to Munn and Keibler's portrayal of Greta as insecure and overwhelmed with the series' leering male characters, Mustafa portrayed Noble as confident and something of a role model.

In his second appearance, Noble is portrayed as arrogant and sarcastic, despite still being extremely efficient. When asked by Chuck if he was in a relationship with Dunwoody, Noble answered, "Don't be ridiculous... Romantic entanglements lead to lapses in judgement." When Chuck is assigned to bomb disposal on an upcoming mission, Noble teases him, saying not to drop the bomb. Although Noble openly projects an arrogant sense of superiority to Chuck and Sarah during his period as an Intersect, he is grateful for the software's extraction and pities Chuck for having to continue to live like that.

Victoria Dunwoody

Victoria Dunwoody
Chuck character
First appearance	"Chuck Versus the Cubic Z"
Portrayed by	Stacy Keibler
In-universe information
Gender	Female
Title	Captain
Occupation	CIA NCS Agent
Expertise	Hand-to-hand combat; Instantaneous access to high-level classified government information and advanced skills via "flashes" from the Intersect

The third Greta (Stacy Keibler) was directly involved in the main plot for the first time in "Chuck Versus the Cubic Z." She retreated to Castle in disgust at the leering of the store's normal employees and the customers, and attempted to disable Hugo Panzer following his escape. He quickly disabled her with a single punch, and she is last seen being dragged away, and her ultimate fate was not revealed at the end of the episode.

Morgan Grimes made a meta-reference to the rotating guest stars in the role by referring to her directly as "the new Greta." Greta's brief with Panzer further references the fact that both Keibler and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin have wrestled professionally for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Keibler reprised the role in "Chuck Versus the A-Team", where the character's name is revealed to be Captain Victoria Dunwoody, nicknamed "Vicki" by Chuck. Along with Richard Noble, Dunwoody is uploaded with the Intersect, becoming members of John Casey's NCS team (despite her defeat by Panzer in her first appearance). Their efficiency soon threatens Chuck's worth in the spy world. Unlike Chuck, Dunwoody and Noble readily shoot and kill without remorse or, unfortunately, thinking. Despite Sarah Walker's statement not to fire and orders to capture Dragan Pichushkin alive, Dunwoody fatally shoots Pichushkin, activating the detonator on his tactical nuclear weapon. After the botched operation, the NCS Intersect experiments are shown to be dangerously flawed. When this comes to General Beckman's attention, she has the Intersect extracted from Noble and Dunwoody's brains, transferring them to points unknown.

Personality

The series has so far revealed little of Dunwoody's personality. Like Munn, Keibler portrayed Greta as somewhat insecure and overwhelmed with the series' leering male characters.

In her second appearance, Dunwoody is shown to kill without remorse or hesitation. After Noble denies being in a relationship with her, saying, "Romantic entanglements lead to lapses in judgement", Dunwoody adds, "You ought to know", showing her disapproval of Chuck and Sarah's relationship. Although Dunwoody openly projects an arrogant sense of superiority to Chuck and Sarah during her period as an Intersect, she is grateful for the software's extraction and pities Chuck for having to continue living like that.

Fourth Greta

G.R.E.T.A.
Chuck character
First appearance	"Chuck Versus the Fear of Death"
Portrayed by	Summer Glau
In-universe information
Gender	Female
Occupation	CIA Agent Buy More Nerd Herder (cover)
Expertise	Highly trained in stealth, knife fighting, and as an assassin

The fourth Greta (Summer Glau) was almost compromised by Jeff Barnes and Lester Patel in "Chuck Versus the Fear of Death," after they noticed that the string of new employees all had the name "Greta". The CIA assassin seemingly disappears from sight and reappears unexpectedly, drawing suspicion from the two. When they begin stalking her, Greta becomes annoyed with them and complains to Morgan, requesting that he stop them from prying, and threatening to take care of them herself if he doesn't. Morgan goes for help to Casey, who initially refuses. However, Jeff and Lester lure Greta to the storage cage and she begins threatening them with a tactical folding knife. Casey covers with a story that Greta has been stealing from the store and customers, ending the duo's investigation. As Greta packs up, she complains that the operation at the Buy More is too unprofessional and expresses disappointment with Casey. Casey retorts that Team Bartowski is the finest spy team he has ever served on, and-after they exchange several monosyllabic grunts-he has her barred from the G.R.E.T.A. program and sends her on her way.

Glau's appearance is a homage to the series Firefly and its film adaption Serenity, in which she starred with Adam Baldwin, as Casey does not care what teams Greta has served on in the past.

Personality

The series revealed little of Greta's personality. Unlike Munn and Keibler's portrayal of Greta as insecure and overwhelmed with the series' leering male characters and Mustafa's as confident and a role model, Glau portrayed her as violent, and she was characterized as a straight man.

References

Category:Chuck characters Category:Fictional secret agents and spies Category:Fictional martial artists Category:Fictional assassins