Chuck - Season 2

Chuck really seemed to hit its stride this season, just in time for its continuation to come into serious jeopardy thanks to Jay Leno absorbing five hours of NBC's week in the near future. I still wouldn't say it's as great as some members of its apparently dedicated fan base, because the humor's still hit and miss and some of its more contrived setups cause nothing but groans. When Chuck adjusted his phone in a way that somehow accidentally activated the speaker and called his girlfriend while he just happened to be having a conversation that could be easily misconstrued as sexual in nature, it was hard not to just walk away from that. It managed to keep me coming back every week though, thanks heavily to some strong attempts to create an honest-to-god storyline.

The first season was more or less a string of disconnected spy plots that Chuck and his professional backup stumbled upon every week, but the second has more of a real plot as a shadowy Government splinter group called Fulcrum makes Chuck and the Intersect their new target, while he begins in earnest to try to get it out of his head and finally get his life together. It's still a bit episodic as he has the same not-really-a-relationship issues with Sarah and the conflict often seems like little more than various characters being captured and rescued over and over again. Still, I appreciate the effort to go a little deeper with the characters and the nature of the Intersect project. The end of the season finale was pretty effing ridiculous, and I'd really like to see where they go with the show from here, if they ever get a chance to.