Ellie Woodcomb
Ellie Woodcomb | |
---|---|
Chuck character | |
First appearance | "Chuck Versus the Intersect" |
Last appearance | "Chuck Versus the Goodbye" |
Portrayed by | Sarah Lancaster |
In-universe information | |
Full name | Eleanor Faye Bartowski Woodcomb |
Gender | Female |
Title | Doctor |
Occupation | Physician |
Family | Chuck Bartowski (brother) Stephen J. Bartowski (father, deceased) Mary Elizabeth Bartowski (mother) Jesse Gunter (maternal grandfather) Mary Gunter (maternal grandmother) Sarah Bartowski (sister-in-law) Two brothers-in-law[1] Dr. "Woody" Woodcomb (father-in-law) Dr. "Honey" Woodcomb (mother-in-law) |
Spouse | Dr. Devon Woodcomb |
Children | Clara Woodcomb |
Eleanor Faye Bartowski Woodcomb, MD, PhD,[2] is the older sister of title character Chuck Bartowski on the television series Chuck. She is portrayed by actress Sarah Lancaster.
Biography
Eleanor Faye Bartowski was born to Stephen and Mary Bartowski in 1978. With the exception of her younger brother, Chuck (
When her brother was expelled by Stanford University in 2003 he came back to
Series
Ellie Bartowski-Woodcomb is portrayed by actress Sarah Lancaster. She first appears in the series at the beginning of "Chuck Versus the Intersect," when Chuck tries to escape his birthday party which she arranged to try introducing him to real women.[6] She remains one of the most important anchors between Chuck and his real life throughout the series, and her safety is one of his foremost concerns. When Chuck discovered Casey had bugged the home he shared with Ellie, he was even prepared to threaten Casey if he found out he was spying on her as well.[4] When Chuck's extraction by the government was imminent, he made a point of telling her goodbye, and later asked Sarah to tell her something to make his disappearance "okay."[7]
Most of Ellie's appearances in the series have been as part of the side-plots involving Chuck's real life and coworkers at the
A major recurring thread in the series is the love/hate relationship she has with Chuck's best friend Morgan Grimes. Morgan has been in love with Ellie for a long time (or at the very least has a very strong crush on her), but Ellie is at first shown to barely tolerate him. However, as the series progresses, she and Morgan come to form something resembling a friendship, partly owing to them both missing Chuck as his spy life begins to interfere more frequently with his real life.[3] Morgan also offers her support and comfort during a fight with Devon, where he admits he sees her as a sister (that he wants to have sex with so bad).[9] Morgan's girlfriend Anna immediately takes a dislike to Ellie because of Morgan's long-standing crush.[10]
Throughout the series, Ellie encourages Chuck and pushes him towards leaving the Buy More and doing something more suitable to his education level.[11] After Chuck expressed misgivings about his relationship with Sarah in "Chuck Versus the Suburbs," she encouraged Chuck to break up with her, before Morgan reminded her that Sarah was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time.[12] She was ecstatic when Chuck announced he was moving out and that he and Sarah would be getting a place together, but did not have a chance to react when Chuck later abruptly changed his mind.[13]
Devon proposed to Ellie at the end of "Chuck Versus the Marlin," and she accepted. This began a secondary arc throughout the second season covering the preparations for the wedding. Ellie's regret that her father would not be there led Chuck to decide to track him down and promise that their father would be there.[14] Their father indeed appeared at the end of the second season (see below). Ellie married Devon in the second-season finale.
In the third season, Ellie grows concerned that Chuck and Devon seem to be keeping secrets from her. The secrets really have to do with Devon being in on Chuck's spy life since late in season 2, and Devon always has trouble lying to her, but Ellie remains unaware of what they are keeping from her. She begins to snoop on Chuck—even enlisting Morgan, who shares suspicions about Chuck. Their suspicions are allayed when they catch Chuck sneaking around to make out with Hannah, but Ellie still takes note of Devon and Chuck being "thick as thieves."
Ellie gets her dream opportunity, a
In "
Ellie learned of her father and brother's involvement in the CIA in "
In "
Ellie was briefly reunited with her mother in "
The laptop contained her father's research on the Intersect in the brain from an engineer's perspective. She corrected it with her neuroscience but wasn't able to activate it through a new password which was known only by Chuck. Although Ellie was unaware of the purpose of her father's work, the corrections she made allowed Chuck to reactivate the Intersect.
In the episode "
In the series finale, Ellie moves with Devon, their daughter and Mary to Chicago.
Development
Sarah Lancaster was cast in the role of Ellie Bartowski in March, 2007,[16] joining Zachary Levi, Adam Baldwin and Yvonne Strahovski. On January 16, 2009 it was announced that Scott Bakula would be appearing as Chuck and Ellie's father Stephen in a three-episode story.[17]
Personality
Ironically, considering that Chuck's secret life has led him to save Ellie's on three occasions, she still plays the role of the over-protective older sister and deep-down still sees him as her baby brother. She frequently offers Chuck encouragement and advice on women in general, and his relationship with Sarah in particular. Although unaware of the truth of that relationship, Ellie is one of the first people to recognize that her interest in Chuck is genuine.[18] She was immediately concerned when Chuck ran into Jill again and was meeting her for dinner to catch up.[19]
She immediately took a liking to Sarah, and is one of the few characters who enjoys Casey's company or refers to him by first name ("He's so sweet!").[10]
After Chuck, the most important person in Ellie's life is her husband, Devon Woodcomb. She's the only character who never refers to him as "Captain Awesome," although she did refer to his parents as the "Very Awesomes" when they were planning a visit.[20] She loves him dearly, but under the effects of truth serum angrily complained about his frequent use of the word "awesome," and what she felt as moments of neglect of her feelings in the relationship.[4] Ellie later accuses him of self-centeredness and disregard what she wanted when he a bought washer and dryer for their anniversary (as opposed to a big-screen TV).[9]
Although usually calm and collected, Ellie becomes a nervous wreck and a perfectionist when she is required to be near Devon's parents, whom she refers to as the "Very Awesomes." In "
It is unknown whether she has the same ability to absorb and retain visual information as her father and brother.
References
- ^ Devon is said in "Chuck Versus the Marlin" to have two younger brothers
- ^ Devon states her full name, including her retained maiden name and two doctoral post-nominals in "Chuck Versus the A-Team"
- ^ Chuck Versus the Sizzling Shrimp"
- ^ Chuck Versus the Truth"
- Chuck Versus the Alma Mater"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the Intersect"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the Marlin"
- ^ "Chuck Versus Santa Claus"
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover"
- ^ a b "Chuck Versus the Nemesis"
- Chuck Versus the First Date"
- Chuck Versus the Beefcake"
- Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon"
- ^ Chuck Versus the Sensei"
- Chuck Versus the American Hero"
- ^ Development Update: Friday, March 16, The Futon Critic
- ^ Cast Update: January 16, Zap2It.com Archived 2009-04-18 at the Wayback Machine
- Chuck Versus the Tango"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the Ex"
- Chuck Versus the Gravitron"
- ^ "Chuck Versus the Broken Heart"