Warner Bros. | 2008 | 1034 mins. | Not Rated
Now, we take a look at Chuck: The Complete Second Season on Blu-ray. Unfortunately, similar to the first season, the transfer suffers from some noticeable issues, and the special features don’t offer anything above and beyond the standard definition version.
Chuck tells the story of Charles “Chuck” Bartowski (Zachary Levi), a twenty-something computer expert, who works as part of the “Nerd Herd” at his local Buy More store. One day he receives an e-mail from his former Stanford University roommate, who is now a “rogue” CIA agent. When he opens the e-mail, it downloads the entire database of all the US government’s secret information into his brain, turning him into the Intersect, a human computer. Both the NSA and the CIA dispatch their own agents Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin) and Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) to get the data back.
As the season opens, a new version of Intersect is nearly complete, which would make the information stored in Chuck’s brain obsolete. There are questions throughout the season regarding Chuck’s value to the government, and why exactly Sarah and John do the things they do to protect him. The evolving romantic tension between Chuck and Sarah, who are dating for a cover, but are feeling a personal attraction as well, drives many of the season’s storylines, from complicating the return Dr. Jill Roberts (Jordana Brewster), who broke Chuck’s heart in college, to her actions in the season-ending arc.
Elsewhere, the other Buy More employees — Chuck’s best friend Morgan (Joshua Gomez), bumbling duo Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vik Sahay), manager Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence) and Morgan’s girlfriend Anna (Julia Ling) — are forced to contend with a corporate efficiency expert (Arrested Development’s Tony Hale), a situation that that is full of funny moments. As with last season, the Buy More staff is as integral to the series as Chuck’s international exploits, giving each episode strong comedic moments and regular breaks from what could have been a forgettable spy-vs-spy dramedy.
One could say that Chuck tends to take itself too seriously on occasion; though the Bartowski family drama is quite moving and mostly effective. A Godfather II parody is rife with side-splitting brilliance, but also intercut with scenes of surprising emotion. Season two has genuine momentum from start to finish. Guest appearances by the likes of John Laraquette as a holdover Bond-like agent, Jenny McCarthy, Andy Richter, Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan, Nicole Ritchie, Chevy Chase, Tricia Helfer and Reginald Vel Johnson, only make Chuck better.
I’ll admit that after the short first season (due to the writer’s strike), I wasn’t convinced that Chuck had what it took to be a long running series. However, with this second season the writers and producers have shown they have some great ideas for these characters and I’d really like to see them grow. Unfortunately, ratings haven’t been that good. I would encourage anyone who hasn’t seen the series to pick up season one and two on DVD and start watching the show on television. It really is a good one.
The 1080p/VC-1 transfer is a surprisingly lackluster effort. Noise and artifacts clutter the image, fine detail is uneven, as rampant softness invades the proceedings and skintones are frequently flushed and oversaturated. Colors are exceedingly vibrant, blacks are deep and a number of scenes look quite nice, but contrast has been boosted to near-ludicrous levels. Likewise, detail proves itself to be satisfying here and there, particularly when comparing the Blu-ray edition to its standard DVD counterpart, but texture clarity and edge definition are inconsistent from shot to shot. Compression anomalies swarm the bright skies above the Buy More (among other locales), aliasing and crush are constant distractions, delineation is mediocre at best and macroblocking is apparent at various points in each episode.
Center channel dialogue in the 640 kbps Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is consistently clear and detailed. Surround activity is often in service to the show’s music cues. Ambient and directional effects are present during action sequences and the ubiquitous Intersect flash, but can be a little blunt in the execution, though appropriately balanced in the staging. Overall the track shows good range and fidelity, even though it is sometimes functional in nature and not always very subtle.
Other than the first one, all of the special features are presented in standard definition:
• Truth, Spies and Regular Guys (HD, 21 minutes): Subtitled “Exploring the Mythos of Chuck,” this rather extensive production documentary examines the story, characters, agencies and conflicts that populate the series.
• Dude in Distress (18 minutes): An equally informative look at the action choreography, special effects and stunts on the show.
• Declassified Scenes (37 minutes): This generous collection of deleted scenes includes a number of standout cuts, the best of which involve the Buy More employees and their misadventures.
• Real-Life Captain Awesome Tips for Being Awesome (3 minutes): Four mildly amusing, brief PSA-style commercials starring Captain Awesome himself.
• So You Want to Be a Deadly Spy? (3 minutes): This in-character “John Casey Presents” training film with Adam Baldwin is surprisingly dull.
• Chuck Versus the Chuckles (8 minutes): A decent gag reel.
• Chuck Versus the Webisodes (10 minutes): Five entertaining Buy More promotional videos.
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