HEROES REBORN casts CHUCK

Zachary Levi (Chuck, Thor: The Dark World) has signed up for this summer's HEROES REBORN; a 13-part miniseries follow-up to the superhero drama from 2006-10. He will join the previously announced original cast member Jack Coleman, reprising his role as Mr Bennett. Nothing is known about what the new show will entail, but expect Levi to be a leading figure. Most likely another unassuming man who gains superpowers, which won't be a stretch from his role as Chuck Bartowski on NBC's spy-comedy.

CHUCK's Yvonne Strahovski joins Fox's 24

I would include 24 on a list of my favourite television shows of the past decade, despite some rocky seasons in later life, so perhaps it's time to start getting excited for the show's "limited series" revival this summer?

CHUCK's Yvonne Strahovski joins DEXTER

Showtime have revealed that Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski has joined Dexter's seventh season for a multi-episode guest arc. Strahovski will play Hannah McKay, a "strong, independent woman with a past that she's struggling to put behind her". Hannah will help the Miami Metro detectives solve some cold cases, alongside Dexter Morgan, who begins to suspect there's more to Hannah than meets the eye. (My premature guess: she's the show's first female serial killer.)

As a huge fan of Ms Strahovski, who proved herself a well-rounded and likable young actress on NBC's Chuck, I'm excited for her. She had a few opportunities to stretch her dramatic muscle on Chuck, but obviously it's a world away from a cable show like Dexter. It'll be interesting to see how she gets on, and already feels like it'll be an important role for her. If she's proves to be really good, maybe it'll open more doors for her in Hollywood. And as a viewer, it'll just be nice to see her on my TV screen again.

What do you think? Is this good casting? Or do you suspect she'll be given a thankless role, like Julie Benz had as Rita?

Strahovski joins other notable guest star Ray Stevenson and Jason Gedrick for season 7 of the Showtime hit, which is currently filming for a 30 September premiere.

CHUCK, 5.12 & 5.13 – "Chuck Versus Sarah" & "Chuck Versus the Goodbye"

"Chuck, tell me our story..." – Sarah Walker

Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) and Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) have always been the heart of this show, so after five seasons it was a perfect decision to have the potential loss of their relationship be the driving force behind a double-bill series finale. By having Sarah's memories wound back to before "Operation Bartowski" by villainous Quinn (Angus Macfadyen), re-programmed to believe she's spend the last five years deep undercover pretending to be Chuck's girlfriend/wife, the emotional stakes of the final episodes were some of the highest the show's produced. That all helped counterbalance the pretty simplistic plots, and naturally the show had some fun making references to its own history and giving fans a few parting gifts.

Zachary Levi was particularly brilliant here, especially in the scene where he made a heartfelt plea for amnesiac Sarah to believe his side of the story. You sometimes underestimate just how good Levi is on this show, but it was clear from that scene how much he really cares about his character's life and he was able to communicate all the pain, sorrow and desperation necessary. I don't mind admitting I was welling up on two occasions, although I never quite cracked into full-blown weeping. But there was always this anxious ache for the story to take the expected, cathartic twist and get its two lead characters back together. The wait for this breakthrough almost became unbearable. And, rather controversially, it never quite came as we'd expected. Showing some uncharacteristic plausibility, Sarah's memories never magically returned, with their final kiss on the beach leaving the lovebirds' fate ambiguous. Did Morgan's (Joshua Gomez) romantic idea that one kiss would make everything better work? Or will Chuck have to slowly win Sarah all over again, which at least feels likely given her acceptance of his idea to kiss her? We'll never know for sure, which I'm sure will aggravate many 'shippers.

For the most part, these episodes didn't really have much more on their minds than torturing fans over the Chuck/Sarah predicament, but both were fast-paced and exciting when they wanted to be. I'm not sure Quinn ever really worked as a Big Bad, mainly because he was introduced so very late in the season, but at least his goal to acquire a functioning Intersect by using Sarah against Chuck was one of the better evil plans a villain's had on the show. I also really loved the various callbacks to things from the show's past: like the return of the Wienerlicious (including Sarah in her iconic pigtails and miniskirt), Linda Hamilton reprising her role as Mary Bartowski (despite still being a charisma-free zone), the Buy More officially taken over by Subway (the show's biggest commercial supporter since season 2), and a brilliant Jeffster performance of A-Ha's "Take On Me" during a tense sequence where Chuck had to defuse a bomb under General Beckman's (Bonita Fiedericy) chair.

It was only right the show focus on Chuck and Sarah, but a part of me wishes some of the other characters were given better concluding moments. Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Devon (Ryan McPartlin) simply moved to Chicago for better jobs, Morgan and Alex (Mekenna Melvin) moved in together, and Casey (Adam Baldwin) left to find his beloved Gertrude (Carrie Ann Moss, sadly missing from this finale). The best farewell moment was arguably given to Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vik Sahay), who were signed by a German music producer and are seemingly destined to become David Hasselhoff-style hits in the Fatherland.

Overall, for a show that's already given us about four different would-be finales in its hectic lifetime, "... Versus The Goodbye" wasn't the funniest or the most exciting, but by focusing on the Chuck/Sarah dynamic it was undoubtedly the most heartrending at times. Is it frustrating that the show didn't give us an unequivocal "happy ending" for the couple? Perhaps, but that's down to personal taste. I will assume that the kiss on the beach, after Chuck told Sarah their entire story, worked... but if not, I find it hard to believe they wouldn't just fall in love all over again...

As a wrap-up to the show, it did its job. To be honest, I haven't found Chuck as essential to watch since the end of season 3, but this final season had a terrific run of episodes and felt more focused than usual. I've never found Chuck especially funny, and often the drama doesn't always work because there are rarely any stakes, but there's always been an inherent likeability about the show that I've enjoyed. It exists to entertain, and is a great example of a fantastic cast making the material work in ways it probably doesn't on the page. You can always tell that the actors/writers are 100% committed to the show and very passionate about it, plus mindful of their fans and the role they've played in keeping it on-air. It's one of the best examples of a show that knows how to keep its fanbase on-side, through thick and thin.

And on a personal note, I've enjoyed reviewing Chuck. I haven't always had much to say that's vastly different, week to week, but it's always been one of the easier shows to watch and critique. So despite the fact I was never a big fan of the Buy More, or most of season 4, and I don't think the show is as amazing as most fans believe, it's been a fun and reliable place to be entertained. And if nothing else, I look forward to seeing Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski (especially) now get a chance to do something different, because five years is a big chunk out of an actor's career...

Asides

• Things we learned: you can fit Sarah into an average-sized bag.
• Did all the budget go on the sky diving sequence for Sarah? Or the helicopter landing sequence? Those were fantastic throwbacks to what the show could do in season 1 and 2.
• There weren't many of the show's traditional guest-stars here, although Mark Pellegrino (Lost, Being Human USA) had a brief scene as a villain called Edgar.

written by Rafe Jenkins & Lauren LeFranc (5.12) & Chris Fedak (5.13) / directed by Jay Chandrasekhar (5.12) & Robert Duncan McNeill (5.13) / 27 January 2012 / NBC

Last Second of Strahotness: leather bikini

CHUCK, 5.10 & 5.11 – "Chuck Versus Bo" & "Chuck Versus the Bullet Train"

Owing to personal events last week, these reviews will be capsule-sized...

"Chuck Versus Bo" started with Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) deciding to bring her spy career to an end, so she can live happily ever after with husband Chuck (Zachary Levi) and repurpose Carmichael Industries to fight cyber-terrorism, but naturally events went haywire from thereon in. In some ways you could feel this episode straining to reintroduce the Intersect back into the show, together with a new villain in Nicholas Quinn (Angus Macfadyen), the original CIA agent who was destined to become the government's super-spy, but it just about got away with it.

It was actually a fun idea to have Morgan (Joshua Gomez) investigate his own missing memories, realising that he stole and stashed some Intersect glasses while enjoying the high life at a ski resort as the egotistical Intersect version of himself. In some ways this was Chuck's version of The Hangover, with the team trying to piece together what happened with Morgan a few months ago, and there was a fun diversion in the shape of actress Bo Derek (playing herself, which is something that rarely happens with Chuck guest-stars).

The subplot with Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vik Sahay) was also quite funny, as the pair have come close to exposing their friends as spies but keep getting drugged and find themselves waking up halfway to Vegas in a flash car. At first it was very irritating to think the writers weren't going to have those characters realize the truth, but then the episode did a good job making it clear they weren't so easily put off the scent—resulting in a Groundhog Day-style adventure as their efforts kept getting reset to square one thanks to Casey's (Adam Baldwin) Men In Black-style amnesia gas. Unfortunately, this story eventually settled on having Jeff and Lester believing that Chuck and his friends aren't spies after all, which really bothered me until the events of the next episode.

If I'm honest, "... Versus Bo" started to drag after awhile, and I didn't find it a very funny episode (many jokes were ludicrously signposted), but it was entertaining for the most part and had some enjoyable moments. Plus it ended on a great cliffhanger, of sorts, with Chuck kidnapped by Nicholas, forcing Sarah to don the retrieved Intersect-glasses and effectively embrace the spy life she'd almost given up after "one last mission". Incidentally, given the fact Sarah is already physically adept as a character, I thought the stunt coordinators did an incredible job making us realise that "Intersect-Sarah" is practically a martial arts superhero. It certainly won't be easy stopping her from getting her husband back in one piece...

written by Kristin Newman / directed by Jeremiah Chechik / 13 January 2012 / NBC

Indeed, "Chuck Versus The Bullet Train" took less than 10 minutes until Sarah had rescued Chuck from the titular mode of Japanese transport, before Quinn could force him to work on creating another stable version of the Intersect. (I guess he doesn't have a lab in the US?) This was another variation on things we've seen Chuck do before, with most of the adventure taking place in the one location, but it was a really good example of Under Siege 2 in the Chuck universe. They even included unique opening titles, setting the episode up as a cheesy B-movie thriller aboard a high-speed train, and on that level this episode really worked.

Even better, the ongoing subplot with Jeff and Lester finally resolved after so much fooling around, with Casey forced to reveal their secrets when the two Buy More employees became the only hope of getting his daughter Alex (Mekenna Melvin) back safely from two hired goons. I'm relieved the writers have decided to go down this route, if only because it was getting really tiresome having them discover Chuck's secret and almost instantly have their memories erased multiple times.

As an episode showcasing Sarah as the Intersect, it was also a lot of fun seeing her operating on that level, with more very impressive fight sequences, and the inbuilt jeopardy that the Intersect essentially destroys most peoples minds (some people quicker than others, evidently!) gave the episode some welcome stakes. However, one problem with Chuck has always been its reluctance to go through with anything irreversible tragic, so it was hard to really feel that anyone was in danger here—be it Chuck, Sarah, Casey (when he was blackmailed into helping Quinn), or Alex.

As if to combat that fact, I liked how this episode instead ended with Sarah literally splitting from Chuck (in separate parts of the bullet train) and having her memories erased by Quinn, who's now convinced her she's an agent tasked with killing the husband she doesn't remember. While it's still obvious Sarah will get her memories back at some point, it should make for an interesting wrinkle for the young couple... in a season that's been all about them chasing the perfect ending that just doesn't want to come true. Certainly not without a fight, anyway.

written by Nicholas Wootton / directed by Buzz Feitshans IV / 20 January 2012 / NBC

CHUCK, 5.9 – "Chuck Versus the Kept Man"

The great thing about final seasons is that things rapidly progress and are noticeably reaching crescendos, hopefully with the emotional weight that years of storytelling brings with it. In fact, as a TV show, Chuck's probably been helped by the fact it's threatened with cancellation so often, because the writers have been forced to tinker with the show in creative ways. Would Chuck and Sarah be an item now if the mainstream US audience had really taken to them? Anyway, because this is almost definitely the last season, the writers don't have to rush the ending with a flurry of game-changing ideas to encourage another season, they can implement them in a satisfying way throughout the year. In "Chuck Versus The Kept Man", Casey (Adam Baldwin) admitted his feelings for Gertrud (Carrie-Anne Moss), Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) had a pregnancy scare (surely a precursor to a happier result in the finale), and Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vik Sahay) finally discovered their Buy More colleagues are secret spies.

The latter is a particular big moment for Chuck, really, as those characters are the only remaining ones who don't realise Chuck has a secret life, with the exception of Big Mike. The way they uncovered the truth even made some sense to me, given that Jeff's no longer mentally incapable and is intelligent enough to have noticed the strange comings and goings. (Although I have no idea how he could have known about the Intersect, according to his board of clues and connections.) But allowing for the usual silliness, this subplot was great fun, as Morgan (Joshua Gomez) realised his employees are getting close to blowing their cover and put them off the scent by getting Devon (Ryan McPartlin) to pose as "the spy" in their midst. (It seems to be a running theme that Devon gets to play a James Bond role this year!) Unfortunately, Morgan's plan didn't quite work, meaning Jeff and Lester have clapped eyes on Castle for themselves, so some explaining needs to be done. Maybe Chuck will manage to convince them they were hallucinating due to paint fumes, now they've been K.O'd by a tranq dart after peering through a fake wall, but I hope not. It could be huge fun to see how these characters will need to be coddled into not sabotaging Carmichael Industries, or wanting to go on missions like eager pups.

The main storyline this week wasn't very interesting, being just another variation on the evil arms dealer who needs to be stopped idea the show's done numerous times before. It was just a template to hang a lot of good character stuff from; particularly the idea that spies can be caring people, which becomes Chuck's new mantra for their business, and fed directly into Casey's story because he's the hard-faced ex-CIA agent who doesn't usually have time for affairs of the heart. But here he came to see that Gretchen's his dream woman (sexy, capable, like-minded), and even mellowed enough to wear a soft cashmere sweater and watch Downton Abbey with his daughter Alex (Mekenna Melvin)... instead of go on a dangerous two-month trip to Dresden.

And while Chuck's already a more emotionally open person, we learned he's not quite as synced to Sarah as he believes himself to be, because he never picked up on the obvious signals that Sarah believes she might be pregnant. Interesting to see this this pregnancy idea raised at last (I've been expecting it for awhile), and even though the test was negative I'm willing to bet the next one won't be. It's just a tricky thing because the writers can't tackle Sarah's pregnancy as realistically, time-wise, as they did for Ellie a few seasons ago. My guess is the show will announce her pregnancy in the next few weeks, and we'll have some kind of jump forward in time during the series finale... to Chuck, Sarah and their baby living together in a beautiful home.

Second of Strahotness: cool at the pool

It was also fun to see some nods to the show's tongue-in-cheek treatment of women on the show, with Casey being the one asked to wear a sexy bathing suit by Gertrude (although we never saw it), and the hilarious sight of Lester undercover as a woman with black wig and high heels. Sarah even vocalised her disdain about always being the one asked to wear saucy costumes on missions, which was a neat touch. But still, it's a shame the episode didn't go further with what it was raising here, because "... Versus The Kept Man" was still an episode where Yvonne Strahovski appeared in a slow-motion pool side sequence, and the boys got away with wearing gowns. Not that I'm complaining, but I do worry the show's less keen to give its female fans some eye-candy moments.

Overall, this was yet another very enjoyable episode that overcame a dull plot with great character development and many amusing sequences focusing on the cast. Carrie-Anne Moss continues to be the show's best recurring guest-star since Scott Bakula, and as the show races towards its climax I feel confident that Chuck will end having produced a season I'd compare favourably to seasons 2 and 3.

Asides

• That was British stand-up comedian Jim Tavare playing the bald English villain in the teaser, which was rather strange to see from my perspective. If you're not aware of his work, watch this.
• Loved the Downton Abbey shout-outs here. That UK drama really appears to have entered the American consciousness at this point.

written by Craig DiGregorio & Phil Klemmer / directed by Fred Toye / 6 January 2012 / NBC

CHUCK, 5.8 - "Chuck Versus the Baby"

Another terrific episode of what's quickly becoming one of Chuck's best seasons, which is a great turnaround after the lacklustre fourth. "Chuck Versus The Baby" put the spotlight on Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) and explained more of her character's back-story, specifically in the period after she'd joined the CIA and before she agreed to become Chuck's (Zachary Levi) handler for Director Graham (Tony Todd). It was also another brilliant showcase of Strahovski's athleticism and screen charisma, making this something of a spiritual sequel to "... Versus Phase Three" (where Sarah did everything in her power to rescue Chuck single-handed in southeast Asia.)

This time, flashbacks to Budapast five years ago revealed that Sarah was part of an operation with handler Ryker (Tim DeKay) to retrieve a "package", which turns out to be a baby girl who's heir to a dead family's fortune and the only thing standing in the way of Ryker getting his hands on that money. Understandably upset about this turn of events, Sarah took it upon herself to kill Ryker and smuggle the baby to safety—namely her mother's (Cheryl Ladd) home. However, now it appears that Ryker survived his gunshot and he's back with a plan to make Sarah give up the location of the now five-year-old heir, and Sarah can't let Chuck or Casey (Adam Baldwin) know the full details without endangering their lives.

Much of this story doesn't make sense when you really stop to think about it, but watertight plots with robust motives aren't really Chuck's strong suit. The point is, this episode did a great job explaining how Sarah's been changed for the better by meeting Chuck—as she was once a loner from a dysfunctional family who became a ruthless killer for the government, but now has a loving husband, friends, and the potential to lead a very happy and normal life. In reuniting with her mother (whose absence from the show till now finally makes some sense) and meeting her "sister" Molly for the first time, she's even healed old wounds and isn't quite so reliant on Chuck's extended family. If Gary Cole can be persuaded to return as Sarah's conman father before the season's done, I'll be overjoyed.

I'm astonished Chuck hasn't featured many Sarah-centric episodes over its five years, because they're always a season highlight. Maybe their rareness is part of the appeal, because Sarah and her history aren't as overexposed as Chuck's own. It was also a huge relief that they made such a brilliant casting decision, with ex-Charlie's Angels star Cheryl Ladd being the ideal person to play Sarah Walker's mother. She has a resemblance to Strahovski and is famous for playing a character that was effectively the '70s Sarah Walker, plus she can act—which is a skill poor Linda Hamilton appears to have lost, from what we saw of her as Chuck's sourpuss mom last year. I hope this isn't the last we've seen of Ladd.

The subplots this week were okay, and fortunately improves as the story progressed. At first the idea of "couple therapy" over a board game played in Castle wasn't very appealing, but somehow the actors made it work. I find it quite amusing that Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Devon (Ryan McPartlin) get such a thrill by pretending to be spies, here play-acting an "interrogation" with Devon doing a terrible British accent. And while I'm not the biggest fan of Morgan (Joshua Gomez) and Alex (Mekenna Melvin) as a couple, because it feels even more unlikely than Chuck/Sarah ever did, I'm glad they've got back together so we can finally move on.

Overall, "... Versus The Baby" was a really great episode and again served as evidence that, if there's any justice in this world, Yvonne Strahovski will get the chance to headline an action-packed TV series of her own after Chuck ends. I was also pleased the story didn't decide to explain that Sarah herself once gave birth to a daughter, whom she gave up to focus on her career, if only because that was the more cliched choice. Above all, this episode highlighted beautifully just how far Sarah's developed as a person, even if a sizable chunk of the changes have been hidden from us. But it's hours like this that help us see why Sarah's so in love with Chuck, because it runs much deeper than just having found a nice guy who makes her laugh and is loyal as a puppy. He's allowed her to blossom as a person and is giving her the happy family she was denied herself.

Asides

• Tim DeKay co-stars with Matthew Bomer on White Collar, who previously starred as Bryce Larkin in the first three seasons of Chuck.
• If Sarah's sister is still the heir to a massive fortune in Budapest, it must surely be feasible the Walker family can get their hands on that money? Speaking of fortunes, why hasn't Chuck been given the frozen Volkoff millions back, now that mess with Decker has been sorted out?
• I'm also happy that Chuck and Sarah don't want to go back to being CIA spies, as that really did feel like a backwards step for this final season. I'm enjoying the independent spirit of Carmichael Industries a lot more, and it helps gives the Buy More some relevance.
• The opening action sequence with Sarah shooting dead a house full of bad guys, later while carrying baby Molly with her, was probably in homage to John Woo's Hard Boiled—where Chow Yun Fat does pretty much the same thing in a hospital. The table-top gunfight was also similarity to a scene in The Crow.
• They didn't mention the name of Sarah's mother, which is probably intentional because they've also never revealed what Sarah's maiden name is! I'm not sure that's a mystery anyone's intrigued by, so why all the continued secrecy? Is it a really embarrassing name, being saved for a joke in the finale?

written by Rafe Judkins & Lauren LeFranc / directed by Matt Barber / 30 December 2011 / NBC

Dan's 10 Disappointing TV Shows of 2011

Let's get one thing straight: this isn't a list of the Top 10 Worst TV Shows of 2011, although many of the following programmes would definitely appear on one. I just think it's too easy to throw together 10 terrible television shows, but the truth is I don't tend to watch the really awful stuff for longer than a few episodes.

Instead, my list is about the TV shows that were just about good enough to keep you watching, or you felt obliged to stick with out of loyalty to the brand, genre, or talent involved.... but were nevertheless very disappointing. Fact is, I watched all the episodes of everything on this list, so on some level you could say they were a success, but that's not to say I enjoyed most of what I saw.

I hope that explains my thinking behind some of the picks you don't agree with here, or are perhaps surprised by. The same overall rules apply as before, especially regarding how shows that premiered in 2010 can be counted if they broadcast 50% of their episodes in 2011.

And now, here are my most Disappointing TV Shows of this year...

10. American Horror Story

(Season 1) I grew to strangely enjoy this show, as you "enjoy" picking at a thick scab. From the creative minds of Ryan Murphy and Bryan Falchuk (Nip/Tuck, Glee), this was a "haunted house" movie stretched to 12 episodes, about the dysfunctional Harmon family moving into a Los Angeles home full of frightening ghosts from the building's notorious past. It contained some neat ideas (like how some ghosts are so corporeal they interact with the living as "real people"), and Jessica Lange's performance was brilliant as bonkers neighbour Constance. But the problem with AHS is that it had no sense of self-discipline, the story felt half-improved, some of the actors didn't have the right approach to the material (especially Connie Britton), and a great deal of its better ideas were stolen from movies. (The show even used music from Psycho and Bram Stoker's Dracula!) Okay, it was by design and thus intended to be a loving confection of tropes, but for me it came across as desperate. (random reviews) FX / FX UK

9. The Killing

(Season 1) There are far worse shows around, but The Killing is on this list because of how disappointing it became. What's extraordinary is that it had the best pilot of 2011, by some margin, and I was engrossed for the first five weeks. Based on the Danish original (which is required viewing for Guardian readers here in the UK), all American showrunner Veena Sud had to do was Americanise where appropriate and condense the 20-episode foreign season into half that time Instead, she flushed away many people's goodwill by revealing a "twist" that meant half the season had been a colossal waste of our time, and then gave us a finale that didn't bother answering the "Who Killed Rosie Larsen?" question. That would have been defensible, had we not been led to believe there would be an answer this year, as most people only kept watching past episode 7 for an answer that never came. A crying shame, because the production on The Killing was exemplary, with a brilliant atmosphere (perpetual rain, overcast skies) and thrumming soundtrack. But they should have kept their eyes on the story and were wrong to mislead the audience to this extent. (review archive) AMC / CHANNEL 4

8. Chuck

(Season 4) The little show that would have been cancelled halfway through season 2, at any other time in NBC's history. It's managed to scratch out five seasons, but the fourth is where it started to lose much of its curious appeal. This is primarily because its story arcs didn't work for me, especially the annoying "search for Chuck's long-lost mom" storyline that soaked up so much time. As "Mama Bartowski", Linda Hamilton (Terminator 2) reminded us why her career tanked in the mid-'90s, bringing zero humour and scant charisma to an underwritten role. She was simply there because of her association with a geeky franchise, allowing the writers to do some cute Terminator in-jokes. Ex-007 Timothy Dalton fared better as a scene-chewing Russian super-villain, but even he outstayed his welcome. A poor year of a show that probably deserved the axe this summer, although the current fifth season has been much better... (review archive) NBC / SKY LIVING

7. Glee

(Season 2) If we're honest, Glee started to lose itself as early as mid-season 1 after its winter hiatus, but season 2 is where I lost patience. Overstuffed with (mostly weak) pop songs, it became clear the three writer-producers had little idea what to do with their talented cast. Beyond the storyline with Kurt and his move to the Dalton Academy, it was a case of random romantic match-ups (which were on/off more times than a light switch) and far too many celebrity guest stars. Gwyneth Paltrow had a brilliant first appearance (singing Cee Lo Green's "Forget You"), but bringing her back twice didn't work. The season also gave us too many "themed episodes", from Britney Spears to Rocky Horror. What was once a joyful show that made you giggle and hum along to cheery music became a one-trick pony you wanted to see put down. The most annoying thing is that I'm still watching Glee today, halfway through the even worse third season. I really have no excuse, beyond masochism and an unhealthy fascination with dancer Heather Morris. (random reviews FOX / E4

6. Episodes

(Season 1) A satire on TV production, specifically when hit British comedies get remade into terrible US remakes, Episodes was a leaden and unfunny misfire on most levels. There were performances from Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig (as a British screenwriting couple trying to keep their principles in the face of adversity), with a fairly amusing turn from Friends' Matt Le Blanc playing "himself", but it simply wasn't enjoyable to watch all the way through. It limped along after a poor start, with perhaps two episodes that actually rose to an acceptable quality level, which isn't enough. Given the talent involved and subject-matter that felt like it could have something to say about Anglo-American cultural differences, Episodes was one of this year's bigger disappointments to me. A comedy that had its handful of targets in mind, and bludgeoned them over and over, week after week... (review archive) BBC2 / SHOWTIME

5. Dexter

(Season 6) It's a huge shame to see Dexter appear on this ignoble list, as a few short years ago it was a regular in my Best Shows list, but season 6 was the year when the wheels finally came off Showtime's top-rated series. There have been warning signs for awhile now, notably during the ragged fifth season, but this year was a particularly bad run. Despite the potential of delving into a religious theme, the writers lost sight of what made the show so great in its heyday, and countless mistakes amassed throughout its run. The greatest sin being a twist tardily revealed weeks after most fans had guessed it, and a peculiar decision to have Deb suddenly find her adopted brother sexually attractive. Throw in the show's continuing problems in giving its extended cast anything worthwhile to do (just kill a few already!), and the misjudged casting of Colin Hanks as the season's villain (who's no Jimmy Smits, let alone a John Lithgow), and Dexter simply ran aground under a weight of shit. The only hope is knowing the show now has an end-date of 2013, so the writers can work towards a definite conclusion. Trouble is, can its current writing staff pull something off that fans will enjoy? (review archive) SHOWTIME

4. Primeval

(Series 4 & 5) This year we had a double-dose of Primeval, because digital partner Watch showed series 5 months after ITV finished series 4, as they were filmed back-to-back. It was an unexpected return of a show ITV axed because of costs, with two new regular characters along for the ride, but this was a very inauspicious year. Primeval has rarely been good, but it can be fun if you accept its flaws and formulas. I just don't think it has anything left to offer anyone, because the new characters were a washout (especially tedious Irish "action man" Matt), and the fifth series in particular was a big waste of time until a half-decent finale. It's a show that has moments to enjoy, but it's reached a point where I'm struggling to stay interested on a character or storytelling level—or even in a superficial "ooh, dinosaurs" way, to be frank. (review archive) ITV1 / WATCH / BBC AMERICA

3. Outcasts

It had a familiar yet appealing premise, an ambitious production filming in South Africa, with some good actors involved, but Outcasts failed to live up to expectations. SF nerds took great delight in tearing the show's setup apart, and none of the characters left any impression (apart from the excellent Liam Cunningham). It didn't help that Jamie Bamber's character was killed off in the first episode, or that so much of the story and twists felt analogous to things we've seen done better in Lost, Battlestar Galactica and Solaris recently. I have an appetite for intelligent SF mysteries with a measured pace and emphasis on character, but Outcasts just wasn't any fun and almost crawled through its hours. However, it did inspire this blog's busiest article in many years! (review archive) BBC1 / BBC AMERICA

2. Life's Too Short

(Series 1) The sitcom that appears to prove The Office's Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are creatively bankrupt, Life's Too Short distilled everything they've done before (a mockumentary format poking fun at a disabled character, with meta-jokes and celebrity cameos) but did nothing new or interesting with those ingredients. For half the seven episodes, it didn't even feel like a Warwick Davis-starring sitcom, as so much was an excuse to shoehorn in Gervais, Merchant and a guest-star-of-the-week. Things improved slightly for the last three episodes, once the storyline with Warwick's divorce became a bigger focus, but my goodwill was exhausted by then. It just wasn't insightful or clever, as everything here had been done better in Extras, and poor Warwick was forced to play himself-doing-a-David-Brent impersonation. A sore disappointment from two writers who used to demand only the best, but are now happy to devise stupid shows for their friends (see also Karl Pilkington's An Idiot Abroad). (review archive) BBC2

1. Torchwood: Miracle Day

While there were concerns about "Americanizing" Torchwood when Russell T. Davies announced those plans, I don't think any fan anticipated the debacle that Miracle Day became. It still had its creator at the helm, who managed to recruit a writing staff of people who'd worked on some impressive shows (Buffy, House, Battlestar Galactica, X Files, Breaking Bad), and it wisely refused to tone down the sex/violence. In fact, quite a few people believed this could be the making of Torchwood because it had more money to play with, had a very ambitious high-concept story (everyone on the planet suddenly stops dying for an unexplained reason), and was reprising its very successful Children Of Earth miniseries format.

Unfortunately, Miracle Day fell flat on its face after a decent start. Once the novelty of its idea had worn off by episode 4, it became clear just how irritating the new American characters were (especially belligerent dickhead Rex Matheson), they made the godawful mistake of trying to make audiences sympathise with a child-killing paedophile (then had no idea what to do with Bill Pullman's slimy character halfway through), dandy hero Jack Harkness had nothing to do until two-thirds into the story, Gwen Cooper was as irksomely forthright as ever, there were no aliens, and the ultimate explanation for the titular "miracle" was extremely silly and vaguely explained. I can't think of any other show that so spectacularly flopped after such a previous high (although Children Of Earth is somewhat overrated). It even made committed fans fall out of love with the show! I don't think anyone would care if Torchwood never came back now, as Miracle Day appeared to kill a promising franchise. How ironic. (review archive) STARZ/ BBC1

CHUCK, 5.7 – "Chuck Versus the Santa Suit"

Not a particularly festive offering this year, despite the appearance of the titular Santa suit and some elf costumes, but a wonderful follow-up to season 3's finale where Chuck (Zachary Levi) saved Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) from evil CIA spook Daniel Shaw (Brandon Routh), whom it's revealed has masterminded recent events from his jail cell. Routh's performance wasn't to everyone's taste because he has a tendency to act wooden occasionally, but he's much better playing the straight-forward bad guy. And when you stop to really think about it, Shaw's character and rich history (Sarah killed Shaw's wife when she was a rookie, he was Chuck's love-rival for awhile, he eventually murdered Chuck's father), means he's easily the show's most complex, despicable villain. I had fun with the likes of hammy Volkoff in season 4, but Shaw is less of a Bond villain pastiche, which I prefer, and his return here was handled very well.

The story was ultimately very simple: Shaw escaped from jail after The Omen virus disabled the security, he captured Sarah at Castle (although not with a rather good fight sequence), and held her to ransom with the demand that Chuck deliver a CIA device he needs to activate The Omen virus once it's finished spreading around the world. Chuck naturally had a plan to try and save his wife, which he put into action, but almost every step of the way it was hard to see how Chuck, Casey (Adam Baldwin) and Morgan (Joshua Gomez) could stop Shaw—especially as Shaw still has the only surviving Intersect stuck in his head. (Why did the authorities choose to leave that in the mind of a convicted criminal, knowing they have a means to erase it?)

"Chuck Versus The Santa Suit" boiled down to a high-stakes rescue mission, then, but it was incredibly enjoyable and didn't suffer from any slack or disappointing subplots. The way Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vik Sahay) were involved, bribed to help decode The Omen virus, worked really well, and even Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) got a lovely moment to avenge the death of her father. It was also particularly fun to notice the many allusions to Superman II, here—with Chuck the powerless Clark Kent figure, to Shaw's powerful General Zod. Castle even become a kind of Fortress Of Solitude, after Shaw lowered the temperature to sub-zero, and Chuck ultimately defeated Shaw by tricking him into removing his own super-powers—which was very much how Superman II played out. The fact Routh once played Superman probably factored into writer Amanda Kate Shuman's thinking here, and it's great when Chuck finds way to pay homage to some "geek classics" without being so on-the-nose about it.

Ultimately, episodes like this work because the villain's good and shared a history with the heroes that hasn't been manufactured just to serve the one episode. As the main story arc of season 3, Shaw's return really meant something here, and having it revealed that Shaw's been pulling strings behind-the-scenes since late-season 4 (even recruiting Decker, by blackmailing him) was a nice touch. And it seems Shaw's role may not be over yet, as the epilogue had him meeting with Sarah from behind bars and alluding to the fact she has a baby. I've always wondered if the show would end with Sarah having a baby with Chuck, but it always felt unlikely they'd somehow put aside so many episodes with Sarah being pregnant on-screen... so revealing that she may already be the mother of a son/daughter from a previous relationship makes sense. I smell an adoption on the horizon before this season's out.

Overall, "... Versus The Santa Suit" was the best episode of season 5 so far, and one of the best 10 episodes of the past few years. I wanted nothing more than Chuck to rediscover itself in the final season (after a largely disappointing fourth year) and that appears to be happening. It's a little disappointing that so many of season 5's fresh changes (Morgan having the Intersect, the gang not being part of the CIA) have all been reneged on by episode 7, but hopefully that won't be too much of a problem going forward. We'll have to see what the remaining episodes bring, before we decide if returning the show to the status quo was a good idea or not. Will the Intersect be back before too long, too? Just don't make Jeff dumb again, please.

Asides

• A fun cameo from comic-book legend Stan Lee, playing himself, who's revealed to be a CIA agent. That joke reminds me of Men In Black, which likewise had celebrities as undercover agents.
• Subway. The only produce placement I can stand to bear on American shows, knowing the support they've given Chuck financially.

written by Amanda Kate Shuman / directed by Peter Lauer / 23 December 2011 / NBC

CHUCK, 5.6 – "Chuck Versus the Curse"

It was fun to see Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Devon (Ryan McPartlin) take some of the spotlight for a change, as those characters have always felt like garnish to me. Having them mistaken as Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) by the CIA, who are under orders to take the Bartowski's into custody, made for an entertaining subplot in "Chuck Versus The Curse". Lancaster and McPartlin have good chemistry together, and it was funny seeing their dinner date "spy fantasy" turn very real, and for them to become deeply embroiled in this week's episode. Naturally, all the thrills, danger and adventure proved to be quite the turn-on, so their date night out was a big success. It's a shame this episode attempted to do other things simultaneously, because most of the other subplots weren't anywhere near as pleasurable.

The biggest problem with "... Versus The Curse" was how it resolved what appeared to be the start of a long arc last week, with the exciting prospect of the team on the run brushed under the carpet in an hour. Was it really necessary to bring so much of last week's developments to an end the very next week? We still have the situation with The Omen computer virus (which has now been released worldwide, attacking every computer), and the suggestion that someone's going after Chuck specifically who's above General Beckman's (Bonita Fiedericy) pay grade, but I would have preferred a few more weeks to let more of the storyline develop from "... Versus The Hack Off". Maybe that's the price you pay for the producers only getting a half-season order to wrap the show up.

The weakest storyline involved Morgan (Joshua Gomez), who was mostly confined to his ex-girlfriend Alex's (Mekenna Melvin) house, tasked to get Chuck's P.A.N.T.S ("Personal Artifacts Never To Share"). A mostly pointless exercise that didn't really go anywhere, but was intended to get Morgan and Alex back on speaking terms after their acrimonious break-up. (The spy game seems to be the world's best aphrodisiac a couple could ask for on Chuck, doesn't it.)

Second of Strahotness: forgiveness face

Not as bad, but still problematic, was the idea of Chuck believing his family's cursed and ultimately delivering The Omen into enemy hands because of his overused Achilles Heel (the protective feelings towards his family). There have also been a very large number of episodes since season 3 where the Chuck/Sarah relationship is put under strain by the demands of their spy life, and it's lost any impact it once had.

This week's guest-star villain Robin Cunnings (Rebecca Romijin) also failed to make an impression, as the only notable thing about the statuesque Cunnings was her love of "The Toy" (an electrical torture device, settle down). It's always a disappointment when Chuck casts a famous face, but doesn't have a good character for them to play, just a limp archetype. The dialogue was also very clichéd for Cunnings, which made Romijin give a performance that was more tedious than dramatic or imposing.

Overall, I really wish this episode had the courage of its convictions and had focused exclusively on Ellie and Devon's misadventure together. That aspect of "... Versus The Curse" worked nicely and gave two underused actors something different and fun to tackle. But the story was cluttered with less endearing subplots, and in general this episode wound up feeling like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over last week's "... Versus The Hack Off". I was really excited about where Chuck could go last week, but now I'm back to questioning the writers' masterplan. I just hope the release of the devastating Omen virus is handled with some degree of plausibility, and whoever's been released from prison as a result of the global technology meltdown is a real surprise.

Asides

• I'm aware that the preview for next week's episode spoiled the surprise of who's been released from prison, so please don't mention it here.
• Do we really accept that Gertrude (Carrie-Anne Moss) left the country so quickly and easily after last week? I hate it when the show has to make excuses for the unavailability of a guest-star.
• The CIA's incompetence is truly staggering! Who puts two rogue agents in the backseat of a car with both doors unlocked? (This also appeared to be a continuity error, because we clearly saw the door being locked when Ellie and Devon got inside, yet they were able to just bail out while the car was in motion.)
• Anyone else get uncomfortable when a show like Chuck has scenes implying the heroes tortured a villain for information?
• Would a strip of shirt cloth insulate you from holding a metal hairpin you've jammed into an electric switchboard?

written by Alex Katsnelson / directed by Michael Schultz / 16 December 2011 / NBC

CHUCK, 5.5 – "Chuck Versus the Hack Off"

After a short break, Chuck's final season continues with another really strong episode. A few more like this and season 5 could possibly hold its head high against the show's late-season 2 peak, but we'll have to see if the writers can keep the momentum going. "Chuck Versus The Hack Off" was a great deal of fun, with Casey (Adam Baldwin) now in prison and the CIA agent who him there, Decker (Robert Burgi), asking for Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah's (Yvonne Strahovski) to retrieve a computer supervirus in exchange for their friend's freedom. And after agreeing to the terms of Decker's demands, Carmichael Industries arch-rival Gertrude (Carrie-Anne Moss) came aboard to help, as she's fallen in love with the crotchety spy.

Adding Gertrude to the mix was a masterstroke, because it gave the mission some antagonism that's been missing from the show for awhile. As the characters have evolved and matured over the years, things have perhaps become a little too cosy, so Gertrude's cynicism and frosty nature gave the whole episode some spice. Plus the subplots worked really nicely this week, with Casey discovering he's locked up alongside Lester (Vik Sahay), but surprised that the power-balance isn't in his favour because Lester has the prison's tough guys eating out of his hands because he can provide them with free cable TV and internet. The Buy More storyline wasn't especially strong, but I'm so pleased they haven't found a way to turn Jeff (Scott Krinsky) back into a dope, and it was a special treat to have a cameo appearance from Community's Danny Pudi as Lester's replacement "Hin-Jew"—plus an extra surprise that fans of Community will have been tickled by. It's so rare that a TV show managed to keep secrets like this nowadays, which is a shame.

"... Versus The Hack Off" also reminded me of the better episodes of Chuck from its heyday because of how quickly and smartly it moved. You can never take its plots all that seriously, of course, but they just need to feel semi-plausible and contain some degree of logic to work. And the show is always at its best when it has some inventive and amusing locations and mini-missions for the gang to get involved with—so the brief visit to a nudist camp to find the supervirus' creator, who's become a hippie, was a pleasant diversion. (The use of censor-blurred naked bodies was also very funny, and mined for laughs like Austin Powers' own nude scenes.)

Second of Strahotness: baring the flesh

However, I wasn't very convinced that Chuck is suddenly one of the world's most gifted computer hackers, but it was nevertheless rather amusing to see the story blend into a Hackers-esque storyline where Chuck (aka The Piranha) had to prove himself to an underground hacking cell called "The Collective". But is hacking into the Buy More to give everyone free flat-screen TVs more impressive than transferring $0.01c from the federal reserve?

Chuck often has great endings that help smooth over a rough episode, but they worked even better when capping a great episode. The climax here was unexpected in several ways, although I guess we should have guessed that Decker's mission was a setup to turn Chuck into Public Enemy Number 1 for "dealing" in a computer virus. But Gertrude's cold-blooded handling of Decker, placing a bomb on his person and detonating it as she made her escape with Chuck and Sarah was really quite gutsy for a show like this. It also confirmed in my mind how brilliant the addition of Gertrude has been for the show: a love-interest for Casey that works because of good chemistry with the actors, a character who isn't part-joke, and someone who causes a nice tension within the group.

So now we're left with Casey about to be sprung from jail by Morgan (Joshua Gomez), Chuck and Sarah framed by the CIA and on the run as fugitives, and an unexpected gap in the role of season villain that needs to be filled. As someone who grew sorely disappointed with Chuck during season 4, I'm really hoping the show can build on these past few episodes and go out on a high.

Asides

• We're about halfway through this final season, but Chuck actually wrapped production this week. So that's it, the show is over from the perspective of its cast and crew. We can now hope Levi, Baldwin and Strahovski start getting lots of calls from TV/movie people hoping to cast them in projects they haven't had time for with Chuck on-air.
• This episode was directed by star Zachary Levi, which marks his third time behind the camera after "Chuck Versus The Leftovers" and "Chuck Versus The Beard".
• The prison tough guy making trouble for Casey was played by Derek Mears, who plays legendary serial-killer Jason Vorhees in the Friday The 13th reboot.

written by Craig DiGregorio / directed by Zachary Levi / 9 December 2011 / NBC

CHUCK, 5.4 – "Chuck Versus The Business Trip"

I love unexpected surprises. This was probably one of the best episodes Chuck's done in years. For the first time in ages there was enough story, twists, jokes, action and character moments to completely fill 43-minutes. It gave me a warm feeling I haven't felt from the show in a very long time, and intriguingly it occurred in an episode where there was no Intersect to provide some easy thrills. It was just the characters, on a mission that played fair and entertained, ably assisted by subplots that didn't detract, bore or frustrate.

This week, Morgan (Joshua Gomez) had the Intersect removed by a visiting General Beckman (Bonita Fiedericy), as a somewhat implausible measure to prevent him being assassinated by CIA agents under orders to kill him as an unacceptable security leak. Unfortunately, the villainous Agent Decker (Richard Burgi) wasn't so easily dissuaded from orders and a hitman known as "The Viper" was still very much on the hunt. This lead to Chuck (Zachary Levi) posing as "Morgan Grimes" and attending the Buy More's annual National Salesperson of the Year event in beautiful Riverdale, with Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) along to try and lure The Viper out into the open to annul the threat.

I enjoyed a great deal of this episode. Chuck and Sarah enjoying themselves at the Buy More event (where it seems the rest of the company's employees aren't anything like the moronic Burbank branch) was entertaining to me, although the show's definitely covered the idea of two spies exploring a "normal life" before now. But it made sense to me that Sarah would be so taken with making a friend in Buy More employee Jane (Catherine Dent), seeing as the show always has to quickly invents friends and bridesmaids for Sarah because she's socially disadvantaged. It would also have been very easy for the show to give us a whole party full of Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vik Sahay) freaks, but I thought it was more interesting to go the opposite way.

Speaking of the Buy Morons, I'm relieved the show hasn't ignored the events of last week with Jeff—who's now cleared his head of carbon monoxide fumes and is a sensible bookworm that Lester can't tempt into fooling around at work. He even gave Devon (Ryan McPartlin) some intuitive advice about letting Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) return to a full-time role as Clara's mother and ease off being a house-husband. There was even some comedy that worked very well, with Casey (Adam Baldwin) giving Morgan bad advice about repopulating his memory gaps (like beginning a Star Wars marathon with The Phantom Menace) to teach him a lesson over dumping his daughter, before eventually coming around and giving him the Indiana Jones saga (minus the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull).

It's fair to criticize the central mystery of The Viper's identity (which boiled down to two guest stars), but I've seen Chuck do a far worse job with similar setups. And while it's impossible to feel anxious about anyone's safety on this show because Chuck just isn't going to kill one of its four leads, or even severely injure anyone too permanently, I've come to accept that as one of the show's quirks. I'd love Chuck to be a show where the week's villains may actually succeed in killing someone, but such moments are understandably reserved for special occasions (like the memorable murder of Chuck's dad). But I've made my peace with this, because Chuck's in the mould of '80s TV shows where the heroes were likewise protected from harm.

Second of Strahotness: eyes ahead, Chuck!

But even if you didn't enjoy what "Chuck Versus The Business Trip" was doing for the majority of the episode, I can't see anyone disliking the final ten minutes. It's here that Decker gave the order for the exposed Viper to continue going after the team (with the exception of Chuck and Sarah), before she was ruthlessly and unexpectedly assassinated by Casey, together with all her accomplices. After an episode spent musing on how the bad guys rarely pose a genuine threat to the good guys, it was as if writer Kristin Newman wanted to prove that Chuck could still have a certain amount of grit. The last act's dinner party scene was also great, with practically every character laughing and joking at a relaxed social occasion, with half the group keeping secrets (Sarah knowing she sent Casey to kill people, Casey knowing the deed was done, Devon giving up his paternity leave to please his wife, lovebirds Morgan and Alex on their recent split)

So now Casey's been arrested by Decker's men for murder, and I don't see how they'll get out of that tight spot. He really did murder a handful of CIA agents, and I'm guessing there's evidence for that. Are we headed towards a murder trial? Will Casey be forced on the run at some point? I'm guessing they'll have to prove that Decker and The Viper are rogue government agents somehow, to receive a pardon?

Overall, "... Versus The Business Trip" felt more like an old-school episode of Chuck to me. It had some faults and problems, but much of that's down to the fact Chuck's been around so long we can predict most of its moves, or remember instances when the show did something similar in a better way. I'm just glad this episode appears to have really punched season 5 up a gear, now that Carmichael Industries has no Intersect to rely on, and one of their team's just been arrested for murder. Decker is also going to be a tough season villain to beat, seeing as he's a "good guy" and is in many ways untouchable.

written by Kristin Newman / directed by Allan Kroeker / 18 November 2011 / NBC