Chuck - Season 1 (2007)

In the age of never ending reality television and crime shows such as CSI / Law In Order, rarely does there come a new series that has the ability to truly get me excited. A series in which I really look forward to watching on a weekly basis, a series I genuinely miss when the season is over, a series I can easily watch an entire season in a couple sittings, a series that actually brings some diversity to the tube. Well Chuck is that series. Chuck is the type of show that is easy to become engrossed in, watch one episode and you'll find yourself thinking about the show and characters throughout the week.

Chuck Bartowski is an average guy whose hopes of a lucrative software career were dashed when his supposed best friend, Bryce Larkin, stole his girlfriend and had him kicked out of Stanford. Now five years after that life changing event Chuck is the lead nerd of the Nerd Herd at the local Buy More retail store, spending his days fixing computers and playing online video games with his now best friend Morgan Grimes. Even after five years the sting of betrayal at the hands of Bryce still seems to haunt Chuck, whose life is about to be turned upside down once again by his old college friend.

As it turns out Bryce Larkin now works for the CIA, or at least he used to. It seems Bryce has turned rogue and stolen all the CIA and NSA secrets which are encrypted into thousands of pictures and contained within a computer known as the intersect. Bryce manages to email those secrets to Chuck right before he's shot down by NSA Agent John Casey. When Chuck opens the email the encrypted pictures begin appearing on his screen and all the governments secrets begin downloading into his brain. As a result the CIA and the NSA send their two best agents to protect Chuck from the vast array of criminals seeking the knowledge he now contains.

The first rule of watching Chuck is be prepared to suspend some disbelief, not everything in this show makes a whole lot of sense, and if you tend to want to justify and over think every aspect of this show then you'll miss out on what makes it great. Chuck is not a show that's meant to be taken seriously, every once in a while there's a few emotional scenes between character's and a few serious moments, but for the most part Chuck is a fun twist on a spy thriller series, think James Bond meets Maxwell Smart.

What makes Chuck such a great show is the characters. The main character, Chuck, is extremely likable to the point that most viewer should instantly relate to and find a connection with, whether it be to themselves or someone they would enjoy hanging out with. The supporting cast is fantastic as well, the beautiful Yvonne Strahovski makes the show worth watching alone. She's drop dead gorgeous, kicks butt and is and extremely good actress. Her character, Sarah, is one of the agents sent to protect Chuck and also lends the show it's romantic aspect as it's quite clear there's a connection between the two of them. The familiar Adam Baldwin plays the other agent, Casey, more of bad cop to Sarah's good cop persona. While Casey is quite serious and dry, he's got a sarcastic wit that's quite amusing. Throw in a handful of other supporting characters such as the Buy More crew and Devon "aka" Captain Awesome, there's really never a dull moment on the show.

Top Five Favorite Episodes:

 Aired 9/24/2007

Chuck opens an email that contains all the governments' secrets and now must attempt come to grips with this life changing event and the introduction of his "handlers" from the CIA and NSA.

Aired 1/24/2008

Chuck finds a bug at the Buy More but it isn't CIA or NSA which leads Casey and Sara to believe someone could know that Chuck is the intersect. They clean out the Buy More in hopes of finding more evidence of who may be spying on them, leading store owner Big Mike to believe they were robbed, and he's most concerned with who stole his marlin! Meanwhile Devon "Captain Awesome" plans on proposing to Ellie and entrusts Chuck with the wedding ring, which gets lost during the Buy More clean out.

Aired 10/15/2007

An old DEA acquaintance of Sara's makes an appearance and sucks the gang into helping her steal a diamond. Chuck learns of Sara's close connection with his former friend Bryce Larkin, and lets his feelings get in the way of the mission.

Aired 11/5/2007

Chuck returns to Stanford when he discovers his name was in the intersect files prior to him being kicked out of Stanford. It's back at Stanford where he'll finally learn the truth behind Bryce getting him kicked out and ruining his life.

Aired 11/26/2007

Chuck discovers his old friend and nemesis Bryce Larkin is still alive and being chased by an renegade group within the CIA, known as Folcrum, who are in search for the intersect. Chuck must deal with the return of Bryce, being kidnapped, and the busiest day at the Buy More, Black Friday.

9/10