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Sooo, about last night...

I have to tell ya, I'm a little conflicted about this season of Chuck. I'm thoroughly enjoying it, don't get me wrong, but there are certain aspects which I'm totally digging, and others I'm a little apprehensive about. Let me count the ways...

I'm very pleased with the new cast members this season (namely Brandon Routh (rhymes with "south") of Superman Returns notoriety and Kristin Kruek (rhymes with "Luke," or so I've heard) of Smallville fame--rest assured, she's much less annoying in her current role). Now that Bryce is dead, the show was in need of some new spy blood to mix things up a bit. So far Routh , who plays new team commander Shaw, has performed admirably. He has taken the thankless role of the upper management type guy who comes in, takes over, and rocks the boat. As a viewer, you can't stand the fact that he's been put in a position where he can decide the fates of Sarah, Chuck, and Casey with complete authority and you find yourself as frustrated as they are that Shaw is giving them orders and diagnosing their problems through an imperious staff review. He has stirred things up in exactly the way the writers intended and have forced viewers to align themselves even more closely with the show's main trio than before. To further upset the balance, Shaw taps into Chuck's frustrations of being treated like an incompetent civilian and sends him on his first solo mission. The wannabe spy inside Chuck jumps at the chance to prove himself, much to Sarah's and Casey's dismay. In a way, this pits Casey and Sarah not only against Shaw for taking over, but also against Chuck who totally sides with Shaw. I was a little worried for where this would be heading when Chuck seemingly completed the task at hand without Casey or Sarah's help, but rest assured, everything went to hell in a hand-basket, just as it should. I'm glad to see Chuck getting better at the whole spy-game and all, but the entire conceit of the show hinges on him being the geeky Buy More employee and not super-spy. The fact that he has the intersects in his head and should be the most insanely super of all spies, but he clearly still has a long way to go as both Casey and Sarah have to bail him out of his first ever solo mission.

I know that we're supposed to be annoyed by Shaw, and to large extent, I totally am, but I see his character as a facilitator for all sorts of new interpersonal problems and new storyline arcs to be taken. Rather predictably, the show undercut Shaw's more off-putting authoritarian ways with a teary backstory, but so far, I think it's playing out nicely. I would have liked a bit more hinting and teasing at Shaw's real story, but what can ya do. The spy-wife-who-died-in-the-field backstory wouldn't have been my first choice, but I liked that they used that as an explanation for why he is seemingly so hell bent on Chuck becoming self-sufficient. Shaw seems to think he was in some way responsible for his wife's death, and although we don't know the particulars of the story, it gives Shaw some interesting (if predictable) depth. It also gives him more than a little in common with Sarah, what with the dead spy lover and all the guilt and whatnot... When Sarah lied to him about why she was in Lisbon, he claimed to have believed every word, but I'm not buying it. He's way too savvy and cunning to have bought her story hook, line, and sinker, so I'd be pretty surprised if that's the angle the writers take. I think there's a lot more to Shaw and his agenda than meets the eye and I'm pretty damn excited to see how it plays out. He seems to have been constructed as the kind of character who comes in, is initially hated, but eventually wins people over and I'm abundantly fine with that. There have been a few hints that he's poised to take over as a love interest for Sarah, and quite frankly, after seeing her get screwed over by Chuck, I'm all about that.

I've always felt that Sarah needed to be with a real spy, someone who could match her skills and keep up with her. Her relationship with Chuck is far too protective to be a viable romantic pairing. Sarah and Bryce were a real match for one another and came together on equal footing. Sarah's relationship with Chuck has always been predicated on his helplessness, and I just don't think that's an appealing launch point for a pairing. The fact that Chuck has both intersects potentially at his disposal and the fact that he's sort of becoming a real spy throws that dynamic into a tailspin. I think that might be one of the reasons Sarah was so uncomfortable with Chuck going on a solo mission. His new abilities compromise their current relationship construct and she isn't too comfortable with that. I think Shaw probably picked up on some of the parent/child, teacher/student vibe between then and wanted to shake things up. Of course, in Sarah's (and Casey's defense), they're the ones who've had to save Chuck's ass at least once a week for the past two years, so dynamics aside, they know Chuck isn't ready for this. And clearly he isn't.

Speaking of romantic pairings based on a much closer to equal footing, Kristin Kruek joins the show as Hannah, a tech savvy sweetheart who completely captivates Chuck instantly. Chuck's relationship with Sarah has always been uneven and largely one-sided. I think this is part of the reason Chuck ultimately turned Sarah down. Their relationship has never been one of peers. She's his protector, he's the screw-up who needs protecting. She's the confident sex kitten, he's the milquetoasty geek. She's the badass, and he's just an asset. As far as How I Met Your Mother would weigh in, Sarah's one hell of a settler, and Chuck's a pretty serious reacher. It's a set-up that would predictably lead to Chuck being smitten with such an awesome potential love interest, but when the opportunity to actually be with her arises, it's a pretty daunting prospect. Sarah may have decided she cares for Chuck, but that still doesn't put them on an equal footing. I'm not saying this excuses Chuck's actions, but I do think it points to the fact that things wouldn't have worked out between them in their current states. Spending two years trying to convince Sarah they should be together and then blowing her off is still pretty damned inexcusable and decidedly douchey, but at least there's some logical backing for it from a story point of view.

Anyway, with Chuck and Sarah at odds for the moment (in more ways than one--deep down when Sarah told Shaw he could transfer her if he wanted to, I think she totally wanted it), it opens the door for Chuck to give a more viable relationship a chance. I haven't watched Smallville in ages, but from way back when (good god, that show's in like its 10th season now), I seemed to recall that Lana Lang was fairly annoying... Fortunately, as Hannah, she's surprisingly delightful. Hannah and Chuck hit it off immediately and it was clear that Kruek and Zach Levi have wonderful chemistry together. At the end of the day, it'll never work out (what with Chuck having this huge pile of secrets to keep and very little ability to keep them), but I think this will give Chuck a chance to have a real relationship. I think this whole season is turning into a coming of age story. Chuck is trying to become a real spy, a real adult, with real responsibilities, and with Hannah, have a real relationship (unless of course she's evil or something, and let's face it, she probably is). Whether any of that will actually pan out is yet to be seen, but I can't wait for the ride. The show is grounded in the fact that Chuck isn't any of those things and doesn't have anything really real to hang onto, so it could lead to some sticky dynamics in the future, but so far, I'm confident the writers will pull it off. I'm very pleased with where things are going at the moment, so reservations aside, I'm pretty stoked to see how things work out with the old players being presented with a whole new game.

In administrative news, Chuck's ratings have held pretty steady, in spite of one of the most brutally competitive timeslots on TV. With NBC drowning, the bar has been lowered to the point where I think Chuck's future is fairly secure. It's out-performing Heroes by a fair margin, so if push comes to shove, Heroes will hopefully get the axe. I say "hopefully" instead of "will" because, well, NBC has certainly made more moronic moves in the past, but I think even they're beginning to realize just how unwatched and dead Heroes really is.

Fingers crossed!