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Chuck Rundown: Episode 13, "Chuck Vs. The Marlin"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:30:29 -0800

Alright, it's time to put that last slice of bread on top of our Chuck sandwich. "Chuck Vs. The Marlin" was the last episode finished before the strike shut down production, and that's a bummer, because I adored this one. Normally, I like Chuck best when it's heavy on the goofiness and light on plot, as "Chuck Vs. The Undercover Lover" was earlier in the night. But "The Marlin" was all plot, and I absolutely loved it.

Rather than the normal Chuck-flashes-on-something-evil setup, this one was much more of a goofy caper. After the previous episode's anniversary debacle, Awesome decided it was time to prove to Ellie that he was ready to commit by proposing with his great-grandma's ring. In one of the worst decisions ever, Awesome decided to give Chuck the ring so Ellie wouldn't "smell diamond" in their apartment. That would have been dicey under any circumstances, but given what happened next, it was a true disaster, so

Chuck Rundown: Episode 12, "Chuck Vs. The Undercover Lover"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:30:12 -0800

Hey, it's part one of my own Chuck sandwich! Since NBC decided to toss its final two episodes of Chuck on TV last night (bracketing the latest installment of The Celebrity Apprentice), I've decided to serve up my own Chuck rundown sandwich. First up, "Chuck Vs. the Undercover Lover." The second episode, "Chuck Vs. The Marlin," will be coming soon (update: here it is) — but I have to put something in between. You know. Sandwich.

Anyway. Man, it was good to have this show back; I missed its goofiness. And this episode was particularly fun, as two very different relationships played out in strangely parallel stories. How hilarious was it to learn that Casey could feel passion? I suppose it wasn't much of a stretch for Chuck to believe Casey was "built like a Ken doll, you know, down there" — but then Chuck suddenly flashed on Ilsa, Casey's one true love (other than his Crown Vic). The reveal of that relationship led to all sorts of wild, spy-genre-parodying developments, so just

Chuck Rundown: Episode 11, "Chuck Vs. The Crown Vic"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:47:16 -0800

Well, if that's the last episode of Chuck we're going to see for a while, I suppose it was a fine note to end on. But after two weeks of fantastic episodes, I can't pretend I wasn't a little disappointed in this one. Sure, it had the resolution to last week's "will Sarah stay or go?" cliffhanger, and there were some great one-liners from Casey (and even Morgan). But mostly, I thought the episode just seemed like kind of a placeholder, reminding us that Chuck should still return after the strike ends while not getting our hopes up too high in case that return doesn't come for months. To read the rest of my thoughts on the episode, just

Chuck Rundown: Episode 10, "Chuck vs. The Nemesis"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:40:02 -0800

First of all, here's something worthy of celebrating for all you Chuck fans: NBC has picked up the show for a full season, along with the new series Life. Exactly what that means depends on how long it takes to resolve the Hollywood writers' strike, but whenever shows go into production again, Chuck will be among them. Yay!

So it's only right that Chuck followed up the big news with an episode that featured some of the best action sequences since the pilot, an intriguing love triangle, and, of course, the return of Bryce Larkin. To hear my take on the episode's ups and downs, just

Chuck Rundown: Episode 9, "Chuck Vs. the Imported Hard Salami"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:30:31 -0800

So I'm sitting there watching Chuck, and everything seems pretty normal: There's a spy case. Chuck bumbles through a date. Casey says something funny. There's danger. Morgan's half-endearing, half-annoying. The usual.

And then, pow! Much like Heroes, Chuck whipped out a mostly surprising ending with the potential to shake everything up. Well played, show. To read my thoughts and chime in with yours, just

Chuck Rundown: Episode 8, "Chuck Vs. The Truth"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 09:25:29 -0800

I'm no expert in the spy genre, but I've heard and seen enough stories involving "truth serum" to know that I should have expected that plotline to turn up on Chuck eventually. But I really liked the way the show used the idea of the honesty drug, taking Chuck's relationships with both Sarah and his sister to new levels while giving us some of the best laugh-out-loud lines yet. Plus: All hail Bilson! To read the rest of my thoughts on the episode, just

Chuck Rundown: Episode 7, "Chuck Vs. the Alma Mater"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 11:25:17 -0800

I was so looking forward to this episode of Chuck, the one where he'd have to return to his alma mater and face his expulsion, his dashed romance, and his memories of the roommate that betrayed him and then stuck him with a big ol' computer brain. And yet, this episode left me cold. I thought I wanted Chuck to have some big emotional backstory, but now I think I like it better when it's just plain silly. To read the rest of my take, just

Chuck Rundown: Episode 6, "Chuck Vs. The Sandworm"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:41:13 -0700

If you'd asked me earlier in the TV season which show would be this year's love-it-or-hate-it series, I would have said Pushing Daisies, hands down. But now, I think the fall's love-it-or-hate-it award goes to Chuck. I've seen a lot of people who were really thrilled about the show at the beginning of the season slowly losing interest — but at the same time, another group of viewers is getting more and more passionate about the show by the day. I'm not totally sold on Chuck, but for the most part, I'm in the "love it" camp — and this week's episode was a good example of why. To read my take and add your own, just

Chuck Rundown: Episode 5, "Chuck Vs. the Sizzling Shrimp"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:30:21 -0700

Ever since Chuck Bartowski accidentally became a tool of government spies, we've seen little snippets of how his new spy gig gets in the way of his day job and his home life. But on last night's Chuck, the demands of his regular life and his secret life collided in the biggest way yet — and it left me wondering how long Chuck will be able to keep his powers a secret. To read the rest of my thoughts on the episode and share your own, just

Chuck Rundown: Episode 4, "Chuck Vs. The Wookie"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:31:58 -0700

I'd like to propose a new way to evaluate a given episode of Chuck: The Minutes to Ninja Fight timer. In this fourth episode of the series, we got our first ninja fight before 8:05. Well played, Chuck. The rest of the episode mostly held up to that fast-paced promise, so to talk about it, just

"Chuck" Rundown: Episode 3, "Chuck Vs. The Tango"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 12:50:25 -0700

"Chuck" was back in fine, goofy form last night with an episode that saw our hapless hero finally sent on a mission. I'm assuming this will be roughly the formula "Chuck" follows for however long the show exists: a national security assignment, a mildly amusing Nerd Herd subplot, a dash of attempted romance, and a neat conclusion. If it makes me chuckle the way last night's episode did, though, I'd be just fine with that. Want to hear more about the tango? Just

"Chuck" Rundown: Epsiode 2, "Chuck Vs. The Helicopter"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:34:45 -0700

OK, confession time: I didn't love this episode of "Chuck." I thought it squandered the energy of the first episode by repeating too much of last week's show, not advancing the overall plot, and falling victim to clumsy spy movie cliches. The good news: I've seen next week's episode, and it's much, much better (better than the pilot, I think) — so if you didn't love this episode, it's still worth watching another. For now, if you want to chat about the good and the bad of last night's show, just

"Chuck" Episode 1: "Pilot"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:30:23 -0700

I picked "Chuck" as one of my five shows to watch this fall because the pilot was just so much giddy fun. Luckily, the episode was just as amusing to me the second time around. I'm curious to hear what the rest of you have to say about it, so to read my thoughts on the episode and add your own, just