Chuck: The Complete Third Season [Blu-Ray]

Despite constant rumours of cancellation, Chuck is now going into its fourth season, which, considering how this season ended, looks to be a very different version of the series than the dork escapist fantasy that premiered back in 2007. It's mainly because season three broke many rules and took some risks in an effort to keep things invigorated and help characters grow. When things start, Chuck (Zachary Levi) is adapting to the spy life after uploading the Intersect 2.0 into his brain, which gives him flashes with bonus skill sets, such as acrobatics and kung-fu. While still teamed with Republican gunman John Casey (Adam Baldwin) and ass-kicking blonde love interest Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski), his home life is interrupted by his brother-in-law's knowledge of his secret double life. This further complicates his relationship with his sister, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster), and best friend Morgan (Joshua Gomez), who is at a maturation turning point when he needs his absent buddy most. The major conflicts in season three involve new C.I.A. team member Daniel Shaw (Brandon Routh), who sparks up flirtations with Sarah and sends Chuck on increasingly risky missions, along with the introduction of Morgan to the spy team and some Intersect-related brain deterioration issues similar to those that Cordelia suffered on Angel. Handcuffed fight sequences and nude balcony hopping show attention to creativity on the action side of things, with each character evolving with the challenges of added life responsibility. It's still absurdist male fantasy crap with illogical secret missions and overly contrived developments, but there's a sense of humour at the core that ties together the action and drama with enough self-awareness to keep everything in fun, popcorn entertainment territory. Of course, now that a member of Chuck's circle of friends and family is dead and a few explosions took care of familiar locales, it should be interesting to see what season four brings. The four-disc Blu-Ray set includes an extended "Chuck Fu and Dim Sum" supplement that discusses the evolution of the show and the characters, along with a Jeffster "Making the band" mockumentary and brief gag reel.