The Morning After: Chuck in Charge

I haven't seen it yet, but I just got a text message from Mr. Shara Says that says: "Best. Chuck. EVER." So, I'm looking forward to it. . .

Just looking out for your page-view traffic, James. Lots of "Chuck" nerds out here on the Interwebs.
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Excellent wrap-up of Chuck, James, especially commenting on how Chuck has actually grown into a better spy -- this isn't just a static character archtype (the nerd), but rather a guy adapting, growing confidence, and becoming a better and better spy. I would say, though, that you're missing a couple things:
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- The amazing chemistry between Chuck and Sarah. Honestly, Yvonne Strahovski and Zachary Levi, and Strahovski (who, P.S., is INSANELY hot) has really brought a LOT of poignance to her character. You can see her feelings towards Chuck (and believe in how she could be falling in love with him) even frequently without her even saying anything. A phenomenal acting job, and one that should really get people talking about her for even bigger things.
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- Supporting cast: The Nerd Herd initially seemed like wacky, cheap comedic relief, but Morgan/Jeff/Lester/Anna/Big Mike and now Buster Bluth (whatever his Chuck-name is, he's always Buster to me) now bring a lot of fun to the show, whether it be ruining a Chuck mission, or mining deep nerd culture for great laughs (Morgan and Lester's Spock-Kirk Wrath of Khan goodbye thru the glass last night being a great example), or unwittingly and unknowingly helping Chuck on a mission (Mike taking out the Fulcrum agent last night thinking he was a thief; Jeff's trip wire and Missile Command talents -- itself playing "King of Kong" for amazing laughs; Chuck using Morgan's troop deployment on a video game to outwit bad guys early this season). Through in Captain Awesome (phenomenally funny -- can't wait to meet his still unseen parents, the Awesomes!) and Ellie (someone that grounds Chuck into reality a lit bit) and the supporting cast is incredible. Wait, am I forgetting someone? Oh yeah....
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-Adam Baldwin: Seriously, Casey is just about the best thing on television. Firefly fans now how incredible he is, but he's a revelation on Chuck. "Unleash the Casey" from last night was great, but he continually manages to be REALLY funny EVERY episode -- hitting a high-C to open the puzzle box, him and Chuck kissing to transfer a poison antibody (I was in tears I was laughing so hard), or his rotating target practice (Stopping on Reagan to ensure Casey doesn't shoot innocents, who Casey then salutes)....the man can do no wrong.
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Thanks for the post, James. A great show. And one I'd love to see recaps of -- heck, I'm sure shara says and I could easily write them!

I share your ambivalence James: the show is clearly the most improved from last year, is arguably NBC's second best hour of television, and is one of the most consistent shows on TV... yet is so, if not inconsequential, then lacking serious consequence, that it's tough to get excited about.

And apropos of nothing, James, have you seen this Variety article:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996347.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

It's spooky how close their ideas match how I would restructure network TV.

@Chaddog - I'll echo everything you just said. This show is so much better this season than last - but that's no insult to last season, which I really enjoyed. Its just been growing into something better, for all the reasons you just listed. I'm still a couple weeks behind on Chuck at the moment, but I always look forward to seeing it and plan to catch up over Thanksgiving. It would definitely be awesome to at least have an open discussion post, where we could post about Chuck on Tuesdays, even if James doesn't have time for a full recap.
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Adam Baldwin TOTALLY ROCKS SOCKS. I first saw him on Angel, which was a cool role (Eve's replacement), but I didn't start really appreciating him until I watched Firefly. He is phenomenally hysterical and has excellent presence and timing.

agreed with the Chuck love, it's great to see all the supporting cast still so involved and the balance of the comic and spy missions is really well done (I might enjoy this better than the last bond movie which i caught this week)...

but I will say this, I'm glad I didnt' go to Stanford, I mean really is everyone a spy? but then again Sarah's high school nemesis was a spy too...

next time more Casey!

So my work has placed more of a lockdown on things like blog commenting, but I will point out that I agree with you guys about Chuck. Vastly entertaining, but it's a different beast than a Lost type thing. I don't really care about Chuck's plotholes. With Lost, we nitpick every little detail to glean any information about the show... with Chuck, there are similar details that are either hints or holes, though I really don't care.