Just finished watching season 3 of Chuck

[Canadave]

So I watched the S3 finale of Chuck the other night, after starting to watch the show about a month ago. It's rather amazing how addictive it is...

I have to say, I think the third season was perhaps the show's strongest, as I rather enjoyed the darker turns it took, like Chuck having to burn an asset, his red test, and that whole ending arc. My biggest complaint with the season would probably have to be Shaw... he was a pretty weak character, and clearly only existed to draw out the Chuck\Sarah resolution longer. Granted, Chuck's "I read your file" moment in Paris was pretty badass, but I still can't help but feel the Shaw storyline was pretty slow and plodding, at least up until he "died."

I'm definitely looking forwards to season four, though, and I was curious what direction people think the show will go. Who is Chuck's mother, for one thing? I was actually under the impression she was dead for much of the series...

And plainly, Chuck will continue to be a spy, so how will he resolve that with what he promised Ellie? Personally, I think he needs to give her the "I'm finally doing something important with my life" speech, but I doubt it'll be that simple.

 

[the Dagman]

Welcome to the fold!

Yes, as most fans of the show agree, it does seem to get better and better as it goes on. As to Mary Bartowski, I am personally hopeful they get Lynda Carter to play her. Her story? Well, she's going to have to have ties to the Ring. And given how close her husband Stephen "died" to the Ring's regenerative lab, it is very possible he is still around and in the hands of the Ring now as well.

As to Ellie and Chuck's promise to her, once Chuck tells her their Mom is alive and what their Dad told him, she is going to release him from that promise and tell him to go save her. At least, that is the way I see it.

 

[Canadave]

^ That would certainly be a good way to get out of it.

I'm not sure how I'd feel about Stephen Bartowski coming back, though... would cheapen his death at the end of S3, IMO.

 

[Mr Light]

I was actually pretty disappointed with Season Three. I thought S2 found a perfect balance between comedy and drama with a good ending storyline. But then S3 rumbled around and didn't do much anything for the first 2/3 of the season with an endless will they / wont they garbage train with Chuck and Sarah and Superman. And the Buy More stories... I dunno... they just weren't as good. Got more obnoxious than funny. I went from really liking the show to just mildly enjoying it.

 

[Lt. Brannigan]

I love Chuck, since I don't have cable though I have to wait for the DVD's.

 

[Starbreaker]

Chuck is on NBC.

 

[the Dagman]

And Hulu (the direct link is in my sig)

 

[RoJoHen]

What most impressed me about Season 3 was how they completely turned the show on its head. They exposed Chuck's secret, and he and Sarah finally got to be a real couple. After the first two years of waiting, they finally just put it all out on the table, and I love it.

It definitely opens up doors for new stories to tell by making it impossible to tread over old ground.

 

[Canadave]

What most impressed me about Season 3 was how they completely turned the show on its head. They exposed Chuck's secret, and he and Sarah finally got to be a real couple. After the first two years of waiting, they finally just put it all out on the table, and I love it.

It definitely opens up doors for new stories to tell by making it impossible to tread over old ground.

I agree. I think this is what I liked so much about S3. I think if they'd stuck with the "Chuck flashes --> gets told to stay in car --> bumbles around anyway" with "Buy More antics and unrequited sexual tension" in the background, it could have been very stale.

But instead they took an interesting new direction, and (even though they still drew it out too long) actually managed to move Chuck and Sarah's relationship forwards. It all worked really well, and the slightly darker tone helped as well, I thought.

 

[Goji]

I think overall season 2 was a slightly stronger season, mostly due to the fantastic ending arc. The first half of season 3 laid on the romantic angst way too thick for me. The Chuck/Sarah relationship is not the main reason I watch the show (not even close, really) and it felt like it got out of hand there for a while.

Which is not to say that I dislike season 3, because most of the time I thought it was great. I'd say the two biggest improvements this year were Morgan and Casey. Morgan really hadn't gone anywhere in the first two seasons, and since he had to be kept far away from the spy side of the show it often seemed hard to see him as being as close to Chuck as we were so often told. Bringing him on as part of "Team Bartowski" this year was a very smart move that made for a lot of excellent (and funny) scenes. And while Adam Baldwin can sneer and grunt with the best of them, I quite enjoyed the extremely reluctant (on his part) humanizing of Casey this season, especially where Morgan is concerned. I hope both of these developments extend into the new season.

 

[Rowan Sjet]

I kinda agree with Mr Light in that Season 3 stumbles around a bit following the sublime season 2. I'll be rewatching it now that it's airing over here in the UK, so I'll see how my opinion changes knowing what I do now.

 

[Mr Light]

I agree that bringing Morgan onto to the team was something they should have done long ago. I did enjoy the final third of S3 once they dealt with the Chuck/Sarah thing and brought Morgan on. It was those endless Chuck/Sarah pining episodes with Superman in them that I didn't care for.