Wishing gets you nowhere, at least that’s what they say, but at last there’s a show that has it all; action, comedy, romance and dashings of nerd-love – it can only therefore be Chuck. The series following the hapless and titular nerd Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) as he enters a dangerous spy world that’s as intoxicating as it is frightening.
Chuck’s life isn’t exactly thrilling, at least not to begin with; his job as a Nerd Herd IT specialist is going nowhere, and it’s very apparent he’s the only smart guy there. Still, he has no confidence, and denies being miserable whilst mourning the “cool” years of his Stanford life, all thanks to the betrayal of his college friend Bryce (Matt Bomer). But he’ll soon be wishing for these simple and uneventful days, as he once again trusts Bryce when opening an email from him, and showing the audience just how forgiving and ultimately how sweet a guy he is. However, he’s quickly bit in the butt as the email reveals the government’s most classified secrets to him, and all from a masterpiece of computer software: the Intersect –now to be known as Chuck.
This is where you may stop and think it sounds all so generic; unexpected civilian comes across spy secrets, his life being in danger – wrong! Well kind of, for the Intersect is no normal computer, its data having downloaded into the zombified eyes of Chuck, and now his walking around as the world’s most advanced encyclopaedia. Better than Google even, whilst containing something akin to the dark web. Because of this he gets sudden flashes of both home and international secrets at any time, and triggered by anything – though an awful lot seems to be going down in his home town, the hot bed of international crime being….Burbank, California??
Still Chuck’s no spy, and surely the government wouldn’t just allow him to go off on his own? Of course not, with Chuck quickly being assigned the stunningly beautiful and deadly CIA operative Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) and NSA ex-army and frighteningly aggressive John Casey (Adam Baldwin) to protect him, monitor him and maybe even remove Chuck if he becomes too big of a risk.
Anything goes in this series, the scenes moving with lightning pace between comedy, action and romance, with the effect of making you look like a maniac as you switch from bawling your eyes out, to roaring with laughter; head back, mouth open with a noise similar to a hyena’s. Even in the first scenes there’s fighting, family drama, explosions, laughter and maybe a dash of pity for Chuck – until you realise, damn it, his cooler than me! Nerds being deservedly given their stature in popular-culture.
The show is as riveting as it is comedic, and in its constant and changing directions it avoids becoming stale. And with five seasons in a harsh world of TV cuts, that should say something of its quality. However, season four doesn’t quite match the high standard of the others, but it’s still entertaining.
There’s very little change over the seasons in the show’s characters, allowing the audience a chance to really fall for the individual personalities, each one being lovingly crafted by the writers. Further to this, with there being such a bountiful supply of unique and multiple pairings, there are lots of different sub-plots to follow; from various romantic relationships, bromances that result in weirdly-catchy melodies, to family secrets, trysts and so much more, providing a lightness to scenes that are too dark, and more rarely darker moments when an episode has been largely comedic. The comedy and action of the show makes the rating for this series family friendly upwards.
The main three characters of the season are Chuck (of course), followed by CIA agent Sarah and NSA agent John. The three go on countless missions to varying levels of success, with Chuck increasingly and unwittingly causing mistakes. But, as the audience is constantly reminded, he’s a good guy through and through, and so he’ll always try to fix what’s been broken – after all, he is an IT repair man.
The acting in Chuck is great, with no-one being given more screen-time than they deserve, although having said this I could always watch more scenes with the enigmatic Zachary Levi, and the formidable Yvonne Strahovski – their characters’ chemistry being explosive and very much wished for, and not just by Chuck. Their story moving me from tears to big scary grins of happiness. Despite being at opposing ends from each other, they’re very much the essential and hopeless pairing of Yin and Yang; she’s tough, hides her emotions, while he’s quick to panic and wears multiple hearts all over his body – they might get repeatedly shot, but it doesn’t stop him coming back for more, and neither will it stop the viewer at home.
The stunts are altogether well choreographed, but some timings might be a little off, or the camera’s not quite at the right angle, but I’m being too harsh here, for very rarely was I taken out of any of the scenes. The car chases are great, the destinations beautiful, the sets well designed – while still creating the feeling of a comedy. The comic timing itself; faultless, with Zachary Levi providing most of them, whether with expressions, high-pitched voices, or fainting spells. In all, the show is engrossing, nerd-appreciating and cult creating, meaning all too soon you’ll be looking for your very own Nerd Herd shirt.
Creator: Chris Fedak
Creator: Josh Schwartz
Other notable works:
- Looking for Alaska 2019
- Marvels’ Runaways 2017-2019
- The Carrie Diaries 2013-2014
- Hart of Dixie 2011-2015
- Gossip Girl 2007-2012
