Warner Bros. | 2008 | 1034 mins. | Not Rated
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 anamorphic-widescreen transfers on these episodes are surprisingly unimpressive, offering up an image that’s soft overall and far too heavy with compression artifacts. The colors look solid though.
The audio is delivered in Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, which have nice separation between the center channel and the side and rear speakers. The surround speakers handle the music, along with some atmospheric effects, and present some panning, but it’s not as active as you might expect for a show like this.
Audio options include English and Portuguese, while subtitles are available in English SDH, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese and Thai. There’s no closed captioning included.
The set has the following special features:
• Truth, Spies and Regular Guys (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.
• Also included on this set is the 3-D version of the episode “Chuck Vs. The Third Dimension,” which you can watch with the included glasses.
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