NETWORK: NBC
AIR DATE: September 29, 2008
STARRING: Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Joshua Gomez, Adam Baldwin, and Sarah Lancaster
CREATED BY: Josh Schwartz

Episodes 2.1-3 - "Chuck vs. The First Date", "Chuck vs. The Seduction", and "Chuck vs. The Break-Up"

The second season of Chuck opens with Michael Clarke Duncan hanging our poor lanky hero over a ledge by his tie. Chuck tells his tormentor that he is the "single most important intelligent asset in the world", giving the audience all the info they need to know in a matter of seconds. It's an interesting re-introduction the show. Sarah and Casey break down the door and, quickly, new audiences have learned all they really need to know about the series. Chuck is gawky but important. Casey is tough. Sarah is hot. Let's go. Chuck struggled a bit in season one with excellent chapters surrounded by some pretty subpar episodes, but with the strike far behind us, season two is where the show makes or breaks it. The second season premiere needs to bring in new fans and play to the show's strengths. It does exactly that. The first two episodes - "Chuck vs. The First Date" and "Chuck vs. The Seduction" are as confident, well-written, and expertly produced as the show's best.

Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak, the creators of the show, wrote the first episode of Chuck, "Chuck vs. the First Date" and it's a great one. Interestingly, the first episode opens with Chuck being told that he won't really be necessary any more. He'll get his own life back. The next morning, he dances along to what could be his theme song, "Hip to Be Square", and talks about finding a new life, away from the Buy More. He might even move out of his sister's house. Could we be seeing an all new Chuck? Will the character and show be completely restructured for round two? Not quite, but there is some significant development in these first three episodes. I often thought that one of the flaws was that Chuck needs to get better at what he does. For example, when someone calls for him specifically as a Nerd Herd member at Buy More, he needs to think "maybe this is a spy situation and not a computer one." The gawky routine is going to get old. Chuck has been in enough life-and-death situations that he should know better. And that is exactly where Chuck goes in the excellent first episode. Chuck saves the day with a quick and clever move of his very own. The idea that this average video game player could take down an imposing villain without being saved by Sarah and Casey every week opens a lot of doors for the show.

The show's strengths have always been two-fold - the cast and the production level. Levi, Strahovski, and Baldwin are all fantastic and they're perfect counterparts to each other. Levi's wide-eyed delivery is balanced by Baldwin's subtle, cool-as-ice routine. I thought Baldwin was a little wasted in season one, but the first arc of episodes of season two give him more to do. And then there's Strahovski, who is quite simply the most beautiful woman on television, a perfect combination of physical presence and clever wit. She's doing great, underrated work here. And the production value on Chuck has always been stellar. Finally, there are clever references in Chuck that many fans will love. I particularly enjoyed the Call of Duty references and just the fact that a Huey Lewis song plays a major role in the opening of 2.2 as well makes me smile. Chuck often makes me smile without blowing me away, but sometimes that's all you need from a show. How many shows out there consistently provide entertainment value? Chuck never falls into its weaknesses - some pacing and tone issues - for too long before one of its strengths pulls it out like Sarah and Casey saving the day. Or, should I say, like Chuck learning how to save himself.

Episode two features an appearance by the great John Larroquette as a martini-swilling older spy who is going to try and help Chuck out of his super-spy predicament and continues to play up the show's strengths and downplay the weaknesses. Well-paced, funny, and only occassionally repetitive (shouldn't Chuck be used to dead bodies by now?), "Chuck vs. The Seduction" works almost as well as the first episode of the season. Melinda Clarke (The O.C.) also guest stars as The Black Widow, a woman that Chuck has to seduce. Funny, clever, well-acted - in a lot of ways episode 2 is even better than the premiere. Finally, the third episode can't really be discussed at all without giving away the end of the second one, so I won't go into detail (although, Michael Strahan makes perhaps the oddest guest appearance of the new season). I will say that I think it's the weakest of the three, falling back into a few of the overly emotional beats of the first season. However, after the first two, I have more faith than last year that Chuck will be back in prime form in episode four and many other times this season.