When I signed up to review Chuck for Multiversity, I had no clue that it was premiering with three episodes over two nights. THREE episodes. Sigh. Oh well, when it involves Chuck, it’s no problem at all. Chuck is after all pure joy in dramedy form, giving me all of the entertainment and drama I could possibly handle over an hour period. As a friend said recently, watching last night’s two hour premiere was sort of like seeing an old friend again for the first time in a while.
Welcome back Chuck.
Reviews are after the jump.
Episode 3.1: Chuck Versus the Pink Slip
Synopsis: Chuck knows kung fu (and other things), but his ability to use his new Intersect abilities depends on him controlling his emotions. That’s impossible, especially now that he and Sarah are broken up. So Chuck washes out of spy school and becomes a bearded hobo man who sleeps on his sister’s couch. When he tries to get back with his old spy friends, hijinks ensue.
Review: This episode was the weakest of the three. Given that it seems every year Chuck finds itself struggling to gather a meager audience, they start this year again trying to draw in new viewers without losing their older audience. While it isn’t an instant classic episode, it does give us a lot of great moments and does provide us with the opportunity to be massively entertained and occasionally shocked (such as by the death of a certain Buy More employee).
Zachary Levi is as per usual the backbone of the episode, as it finds him first washing out and then going through a rather dark spell where he grows a beard and becomes obsessed with cheese balls. This is all based on a fateful meeting with Sarah that takes place midway through the show in Prague. All of the moments are handled very well, but the main frustration of this episode is based on the fact that when Chuck is finally faced with his opportunity to be with the woman of his (and my) dreams, he’s like “hmm…I’ll try this spy thing for a bit instead.” Still, any episode that finds him in the dumps and playing lead for a Mariachi band is fine by me.
Adam Baldwin continues to become the funniest character in the show. His intensity and perfect comic timing that he showed in Firefly is in full force here, especially with his obsession with a mini-gun that he loves with a passion.
Really, the ultimate point of this episode is getting the band back together. In another shows hands, this would be a wasted episode. While it’s not the typical A+ quality, it is a solid episode that kept me entertained as a long time viewer and assuredly earned it new fans. It also did a great job of setting up the overarching plot for the year – take down the Ring, the group of rogue agents who killed Bryce Larkin last season.
Episode 3.2: Chuck Versus the Three Little Words
Synopsis: Chuck is still learning how to control his emotions so he can be a spy, which is made extremely difficult because of his love for Sarah. When they get a new mission featuring Sarah’s best friend/fellow spy Carina and her arms dealer fiancé Karl. Chuck’s obsession of wanting to talk about his feelings during every wrong moment leads the mission to go awry…repeatedly. While this is all happening, Morgan schemes to score with Carina so he can earn the esteem of Jeff and Lester.
Really.
Review: Now the show starts rolling. Almost everyone gives tour de force performances from an entertainment standpoint. You have Morgan (Joshua Gomez) attempting to conquer the Swedish love goddess Carina (who knew all it took was to completely and utterly reject her?), Jeff and Lester bringing their A game that amounts to F- minus for anyone else (gotta love them roofying themselves), Adam Baldwin giving a heartfelt and absurd speech as Carina’s “surprisingly young” uncle at her engagement party, and Chuck and Sarah really getting back in sync (the scene where Chuck thought he was going to die was quite touching, as was the end). Throw in some hysterical lazer dodge work by Chuck (the Intersect really does know everything, doesn’t it?), and this is an exceptional episode.
Continued belowOne of the most difficult jobs the writers of this show have to do is to successfully balance the Buy More aspects of this show (such as the return of Big Mike to prominence) with the spy aspects and the relationship aspects. Some episodes struggle with that, but this is not one of those episodes. We find Morgan, Jeffster, and the rest of the Buy More crew seamlessly integrating into the greater plot, which allows for some hilarious moments – such as Morgan confronting Karl (Joshua Gomez vs. Vinnie Jones = not a fair fight). That is when the show is at its best, and this one felt like it was a big leap from the already solid first episode.
Episode 3.3: Chuck Versus the Angel of Death
Synopsis: When the Costan Gravan dictator has been poisoned, it’s up to Captain Awesome to save him. When he does, he becomes intertwined in Chuck, Sarah, and Casey’s mission to protect that same dictator. Much to his delight. Awesomeness ensues (as it does when Captain Awesome get involved).
Review: Just like there is the issue of balancing the more spy oriented aspects with the Buy More parts, it’s hard to find a spot for Chuck’s sister Ellie and her husband Devon (also known as Captain Awesome). However, at the end of last season Awesome was privied to the knowledge that Chuck is in fact a spy, which led to much speculation as to how they would play that up.
Well, given the fact that it is related to Captain Awesome, it’s awesome.
This episode found guest star Armand Assante guest starring as the Costa Gravan dictator, a man whom America (specfically John Casey – Adam Baldwin) had tried to kill repeatedly in the past. Now America was in the position to protect him from Ring assassins, who started the episode by poisoning him, for him only to be saved by Awesome.
This REALLY highlights Ryan McPartlin as Captain Awesome. He’s always been a great random character, but when the spotlight is on him he really shines. At one point Sarah asks Chuck if there is anything he can’t do, and you as a viewer often wonder that yourself. The twist ending is important as well, as it means next week’s episode will also be closely related to our Captain.
This episode also hilariously highlights Chuck’s new Intersect abilities, as he doesn’t just use them to fight but also to dance and to…perform surgery on Casey. Nice.
Through just three episodes, Chuck has managed to highlight everything about the show that works so well. The brilliant supporting cast, the music, the incredible leads, the humor, and the touching without being cloying drama. This episode highlights all of those things, while also developing Chuck’s new found powers and expanding on the mystery with the Ring. An exceptional start to maybe my favorite show on television. It feels very good for it to be back.
