http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/04/CHUCK----Chuck-Versus-The-Helicopter.aspx “My life consists of spies, car chases and computer stealing ninjas.” So says Chuck at the start of the second episode. What is he doing during this voiceover? Making sure his new trainee, undercover NSA agent John Casey, doesn’t obliterate a shoplifter. “Every moment of my life is in danger,” he goes on to tell us, because he has all the secrets of the US intelligence community locked in his brain. The real question was whether CHUCK could sustain the high action and tight comedy of the premiere. Two car explosions, one car chase, a helicopter stunt and a hand-to-hand dust up between trained assassins covered the action; the jumpy sincerity of Zachary Levi’s Chuck took care of the comedy. Thankfully the writers have given him plenty of physical comedy bits to play with and decently crafted fish-out-of-water jokes to play off the dead pan of the spies. So far, the series is still very promising. This week the obvious question is addressed: how will the government get back its’ secrets and will Chuck survive the process? The NSA sends their top scientist, Jonas Zarnow. Zarnow has to remotely test Chuck- keep them separated for their own safety- to confirm he has the “Intersect” program in his head. During the test we learned a flash flood of secrets ranging from the serious (“The plot to assassinate Jimmy Carter was foiled…”) to the sublime (“Oceanic Flight 815 was SHOT DOWN…”). It’s a blink of an eye joke but at least they have the sense to pack as much humor into it as possible. en-US Critics Rant info@criticsrant.com Subtext Version 1.9.4.0 http://www.criticsrant.com/images/default_gravatar_bullhorn.png http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/04/CHUCK----Chuck-Versus-The-Helicopter.aspx 77 60