Though it may surprise some fans, Lester, yes one of the Buy Morons, proves the most literary-minded character on the show. Indeed, the Brown Beauty quotes from at least five different classic works over the five seasons, each time his recitation accenting the scene:
- Lester twice cites a portion of Walt Whitman’s poetic eulogy of Abraham Lincoln, “Oh Captain, my Captain,” in situations involving Buy More management. The first instance, addressed to Emmet, is ironic (“vs. First Kill”), but his subsequent appeal for a down-and-out Chuck to replace Emmet in “vs. Pink Slip” proves sincere.
- While angling for the impression of loyalty during Fulcrum’s take-over of the Buy More (“vs. the Beard”), he poses as one of Alexander Dumas’ Three Musketeers: “One for all, and all for one.” Of course, it’s only words: he betrays his fellow Buy Morons at the first moment possible.
- In “vs. the Hard Salami”, Lester paraphrases poet John Lyly when betraying Chuck and hitting on Sarah at the Weinerlicious: “All’s fair in love and war.”
- Not one to leave out Shakespeare, the Hin-Jew reels off a riff from Henry IV Part II while mocking Chuck. After Chuck delivers a firm but necessary reprimand to an immature Morgan, leaving Chuck anguished, Lester follows with a kick to the gut: “Heavy is the head that wears the crown” (“vs. Sandworm”).
- In perhaps his most noteworthy citation, Lester, with sophisticated nuance, implies both his religious heritage and the espionage theme when revealing Castle Crew as spies at the Vail Buy More by shouting Emile Zola’s famous phrase “J’Accuse!”, the phrase that begins the author’s turn-of-the-century expose of the anti-Semitic Dreyfuss Affair involving the charge of spying. (“vs. Bo”)
Chucktoids come to us from G. Walter Bush, author of Unpacking Chuck: The TV Series Interpreted and Unpacking Chuck 2.0: The Conversation Continues, both available via Amazon.