"Chuck" (2008-2012)

I revisited the entire show last month on the back of it ending earlier this year, and I'm the first to admit I find Chuck (Zachary Levi) as much of a schnook as some does when they first meet this character in the show. My interest is more on the character of Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski), and only a third of the story-line as it actually comes very close to an idea I've had myself for quite a while (no doubt on the back of my interest in the spy-genre going back to all those Robert Ludlum books I once read, and some credit for inspiring should probably be given the show Alias).

Chuck is created by Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Gossip Girl) and McG (Fastlane & also part of the The O.C.-crew), taking on the life of a geek thrown into the spy-life by SciFi-tech. The show is based on three parts; the spy-missions, the Chuck-relations (family, friends & girlfriends) and the Buy-More (day-to-day & employees).

To me the Buy-More part quickly ran out of steam, but how efficient it was the first season is the main reason that season scores higher than the rest. For the spy stuff this is light entertainment; flawed and often ridiculous. Still. Some of the archs works decently enough, and I can almost forgive repetitiveness and easy solutions for the cheap and unclouded entertainment it offers. To me it's the relationship-part that keep me going, and Sarah in particular.

She's a seasoned spy and one of CIA's top assets, thrown into babysitting Chuck along with NSA's top man Casey (Alec Baldwin). Unlike Casey, Sarah gets to evolve a lot throughout the show; torn between her past as con-artist, her career as spy and her potential future. Yvonne get to take on more nuanced changes than Zachary or Alec, even if I personally would've taken it even further to really get out the potential. It's still more than interesting enough, and my main reason to grab hold of this show on blu-ray to revisit again in the future.

★★★★☆ Season 1
★★★☆☆ Season 2
★★★☆☆ Season 3
★★★☆☆ Season 4
★★★☆☆ Season 5


★★★☆☆ Overall Quality

I enjoyed the fact that when they finally succumbed to the relationship of Chuck and Sarah in season 3-4, they didn't start throwing gasoline on it with silly break-ups and such. They rather embraced it and used it to throw in relationship adjustments and growth with issues from normal relationships and how they affect their lifestyles as spies. It might not be a drama-winner, but it gives the show a better touch of realism (in parts) and make us care more about them than soapy drama ever would. I wish more shows would go that way, as it's not the first time I've honored a show for choosing such a path.

However. I could do without the same mistakes being done over and over again by the characters, but then again it's not that easy to keep a fresh writing going for multiple seasons. I guess I got to cut them some slack...

For the fifth season they came close to ruining it all with their glasses, Morgan and Buy-More, but are saved by turning to their strongest asset in Sarah and Chuck facing a very different problem. It's not perfectly executed, but they touch on some larger issues that earns them credit enough in my book to salvage the third star once again.