Given my recent frothing at the mouth at how brilliant Season 2 was, Season 3 had a lot to live up to but didn't quite make it, though not through lack of trying.
To be fair to the production team, they keep re-inventing Chuck so that the show stays fresh but without losing the charm and whimsy that it started out with. At the beginning of this season, Chuck has downloaded the Intersect v.2 which allows him to draw on martial arts skills. This is fair enough except for one logical flaw (and I know complaining about logic in a series like Chuck is taking it a bit too seriously). But this flaw was pointed out in an issue of the Justice League of America (or it might have been the Avengers) when a non-powered martial artist hero points out to the villain, who can do what Chuck now does, that knowing how to do something, even with the mindset of skills, doesn't make them the superior or equal of an opponent because their body hasn't endured the years of training. So I've a bit of a grouch about that.
Season 2 was also heaven in terms of its guest stars for fans of cult TV and movies (see post). Season 3, not so much.
That aside, I still pretty much loved it. The relationship between Chuck and Sarah takes a nosedive but rebounds spectacularly to resolve the problem I had with the first series. I compared it to Castle and the sexual tension between the two leads which remains exactly the same after four seasons and doesn't really matter much, it's just part of the show which itself is so light, Chuck is Chekhov in comparison. This time around as the series progresses so does Chuck and Sarah's relationship.
Superspy Daniel Shaw (Brandon Routh -excellent) takes over the team and makes Chuck jealous and Casey (Adam Baldwin) isn't too happy about it. Kristin Kreuk appears in a 4-episode arc as Chuck's new love interest and she's probably the only guest star whose role is refreshingly just what it seems.
The season builds and gets very dark towards the end where some of Chuck's friends and relations become involved with the team and our heroes (Chuck, Sarah, and Casey) are on the run from the government. (There are also surprising revelations about Casey.) The way things were going it looked as if Chuck was turning into The Fugitive and I was damn near nibbling my nails about what was going to happen next (this, incidentally, is hyperbole but at least I didn't write- I was on the edge of my seat -even if I was.)
All in all, more great stuff. Now I have to wait until autumn when Season 4 arrives on DVD.
No comments:
Post a Comment