Chuck (Season 5)

Chuck is one of the first series that comes to mind when I think of a TV show falling off in terms of quality. Season 4 was already pretty flawed, especially its second half, but Season 5 is especially mixed. It has a lot of good moments and ideas, but it also has some of my least favorite plot developments in the whole series.

Season 5 of Chuck is also divided into two mini-arcs, though by choice this time rather than because of executive meddling. Both arcs have their strengths and weaknesses, but to be frank, neither of them are anything great. The first half of the season focuses on Morgan having the Intersect and getting corrupted by it, and I can not understate how irritating that makes him. I liked Morgan in the first four seasons, but what happened to him here is nothing short of character assassination, and I don't use that term likely (I've only used it to describe Cordelia in Angel Season 4). The worst part is that the rest of this stretch actually has some cool ideas. Chuck having to live without the Intersect, Sarah's new spy business, the CIA corruption and the subsequent reveal that a secretly alive Shaw is responsible are all really interesting plot points that aren't explored since we instead have three straight episodes of Morgansect being annoying.

The second half of the season deals with a whole new villain, Nicholas Quinn, who also really sucks. He's super hatable and slimy without any of the charm of someone like Volkoff. If anything, his insistence that the Intersect is his comes off as whiny, and it doesn't help that he gets away with destroying much of Chuck's life right at the end of the series. Given how much happier almost every other finale of Chuck was, seeing Quinn come in and ruin everything just really hurts to watch. The part I'm more mixed on, though, is Quinn brainwashing Sarah right before the finale, and her not even getting her full memory back until, ambiguously, the very last scene. The thing is, I can't say this isn't badly executed, the last three episodes are actually a great love letter to Chuck and Sarah's relationship and the series as a whole. But once again, after so many potential endings that ended much more happily, it kinda sucks that this is the one the show settled with.

Highlights:

Chuck Vs The Santa Suit: Ending the first arc on a somewhat high note, Chuck Vs The Santa Suit has that aforementioned Shaw reveal that leads to a pretty great confrontation between him and Chuck. Everything gets resolved really neatly and satisfyingly in this one, and all of the extra Christmas vibes makes for a fun episode. My only gripe is that the pacing in the first half was so off that "Vs The Santa Suit" felt a bit more rushed than it should've been. But compared to pretty much all of that first half, this episode was still a definite high point.

Chuck Vs The Bullet Train: Some of Chuck's best episodes are the "high concept action movie episodes". The Die Hard in a Buy More, Chuck on a plane, Sarah's solo mission, so the penultimate episode of Chuck being a fun action-packed episode on a train is perfectly fitting. Of course, it also ends on the gut punch of Quinn successfully capturing Sarah, a moment I'm pretty mixed on because of what it leads to, but this is otherwise a super entertaining episode.

Chuck Vs Sarah/The Goodbye: I pretty much already gave my thoughts on the finale above. I hate the idea of Sarah getting brain-washed, but I also can't say it wasn't well-executed. This is an emotional last two episodes that gives pretty much every other character a satisfying resolution and shows a lot of love for Chuck as a series through its running gags, returning characters, and slew of bookends that harken back to the show's pilot.

Overall, Season 5 of Chuck is a mess. Its first half has some great ideas but they were wasted since the show chose to focus on the awfully-written Intersect Morgan. The second half was awful in concept but it was at the very least an improvement in terms of executiion. There are a lot of fun moments and the ending was fairly emotional, but I couldn't help but feel a bit let down when the show finished.

2/5 Stars

My ranking of the Chuck seasons would be:

3 > 2 > 4A > 1 > 4B > 5

My ranking of the Chuck finales would be:

3 > 2 > 4 > 5 > 1

Favorite Episode: Chuck Vs The Other Guy

Chuck (Season 4)

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

Chuck (Season 3)

As I hinted at in the first two reviews, Chuck had a pretty troubled production. The first season aired on the year of the Writer's Strike and got cut short, and the show was so niche that every subsequent season was in danger of being cancelled. And in Season 3, the crew initially only got 13 episodes only to get another six tacked on, making for a season of two halves. Thankfully, this was actually a good thing for the series, as Season 3 ended up being the best, most well-paced season in the whole show.

Season 2 ended with the introduction of a new villain called The Ring along with a new intersect that gave Chuck the ability to fight, which as a whole gives this season a slightly more serious tone. Chuck starts having to take his job more seriously and reckon with the fact that he may have to shoot or kill someone, the Ring is a far more oppressive villain than Fulcrum ever was, Elliot gets killed off in the premiere, and we even end up learning that the Intersect may be killing Chuck. Thankfully, the dark tone doesn't detract from Chuck's dorky charm, and since this storyline was initially intended to only be thirteen episodes long, it moves at a very brisk pace. But what really solidifes Season 3 as my favorite is its antagonist, Shaw. Shaw starts the season off as a rival/fellow spy for Chuck, who ends up changing to the side of The Ring in that originally intended finale. In the six episodes that were added on after the fact, Shaw becomes the main villain, and a great one at that. All that time he spend pretending to be a good guy means he knows Chuck like no other villain did, making for a very personal conflict between the two.

In addition, I think this season does the best job with giving everyone else memorable subplots. Morgan and Ellie learn that Chuck is a spy at different points in the season, Sarah starts to actually develop feelings for Chuck and the will-they-won't-they between the two really comes to a head, and, probably best of all, Casey gets his best material in the whole show when he learns he has a daughter. I always felt like Casey was kinda just there in the first two seasons, the third wheel to Chuck and Sarah, so the addition of his daughter Alex gives him more to do. It helps that some of the season's more episodic fare focus almost exclusively on the side characters, with the highlight being a Morgan-focused episode and a Casey-focused episode airing pretty much back to back. There are also still plenty of fun standalone stories to help lighten up the tone, with hardly any of them coming across as weaker like in Season 2.

Highlights:

Chuck Vs First Class: This is easily one of my favorite one-offs in the show. Chuck goes on his first solo mission, which basically turns into a high concept Die Hard-like where he has to stop a bunch of criminals on a plan. It's a ton of fun and the action is great, especially his fight with Stone Cold Steve Austin (yes, that Stone Cold Steve Austin).

Chuck Vs The Beard: It's about time, but Morgan finally learns that Chuck is a spy. I love that Sarah and Casey aren't there for much of the episode, it's almost entirely Morgan and Casey dealing with that reveal and how it affects their friendship, making for a really personal (though still fun) entry in the series.

Chuck Vs The Tic Tac: And then right after "The Beard", we get an episode entirely about Casey. As mentioned above, this is the one where he learns he has a daughter, and all that added focus goes a long way into fleshing him out more.

Chuck Vs The Other Guy: Chuck has had many "almost series finales" but Chuck Vs The Other Guy is my favorite of the bunch, if not my favorite episode of the show in general. Shaw turning sides and becoming a villain is a fantastic twist, and that final confrontation on the bridge where Shaw tries to provoke Chuck to kill him, while Chuck and Sarah's feelings for each other are fully out in the open, really feels like the culmination of the whole show. This could have been an amazing final episode, though I'm glad it wasn't.

Chuck Vs The Subway/Ring II: Not to be topped, the writers of Chuck ended Season 3 with a massive two-part finale that blows last season's out of the water and then some. There's Shaw coming back into the scene and ruining everything, the heartwrenching death of Chuck's father, Ellie learning Chuck is a spy, the Buy More getting blown up, the crazy Intersect duel between Chuck and Shaw, and the reveal that Chuck's mom is alive. The sheer ambition at play in Season 3's finale would never be topped for the rest of the series.

Overall, Season 3 is easily Chuck's highest point. It's higher stakes than Season 2, with brisker pacing, stronger character arcs and subplots, more consistently strong one-offs, and a fantastic main storyline and villain. 

5/5 Stars

Chuck (Season 2)

While Season 1 of Chuck suffered a bit from being made during the writer's strike, Season 2 of Chuck not only generally improves the series' quality but also shows what its truly capable of, in particular a surprising willingness to completely destroy the status quo.

Season 2 of Chuck is about the main trio of Chuck, Sarah, and Casey facing off with Fulcrum, that villainous organization that was brought up a bunch of times in Season 1 but rarely getting much of a focus. Chuck finally having an antagonist he needs to fight really helps the series, especially since Season 2 doesn't bother dragging anything out. The show was always in danger of being cancelled so every season was written like it could be the last, but I think this structure benefitted Season 2 the most. Season 2 of Chuck is incredibly briskly-paced and never stops moving, Fulcrum becomes more and more of a threat throughout the course of the season, and by the time we get to the last few episodes, the show is willing to completely demolish the status quo. Since this was meant to be the final season, we also get a lot more lore about the Intersect and Chuck's family that ties into the Fulcrum storyline fairly neatly and adds a personal element to the overall conflict. There's also a decent number of subplots like an annoying new worker at the Buy More and Ellie and Captain Awesome preparing for their wedding, so it really feels like everyone is getting something to do.

In addition to the seasonal storyline, though, Season 2 of Chuck also does a great job at upping the ante in terms of creative premises for its episodes. There are homages to other films, episodes that pair up characters in strange ways, and then just flat-out weird episodes like the gimmicky 3D episode Chuck Vs The Third Dimension. As far as the standalone stuff goes, I still wouldn't call this the high point of the series. There are still a few episodes I found a bit generic, and several experimental stuff like Chuck Vs The Sensei and the aforementioned 3D episode that fell a bit flat for me. Chuck's episodic fare is at its best when it's focused around character development, so episodes like Chuck Vs Santa Claus, Chuck Vs The Cougars, and Chuck Vs The Best Friend really stuck out to me. Otherwise, though, this show's best episodes still tend to be the ones that focus on progressing the overall plot.

Highlights: 

Chuck Vs The Gravitron: Season 2 starts off with a pretty solid storyline about Chuck getting back together with his ex-girlfriend Jill, who ends up being revealed to be a FULCRUM agent. It's a cute and memorable little storyline, and Chuck Vs The Graviton is essentially the final battle between the two. But despite the episode being about Jill, the highlight here is actually Chuck fighting a mook in the titular gravitron, easily one of the most memorable fights in the series.

Chuck Vs Santa Claus: You've probably seen me rave about this on in the Christmas blog post, so I don't want to repeat myself too much. It's a fun riff on Die Hard that ends on one of the most crushing moments of the series as Chuck sees Sarah kill someone in cold blood. Easily one of the high points of Chuck.

Chuck Vs The Best Friend/Predator: It's always a fun time when the folks at the Buy More gets affected by one of Chuck's missions, and these two episodes are probably the best examples of that this season. The Best Friend explores Chuck's relationship with Morgan, as the latter comes the closest to discovering Chuck's true identity so far in a pretty tense and fun episode. The Predator starts off with a hilarious "Buy More war" subplot that eventually collides with Chuck being sent a Predator drone in similarly hilarious fashion.

Chuck Vs The Colonel: Season 2's last few episodes are so freaking good, and Chuck Vs The Colonel is the best of the bunch. It's a massive penultimate episode that covers a ridiculous amount of the ground, between Chuck and Sarah going AWOL, Devon learning that Chuck is a spy, Chuck getting the Intersect removed, FULCRUM gets a major base blown up, and Emmett taking over the Buy More as manager. This is one hell of an eventful episode that completely blows up the show's status quo and then some.

Chuck Vs The Ring: While not as much of a panic-inducing thrill ride as Vs The Colonel, this is a fantastic ending to the season with a stellar final act. There are really two amazing scenes in this one. There's the Mr Roboto sequence at Ellie and Captain Awesome's wedding, and there's the entire final few minutes, where The Ring reveals themselves, Bryce is killed, and Chuck downloads a new Intersect and learns to fight. That's right, Chuck can fight now, and it opens up the series immensely...

Overall, Season 2 of Chuck is really everything you'd want from a second season of a show. Not forcedly shortened, this season is able to have a great central plot with a strong antagonist, diversify the episodes a bit, and develop the cast a lot more. It could still be a bit more consistent, but that's what Season 3 is for.

4/5 Stars

Chuck (Season 1)

Chuck was a pretty great show, especially when it was at its prime. With five drastically different seasons of varying quality, I have a lot to say about all of them, so let's start with Season 1, the most middle-of-the-road season of Chuck.

Chuck is a show about the titular average guy who ends up accidentally getting government secrets embedded in his brain thanks to an old friend, Bryce Larkin, who also happens to be a spy. Now with two handlers named Sarah Walker and John Casey, Chuck basically has to learn to become a spy while obviously keeping all of his secrets hidden from his friends, family, and co-workers. Forcing an average person into a life of spies is always a great concept for a storyline (of course, I say this as someone who unironically enjoys Cars 2), so I really enjoyed what Chuck was going for right from the get-go. It's light and breezy, with fun action and likable characters. However, as far as story beyond its central premise goes, Season 1 of Chuck doesn't have too much to offer. There's a compelling mystery about Bryce Larkin's motives that make up the best parts of the season, as well as a meh subplot for Sarah where she fears she'll lose Chuck at some point, but outside of that, this is the only season of Chuck without a villain. As you might have expected, this is because of the Writer's Strike, which once again cut the season shorter than it was supposed to be. We end up being left with a season that feels a bit unfocused, with a finale that is climactic but doesn't really resolve anything in the grand scheme of things.

Thankfully, while the plot is a bit weak, everything else about Chuck is pretty fantastic. The acting is fantastic, especially Zachary Levi as Chuck. I'm glad he found even more success as Shazam lately because he really is great at playing charmingly goofy and lovable characters. Yvonne Strahovski is also great as Sarah, and she's been in a whole bunch of other stuff like Dexter and 24. Beyond the actors, though, I really love the cast of Chuck. Obviously the central trio of Chuck, Sarah, and Casey is the heart of the show, and they have great chemistry, but even the side characters have their great elements. Chuck's sister Ellie is a nice grounding force for the character, and her boyfriend Devon (also known as "Captain Awesome") is probably the textbook definition of the word 'himbo'. A lot of this series takes place in Chuck's workplace, essentially a Walmart clone called the Buy More, but all of his coworkers are so fun to watch that I love these scenes just as much as the crazy spy action. Speaking of which, the action in Chuck is pretty great too! Especially in the first episode, they got McG of all people to direct the show's pilot and, while I normally find his style trashy, he did a really good job with the action here. Believe it or not, I would've loved to see McG do some more episodes, though even without him, the action is impressively well-done and cinematic for a TV show, especially in Seasons 1-3.

Highlights: 

Chuck Vs The Alma Mater: As mentioned above, the best parts of Season 1 are the ones that focused around Bryce Larkin, so Chuck having to return to Stanford (where Bryce had him expelled) felt super climactic and impactful. We end up learning that Bryce had Chuck expelled to protect him, a great reveal that sets the stage for their reunion in a few episodes.

Chuck Vs The Nemesis: Speaking of which, Chuck Vs The Nemesis is essentially the climax of the season in a lot of ways. Chuck reunites with Bryce and gets to confront him on why he sent over the Intersect, we get a bunch of lore including the introduction of major antagonist FULCRUM, there's a fun Black Friday subplot that leads to a crazy shootout inside the Buy More, and the episode even ends on a cliffhanger where Sarah has to choose between Chuck and Bryce. 

Chuck Vs The Marlin: While this wasn't a very satisfying finale, I did still think it was a pretty solid and tense episode. There's this sense of dread throughout the season that Chuck is expendable, and eventually he'll have to be separated from his handlers and everyone he cares about. In Chuck Vs The Marlin, this becomes very close to happening, to the point where I almost thought Chuck was going to be transferred and that would the season's cliffhanger. Instead, we get Ellie and Captain Awesome getting engaged, which is nice too.

Overall, Season 1 of Chuck is a pretty good start to the series. It effectively establishes its premise, introduces a likable cast of characters, and boasts some pretty great action. However, most likely due to the writer's strike, this season is also lacking in a cohesive storyline or villain, making it feel more like a prologue to the series and not much more.

3/5 Stars

Episode Rankings: Chuck

Before Shazam, Zachary Levi was Chuck. Chuck was a really fun and charming spy show with great actions, a charming cast, and plenty of loving tributes to geek culture. While the last two seasons dropped off in quality a bit, at its best, Chuck was legitimately really great. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. Chuck Vs The Other Guy (S3.13) 
2. Chuck Vs The Colonel (S2.21) 
3. Chuck Vs The Ring II (S3.19) 
4. Chuck Vs The Push Mix (S4.13) 
5. Chuck Vs The Ring (S2.22) 
6. Chuck Vs The Beard (S3.09)
7. Chuck Vs The Subway (S3.18) 
8. Chuck Vs The Cliffhanger (S4.24)
9. Chuck Vs Santa Claus (S2.11)
10. Chuck Vs The Goodbye (S5.13)
11. Chuck Vs The First Class (S3.05) 
12. Chuck Vs The Nemesis (S1.10)
13. Chuck Vs The Predator (S2.17)
14. Chuck Vs The First Fight (S4.07)
15. Chuck Vs The Tic Tac (S3.10)
16. Chuck Vs Sarah (S5.12)
17. Chuck Vs The Best Friend (S2.14)
18. Chuck Vs The Santa Suit (S5.07)
19. Chuck Vs The Gravitron (S2.08)
20. Chuck Vs The American Hero (S3.12)
21. Chuck Vs Phase Three (S4.09)
22. Chuck Vs The Bullet Train (S5.11)
23. Chuck Vs The First Kill (S2.20)
24. Chuck Vs The Alma Mater (S1.07)
25. Chuck Vs The Pink Slip (S3.01)
26. Chuck Vs The Seduction (S2.02)
27. Chuck Vs The Living Dead (S3.17)
28. Chuck Vs The Family Volkoff (S4.20)
29. Chuck Vs Operation Awesome (S3.04)
30. Chuck Vs The Muuurder (S4.19)
31. Chuck Vs The Marlin (S1.13)
32. Chuck Vs The Anniversary (S4.01)
33. Chuck Vs The Lethal Weapon (S2.16)
34. Chuck Vs The Fat Lady (S2.07)
35. Chuck Vs The Hack Off (S5.05)
36. Chuck Vs The Truth (S1.08)
37. Chuck Vs The Last Details (S4.23)
38. Chuck Vs The Angel de la Muerte (S3.03)
39. Chuck Vs The Leftovers (S4.10)
40. Chuck Vs The Dream Job (S2.19)
41. Chuck Vs The First Bank Of Evil (S4.17)
42. Chuck Vs The First Date (S2.01)
43. Chuck Vs The Crown Vic (S1.11)
44. Chuck Vs The Fake Name (S3.07)
45. Chuck Vs The Couch Lock (S4.05)
46. Chuck Vs The Suburbs (S2.13) - 8.4
47. Chuck Vs The Three Words (S3.02)
48. Pilot (S1.01)
49. Chuck Vs The Cubic Z (S4.03)
50. Chuck Vs The Undercover Lover (S1.12)
51. Chuck Vs Tom Sawyer (S2.05)
    
52. Chuck Vs The Curse (S5.06)
53. Chuck Vs The Cat Squad (S4.15)
54. Chuck Vs The Honeymooners (S3.14)
55. Chuck Vs Bo (S5.10)
56. Chuck Vs Agent X (S4.22)
57. Chuck Vs The DeLorean (S2.10)
58. Chuck Vs The Fear Of Death (S4.08)
59. Chuck Vs The Final Exam (S3.11)
60. Chuck Vs The Baby (S5.08)
61. Chuck Vs The Balcony (S4.11)
62. Chuck Vs The Tango (S1.03)
63. Chuck Vs The Ex (S2.06)
64. Chuck Vs The Suitcase (S4.02)
65. Chuck Vs The Sizzling Shrimp (S1.05)
66. Chuck Vs The Zoom (S5.01)
67. Chuck Vs The Break-Up (S2.03)
68. Chuck Vs The Wedding Planner (S4.21)
69. Chuck Vs The Broken Heart (S2.18)
70. Chuck Vs The Tooth (S3.16)
71. Chuck Vs The Aisle Of Terror (S4.06)
72. Chuck Vs The Imported Hand Salami (S1.09)
73. Chuck Vs The Nacho Sampler (S3.06)
74. Chuck Vs The Third Dimension (S2.12)
75. Chuck Vs The Helicopter (S1.02)
76. Chuck Vs The Kept Man (S5.09)
77. Chuck Vs The Cougars (S2.04)
78. Chuck Vs The Coup D'etat (S4.04)
79. Chuck Vs The Wookie (S1.04)
80. Chuck Vs The Mask (S3.07)
81. Chuck Vs The Beefcake (S2.15)
82. Chuck Vs The Frosted Tips (S5.03)
83. Chuck Vs The Seduction Impossible (S4.14)
84. Chuck Vs The Role Models (S3.15)
85. Chuck Vs The Sandworm (S1.06)
86. Chuck Vs The Gobbler (S4.12)
87. Chuck Vs The Sensei (S2.09)
88. Chuck Vs The Business Trip (S5.04)
89. Chuck Vs The A-Team (S4.18)
90. Chuck Vs The Bearded Bandit (S5.02)
91. Chuck Vs The Masquerade (S4.16)