S a r a h
Although a highly-trained CIA agent, Sarah is presented as warm, kind and compassionate, although she can be ruthless when she needs to be. She lacks Chuck's openly trusting nature but displays a great deal of intuitiveness about others' character: Sarah quickly recognized that Chuck was just a regular guy and not a threat, and chose to protect him from the NSA hit team led by John Casey. She is also shown to be much more empathetic and sympathetic to Chuck's plight than Casey, and is highly protective of her asset, to an extent beyond the requirements of her mission to safeguard him. Where Casey only seems concerned with physical threats to Chuck's safety (things that might cost the government the use of the Intersect information in Chuck's head), Sarah is more concerned for him as an individual. She typically objects to any orders by Graham and Beckman to put him in dangerous situations and openly warned both Lou and Jill —with whom Chuck carried on brief relationships—not to hurt him. In "Chuck vs. the Broken Heart", John Casey tells Chuck's replacement handler Alex Forrest, that Sarah was the best agent he has ever worked with.
Sarah is quick to acknowledge and reinforce Chuck's own abilities beyond the Intersect, and has told him on several occasions that he has made an excellent spy. During a hostage situation at the Buy More Sarah promised to Chuck that she would never let anyone hurt him and proved determined and willing to go to any extreme to protect him. This is demonstrated when she cold-bloodedly kills an unarmed enemy agent (who had learned Chuck was the Intersect and threatened to reveal the secret to his entire organization) in order to protect Chuck. Although she has denied any romantic interest in Chuck several times, she openly acknowledges a desire to remain friendly with Chuck on a personal level, until the end of the second season, when she and Chuck share several intimate moments. She objects to lying or concealing information from Chuck and using him without his knowledge under orders from her superiors. Only little information about Sarah's real life has been revealed in the course of the series, and as a result she is shown to be highly secretive, with a past built around false identities. She jealously guards her personal life and even violently threatened Chuck when he attempted to learn more about her. As a nod to continuity when Sarah does talk to Chuck about her past and family, she continues to use the name "Burton", as it has not at the time been revealed to Chuck that even Jenny Burton is not her real name. Chuck has observed that she likes extra pickles on her burgers and doesn't like olives as seen on the back of his tron poster. She is also a fan of rocky road ice cream. |