It’s great to have Chuck back on the air. It’s such a well-done show. Sure, there are cheesy moments, like when Sarah, soaking-wet from a fight in the showers, comes into the gymnasium and everyone applauds her as though there was nothing out of the ordinary about her current appearance. But for every silly scene, there are at least a couple of really cool or really touching ones. On the spy front, there’s the way Chuck gets updated for the Intersect. And for the retail world, there’s Lester trying to work out his new position of power. Here’s hoping McG sticks with TV like this and doesn’t try to make any more Charlie’s Angels movies.
I’m ambivalent about Crusoe, NBC’s series based on the classic. I did like the first episode – wonderful pirates and creative set dressing were highlights. But now after just two episodes, it’s already starting to feel tired. I just don’t see how this can be a viable series. It’s like a cross between Gilligan’s Island and Indiana Jones with a dash of Lost-ian flashback storytelling. Old joke: remember the Gilligan’s Island where they almost got rescued? Of course you do since it was a majority of them. It’ll be tough for Crusoe to rise above that. Lost didn’t end up in this trap because even though they want to get home on every episode, the story progresses. Crusoe isn’t setting itself up to do that well and the flashbacks are too cryptic to be interesting, verge on annoyance, and don’t provide enough of a story to distract from the concept of a weekly almost-rescue a la Gilligan.
Rating for Chuck: 9 (out of 10)
Rating for Crusoe: 4 (out of 10)
AK pointed out that my previous review gave Chuck 2 less than this one. At the time, I was worried that the show would be able to continue to innovate and was unimpressed with the second episode. But now, part way into the second season, Chuck is showing that it can be creative each week while still allowing the Chuck-universe to evolve. I suspect that the backstory in Crusoe is intended to help serve that purpose but it ends up feeling too manufactured and doesn’t naturally fit with the rest of the episodic story.