The Ring (Chuck)
The Ring is a major spy organization in the television series Chuck. The main antagonist of the second season, Fulcrum, is revealed in the Season Two finale to be part of the Ring, making him the main antagonist of Season Three. The Ring's goals are not known, but they're clearly in conflict with the legitimate American intelligence community due their attempts to manipulate politics in several countries to accomplish its ends.
Organization
Little information about the Ring has been revealed so far. In "Chuck Versus the Ring," Bryce Larkin reveals that FULCRUM was only one part of the Ring, however, he died from a fatal gunshot wound before he could say anything further about what he knew. Unlike FULCRUM, which is primarily made up of rogue agents of the CIA, the Ring has operatives outside the intelligence community.How much the government knows about the organization is also unknown. Bryce Larkin was familiar with their existence, and Daniel Shaw has been tracking them for at least five years by the time he takes over command of Team Bartowski. In "Chuck Versus Operation Awesome" he reveals that the Ring is primarily cell-based and consists of a large number of small and decentralized groups. Ring cells operate with a high degree of autonomy, and an agent who misidentified Devon as a spy would not have reported to her superiors until it was confirmed they had him "turned."
All Ring agents are issued distinctive, circular smartphones. These phones work off a closed network that was impossible to crack until Team Bartowski captured one. Also, nearly all Ring agents carry FN Five-seven pistols.
The Director
The Director is the head of the Ring. He first appeared in the third season episode "Chuck Versus the American Hero," where he was revealed to be the driving force behind the Ring itself. He is portrayed by actor Mark Sheppard.Biography
Nothing has been revealed about the Director's identity, and even his real name is unknown. Although his nationality has also not been identified, he does speak with an English accent, reflecting the international nature of the Ring.Series
The Director was first mentioned by his subordinates in "Chuck Versus the American Hero," when he sent them to apprehend Shaw and bring him in, but this plan was inadvertently thwarted by Morgan, Casey and Devon. Believing he had an opportunity to take out the Director and a substantial part of the Ring's senior leadership, Shaw contacted him and agreed to come in as a Trojan Horse, intending to use himself as a walking targeting beacon for an air strike. The Director confronted Shaw in an underground facility, where he played him a surveillance video recovered from the corpse of CIA turncoat and Ring informant Hunter Perry to "educate him" about his slain wife, Evelyn. The video revealed that Evelyn Shaw was not killed by a Ring agent as Shaw believed, but by Sarah. Shaw attempted to attack the director, but his adversary revealed he was never actually in the room and Shaw was instead interacting with a sophisticated hologram. The Director therefore escaped the destruction of the facility when it was bombed shortly afterwards.In "Chuck Versus the Other Guy," the Director is involved in a complex plot to turn Shaw to the Ring. He convinced Shaw that the government believed Eve had already been turned, and utilized Sarah to execute her before Evelyn proved she was a liability. The Director allowed Shaw to strengthen his position with the government by allowing him to capture the Ring's prototype for the Cipher and "eliminate" him. Shaw then met him in Paris where he turned over the Cipher and all government technical data on the Intersect. While Shaw was dealt with by Chuck, the Director attempted to escape with the Intersect data, but he was intercepted and apprehended by Casey.
Development
Actor Mark Sheppard's casting was first indicated on December 10, 2009, and later confirmed by Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune. More details emerged in an interview with ifmagazine.com, in which Sheppard confirmed he will be playing the Director of the Ring.Few other details of the character, or the nature of his position within the Ring, have been revealed however in his IF Magazine interview, Sheppard identifies the Director with Blofeld and notes that he will figure heavily into Casey's story arc. He further suggests that the Director may become a recurring role in the series.
Personality
As with his origins, the series has so far revealed very little of the Director's personality, however the Director has proven cautious and calculating. In "Chuck Versus the American Hero," he confronted Shaw using a sophisticated hologram rather than expose himself directly to danger, commenting with disbelief that Shaw thought he could meet him face to face.The Director is also extremely manipulative. He revealed Evelyn Shaw was actually killed by the CIA to turn Shaw to the Ring and claimed the CIA as suspect. Eve herself had been turned and ordered the hit to secure Shaw's loyalty. In "Chuck Versus the Other Guy," he conspires to gain access to the technical data on the Intersect to complete the Ring's system by taking advantage of Shaw's single-minded desire to avenge his wife's death, and orchestrates a complex series of operations to achieve these objectives.
Ring Elders
In "Chuck Versus the Predator," Fulcrum agent Vincent reports to a panel of five superiors whose faces are hidden in shadow. They give him permission to further investigate the Burbank Buy More to further his search for Orion. In "Chuck Versus the Mask" it is revealed that this panel is actually senior leadership of the Ring, when Vassily reports Daniel Shaw's involvement in the interception of a chemical weapon. The council has Vassilis summarily executed when he presses them on how they wish to deal with Shaw. In "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II", the Ring Council is formally introduced as the Five Elders, who planned to take over the NSA and CIA. However, they were all captured by Team Bartowski. First seen in: Chuck Versus the Predator.Motives
The motives of the Ring are currently unknown. Much like FULCRUM, they did attempt to gain control of the Intersect until it was destroyed by Chuck Bartowski. They hired arms dealer Karl Stromberg to obtain and move an intelligence safe for them, and also attempted to assassinate Premier Allejandro Goya to prevent him from opening his country to democratic elections. Unlike FULCRUM, who saw themselves as patriots attempting to protect the United States' dominance in the world, their assassination attempt against Goya indicates the Ring has wider global interests."Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler" has confirmed that the Ring has a continuing interest in obtaining the Intersect. They stole burned-out components of Intersect 2.0 from a government holding facility after Chuck destroyed it, and hired a computer expert to attempt reconstruction of the device. "Chuck Versus the Other Guy" revealed that the Ring had succeeded in producing their own prototype of the Cipher, the central component of the Intersect, although Shaw noted significant flaws in the device. Shaw later provided the Ring detailed technical information so they could refine their prototype, however this was intercepted by Casey, and it is unknown how much data they managed to recover.
After their defeat in Paris the Ring briefly laid low. In "Chuck Versus the Role Models" the organization resurfaced again when one of their operatives poisoned Devon in such a way as to mimic the symptoms of malaria in order to remove him and Ellie from Africa. "Chuck Versus the Tooth" begins to bring their plans for Ellie into sharper focus, when Ellie is manipulated into becoming an asset for the organization under the belief that her father was in danger. "Chuck Versus the Living Dead" reveals the Ring is after Stephen to capture a device he has developed called the Governor, which controls the electrical impulses the Intersect generates during a flash and poses a threat to the brain of an Intersect host.
Although the exact and final goals of the Ring were never clearly defined, in "Chuck Versus the Subway" and "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II" they attempted to seize control of the CIA and NSA during a coup, first by discrediting Team Bartowski and General Beckman, then by using Shaw to arrange the replacement of multiple senior members of both organizations with the Elders. The plot was ultimately foiled by the team, and both Shaw and the Elders were apprehended.