Season Two Brings Us Chuck Versus Charlie Pace and Lots of Other Geeky Goodness

Here in northwest Pennsylvania, football fans are busy gearing up for an exciting Super Bowl. They’re either eagerly rooting for the Steelers or, because they hate the Steelers – usually favoring the Browns or Bills – they’re rooting for Green Bay. My Facebook news feed is all lit up with declarations of anticipation. But on Sunday, my dad has already declared that we will be spending the day watching a “Chuck-a-thon,” and that sounds grand to me. We can still have the party, but the main event will be different. We finished the second season of Chuck a few days ago and are now embarking upon season three. “This show is addictive!” noted my dad, who has seen several of the episodes twice, since he’ll watch them with Mom and then re-watch them with me when I get home from an evening of working at the mall. I quite agree. But I am not complaining.

Season two of the action-mystery-romance-comedy, created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak, finds Chuck (Zachary Levi) temporarily believing that he is about to resume his normal life. He’s had the Intersect, a compendium of top-secret government information, in his head for about a year, but the new Intersect is finished, and the government is done with him. He hopes that means a shot at a real relationship with Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski), the sweet and pretty CIA agent who has been his handler all this time. What neither of them knows is that the third member of their little team, tough-as-nails NSA assassin John Casey (Adam Baldwin), still my second-favorite character on the show, has been ordered to put Chuck out of commission permanently. This is the first of several times in the season when we find him torn between duty to the government and loyalty to his friends – because by this point, it’s unmistakable that he has come to care about Chuck and Sarah, though he rarely shows it outwardly. Still, while his stoic but sarcastic demeanor continues to bring the laughs, we get to see a bit more of his softer side this season, and its way of expressing itself is usually just as funny as it is touching.

When the unveiling of the new Intersect ends in disaster, steely General Beckman (Bonita Friedericy), who we mostly only see via videoconference, is left no choice but to reassess Chuck’s value to the government, and she almost begins to see him as a person rather than simply a piece of equipment. Meanwhile, it becomes more and more difficult for him to separate his spy life from his home life with his sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and her soon-to-be-husband Devon “Captain Awesome” Woodcomb (Ryan McPartlin) and his work life at the Buy More with his best friend, Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez), and an array of oddball associates. It all becomes quite entangled, with his friends and family getting unwittingly involved in his missions in hilarious and something frightening ways, and one member of his inner circle even gets in on the spy secret this season.

We get to delve a little deeper into all of the characters this season. Retail annoyances Jeff Barnes (Scott Krinsky) and Lester Patel (Vik Sahay) reveal hitherto untapped talents and ambitions. One is a video game whiz; the other tries his hand at being assistant manager when Chuck declines the job, briefly believing that he will soon bid the Buy More goodbye. Both cherish surprising dreams of rock star glory with a duo known as Jeffster. Grumpy but lovable Buy More manager Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence) undergoes serious changes on the domestic and work fronts that affect everyone in the store, particularly Morgan, and spicy Anna Wu (Julia Ling) finds herself torn when it comes to her relationship with Morgan. This season also introduces a new character, the deliciously irritating Emmett Milbarge (Tony Hale), who initially comes in to assess the productivity of the Burbank Buy More staff and stays on as assistant manager because he is so appalled by what he sees. Carrying himself with an effete sibilance reminiscent of LOST’s Ben Linus, whom he rather resembles, Emmett provided a lot of the season’s biggest laughs for me. On the home front, it’s all about the preparations for Ellie and Devon’s nuptials, which are stressing Ellie out big-time, mostly because Devon’s mother (Morgan Fairchild) is heavily involved in the planning.

The writing is just as sharp in the second season as the first, with all of the elements blended together perfectly but humor always mixed in just a little more liberally. The romantic tension between Chuck and Sarah increases as romantic rivals – most intriguingly, his ex-girlfriend, Dr. Jill Roberts (Jordana Brewster) – pop up and their missions require them to practice the art of seduction. Both Sarah and Chuck find themselves in some pretty steamy situations this season, usually not with each other. This makes the show feel slightly less innocent this time around. Overall, the tone gets a smidge darker as we explore Sarah and Chuck’s childhood traumas – when do we get to see Casey’s? – and the team goes up against a rogue organization known as Fulcrum. This year, they have a nifty control center that rests underground between the Buy More and Sarah’s cover job, which has been transformed from a schlocky hot dog stand to a trendy frozen yogurt joint.

The show still abounds with geeky references. The vintage TRON poster that adorns Chuck’s room and is one of the most iconic props in the series gains even greater significance here as a major plot thread late in the season has deep resonance to the cult classic. I found myself very glad that I finally saw TRON a couple months ago, as I think it deepened my appreciation for several episodes. Adding to the TRON-tasticness of season two is the casting of Bruce Boxleitner, who played Tron in the movie, as Devon’s dad. Among other hat-tips, I loved the nod to The Karate Kid and what I took to be an obscure homage to The Princess Bride courtesy of Morgan, and it was a big kick to see Scott Bakula of Quantum Leap take on an important multi-episode guest role toward the end of the season.

A key location late in the season is called Black Rock, though I’m not sure if that’s an intentional wink at LOST. However, I love that three of the Island drama's cast members have guest roles. Anthony Azizi, who played mercenary Keamy’s right-hand baddie Omar, turns up here as a slightly more sophisticated villain, while Mark Pellegrino, who at that time had not yet joined the cast as enigmatic Island leader Jacob, is a petty thug. While I’m sure LOST had little to do with those casting decisions, Dom Monaghan is another story. Chuck Versus the Third Dimension, so named because the episode aired in 3-D, marked Monaghan’s first television appearance since he ceased to be a regular on LOST, and his character, Tyler Martin, is pretty much just Charlie Pace at the heights of his rock star depravity. He still has endearing qualities, but he’s a libidinous lush who’s so out of touch with reality that he can’t tell the difference between Burbank and Cleveland. This is the only episode of Chuck to date that I’ve watched when it actually aired, and it was funny to see it again now, in the wake of the final season, and wonder whether elements of this episode may have, in turn, inspired LOST show-runners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. Charlie’s trajectory in season six seems similar to Tyler’s in this episode, with a level-headed person trying to keep him out of trouble. I love, too, that both Tyler and season six Charlie get hit with tranq darts and are told that it is vitally important for them to play a particular concert.

Season two includes three holiday episodes: Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Thanksgiving includes what may be my favorite Big Mike moment to date, and he’s a major part of the Christmas episode too, during which we get to meet his equally bulky cousin. As Christmas episodes go, it’s a little twisted, since most of the time is spent in a hostage situation, but it also has its tender moments. Valentine’s Day offers a glimpse of what domestic life might be like for Chuck and Sarah if they were ever able to have a normal relationship. The season culminates in one of the most unique weddings ever to grace a TV screen.

In a season full of twists and turns, one thing that remains consistent is Chuck’s core decency. This is a guy with a strong sense of ethics and an unswerving devotion to his friends and family. When I say that he’s lovable enough to give LOST’s Hurley a run for his money, you know he’s really won me over. This is a terrific, life-affirming show that makes me laugh and smile in equal measure. Bring on the Super Bowl Sunday Chuck-a-thon!