Chuck Bartowsky (Zachary Levi) is still the intersect and he is in under complete training from the CIA to become a real spy, but such training is causing a separation with his love interest Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski). Fulcrum still strong and closer than Chuck realizes. With agent Shaw (Brandon Routh) still around Chuck’s advances towards Sarah are going nowhere and pieces of his past are coming back to shake his entire life. Can Chuck truly get the girl of his dreams? Is his desire to become a real spy damaging his relationship with his loved ones? And his father’s return brings him any undesired outcomes? So much is at stake during this season.
Chuck is undoubtedly one of my favorite shows when aired on TV and season three is by far the best. Is the best because of a few reasons and as well as the subjects it touched that other seasons didn’t. While seasons one and two dealt with Chuck’s ability to live with the intersect inside of his head, season three concentrated in Chuck’s embrace of his situation and how it affects him interpersonal and intrapersonal. We see Chuck’s personality change as the season moves on and the full embracement of his abilities. Season three also shows Chuck’s feelings on a more personal level when his family becomes more involved in the story line. We all know how Chuck’s silly adventures often plague the plot, but this time there’s a touch of seriousness that adds a great mix to an already entertaining show.
Just like all the previous seasons the surrounding characters are an integral part of the show’s great chemistry. Everyone from Big Mike to Captain Awesome make the story very balanced and lively. Each character plays an important role in Chuck’s evolution as a spy in the story. I was actually happy to see certain characters evolve and become a bigger part in the show like Morgan and Awesome. Morgan and Awesome now have a bigger part and their time on camera is always pleasant. While we also get a glimpse into the past of Casey which is very interesting as viewers get to know the character a bit better. Overall, this season of Chuck revealed a lot of details regarding the three main characters and it was very satisfying to say the least. Writers have continued crafting the story that is both funny and entertaining without becoming silly. The charm that fans have grown to love is still intact.
Chuck: The Complete Third Season arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p VC-1 encode framed at 1.78:1. There are plenty of issues with this transfer which is surprising given that Warner has had some very impressive TV releases. However, I think this transfer surpasses the second season by a tiny bit. There are plenty of artifacts in the image, softness appears more often than none, and to top it off the fine details can be seen off and on as they aren’t very consistent on the screen. There are instances where the image is great and others where is just soft. The skin tones also suffer from over-saturation, as the show moves on you will constantly notice the actors faces take on an overly orange look. The colors appear a bit too vibrant, while it doesn’t annoy me personally, it might annoy some viewers. Overall, there are minor improvements over last season’s release, but there are still major problems with the release that could either be attributed to the production or to Warner. Chuck looks decent on Blu-ray this time around.
Chuck: The Complete Third Season arrives on Blu-ray with a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio track. As Warner continues to release TV shows without lossless track my willingness to complain is less and less every time, so I’ll just save the rant. Why Warner decides to plague its TV releases with lossy audio tracks is unknown. Anyway, the dialog is well prioritized and the LFE output is great for the most part only being required in some action scenes. My complaints here is the audio track appears to lack depth, plenty of scenes where a room is full doesn’t appear to be full or a party full of people doesn’t feel much like a party, the rears are never really used other than to play the music score. Chuck’s audio track is lackluster and falls short of expectations. Plenty of sequences could greatly benefit from a lossless track especially action sequences that more often than none feel lifeless.
Declassified Scenes – This is a set of deleted scenes.
Chuck-Fu and Dim Sum: Becoming a Spy Guy – This featurette gives the viewers a quick overview of the entire season and includes a few interviews with the cast and crew.
The Jeffsters Revolution: The Definitive Mockumentary – Gives you a sneak peek at Jeff and Lester’s history in music.
Gag Reel
Chuck: The Complete Third Season continues the story of an ordinary man turned into a spy. The story continues following the steps throughout the silly situations our hero finds himself in while looking for a normal life and trying to get the girl of his dreams. The Blu-ray release offers a problematic video and audio transfers and a set of mediocre supplements. However, any fan of the show should not miss this season. If you already own seasons 1 and 2 then you probably already have this one coming as well, but for others I would probably suggest to wait for a good deal before obtaining the series.
