Vancouver No More: A Breakdown Of "Chuck"

Now that I’m back from the Men’s Curling Final (Go, Canada!) in Vancouver, let’s break down Season 3 of “Chuck”…

With seven episodes in and twelve to go, Chuck finds himself in a different place from the end of Season Two. Chuck is a much more competent spy. In last season’s 22 episodes, Chuck saved Sarah only three times (Chuck 2.02, 2.13 and 2.22). This season has been a turnaround, with Chuck and Sarah rescuing each other an equal number of times. Chuck is still using his intersect abilities in unusual ways as the previous two episodes had Chuck saving Sarah with a nacho sampler plate and an antiquities vase.

One misstep that occurred was that the producers underestimated the desire fans have to see Chuck and Sarah together. This was evident at last year’s Comic-Con when the crowd jeered when told that Chuck and Sarah would not hook up during Season 3, so the producers should not have been caught unaware as the forums exploded in anger over “Chuck vs. The Mask” with Chuck and Sarah starting relationships with other people. Producers do have the right to run the show as they like, but they do run the risk of a backlash whenever they do something that is not to the fans' liking. The problem with “Chuck” is magnified because it is perceived that fan support convinced NBC to give “Chuck” another season. With any luck this problem will work its way out over the last twelve episodes.

With the trio (Chuck, Sarah and Casey) plus Hannah and Shaw, the supporting characters have been pushed to the side. Budget cuts have made this necessary, but I hope the lack of Morgan, Jeffster, Awesome, Ellie and Big Mike only means that the producers are saving their appearances until later in the season when episodes accelerate to a climatic season finale! With Chuck’s dad coming back for the last six episodes, it should be a wild ride to the finish.

If Season 2 was any indication, “Chuck” is saving its best episodes for Season 3 until the end. Hopefully we’ll finally see Subway tie-ins, Sarah in sexy outfits (like the nurse’s outfit in “Chuck vs. The Angel de la Muerte”) and more Jeffster! I would watch a sitcom that had just Jeff and Lester. NBC take note!

My Favorite Episode (So Far): “Chuck vs. First Class”

My Coolest Moment (So Far): Shaw being brought back to life by Awesome (“Chuck vs. Operation Awesome”)

My Favorite Fight Scene (So Far): Sarah -- in that nurse’s outfit!

Charah Scene (So Far): Sarah discovering that Chuck became a spy because of her (“Chuck vs. The Three Words”)