DVD Reviews

Chuck: The Complete Third Season – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Sep 20, 2010, 16:55 GMT

$The world\'s nerdiest secret agent is back in the one-hour action-comedy series Chuck. Zachary Levi stars as Chuck Bartowski, the Buy More electronics store computer geek who unwittingly becomes the government\'s most vital secret agent. At the end of last season, Chuck was transformed into the Intersect 2.0 after receiving another data download into his brain. This time, however, he not only knows government secrets, he is also equipped with$

The world\'s nerdiest secret agent is back in the one-hour action-comedy series Chuck. Zachary Levi stars as Chuck Bartowski, the Buy More electronics store computer geek who unwittingly becomes the government\'s most vital secret agent. At the end of last season, Chuck was transformed into the Intersect 2.0 after receiving another data download into his brain. This time, however, he not only knows government secrets, he is also equipped with ...more

Chuck is given another chance thanks to his adoring public, but this time he’s in full spy mode. That game change might’ve taken the show away from the comedy aspects, but there’s still time for laughs in all the derring-do.

Chuck (Zachary Levi) is a seemingly hapless Buy More (think Best Buy) employee who accidentally mentally downloaded a top secret computer program called an Intersect that gave him knowledge of our nation’s security information.

Last season saw him getting an upgrade to Intersect 2.0 and moving towards becoming a full-fledged spy. He had undercover handlers/protectors in the form of Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) and John (Adam Baldwin) and he and Sarah started to get closer to one another.

This season sees Chuck delving further into the world of spies instead of the world of geekdom. He is given an inspiration in spy Daniel Shaw (Brandon Routh) as well as an eventual antagonist.

Chuck is still tied to the Buy More store through his best friend Morgan (Joshua Gomez), the assistant manager, nutty employees Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester (Vik Sahay), and new hire Hannah (Kristen Kreuk) who further complicates Chuck’s life.

His family, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and her husband “Captain Awesome” (Ryan McPartlin) as well as another appearance by his father (Scott Bakula), also gets involved in the espionage.

Chuck season two was potentially going to be all the Chuck that you were going to get. So the production set it up as possibly being a series closer. However, fan and critic support translated into a third season consisting of 13 episodes.

That turned out to be even more of a bonus as the network ordered a further 6 episodes so you ended up with 19 total. Besides Bakula and Routh, you have a host of other genre cameos including Christopher “Doc Brown” Lloyd, Robert “T-1000” Patrick, and familiar faces Diedrich Bader, Cedric Yarborough, Fred Willard, and Swoosie Kurtz. The spy shenanigans do take center stage, but there’s plenty of time to have comedy.

I’m happy that NBC ordered a further six episodes, but in doing so they had the production thinking in terms of a thirteen episode arc so that thirteenth one feels like the season closer… then suddenly more episodes pop up. Not that fans should mind. It’s a fun show and it’s good that it’s been given reprieve and even a fourth season (another Terminator connection in the casting of Chuck’s mother).

Chuck is presented in widescreen (1.78:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include the 22 minute making of “Chuck Fu and Dim Sum,” the 11 minute “Jeffster Revolution” focusing on Jeff and Lester, 20 minutes of declassified (deleted) scenes, and a 6 minute gag reel.

The focus on spying could’ve delegated the show to the cancellation bins, but they creators made it work and even added more meaning to the season.
Not that you don’t find some laughs along the way. The special features feel less than other seasons, but fans should pick this season up until the next season arrives on television.