[COLOR= black]With its audience dwindling after three seasons, the producers of Chuck along with NBC had the perfect opportunity to reboot the series for the start of season four. The Buy More with its annoying, imbecilic employees had burned down, and our heroes had finally declared their love for one another and become a couple. What better time to show a newly improved and much more confident superhero spy and his lady love off on a new series of missions abetted by the team’s trusty muscle and Chuck’s loyal, loving family back home? Alas, by the third episode in, the show’s writers had rebuilt the electronics store, hired back all of the irritating supporting cast to populate it, and kept Chuck the same dithering, neurotic dweeb he had been for three seasons. The result was a further dwindling of its core audience, and while it did get renewed for one more season, it’ll only be thirteen episodes to close out the show, and the program will be moved to the Friday 8 p.m. twilight zone of networks’ schedules.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Chuck: The Complete Fourth Season (Blu-ray)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Directed by Gail Mancuso et al
Studio: Warner Bros.
Year: 2010-2011[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Aspect Ratio:[/COLOR][COLOR= black] 1.78:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 1032 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English
Subtitles: SDH, French, Spanish[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Region: [/COLOR][COLOR= black]no designation[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]MSRP: [/COLOR][COLOR= black]$69.97[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Release Date: October 11, 2011[/COLOR]
Review Date: October 11, 2011
The Season
3/5
Chuck is fortunate to have a core cast of superb actors who can play comedy and drama and make the action very believable and entertaining when the show is firing on all cylinders. But the writers have restricted Chuck (Zachary Levi) by keeping him a bungling, stuttering, neurotic mess who brings his hang-ups on mission after mission despite three previous years of showing him how disadvantageous that is to the safety of himself and his team. Worse, they’ve inflicted some of those neuroses on once super professional spy Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) so that now missions are burdened with two uncertain spies who bungle and plop their way to lucky successes week after week. The formula for such chicanery has long since worn out, and the season’s most enjoyable episodes remain those where these little psychotic breaks don’t occur and the team can operate professionally even when things inevitably go wrong.
The writers not only resort to restricting Chuck in his growth and development, but they reach back into previous seasons for a story arc this year involving a handful of episodes where the intersect in Chuck’s brain (a compendium of spy facts and combat maneuvers encyclopedic in its complexity) is not available to him and he must survive on wits alone. In order to insert more conflict into the show, the season is one of secrets as Chuck pretends to his pregnant sister (Sarah Lancaster) that he is through with the spy game while she keeps secret from him that she’s found their father’s computer and is busily trying to hack its information (though until this season, we’ve never been privy to any special skills Sarah possessed with computers or electronics). Chuck and Sarah’s mother (Linda Hamilton) is brought on board this season in a season-long story arc involving her long time participation as an undercover operative keeping viewers dangling for many episodes as to whether she’s friend or foe. Tied to her story is the story of Russian terrorist Alexi Volkoff bringing aboard former James Bond Timothy Dalton in another extended story arc that takes all season to unfold and bring to a satisfying if overly contrived resolution.
Zachary Levi is an entertaining comic actor with a lithe body that can perform many of the physical moves Chuck must undertake in his quest to become the world’s nerdiest superspy. Yvonne Strahovski is beautiful and effective as his fellow spy/love interest. The show’s MVP, of course, is Adam Baldwin, alone among the show’s stars who has stayed true to his character’s original intentions as a tough, no-nonsense spy while slowly growing as a more caring and tender individual toward his friends and family. Joshua Gomez as Chuck’s geeky best friend who occasionally joins in on missions despite having even fewer skills for the job than Chuck is the least irritating of the Buy More nerd herd. Sarah Lancaster and Ryan McPartlin as the sister and brother-in-law are always welcome additions to the stories even though they’re often more intrusive than useful to the missions. The show featured a large number of guest stars this season. Among them are Harry Dean Stanton, Dolph Lundgrun, Bronson Pinchot, Lou Ferrigno, Steve Austin, Armand Assante, Eric Roberts, Robert Englund, Morgan Fairchild, Summer Glau, Richard Chamberlain, John Larroquette, Lou Diamond Phillips, Robin Givens, Ray Wise, Gary Cole, Millicent Martin, and Richard Bergi.
Here are the twenty-four episodes for season four contained on four Blu-ray discs in this season’s box set:
1 - Chuck Versus the Anniversary
2 - Chuck Versus the Suitcase
3 - Chuck Versus the Cubic Z
4 - Chuck Versus the Coup d’Etat
5 - Chuck Versus the Couch Lock
6 - Chuck Versus the Aisle of Terror
7 - Chuck Versus the First Fight
8 - Chuck Versus the Fear of Death
9 - Chuck Versus Phase Three
10 - Chuck Versus the Leftovers
11 - Chuck Versus the Balcony
12 - Chuck Versus the Gobbler
13 - Chuck Versus the Push Mix
14 - Chuck Versus the Seduction Impossible
15 - Chuck Versus the C.A.T. Squad
16 - Chuck Versus the Masquerade
17 - Chuck Versus the First Bank
18 - Chuck Versus the A-Team
19 - Chuck Versus the Muuurder (Ten Little Indians style mystery is the season’s best episode)
20 - Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff
21 - Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner
22 - Chuck Versus Agent X
23 - Chuck Versus the Last Details
24 - Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger
Video Quality
4.5/5
The show is broadcast on NBC at 1080i and these 1080p 1.78:1 transfers (AVC codec) are equal or superior to their network counterparts. The show has a very cinematic feel to it, and the beautiful, rich color is wonderfully represented in these transfers. Sharpness is usually outstanding, but there are occasional soft shots and not just in close-ups for some of the more “experienced” guest stars. Flesh tones are very natural, and black levels are excellent. Each episode has been divided into 8 chapters.
[Reviewer’s Note: the review set used in this evaluation had a glitch-ridden second disc with episodes 8 and 12 stuttering and freezing at certain points which were repeatable. Buyers are cautioned about these episodes in case you, too, have a problematic disc in your set.]
Audio Quality
4.5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix is one of the best available for a network television show. The action-based nature of the program allows for great use of split surrounds for various effects through the run of episodes. Dialogue is also directionalized on occasion though most of it is anchored to the center channel. Music is used well to enhance the soundfield, and the many explosions certainly keep the LFE channel from going to sleep.
Special Features
4/5
All of the bonus material is presented in 1080p.
There are eighteen deleted scenes placed across the four episode discs. They can be accessed with each episode they’re attached to or from the bonus menu where they’re placed in montage sequences for each disc.
“Buy Hard: The Jeff and Lester Story” are five silly webisodes featuring Vik Sahay and Scott Krinsky as the show’s ridiculous Lester and Jeff characters as they desperately search for a Halo game.
“The Top Secret Chuckipedia Interactive Experience” allows an interactive video commentary and bonus featurette setup for episode # 7. Zachery Levi, Joshua Gomez and show creator/producer Chris Fedak handle video commentary chores and at certain moments, the viewer may push the enter button on the remote to veer off into a handful of featurettes detailing everything from the season’s guest stars to stunt work to Adam Baldwin’s celebrated series of grunts on the show.
“Operation Gomez: Spying on the Cast” features actor Joshua Gomez playing himself tongue-in-cheek trying to use spy moves learned on the show to snoop around the sets and actors on the show. This runs for 10 minutes.
The season four gag reel runs 4 ¾ minutes.
“Chuck Versus Directing” details Zachery Levi’s second time behind the camera as the director of episode #10 on the third day of an eight-day shoot. We’re introduced to many of the crew who make his job of appearing both before and behind the camera easier. This runs 13 ½ minutes.
A handy enclosed booklet details the plots and production personnel of each episode as well as the bonuses contained on each of the set’s four discs.
In Conclusion
3.5/5 (not an average)
Chuck isn’t as successful a spy spoof as Get Smart was in its day, and if one can overlook the irritating nature of the show’s tendency to focus on useless supporting players in their C-story plotlines, the series can be entertaining and even exciting at times. Fans will appreciate the gorgeous video and effective audio encodes offered in the set, and the bonus features offered here can also be fun.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
[COLOR= black]Chuck: The Complete Fourth Season (Blu-ray)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Directed by Gail Mancuso et al
Studio: Warner Bros.
Year: 2010-2011[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Aspect Ratio:[/COLOR][COLOR= black] 1.78:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 1032 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English
Subtitles: SDH, French, Spanish[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Region: [/COLOR][COLOR= black]no designation[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]MSRP: [/COLOR][COLOR= black]$69.97[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Release Date: October 11, 2011[/COLOR]
Review Date: October 11, 2011
The Season
3/5
Chuck is fortunate to have a core cast of superb actors who can play comedy and drama and make the action very believable and entertaining when the show is firing on all cylinders. But the writers have restricted Chuck (Zachary Levi) by keeping him a bungling, stuttering, neurotic mess who brings his hang-ups on mission after mission despite three previous years of showing him how disadvantageous that is to the safety of himself and his team. Worse, they’ve inflicted some of those neuroses on once super professional spy Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) so that now missions are burdened with two uncertain spies who bungle and plop their way to lucky successes week after week. The formula for such chicanery has long since worn out, and the season’s most enjoyable episodes remain those where these little psychotic breaks don’t occur and the team can operate professionally even when things inevitably go wrong.
The writers not only resort to restricting Chuck in his growth and development, but they reach back into previous seasons for a story arc this year involving a handful of episodes where the intersect in Chuck’s brain (a compendium of spy facts and combat maneuvers encyclopedic in its complexity) is not available to him and he must survive on wits alone. In order to insert more conflict into the show, the season is one of secrets as Chuck pretends to his pregnant sister (Sarah Lancaster) that he is through with the spy game while she keeps secret from him that she’s found their father’s computer and is busily trying to hack its information (though until this season, we’ve never been privy to any special skills Sarah possessed with computers or electronics). Chuck and Sarah’s mother (Linda Hamilton) is brought on board this season in a season-long story arc involving her long time participation as an undercover operative keeping viewers dangling for many episodes as to whether she’s friend or foe. Tied to her story is the story of Russian terrorist Alexi Volkoff bringing aboard former James Bond Timothy Dalton in another extended story arc that takes all season to unfold and bring to a satisfying if overly contrived resolution.
Zachary Levi is an entertaining comic actor with a lithe body that can perform many of the physical moves Chuck must undertake in his quest to become the world’s nerdiest superspy. Yvonne Strahovski is beautiful and effective as his fellow spy/love interest. The show’s MVP, of course, is Adam Baldwin, alone among the show’s stars who has stayed true to his character’s original intentions as a tough, no-nonsense spy while slowly growing as a more caring and tender individual toward his friends and family. Joshua Gomez as Chuck’s geeky best friend who occasionally joins in on missions despite having even fewer skills for the job than Chuck is the least irritating of the Buy More nerd herd. Sarah Lancaster and Ryan McPartlin as the sister and brother-in-law are always welcome additions to the stories even though they’re often more intrusive than useful to the missions. The show featured a large number of guest stars this season. Among them are Harry Dean Stanton, Dolph Lundgrun, Bronson Pinchot, Lou Ferrigno, Steve Austin, Armand Assante, Eric Roberts, Robert Englund, Morgan Fairchild, Summer Glau, Richard Chamberlain, John Larroquette, Lou Diamond Phillips, Robin Givens, Ray Wise, Gary Cole, Millicent Martin, and Richard Bergi.
Here are the twenty-four episodes for season four contained on four Blu-ray discs in this season’s box set:
1 - Chuck Versus the Anniversary
2 - Chuck Versus the Suitcase
3 - Chuck Versus the Cubic Z
4 - Chuck Versus the Coup d’Etat
5 - Chuck Versus the Couch Lock
6 - Chuck Versus the Aisle of Terror
7 - Chuck Versus the First Fight
8 - Chuck Versus the Fear of Death
9 - Chuck Versus Phase Three
10 - Chuck Versus the Leftovers
11 - Chuck Versus the Balcony
12 - Chuck Versus the Gobbler
13 - Chuck Versus the Push Mix
14 - Chuck Versus the Seduction Impossible
15 - Chuck Versus the C.A.T. Squad
16 - Chuck Versus the Masquerade
17 - Chuck Versus the First Bank
18 - Chuck Versus the A-Team
19 - Chuck Versus the Muuurder (Ten Little Indians style mystery is the season’s best episode)
20 - Chuck Versus the Family Volkoff
21 - Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner
22 - Chuck Versus Agent X
23 - Chuck Versus the Last Details
24 - Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger
Video Quality
4.5/5
The show is broadcast on NBC at 1080i and these 1080p 1.78:1 transfers (AVC codec) are equal or superior to their network counterparts. The show has a very cinematic feel to it, and the beautiful, rich color is wonderfully represented in these transfers. Sharpness is usually outstanding, but there are occasional soft shots and not just in close-ups for some of the more “experienced” guest stars. Flesh tones are very natural, and black levels are excellent. Each episode has been divided into 8 chapters.
[Reviewer’s Note: the review set used in this evaluation had a glitch-ridden second disc with episodes 8 and 12 stuttering and freezing at certain points which were repeatable. Buyers are cautioned about these episodes in case you, too, have a problematic disc in your set.]
Audio Quality
4.5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix is one of the best available for a network television show. The action-based nature of the program allows for great use of split surrounds for various effects through the run of episodes. Dialogue is also directionalized on occasion though most of it is anchored to the center channel. Music is used well to enhance the soundfield, and the many explosions certainly keep the LFE channel from going to sleep.
Special Features
4/5
All of the bonus material is presented in 1080p.
There are eighteen deleted scenes placed across the four episode discs. They can be accessed with each episode they’re attached to or from the bonus menu where they’re placed in montage sequences for each disc.
“Buy Hard: The Jeff and Lester Story” are five silly webisodes featuring Vik Sahay and Scott Krinsky as the show’s ridiculous Lester and Jeff characters as they desperately search for a Halo game.
“The Top Secret Chuckipedia Interactive Experience” allows an interactive video commentary and bonus featurette setup for episode # 7. Zachery Levi, Joshua Gomez and show creator/producer Chris Fedak handle video commentary chores and at certain moments, the viewer may push the enter button on the remote to veer off into a handful of featurettes detailing everything from the season’s guest stars to stunt work to Adam Baldwin’s celebrated series of grunts on the show.
“Operation Gomez: Spying on the Cast” features actor Joshua Gomez playing himself tongue-in-cheek trying to use spy moves learned on the show to snoop around the sets and actors on the show. This runs for 10 minutes.
The season four gag reel runs 4 ¾ minutes.
“Chuck Versus Directing” details Zachery Levi’s second time behind the camera as the director of episode #10 on the third day of an eight-day shoot. We’re introduced to many of the crew who make his job of appearing both before and behind the camera easier. This runs 13 ½ minutes.
A handy enclosed booklet details the plots and production personnel of each episode as well as the bonuses contained on each of the set’s four discs.
In Conclusion
3.5/5 (not an average)
Chuck isn’t as successful a spy spoof as Get Smart was in its day, and if one can overlook the irritating nature of the show’s tendency to focus on useless supporting players in their C-story plotlines, the series can be entertaining and even exciting at times. Fans will appreciate the gorgeous video and effective audio encodes offered in the set, and the bonus features offered here can also be fun.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
