The Positively Positive

Kristin Kreuk and Zach Levi in Chuck, season 3, episode 5 “Chuck Versus First Class”. Image from www.daemonstv.com

Some of the best scenes to me in this episode were the ones between Casey and Morgan. We don’t usually get to see these two interact together all that much, and I found the combo of Casey’s big, brawny tough-guy to Morgan’s little, scrawny weakling absolutely hilarious. Morgan asks Casey to help him with the subordinates in the store that are making his life hell – in other words “insurgents”. Casey’s methods are nothing less than over the top, and completely expected from a former Marine and current spy.

I also really liked seeing Chuck out on a mission on his own. His character is growing but I like that underneath it all we still get the same old Chuck. He doesn’t like guns so he brings nunchucks, and then is disappointed when he never gets to use them. He’s been trained to handle dangerous situations and yet still manages to get himself into all kinds of trouble, calling on both Casey and Sarah to get him out of it. He may be a trained spy but he’s still the bumbling geek we all love.

The other part of the episode I liked was Chuck meeting a lovely new stranger on the plane, Hannah (played by Kristin Kreuk from Smallville). I have to admit that I totally suspected her of being a spy at first so it was a nice surprise to find out that she was just who she said she was. Perhaps I’ll be proven wrong in future episodes, but for now I’m eager to see where this bit of storyline goes.

Overall another fun episode that let Chuck stretch his legs as a spy and introduced us to an intriguing new character.

More Chuck…
Chuck, season 3, episode 5 “Chuck Versus First Class”

Brandon Routh, Zach Levi and Ryan McPartlin in Chuck, season 2, episode 4 “Chuck vs Operation Awesome”. Image from www.daemonstv.com

Chuck is another show that I have to file under “got lost in the shuffle last year”. Not having a DVR really made it difficult for me to keep up with this show and after missing a bunch of episodes, I gave up on it. So once again I’m watching a tv show where I missed most of the previous season. Luckily they keep new fans in mind and last week’s premiere episode had a nice teaser in the front that caught me up on everything that’s happened with my favorite geek/spy.

I’m so glad they did. Four episodes in and I’m remembering now why I loved this show in the first place. The writers are fantastic at blending together comedy (provided this week by the Geek Squad Fight Club scenes), wacky spy gadget stuff, drama, action and romance. This is not nearly as easy as it sounds.

Since getting the World’s Greatest Invention (aka my DVR) last year, I’ve been trying my best to broaden my tv watching experience. Any time a show catches my fancy, I set the DVR and give it a try. Then I usually give it at least two or three episodes before deciding whether or not to add it permanently to my schedule.

Some shows make it, some don’t. Recently I saw one that, on paper, sounded great – lots of action, humor, interesting characters. In other words, it’s my kind of show. Trouble was it just didn’t cut it. The action was a little too over-the-top, the humor a little forced and the unrealistic stuff didn’t come off well at all. It was ….well, unrealistic.

Chuck has all the same elements as this other show, the one that I should like, but Chuck does it incredibly well. The funny part being that if somebody described Chuck to me, I probably wouldn’t like it. I’d never believe that all those things could work well together. Therein being a good lesson – which is that I should watch a show if I want to know if I’ll like it, not read about it.

Overall a fun episode that makes me very happy I got back into this show.