Despite the endless onslaught of annoyingly ill conceived ads making us cringe with the moronic catch phrase “no more Mr. nice spy” and the burial of all things not Conan or Leno on NBC in the media, Chuck made it’s return without missing a beat.

At the conclusion of last season the bumbling, clumsy and goofy Chuck we all knew got an injection of super cool steroids, if you will, as he adsorbed the entire intersect becoming a human intersect and a total badass. So no more of the idiot putting Sarah and Casey at risk every mission, now Chuck has channeled Chuck Norris and is poised to be the one doing the saving now rather than vice versa.  This left most Chuck fans a little anxious to say the least as to the direction the show would be headed in, with many fearing the show had “jumped the shark” and was headed for disaster. Luckily however the new season of Chuck is upon us and we can breathe a sigh of relief as all fears were completely unfounded.

Rather than becoming a James Bond type super spy the writers wisely decided to keep Chuck, for the most part, as he was before. Hes the same old normal under achiever most of the time, with his super abilities only popping up and activating when triggered by the same type of flashes he would have in the past. This still leaves us with the same brand of “man out of place” comedy the previous seasons have provided us. If they had chosen to go the other direction the core of the shows appeal would have been eroded entirely so I think allot of praise should be tossed the writers way for coming up a way to keep thing as they were while building for the future, a shame they couldn’t have given a few of these pointers to the writing staff of Heroes, alas.

The relationship between Chuck and Sarah got a make over as well yet much like Chuck himself it still retains the same charm as before. I for one am really enjoying the direction things are headed in, as it appears Chucks ability to flash is greatly influenced by his emotional state and well what means more to Chuck emotionally than Sarah? Will this force them back together or push them apart? Well if “Buffy” taught us anything it’s that the agony of a love that cannot be is far more compelling to watch than a actual functional relationship. The road appears rocky yet hopeful for the two as events in future episodes will surely drive them back into each others arms soon enough and circumstances will then shatter their happiness and keep us rooting for the day things finally work out for them, which we all know won’t happen as long as they are spies. Poor Chuck and Sarah. Such confusion, such turmoil, such great entertainment for us.

Episode 3 of this season also shocked us with an unexpected twist that will rock the foundation of the show to its core. No spoilers, but lets just say it was “Awesome”. Episode 4 than left us with even more questions as the team expanded, but the big question is where do we go from here? Chuck has some decisions to make, and his care free life outside of the spy world may have come to it’s extinction. The spy world keeps digging it’s roots deeper into his family and friends lives leaving not much left of his personal sanctuary. The very last scene of episode 4 left us with the sense that we may have perhaps, witnesses the last family dinner. Only time will tell, until then were left with so many questions. Is the new guy in command really on the level? Will he be forced to spill the beans to the people he cares for the most? Will he be forced to leave them behind once and for all? Will we ever see the sexy geek goddess Julia Ling again? Well maybe that ones just me. Questions so many questions, lets just hope NBC doesn’t fully implode before we get the answers.

Other cool stuff: