(Untitled)

[the_narration]

Between renting DVDs and the internet, I’ve been able to get caught up on Burn Notice, Leverage and Chuck.

All told, that’s a lot of time spent watching characters that do a lot of lying.

Comments

[roxybisquaint]

I have nothing intelligent to add to your analysis of Chuck, but I'm sad to say I completely agree. This season started out kind of fun, but it's quickly deteriorated into rote silliness with an annoying romantic story line.

The idea of Chuck having this new skill set at his disposal was nice in theory, but in practice, it's mostly just lame. There's no tension when he's in a sticky situation anymore because we know that at the last second, he'll finally flash and kick some ass, martial arts style

[the_narration]

There's no tension when he's in a sticky situation anymore because we know that at the last second, he'll finally flash and kick some ass, martial arts style.
Agreed. He used to have to think his way out of problems, which was creative and entertaining to watch. Now it's just *flash* and then invincible kung fu. Maybe if the combat program in the Intersect lost sometimes, there might still be some tension, but right now it's like watching Superman.

...the whole thing about spy/not spy between Chuck and Sarah getting turned on its head.
Right, they already had a few much-more-reasonable ways of keeping things tense between them, and then dumped this half-assed love triangle on us anyway.

I still enjoy Chuck, but if it ended tomorrow, I wouldn't miss it.
Yeah, I'm entertained, but I've got no emotional attachment.

And I'm making my obvious prediction now that Casey gets reinstated after saving the day when whatshisname the spy with the hots for Sarah ends up being a bad guy.I'm hoping that they're not going to be so clichéd as to

[miniglik]

I suspect the Chuck writers knew they wrote themselves into a corner when they gave Chuck the "kung fu" intersect. (Or maybe I just assume that because of the comic con video they did where they're mournful about renewal because "I know kung fu" was supposed to be an ending.) Personally, I can handwave all the ill-equipped muscle business. It's the male equivalent of the more-annoying (to me) waif fu. (I can go on long rants about female characters with absolutely no reason to be badass fighters who simply ARE because the writers wanted a cute chick you could "fight." How about making a woman who is badass for something other than her fake magical muscles

[the_narration]

Or maybe I just assume that because of the comic con video they did where they're mournful about renewal because "I know kung fu" was supposed to be an ending.
Yeah, seems like they knew they'd shot themselves in the foot.

And the thing of it is, it's not like Chuck doesn't still have a lot to learn. Sure he knows kung fu and all this other stuff. Does he know common spy tactics? Game theory? Psychology? Social manipulation? How to spot a tail? Being a spy is less about the fighting and more about the mind games.

Personally, I can handwave all the ill-equipped muscle business. It's the male equivalent of the more-annoying (to me) waif fu. (I can go on long rants about female characters with absolutely no reason to be badass fighters who simply ARE because the writers wanted a cute chick you could "fight." How about making a woman who is badass for something other than her fake magical muscles?)Well, muscle size isn't the same thing as muscle strength or capability. Bruce Lee, for instance, was a very small man but an incredibly

[drenkrelar]

I've been slightly disappointed with Chuck myself lately. The episodes are still enjoyable, and the plot twists have been good as well, but it feels like it's lacking something that made me love it in the first place. I want to say it's the adorable geekiness of Chuck himself, or less focus on him just being a nerdy average Joe instead of a spy, and those are both part of it, but there's more to it than that. Somewhere along the line it just stopped being the show I fell in love with its first season.

[the_narration]

Yeah, it's hard to put my finger on exactly what has changed to make it less enjoyable. I guess it's less creative? They used to have to come up with oddball ways for him to get out of jams. Now he just flashes and wins without really trying.