As I said in my last review, Season 3 of Chuck is easily the high point of the series. Season 4 has its good moments, but it's definitely the start of a decline for the series.
The first thirteen episodes of Season 4 are pretty solid. The main storyline revolves around Chuck trying to find his mother and facing off against Volkoff Industries, which happens to be tied to her disappearance. While Volkoff Industries doesn't quite stack up to The Ring or Fulcrum, they're still fairly imposing and the central antagonist, Volkoff himself, is easily one of my favorites in the show. Timothy Dalton plays Volkoff and he is so fun and charismatic in the role, he really makes the villain. As far as the standalone stuff goes, I wouldn't say anything really sticks out as amazing, but with only thirteen episodes, the overarching storyline with Volkoff and Chuck's mom is well-paced and well-written enough that I still very much enjoyed this first half of the season.
Unfortunately, just like in Season 3, the crew ended up getting an extra batch of episodes, and I don't think they handled it as well. To put it simply, Chuck's quality dropped hard after the Season 4 midseason finale and it wouldn't pick back up for the rest of the show. With Volkoff defeated, the new antagonist is his daughter, Vivian, who is nowhere near as interesting or fun to watch. It also doesn't help that it takes a long time before Vivian actually breaks bad, so to speak, so much of this stretch of the season feels directionless and almost entirely episodic. There are a few fun one-off parodies here or there, but so much of Season 4B just drags because it's not building towards anything. Thankfully, the last two episodes make sure to end things on a pretty dramatic series of cliffhangers, but it's not enough to make up for what is otherwise a very boring stretch of epsiodes.
Highlights:
Chuck Vs The First Fight: What a way to introduce your antagonist. Chuck's mom's handler being revealed to be Volkoff was already a great twist, but what really elevated the episode was Timothy Dalton hamming it up as he blew up Orion's work as deactivated Chuck's Intersect.
Chuck Vs Phase Three: This was a fun change of pace. Chuck is captured and now Sarah has to save him, turning the episode into a bloody action flick in the jungle ala The Predator. The only difference is that Sarah is the predator this time. The show often tackles Sarah's lack of morals compared to Chuck, but no episode shows just how brutal she can get like this one does.
Chuck Vs The Push Mix: While not as great as "Vs The Other Guy", this is another fantastic midseason finale that wraps up the first arc of the season in satisfying fashion. Chuck and Sarah getting engaged, Ellie giving birth Chuck's mom being saved, Volkoff getting defeated in a pretty fun confrontation, it all makes for the happiest ending in any season or half-season of Chuck. To a degree, I kinda wish the show ended here.
Chuck Vs The Cliffhanger: While Season 4B kinda sucked, it once again ended on a pretty great note. I'm kinda shocked that the crew intended for this episode to work as a series finale because it is a cliffhanger-palooza. Sure Chuck and Sarah get married but they also quit the CIA which is now corrupt, and Chuck's Intersect was moved over to Morgan. Maybe the crew was so tired of being in danger of cancellation that they just said "Fuck it, let's blow up the show and see what happens". Either way, the sheer unhinged energy of this finale is great even if it's not as strong as the previous two.
Overall, Season 4 got off to a pretty solid start with a compelling main plotline and a fantastic central villain carried even further by Dalton's performance. However, you can tell the writers had to improvise for that second half of the season because it is a slog, with a weak villain and lack of direction that couldn't have been saved by the admittedly fun finale.
3/5 Stars
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