Chuck is in its 3rd season and my feelings for the show have not changed. I like half of it, and I can rarely stand the other half. I like the whole secret agents, gears, spies storyline. The nerdy friends and bosses of Chuck? Not so much.
Well, let me introduce the show a little bit.
Chuck (Zachary Levi) is a smart, nice, cute and a little nerdy guy who works at an electronics store. His best friend is the really geeky and socially disgraceful Morgan. Two other guys who are supposed to form the rest of the “gang” are even worse than Morgan (Joshua Gomez) but one of them thinks he is super cool. Well, Chuck could have done much better for himself, had he not been kicked out of Stanford. Now he lives with his older doctor sister Ellie (Sarah Lancester) and her “awesome” doctor boyfriend Devon (Ryan McPartlin). His stable and not so interesting life changes when an old friend college friend sends him something. Because of that thing he really wasn’t supposed to see, his mind is filled with confidential CIA intel. Two CIA agents are assigned to his case: John Casey (Adam Baldwin) and Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski). So Chuck becomes-albeit unwillingly) an important asset for his country and these two agents. A true pro, poker-faced John is impatient and unwilling to “hang around” with Chuck. But Sarah and Chuck develop feeling for each other. The covers? Chuck keeps his day job, John Casey starts “working” at the same store as Chuck and Sarah poses as Chuck’s girlfriend.
The concept is really fun. An ordinary guy tries to keep his secret identity secret from his sister and best friends, tries to keep his feelings in check for Sarah, tries not to panic during real operations and tries to get rid of the shock. The action and the comedy coming from Chuck being a total anti-hero is really fun. The other supposedly funny elements such as his co-workers and their relationships end up being boring or annoying or both. Too much time is spent there. So what could have easily become the show to look forward to, becomes an alternative pastime activity if there is nothing else to watch.
It has really good episodes, but most lose its charm due to the elements I counted.Other than that, casting is pretty ok. I previously watched Zachary Levi on the tv show Less Than Perfect. He played a pretentious snob really well and it is quite enjoyable to watch him as this genuinely nice guy. Adam Baldwin is perfect at his role, Yvonne Strahovski is really gorgeous and she really fits her part. “Awesome” Devon is a hunky yet dull character and handled well by Ryan McPartlin. In fact, it is handled too well. I can’t help but think if he is that square in real life. If Chuck gets cancelled, I won’t celebrate but I won’t really miss it either. I hope they give it a make-over with the Morgan storyline.
That’s all I need to say for Chuck. If you want to check out the other TV shows I covered on the blog, here’s the list.
