that up as you were racing over here to save us? Hey,
maybe I'll say this after I crash into the restaurant!"
-- Chuck (Zachary Levi)
A quick intro to these reviews: the first seven were written during NBC's broadcasts last year and I haven't rewritten them since -- no, not even to make myself look psychic with some accurate "predictions". I will wait for Virgin1 to reach where I left off and continue reviewing along with the UK -- or possibly stay a few episodes ahead to give me time to polish the reviews. I hope there's still an audience for these (I know a lot of British fans have already seen them), and perhaps US fans are interested in reading a Brit's belated opinion over the summer? But, please remember, I'll delete comments containing spoilers for future episodes, so be careful when discussing these episodes...
My opinion was split over Chuck's faltering first season. While it definitely improved around the halfway mark (finding pace, if nothing else), the comedy never properly gelled with the action, and the narrative splits between the Buy More and spy hijinks (spyjinks?) rarely worked. Helping sustain interest was a trio of great performances from the eponymous geek with government secrets stashed in his head (Zachary Levi), his hard-ass minder Casey (Adam Baldwin) and fine-ass guardian Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski). So, have the producers managed to fine-tune Chuck for its sophomore year?
Well, yes and no. There is more to enjoy here than usual: Casey's gadget-strewn apartment, baritone giant Michael Clarke Duncan as a guest-star villain, more coherent fight choreography, Strahovski standing around in her undies, a cool restaurant car crash, Chuck tricking his way out of a tight spot with faux bravado and guile, and a storyline that was suitably tense regarding Chuck's future safety (finding vital Intersect 2.0 component "the Cipher" is the mission, but Chuck's unaware Casey has orders to kill him once the government's new supercomputer becomes operational.)
Sadly, I still find everything goes flaccid whenever the story wanders over to spend time at the Buy More -- mainly because every one of its cartoon-y characters acts like they're in a lobotomized version of Office Space. Worryingly, Lester (Vik Sahay), Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence), Anna (Julia Ling) and Jeff (Scott Krinsky) are now listed as regulars in the opening credits, so this is clearly a comedy tit the writers still want to suckle from.
While these characters can be funny at times, and a few of the situations amused me here, I just find the show loses half its IQ whenever the Buy More staff appear. Check out this episode's silly Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome homage -- it's like someone flipped a switch from amusing spy-comedy to dumb-fratboy frolics.
Likewise, I'm often in two-minds about Chuck's home-life with sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and her meathead lover Captain Awesome (Ryan McPartlin); a character whose comic nickname has us assume he's a scene-stealing comedy highlight. He's not. Chuck's relationship with his sister can sometimes work brilliantly, as Levi and Lancaster are endearing screen siblings, but I still hope Chuck will follow through on his mentioned desire to move out. If only I was more confident a Chuck/Morgan house share would improve things! Can't Chuck get himself a new circle of friends, or move in with Sarah?Overall, this was most definitely an improvement over the homogeneous episodes of last year, but not a sweeping reinvention. Chuck is fortunate to have performers like Levi, Baldwin and Strahovski involved, otherwise I'd have given up on it long ago. As it stands, "Chuck Versus The First Date" is one of Chuck's better episodes overall, and a confident start that has me hopeful the comedy-drama formula will continue to be tweaked until they get it spot-on.
9 June 2009
Virgin1, 9pm
written by: Chris Fedak & Josh Schwartz directed by: Jason Ensler starring: Zachary Levi (Chuck), Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah), Adam Baldwin (Casey), Joshua Gomez (Morgan), Sarah Lancaster (Ellie), Mark Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike), Vik Sahay (Lester), Julia Ling (Anna Wu), Ryan McPartlin (Captain Awesome), Scott Krinsky (Jeff), Tony Todd (CIA Director Graham), Bonita Friedericy (General Beckman), Matt Sigloch (Tactical Trooper) & Mark Brandon (World Send Driver)
