Snaggle Rock
Chuck - Season 2 (2008-2009)
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
I enjoyed the second season of Chuck more than the first, not because of Scott Bakula or because Joshua Gomez finally got his bangs off of his forehead, but because I decided to think of Chuck as the “other man” in Sarah’s unhappy marriage. Sarah, of course, is only married to the government, and only figuratively, but the on-again/off-again aspect of her longing for Chuck is too erratic to make sense within the narrative framework of the show. Either she can be with Chuck or she can’t; the logic behind their tension is untenable over the long haul. Clearly, a common criticism of Chuck is that it isn’t very well thought through, but the simple pleasure of watching Casey, Sarah, and Chuck interact – sometimes for comedy, sometimes in anger – continues to provide me with a reason to enjoy the guilty pleasures of network TV. And if I’m unhappy that Sarah is “committed” to the government when she doesn’t have to be, voila, Uncle Sam is Victor Laszlo in Casablanca.
Chuck, of course, continues to reap benefits he hasn’t earned, which is fine except that he spends so much of his time complaining about them. The disconnect between Chuck’s weekly missions and activities at the Buy More is enormous, and it seems like the show’s creators have put themselves in the position of writing an Office-like sitcom alongside a spy comedy. That’s one laugh riot too many, so now that Chuck is Neo, I can only imagine that Jeff, Lester, and Big Mike will have to be jettisoned completely. Except that I doubt it. No one wants to be the one to break up the old gang.
Even so, Chuck’s romantic. But as for that moment when they almost did have sex, but for Chuck’s incompetence with a condom - well, why wouldn’t someone as smart as Sarah practice birth control? Come on.
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
I enjoyed the second season of Chuck more than the first, not because of Scott Bakula or because Joshua Gomez finally got his bangs off of his forehead, but because I decided to think of Chuck as the “other man” in Sarah’s unhappy marriage. Sarah, of course, is only married to the government, and only figuratively, but the on-again/off-again aspect of her longing for Chuck is too erratic to make sense within the narrative framework of the show. Either she can be with Chuck or she can’t; the logic behind their tension is untenable over the long haul. Clearly, a common criticism of Chuck is that it isn’t very well thought through, but the simple pleasure of watching Casey, Sarah, and Chuck interact – sometimes for comedy, sometimes in anger – continues to provide me with a reason to enjoy the guilty pleasures of network TV. And if I’m unhappy that Sarah is “committed” to the government when she doesn’t have to be, voila, Uncle Sam is Victor Laszlo in Casablanca.
Chuck, of course, continues to reap benefits he hasn’t earned, which is fine except that he spends so much of his time complaining about them. The disconnect between Chuck’s weekly missions and activities at the Buy More is enormous, and it seems like the show’s creators have put themselves in the position of writing an Office-like sitcom alongside a spy comedy. That’s one laugh riot too many, so now that Chuck is Neo, I can only imagine that Jeff, Lester, and Big Mike will have to be jettisoned completely. Except that I doubt it. No one wants to be the one to break up the old gang.
Even so, Chuck’s romantic. But as for that moment when they almost did have sex, but for Chuck’s incompetence with a condom - well, why wouldn’t someone as smart as Sarah practice birth control? Come on.
posted by NPK at 8:27 PM
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