Chuck is an emotional wreck of a human being, and in this two-episode premiere, he was put through the wringer … again. Luckily, he also chose to put Sarah through some turmoil of her own. In fact, both episodes were simply stuffed to the brim with pining and whining and wooing and cooing.
Luckily, Chuck has always been masterful at balancing heavy-duty spy action, loopy romance and wacky comedy. Really, it’s unlike anything else on television, and my TV is a much brighter place for its return. I miss Anna, though. Boo!
The premiere episode had some work to do in setting up the status quo of the new season. After all, Chuck and Morgan were neither one working at the Buy More, Big Mike was gone, Emmett was running it like a tyrant and Chuck “knows kung fu.” The writers could have easily written in a big old “reset” button when they found out the third season was a go, but instead they went for a smaller one.
They did get Chuck and Morgan back at the Buy More, along with Big Mike, but they let Chuck get his own apartment (with Morgan), while keeping Ellie and Devon in the mix as neighbors — they moved across the courtyard to an open apartment.
There were some great comedic moments after Chuck 2.0 got fired by General Beckman for being “too emotional.” Apparently his emotions interfere with his ability to access abilities from the Intersect 2.0 he downloaded in last season’s finale. And most of those emotions have to do with Sarah.
When he was lying on the couch covered in beard and cheese balls, I thought two things. One: my wife loves cheese balls and can’t find any good ones around here. Two: why is the Buy More the place to go for cheeseballs? Do we go to Best Buy for Doritos now?
I’m also still not sure how Morgan was able to set up an apartment in the multimedia room in the Buy More right under Emmett’s nose. Speaking of which, I was absolutely thrilled to see Tony Hale back in the role as the new boss of the Buy More. He’s just so deliciously evil.
But, you see, I like him as this evil foil, which means I was absolutely caught off guard when Javier shot him through the eye. Emmett is dead. As in dead, way dead. “No more Mr. Nice Spy” indeed, Chuck. You’re usually not nearly that dark. Do I need to worry about the lives of any of the other cast members now? Maybe not Morgan, Ellie or any of the regulars, but what about Jeffster? Big Mike?
All of that was part of that little reset button that put Chuck, Morgan and Big Mike into familiar territory, though. And maybe it was just to prove that if Chuck is wanting to get more involved in this spy world, that raises the danger and the stakes tremendously for those who are part of his world.
Chuck managed to get himself pulled into the middle of a spy operation in his lovelorn pursuit of Sarah, but at the same time manages to be somewhat helpful to the case, securing an exclusive Ring cellphone. During this process, we got to see how unreliable this 2.0 business is going to be.
They didn’t cover, however, how and when the new abilities he picks up disappear. How long does he know kung fu, or how to play the guitar? Also, if he needs to be in control of his emotions to access these abilities, then why did his fear that Javier would assault Sarah trigger them?
The second episode was a more traditional installment of what the new Chuck will be. It was a new case, involving the return of Carina, Sarah’s best friend and a fellow spy. Again, Chuck manages to work his way into the mission, and ultimately involves Sarah and Casey as well.
And, as usual, no matter how much you train him, Chuck is going to want to talk about his feelings with Sarah in the middle of the missions. It’s a huge tactical liability, but a lot of fun to watch the train wreck unfold. They always manage to get out of it after all.
Kudos to Morgan for standing up to Carina’s mark Karl — she’s infiltrated his inner circle and is now his “fiance” — even if it ultimately proved fruitless in the fight. The important thing is he stood up to Karl as well as Carina, ultimately telling her to just leave. The rejection turned her on, and our man Morgan got him some!
Chuck, on the other hand, did manage to save the mission and make the smart move with nary an Intersect flash in sight. He uses his intelligence and those damned emotions to distract first Karl’s henchmen and then Karl himself enough that Carina can free herself. It’s this kind of crazy complicated shenanigans that make Chuck a uniquely awesome experience on TV.
Other fun bits:
Clacked by Jason Hughes 
on Jan 11, 2010 @ 08:25 EST5EDT
I just hopped on the Chuck train two weeks ago, and I’m really glad I caught up in time, these were two fun episodes. I was hoping that Jeff would have to down like three of those spiked drinks before he got knocked out, but not really a big deal.
As far as emotions go with the intersect, I feel they can inhibit and ignite flashes. When there’s just a spy mission and he has personal things on his mind, emotions will inhibit. But when someone he cares about is depending on his flashes, those emotions will help him focus and will bring about a flash.
I’m happy “Chuck” is back! My jaw hit the floor when Emmett got killed. I didn’t expect Tony Hale to stay around forever since “Big Mike” was still in the opening credits and Hale just got an “and” before his name under the guest stars, but I didn’t expect his demise to come so swiftly. It was a great shocker of a moment.
Nice start into season 3.
Emmett taunts Chuck and barely gets away with it. But now he took a job at largemart, the synonym for getting killed. He’ll be missed. I always flash back to the power outage when he was crawling on the floor. “WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!!”
Nice to see Carina again. And you’re right, watching both Sarah and Carina get dressed for the mission was one of the highlights.
What was up with Casey’s mini-gun. It shoots like a thousand rounds a minute and you see only two lousy bullet holes in Javiers chest.
Looking forward to some strange situations in Chuck’s new bachelor pad and the most clumsy love story ever. Thank God, CHUCK is back!
Due to lack of original programming, I watched the only thing that popped up as new in the last couple of days. This after having been burned by Chuck at least five to fifteen times in the past. I’m so glad I have a fast forward button on my remote which allowed me to skip everything that had “Buy More” in it. I hate those bunch of morons and their stupid antics, the one thing I caught was that the former two bosses were booted from the show. Good riddance.
Which leaves me with the so called “plot” of this episode. So let me get this straight: Chuck finally goes 2.0. He “knows Kung Fu”, no matter how much physical abilities are dependant on actual muscles – even if I knew how to do a backflip, I’m almost certain my bodyweight and lack of leg muscles would prevent me from doing one. Anyway, he is now the candidate for super-spy. But all of a sudden the girl of his dreams wants him to leave it all and go away with her. Or at least something of the sort. He drops her like a hot coal, tries to become full fledged 2.0 instead. For what? For her? She made it clear she wanted the Chuck she knew no matter what, and he tries to become something HE thinks she likes more – a spy, something better. Which basically underlines that he’s not interested at least a little bit in what she wants, but rather what he thinks she wants, so he can feel better about himself. And once it all goes bust – he starts pining again. I think that’s all this guy can do. He’s not a Techie, he’s not a programmer, he’s not a spy – he’s a self indulged whiny little moron.
But let’s get back on track – so he doesn’t flash because he’s so emotional. You don’t say. And the way his superiors try to keep his emotions in check is sticking him with the girl he’s been pining for a couple of months about. Way to go. Oh and of course he needs to “train” with his buddy. What again does he need to train? Flashing? I thought the show made it clear that all his abilities depend ONLY on him flashing. What is he supposed to train for? Flashing on command. That’s all. But instead he gets a bunch of boxing gloves and for the fith time in a row the audience is supposed to marvel at the sheer happenstance of him flashing at the right moment.
Is this all the show’s going to be? “Haha funny” when he doesn’t flash and gets into a bad situation? Woopee, I lost my pants. Because, you know, all that holds a guy with no ass’ pants up is his belt.
Or the other way round: Yeah, RIGHT ON, FLASH IT BABY, kick the ripped guy straight in the face and he’s out like nothing. Because one hit – and you’re done.
And of course the pining. Oh yeah – more pining.
This show has been and always will be all over the place. Things that happen before a commercial break can be torn down in a millisecond right afterwards. Things that happen on the end of an episode or season won’t mean anything if the show gets picked up for another five minutes, let alone a back 9 or another season. The only thing consistent on the show will be the moronic kindergarten jokes and the infantility of everyone on it. It’s so dumb it hurts. It’s the A-Team of this generation, which could be a good thing for the generation of the under 12 year olds if those were not watching other stuff. The only way I could enjoy this less were if I were forced to watch it all without being able to skip the really braindead parts. “Being all over the place” is the compliment of the century for this mess of a script for an actual season opener.
And yes I know I didn’t have to watch it – I wanted to. Because I just wanted to see what the retarded kids in the writing room came up with to ruin their Matrix-ripped-off “I know Kung Fu” line from last season’s finale.
It’s a shame that stuff like this is on the air while “Journeyman” and “Life” get cancelled. Hell even “Southland” or “Life on Mars” or “Defying Gravity” are better shows than this. Gawd. The sums of money I would give to see Adam Baldwin in more episodes of “Firefly” but instead he has to dumb himself down to do crap like this.
And please spare me the “There actually are people who like this show” BS. I know that. Otherwise it wouldn’t be on the air.
Way to stay positive, Sebastian :) I think I could say “just don’t watch it,” but its another cliche I’m sure you’d dismiss. I think “Tongue in cheek” is the whole aura around the show, and if that’s not for you, then its not for you. The Buy More stuff, in particular, is something that may appeal to Americans in particular because of the fusion of corporate America and the urban slacker, but hey, if its not for you, its not for you.
That being said, there WAS a particular Adam Baldwin as Jane quote that came to mind during the Carina/Sarah getting dressed scene.
Yeah I know I know. It’s really the kind of humor I don’t get and I understand there is an appeal to a vast number of people I will never understand because I’m such a rational person who likes… I don’t know, cool things that are actually cool. Everything on Chuck is so “pseudo”. The whole show is like the “Tron” guy.
The problem I simply have is that, written down, the plot for the pilot, on paper, _looks_ like it’s plausible. Imagine all this “Remington Steele” style. Man it would be so great. I would love it to no end if Chuck woudln’t be this whiny little sissy. But we know where high brow shows like “My Own Worst Enemy” end up, don’t we. Let’s just hope that “Human Target” fills the shoes that “Chuck” never will.
My expectations for the new season might have been far too high. I thought the show had gotten stuck in a rut last year, got excited about the Scott Bakula storyline, and was blown away by the finale. It had the typical cool/cheesy action set pieces, and finally gave us major movement on every plot point.
I know that was intensified so it could also serve as a series finale in the event of cancelation, but was hoping they would pick up the narrative where it left off rather than back-peddle. Instead, nearly everything was reset, except for the minor change in living quarters, and the addition of skills to the still uncontrollable informational flashes.
The show’s just as good as it was before, but I was hoping for an improvement, so it was hard to enjoy the first three episodes fully.
As to “raising the danger and stakes” for the innocent bystanders, it was just as dangerous previously when Fulcrum was the main antagonist. But Chuck’s family and the Buy More workers had always existed safely in their little cocoon, where they could be endangered, but never truly harmed. Chuck, as well as the real spies, constantly practiced terrible tradecraft, and the bad guys were always showing up at the Buy More and the apartment complex as a result. The CIA/NSA should have removed Chuck from these environs long ago, but we couldn’t be mad at them, because the civilians never died. Emmett Milbarge’s death was tonally wrong for this paradigm, even if he was a GLG-20. I was angry at Chuck for this latest in a long line of screw-ups, not Javier himself, and thought that was a real misstep for the show. Emmett could easily have been written out instead like Harry Tang or Anna was.
I’m with Sebastian on the Chuck-Sarah dithering, though. Just as on The OC, how many times can a couple break up and get back together again, accompanied by the love triangle of the week, before I cease to care? If they just stayed a couple, their characters might actually develop and move forward.