ALARIS' REVIEWS

27th December 2008
Chuck: Pilot (2007)

This review actually encompasses the first four episodes, and the fact that I've watched four episodes already says volumes.

The premise of this genre TV series is pretty common territory. Chuck Bartowski is a computer geek who works in a cheap department store, living an awkward, unextraordinary life until one day, all of the USA 's top secret files are unexpectedly uploaded into his head, making him an extremely valuable supercomputer. Cue beautiful, dangerous women, undercover hijinks, and double-life dilemmas.

Usually, loser-guy heroes can be hit and miss for me, especially when they end up with super hot women (when was the last time a loser geek girl ended up with a super hot guy?). However, the appeal of the show so far is the fact that Chuck is actually a pretty likeable guy. He lacks the boy-man immaturity and puerile sleaze that characterises many of these types of protagonists, or the self pitying neuroses that present in their older counterparts. Chuck is sweet to kids, nice to his family, and reasonably chaste when it comes to women. Basically, he's an all round nice guy, and a geek.

The series is reasonably entertaining, but a little patchy. Sometimes, the humour is off beat and incisive, but sometimes it just falls flat. For me, the quirky, human story is handled better than the sometimes clunky action sequences, and the frequent panty shots are a serious drawback for me.

One of the highlights is the relationship between Chuck and his sister, Ellie. It's great to see a warm, supportive sibling relationship, and it adds an extra dimension to Chuck's character. Genre fans will recognise Adam Baldwin (The X-Files, Angel, Firefly) as the surly NSA agent sent to guard Chuck.

Chuck is a fairly fun, light show, with enough quirkiness to keep me watching for now (the funny Dark Crystal reference bought it a lot of goodwill). However, if the panty shots start heading for shonen territory, I'll be forced to bail.

Verdict: An easy, entertaining series with some funny moments, but not a must see.

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