X-Files Replaced By Chuck

Recently I've been looking for a show I can watch on DVD/Bluray while making dinner or just spontaneously killing time. I developed an interest in The X-Files, given the dark and serious tone of the show, the long-term "mythos" elements that reward viewer investment, and the fact that I'd never seen it before outside 10 minutes here and there and both movies.

Although I enjoyed a handful of episodes from the first season, it was far from a consistently enjoyable experience for me. Still, I got season 1 and 2 for just over 10 bucks each, so it was hard to complain. But more than halfway through season 2 I realized that, although I was more than willing to pay the price in cash, the price in time was not worth it. I've just gotten too much of a taste for more character driven stories, and X-Files, like many sci-fi shows, was more concept driven. (AKA, "freak of the week")

So I took both of my X-Files seasons to the used bookstore and used the cash to help buy season 1 of Chuck.

This show has been recommended to me by several people for years. But I've been burned too many times by shows I enjoy getting cancelled before they resolve the plot. (The 4400 and The Sarah Connor Chronicles both come to mind) I've resolved, except for rare exceptions like AMC's "The Walking Dead", to wait until TV shows are completely finished before watching them. But now that Chuck is in its final season and the creators will be able to end the show the way they want to, I've given myself the "green light" to start watching this show from the beginning.

I'm only three episodes in, and while the humor dips into a strong lack of realism from time to time (Chuck flies a helicopter because he played a helicopter video game??), the characters are what this show seems to be about, which I love. And of course the many geek-culture references rock. (I understand they are a staple of the show, which I'm looking forward to.)

Speaking of geek-culture crossover with Chuck, the actress that plays Sarah looked VERY familiar to me. Soon after the pilot started I turned to my wife and said, "She looks JUST like this character in Mass Effect 2." Suddenly, a foggy memory I'd once filed under "irrelevant" because I wasn't watching Chuck at the time resurfaced (much like Chucks unfortunate "memory flashes") and I remembered that she actually served as the voice and model for a character in the game.

Anyway, in just three episodes I'm already hooked and regretting that I offered to "save" each episode for viewing with my wife. She's not so good at taking down-time, so it may be painfully slow going.