The series is about Chuck Bartowski, a normal guy who fixes computers at the Buy More store in Burbank, California, as part of the "Nerd Herd". His old friend Bryce turns out to be a rogue spy. Just before he dies, Bryce sends Chuck an e-mail with thousands of pictures. The pictures are encoded with all of the nation's spy secrets. After viewing them, Chuck holds all of the secrets inside his head (with his flashes as the intersect).