Now that the premiere of “Chuck” has aired, I can discuss what I view to be two big pitfalls in the series. Chicago Tribune critic Maureen Ryan mentioned them in her review of the show, but I’ll summarize. First, won’t all the secrets in Chuck’s head get old after a while? And second, the cold-blooded shooting of a character added a dark tone to the pilot.
Since her blog allows people to comment, here’s what I wrote:
I picked up on the potential “stale secrets” plot hole as well. I wonder how they’ll deal with it, but I imagine they have to especially because the pilot dealt with intel acquired within a matter of weeks, not years.
My theory — the trio of Chuck, Sarah and Casey will become the human version of the two intel agencies feeding data into the secret computer. It makes sense for the agents (and agencies) to keep providing information to Chuck — somehow.
My other concern dealt with the casual brutality of Casey telling other agents that it’s OK to murder another U.S. agent and on American soil to boot. Of course, how Sarah dispatched the agents was violent, but still executed in a fun, if implausible, fashion.
I’d be curious to see the longevity of the series after a few episodes. I wonder how the show will spin its wheels through weekly episodes while trying to drive a plot arc through a number of episodes.
I’m still gonna watch the show, but these things are in the back of my mind. A promo for an upcoming episode showed the spies and Chuck sitting at a table with photos. I hope they’re feeding him intel and proving my theory right.
