"Chuck Versus the PDA"
by Estee
ACT I
INT. BUY MORE - DAY
JEFF, LESTER and BIG MIKE stand together and stare ahead.
BIG MIKE
I just can't get over this.
LESTER
It is shocking.
JEFF
It's amazing.
Big Mike and Lester nod in agreement. Morgan walks up and
joins the group. He tilts his head then looks at the guys.
MORGAN
It's been here for weeks.
An OVER-THE-SHOULDER SHOT shows a Subway... in the Buy More!
BIG MIKE
Doesn't make it any less beautiful.
MORGAN
Touché.
Morgan admires the beauty with his co-workers.
Sarah pushes out a breadcart from the Subway kitchen. She is
dressed in a green polo shirt, black apron and Subway visor.
She looks up, and the guys scatter. She glances over at...
INT. NERD HERD DESK - DAY
Chuck stands behind the Nerd Herd counter. He waves.
MORGAN (O.S.)
Mornin', Chuck. What's up?
CHUCK
Hola, Morgan. ¿Qué pasa?
Chuck slaps his hand over his mouth. Morgan cocks his head
to the side, his eyes narrow.
MORGAN
Dude... are you making fun of my
Latino heritage? Because that is so
not cool.
Chuck shakes his head and fakes a grin.
CASEY (O.S.)
You don't even know Spanish, moron.
Casey approaches the desk.
MORGAN
Exactly.
Casey shoves Morgan out of view.
CASEY
I told you to meet outside, idiot.
Or did you think no one would
notice that your language setting's
switched to español?
Chuck hangs his head.
CHUCK
Lo siento.
Casey snarls, but hands Chuck a USB flash drive. Chuck takes
it and puts it into his computer. He stares at the screen,
blanking out as images flash. Then it's over.
Casey watches with interest. Chuck blinks then smiles.
CHUCK
Okay, it worked, I guess. Except...
now I don't know Spanish.
CASEY
(sarcastic)
Qué bueno.
FLASH: English to Spanish dictionary, "Qué bueno," the
letters scramble and reform, "How nice."
BACK TO SCENE
CHUCK
Si, es muy bueno, Casey.
(pause)
Oh, that is so cool.
Casey nods, impressed. Sarah walks up and past Morgan who is
stumbling away in the opposite direction with a dazed look.
SARAH
From now on, your dad will be able
to send all updates to your phone.
CHUCK
Let me guess... there's an app for
that?
SARAH
There is now, although getting
Apple to approve it wasn't easy.
Might have been that your dad
started telling them how he
invented the i-Pod back in 1989...
Chuck smiles at her and examines her outfit. A beat.
CHUCK
I must say, that polo-visor combo
is quite fetching.
Sarah smiles. Casey grumbles.
CASEY
Adiós.
He walks away. A silent beat passes.
CHUCK
So, we didn't really get a chance
to debrief last night.
Sarah looks around. The coast is clear. She nods.
CHUCK (CONT'D)
Ellie cornered me while you were in
the bathroom. She thinks we're not
happy living together. You were
right about our cover. It needs
some major work. Immediately.
Sarah twists her mouth in consideration.
CHUCK (CONT'D)
Whatever we did before to make it
convincing--we should do it again.
Sarah looks at him hesitantly.
DEVON (O.S.)
Chuck, please tell me you know
something about PDAs.
Chuck turns to face Devon. Devon notices Sarah.
DEVON
Hi, Sarah.
She nods hello then slips back to Subway. Chuck's look
lingers in Sarah's direction. Devon clears his throat.
DEVON (CONT'D)
You're a lucky guy, bro.
CHUCK
Oh, come on. You know she's just my
cover girlfriend.
Devon glances over at the Subway where Sarah is watching. He
turns back to Chuck with a lopsided smile.
DEVON
You sure about that, Chuck?
Chuck looks at Sarah again, but snaps out of it.
CHUCK
When you say PDAs, I'm assuming
you're not referring to public
displays of affection?
Devon pulls out a red PDA (personal digital assistant).
DEVON
The hospital gave one to every
doctor and expects us to be using
them by the end of the week. It's
supposed to store tons of stuff:
medical journals and patient files.
It even has this patient
recognition system that uses eye
scans, fingerprints and bloodwork.
CHUCK
That's actually really cool.
Chuck tries to get a look at the device.
DEVON
I knew you'd think so, which is why
I thought you might like to take a
look under the hood for me--
CHUCK
Are you supposed to--
DEVON
Show me some of the features.
Chuck narrows his eyes.
CHUCK
Features such as... ?
DEVON
The on switch?
Devon smiles sheepishly. Chuck nods and holds his hand out.
CHUCK
What about Ellie? Does she need--
DEVON
We'll be expecting you tomorrow
night for a group tutorial.
Devon hands him the PDA.
DEVON
Thanks, Bro. You're Awesome.
Devon pats Chuck on the shoulder then walks away. Chuck
looks down at the PDA. It's slightly larger and bulkier than
an i-Phone and bears the Rourke Instruments logo.
FLASH: Blueprints of the PDA, "the Ring?", photos of
doctors, x-rays, connected dots to military officials and
statesmen, among them, a dated photo of General Beckman.
Chuck blinks and looks toward Subway.
INT. SUBWAY COUNTER - DAY
Sarah stands behind the counter finishing with a customer.
Chuck walks up and waits in line. Sarah gives the customer
his change then turns to Chuck with a smile.
SARAH
Sarah Walker Fact Three: she is
consistently disappointed that no
one ever thinks she is slightly
over-qualified for a service
industry career path.
CHUCK
Slightly?
SARAH
But also secretly glad that she's
that good at her real job.
Chuck grins for a beat.
CHUCK
Thank you for that, and I want to
have an entire series of
conversations based around fact
number three, but, right now, I
need to talk to you. Privately.
Chuck walks behind the counter and opens the swinging door
that leads to the small kitchen and office area.
INT. SUBWAY KITCHEN - DAY
Chuck follows Sarah in. The quarters are pretty tight. When
Sarah turns to face him, there is only a foot between them.
Chuck is caught off guard by her proximity. He falters.
SARAH
What's up?
Chuck snaps out of it. He swallows and gets serious.
CHUCK
Awesome's new work PDA
(he holds it up)
does very, very bad things.
Sarah leans in to look at the PDA, turning the foot into
inches. Chuck swallows. Sarah glances up and meets his gaze.
Suddenly, Sarah tosses off her visor and grabs Chuck's
shoulders to pull him into a kiss. Chuck fights in
surprise... at first.
FLASH: A cover Valentine's day kiss at the Buy More in front
of a MUST LOVE DOGS-covered television wall, a cover peck on
the cheek in the suburbs, cover making out on the floor of
the Weinerlicious.
BACK TO SCENE
VANESSA (O.S.)
Oh, gosh. I'm sorry.
Sarah moves back from Chuck, pretending to be embarrassed.
Chuck stares at Sarah, frozen in place. Sarah looks at him
suspiciously, but turns to the door.
VANESSA QUINTON, 35, stands in the doorway. Her brown hair
is pulled back in a ponytail, her brown eyes are covered by
unattractive glasses, and she wears the Subway polo and
visor. Vanessa is entirely unremarkable.
SARAH
Vanessa, this is my boyfriend
Chuck. He works at Buy More.
Chuck blinks again, his gaze still stuck on Sarah.
SARAH
Chuck, this is my supervisor.
Vanessa Quinton.
Vanessa smiles. Chuck slowly drags his eyes over to Vanessa.
VANESSA
Are you okay, Chuck?
Chuck nods, swallows and looks back at Sarah.
VANESSA (CONT'D)
I'll just give you two a minute?
SARAH
Thanks, Vanessa.
Vanessa backs out, letting the door swing shut.
SARAH
So...
Chuck shakes his head and blinks a few times.
SARAH (CONT'D)
What exactly can this PDA do?
CHUCK
Uh...
Chuck grabs Sarah's visor from a nearby counter and puts it
back on her head. She tips her head forward, impatient.
CHUCK
It finds people. Anyone who enters
any hospital is identified. Those
identities are sent back to the
Ring. They plan to use it to find
high-ranking government officials.
I believe kidnapping, torture,
and/or assassination would follow.
SARAH
I'll call the General right away.
She turns to step out, but Chuck grabs her wrist.
CHUCK
The PDA--
SARAH
You should probably hold onto it--
CHUCK
Our PDA. The kissing...
SARAH
That was standard procedure--
CHUCK
It's for emergencies only?
SARAH
It's for establishing and
maintaining our cover.
CHUCK
So, I don't need permission to--
SARAH
You have permission.
CHUCK
Anytime I get the inclination--say
I want to hold your hand or...
other stuff--I can just do it?
SARAH
Chuck, keeping up our cover is one
of the most important aspects of
our job. Do whatever it takes.
Chuck stares at her for a moment, processing.
INT. SUBWAY COUNTER - DAY
Vanessa mans the counter. Casey walks up.
VANESSA
Can I help you?
Casey growls and looks past Vanessa toward the door. Vanessa
waits patiently. When Casey looks at her, she smiles.
CASEY
I'll take an oatmeal raisin cookie.
Vanessa raises her eyebrows, but pulls out a cookie and
places it into a small cookie bag. She hands it over.
CASEY (CONT'D)
How much?
VANESSA
It's on the house...
(she glances at his nametag)
John.
CASEY
Hm?
VANESSA
I'm Vanessa, by the way.
CASEY
Hmm...
Casey turns and walks away, looking at his cookie. Lester
and Jeff run up to him, eying the cookie.
JEFF
Did you pay for that?
LESTER
I saw no exchange of currency.
Casey suppresses a snarl.
CASEY
She gave it to me for free.
Casey walks away. Jeff and Lester exchange a look of
excitement.
LESTER
Jeffrey, before the week is over,
we're going to get a free footlong.
JEFF
How?
LESTER
I don't know. Check back with me
tomorrow, and I'll have a plan.
JEFF
Procrastinators: the leaders of
tomorrow.
LESTER
I thought I told you to stop
searching for the meaning of life
on bumper stickers.
JEFF
"My kid can beat up your honor roll
student" sums up my whole life...
Lester looks at Jeff skeptically, but then nods.
INT. SUBWAY COUNTER - DAY
Chuck and Sarah exit the kitchen. Chuck trades a look with
Sarah then walks away, leaving Sarah with Vanessa.
VANESSA
Chuck seems nice.
SARAH
Chuck is nice.
VANESSA
Do you know that guy? John?
Vanessa points across the store. A LONG SHOT of Casey shows
him eating his cookie near the outdoor grill section.
SARAH
That's John Casey.
Vanessa narrows her eyes at the name. She laughs to herself.
VANESSA
He's actually kind of... cute.
Sarah chokes back a laugh.
INT. UNDERGROUND LAB - NIGHT
Steve works at a computer. Chuck and Sarah stand next to
each other, leaning on a lab counter. Chuck tosses his arm
around Sarah's shoulder. She glances over at him.
CHUCK
Dad? Natural or awkward?
Steve looks at them.
STEVE
Naturally awkward?
Chuck shakes his head and withdraws his arm. Steve goes back
to work. Chuck turns to Sarah with a skeptical grin.
CHUCK
So, the Subway girl actually used
the word "cute" to describe Casey?
SARAH
Actually, she's not--
CHUCK
Sane? Normal? Obviously.
A crash sounds just before Casey tumbles out the portal. He
stands up and dusts himself off.
CHUCK (CONT'D)
The stud muffin has arrived. Casey,
are you into geeky girls?
CASEY
Bartowski, we've been through this,
you're just not my type.
CHUCK
Ha... a joke where you call me a
girl... and a geek. So original.
Another crash. Casey spins around to the portal entrance
with his gun drawn.
SARAH
Hang on, Casey.
CASEY
You expecting company, Walker?
SARAH
Actually... I am.
Vanessa slides out of the portal, landing in a graceful
tuck. She still wears glasses, but with her hair down, she
looks quite beautiful, maybe even sexy. She has traded the
Subway gear for a white lab coat. Think Jean Grey.
Vanessa rises. Steve barely looks up from his work. Vanessa
smiles at Sarah. Casey and Chuck look at each other, lost.
FADE TO BLACK.
END OF ACT I
