There is a lot of praise to be gushed for this show, but there are some definite problems which weigh it down, as well. Writing this review at the end of Season 3, I'm hoping the show will get through it's 'slump' and get better, because I WANT to like Chuck more than I do.
On the good side of things, the show's quite funny in a lot of the right places, and some of the characters, while absolutely cliché, are quite a lot of fun to watch. The first season, dealing with Chuck learning to become a spy while balancing out his 'normal' life are quite fun, especially because of the underlying tension of the show, which is that one day Chuck will have to make a real choice about whether to fully become a spy, or whether he can 'lose' the Intersect and return to a life of normalacy. The complications of his relationship with Agent Walker also make an interesting romance for the first season, though this theme especially drags until it becomes tired.
The big problem with Chuck is that it's a show all about making decisions--- and yet the decisions that get made are often clearly dumb ones, and the 'conflict' which is generated in the decision making process is often self-imposed by characters for no apparent reason. About mid-way through the second season, and well into the third, it begins to feel as if Chuck is just a vehicle for someone who wants to direct music videos of forlorn folk music; long drawn out scenes of Chuck and Sarah gazing at each other as indie guitars fingerpick... it's a nice moment at first, but the sentimentality wears thin after a while. One can easily forgive a show for not being realistic in certain degrees; but basic human relations shouldn't be nearly as pained as they are in this show.
And the Chuck-Sarah romance takes up waaaaaaaay too much time in this show. It's as painful as watching a junior-high school puppy love crush--- in slow motion--- and as the same scenes play over and over again, it becomes apparent that the writers don't know how to convey an actual 'healthy' relationship, only the awkward fumbling moment of unrequited love that each drawn out folksy montage revels in. Perhaps most important, while 'Sarah' is pretty, there's no other clear reason given why Chuck should fall for her at all; she's cold to him, won't be honest with him, and refuses his advances for a long while. At what point does his interest in her actually make sense? There's nothing wrong with watching a long drawn out pursuit of romance in such a show--- but there has to be some hint of a workable romance for it to be convincing, some potential chemistry which Chuck entirely fails to present.
So the Chuck Sarah subplot feels tangential. As does the Buy-More plot; trying to draw parallels between the CIA and the Buy-More simply flops. The comedy begins to feel forced. If this is a show about Chuck becoming a spy, why waste a fourth of the broadcast time on the childish pranks at the Buy-More? If this was something that just occasionally happened, that might be okay. But it's constant. And it gets tiring.
Does the ostensible 'main' focus of the show--- Chuck becoming a spy--- work? Yes, when it's not bogged down with Sarah or the Buy-More. In this regard, the show is promising. Each new Intersect becomes more enticing to the viewers. Some of the Ring's plots are quite impressive and amusing. All in all, the actual spy drama of the show is pretty good, with a well-proportioned mix of humor and suspense. If the show leans more in this direction--- especially maintaining it's stronger comedic elements --- then it may indeed bloom into a good show. As of now, it's floundering, recycling itself into pointlessness. Even the villains seem lackluster and indifferent at this point.
Chuck is a potentially good show with pretty bad writers. I'm hoping they find their stride and make the show work soon--- because it could be good.
Mediocre.
On the good side of things, the show's quite funny in a lot of the right places, and some of the characters, while absolutely cliché, are quite a lot of fun to watch. The first season, dealing with Chuck learning to become a spy while balancing out his 'normal' life are quite fun, especially because of the underlying tension of the show, which is that one day Chuck will have to make a real choice about whether to fully become a spy, or whether he can 'lose' the Intersect and return to a life of normalacy. The complications of his relationship with Agent Walker also make an interesting romance for the first season, though this theme especially drags until it becomes tired.
The big problem with Chuck is that it's a show all about making decisions--- and yet the decisions that get made are often clearly dumb ones, and the 'conflict' which is generated in the decision making process is often self-imposed by characters for no apparent reason. About mid-way through the second season, and well into the third, it begins to feel as if Chuck is just a vehicle for someone who wants to direct music videos of forlorn folk music; long drawn out scenes of Chuck and Sarah gazing at each other as indie guitars fingerpick... it's a nice moment at first, but the sentimentality wears thin after a while. One can easily forgive a show for not being realistic in certain degrees; but basic human relations shouldn't be nearly as pained as they are in this show.
And the Chuck-Sarah romance takes up waaaaaaaay too much time in this show. It's as painful as watching a junior-high school puppy love crush--- in slow motion--- and as the same scenes play over and over again, it becomes apparent that the writers don't know how to convey an actual 'healthy' relationship, only the awkward fumbling moment of unrequited love that each drawn out folksy montage revels in. Perhaps most important, while 'Sarah' is pretty, there's no other clear reason given why Chuck should fall for her at all; she's cold to him, won't be honest with him, and refuses his advances for a long while. At what point does his interest in her actually make sense? There's nothing wrong with watching a long drawn out pursuit of romance in such a show--- but there has to be some hint of a workable romance for it to be convincing, some potential chemistry which Chuck entirely fails to present.
So the Chuck Sarah subplot feels tangential. As does the Buy-More plot; trying to draw parallels between the CIA and the Buy-More simply flops. The comedy begins to feel forced. If this is a show about Chuck becoming a spy, why waste a fourth of the broadcast time on the childish pranks at the Buy-More? If this was something that just occasionally happened, that might be okay. But it's constant. And it gets tiring.
Does the ostensible 'main' focus of the show--- Chuck becoming a spy--- work? Yes, when it's not bogged down with Sarah or the Buy-More. In this regard, the show is promising. Each new Intersect becomes more enticing to the viewers. Some of the Ring's plots are quite impressive and amusing. All in all, the actual spy drama of the show is pretty good, with a well-proportioned mix of humor and suspense. If the show leans more in this direction--- especially maintaining it's stronger comedic elements --- then it may indeed bloom into a good show. As of now, it's floundering, recycling itself into pointlessness. Even the villains seem lackluster and indifferent at this point.
Chuck is a potentially good show with pretty bad writers. I'm hoping they find their stride and make the show work soon--- because it could be good.
Mediocre.