One of the attractions of Chuck has been the hapless way in which the character approaches life-threatening situations. However, producer Chris Fedak looks set to shake up the formula when the show returns after next year’s Olympics in a move that redefines the relationships between the central characters.
“Chuck now has these abilities,” Fedak told SciFiNow at San Diego Comic-Con. “How does he master them? And he has Sarah and Casey, not only there to protect him, but also to be the sensei, to help him master these skills. This is like the superhero story told in a little bit of slow motion.” In the strongest hint yet that the show will no longer be the usual ‘everyman versus extraordinary events’ routine that has served it so well, Fedak also hinted at a loss of innocence for the titular character. “Season three’s not going to so much veer away from previous seasons, it’s going to evolve. For a story about a guy like Chuck, essentially you want to watch him get better at being a spy. You want to watch him master some skills, to be the guy who’s not just waiting in the car.”
The last episode of the second season, of course, left audiences on a cliffhanger, as Chuck is now loaded with a new version of the Intersect, one that gives him Neo-like powers. Although these will have a limited shelf life for the duration of the assignment they’re needed, Fedak says that they’re not one-use-only abilities. “Yeah, if you think about the Intersect 2.0 working perfectly, is that it gives you the skill set or special ability that you need for that particular moment and then it turns off. So it’s not like Chuck comes back to the table still in kung fu mode. There’s an on and an off. It can come again.”
Chuck returns on NBC next year in the United States. The series has been renewed for a 13-episode order with a possibility of a back nine into the summer.
