Each episode starts with the same line: "Hi, I'm Chuck. Here are a few things you need to know." Well, current and potential viewers, here is what everyone needs to know about "Chuck": The show is fantastic.
At the series debut in 2007, Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) was just an average, likeable computer geek who made $10 an hour at the local Buy More. His life was turned upside−down when the Intersect, a database of top−secret government secrets, was inadvertently downloaded into his brain, making him the number−one priority of the National Security Administration and the CIA — and the number−one target of American enemies. Chuck was assigned two spy handlers, Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) and John Casey (Adam Baldwin), and the relationship between the three is one of the most refreshing, hilarious and exciting camaraderies on television.
"Chuck" is one of the rare programs that effortlessly combines everything viewers would ever want in a television show: nail−biting action scenes, slapstick comedy, intelligently subtle humor, will−they−won't−they romantic tension and poignant moments that make you care for the well−being of the characters.
Now kicking off its fifth and final season, one might expect the writers to slack off as the series slides into its 2012 finale. But the writers of "Chuck" are making sure the series goes out with a bang.
Plot−wise, so much has changed since the show's debut. Chuck and Sarah are now the happily married owners of a $100+ million fortune, and since the end of the fourth season, Chuck has lost the Intersect — and his bumbling sidekick/best friend Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez) has accidentally downloaded the database into his brain instead.
In "Chuck Versus the Zoom," Chuck proves that he has developed so many skills over the years that he doesn't need the Intersect to complete a spy mission. One might think that Chuck is incapable of doing anything without the Intersect, which gives him the ability to recognize secret governmental information and immediately learn the ability to do anything from kung fu fighting to ballroom dancing. But Chuck — just like the show that bears his name — proves that he is "the Little Engine that could." Despite consistently low Nielsen ratings, the show is still beloved by a hardcore group of fans and critics.
In the season premiere, Sarah, John and Morgan are in a millionaire's estate to acquire the man's bank account passwords while Chuck is stuck on surveillance duty in the van outside. Ultimately, however, it is Chuck that swoops in to save the day — a turnaround from missions in previous seasons, in which Sarah and/or Casey save Chuck's life. Though most of the episode centers around Chuck wallowing over missing the praise that once accompanied completing missions with the help of his Intersect, he's now become a real spy.
Fortunately, viewers don't lose the charm of awkward, nerdy Chuck that made people fall in love with the show in the first season. The series also maintains the hijinks of the even gawkier Buy More employees, some of the show's main sources of comedy. One of the episode's subplots features two employees who try to fake a serious ailment to con money from customers. Unfortunately, the show's writers weren't quite able to pull off these subplots, and the arc fell a little flat.
After overturning Volkoff Industries last season — Chuck and the gang's main goal of the season — a new villain is in the works, who the show's producers have publicly revealed will be played by Mark Hamill. Hamill, who is best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original "Star Wars" films, evidences one of "Chuck's" specialties: stunt casting. The guest stars almost always appeal to both the action−oriented and geek−loving fans. Carrie−Anne Moss of "The Matrix" franchise, Tim DeKay of USA's "White Collar" and Beau Garrett of "TRON: Legacy" (2010) are some of "Chuck's" upcoming guest stars in season five.
Chuck's father would say, "Aces, Charles. You're aces," and rabid fan base echoes his sentiments — you're aces, "Chuck."
