• By Graeme McMillan
    Oct 7, 2008 1:20 PM 2,100
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    This Week's Chuck Takes One Step Forward Then Two Back

    Last night's Chuck seemed to have it all: A quiet new status quo for the series, new headquarters, Melinda Clarke camping it up as a Russian vamp and even some convincing character development. So why did it frustrate everyone by ending up back where it started? Spoilers await for those who followed Charlie's advice and have the show on TiVo.

    The main problem the show appears to be suffering from this season is being too aware of its format - For every sign that the characters are moving forward, some awkward circumstance will appear to pull them back into their pre-assigned roles; take Sarah and Chuck's relationship, for example - it's gotten to the point where it's obvious to the two of them that they should be together, and yet just when they're about to do something about it, Bryce reappears. It's obviously meant to be some kind of post-irony use of soap opera, but it just comes across as contrived. This isn't another Moonlighting where, if the two leads get together the show will be ruined, but coming up with more and more unlikely reasons to keep the two apart is going to get very tired, very quickly.
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    The same thing is true of Chuck's increasing competence at doing the spy stuff; one minute, he's boasting about having stolen the cypher from a Russian version of Julie Cooper and having jumped off a hotel balcony without a scratch - or, last week, saving the day with a well-timed appearance with an armed squad - and the next, everyone is treating him like a moron because, out of nowhere, he's acting like one - It's as if the writers get carried away with having the characters change and grow, and then someone reminded them that Chuck is supposed to be a loser midway through.

    All of that said, there was a lot to like amongst the resets last night; Melinda Clarke's black widow was unbelievable in the best way, as tone-perfect with the Boris and Natasha accent and campy bitchiness as John Laroquette's drunken former James Bond looking for a return to former glories. The idea that the show has a subtle new direction (that Chuck and crew and working to get the new intersect built, as opposed to just doing random spy shit brought on by happenstance and random flashes) was welcome as well, as was the reveal that Sarah's new cover is just that - that the yoghurt shop is entirely a front for nefarious spy missions. It's moves like that - and like Chuck becoming more confident and more useful - that make me feel as if there's hope for the show. Now all they need to do is let themselves move forward (and work out some way to make the BuyMore scenes seem less like they've accidentally been edited in from another show altogether) and we'll be in good shape.


    Send an email to Graeme McMillan, the author of this post, at graeme@io9.com.