The Show
Much like hero Chuck Bartowski, NBC's weekly hour-long action/comedy was beset by a powerful foe, in this case insufficient ratings to keep the show aloft. And whereas intense fan support and some clever marketing somehow managed to bring Chuck back year after year, The Complete Fifth and Final Season proved a bittersweet swan song.
The abbreviated 13-episode collection begins with Chuck and the gang now in business as freelance spies, bankrolled by his huge inheritance from the end of last season, and with his best bud Morgan now in possession of The Intersect, the top-secret brain-zap that can turn anyone into a super-agent. Forces within the CIA are out to make life increasingly difficult for the good-hearted Mr. B., who needs to survive all manner of deadly villains while dealing with the usual family and work-related issues that made the show so endearing. There are plenty more geek-a-licious guest stars, paying homage to Star Wars to The Matrix and beyond, on the way to a big shakeup by series' end.
The Picture
Chuck on Blu-ray maintains its 16:9 HDTV aspect ratio, here in an AVC presentation with a bitrate all over the teens. The image is a tad soft, touched by film grain and video noise, sometimes so severe as to be unpleasant to look at. Blacks however are better than expected, with a fine delineation in the black suits, little black dresses and tuxedos.
The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio relies heavily upon the dedicated center channel for dialogue, as well as some clever left/right-channel use throughout the season. Sound effects are well-recorded and placed cleanly into the final mix. The "Zoom" effect as The Intersect kicks in is a bold, all-encompassing sonic experience. The rears have a bit of life here and there, but the music is what truly fills out the 5.1 soundfield, with an aggressive mix that even puts lone instruments into individual speakers.
The Extras
All in all the bonus materials here are a step down from the previous season, built largely around a menagerie of cast and crew interviews on a variety of themes that will probably help to ease the fans' pain. These featurettes also include a look at the breakdown of the central Buy More store set, and the music for the show.
Executive producers Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz and actors Zachary Levi and Joshua Gomez provide audio commentary for the last two episodes. Across the two platters we will find deleted scenes for six episodes, including several from the penultimate "Chuck Versus Sarah." Listed among the Disc Two extras is an extended cut of the finale, nine minutes longer than the one that aired on NBC in January. All of the extras are in HD, although the extended finale is not quite up to the same audio/video standards as the regular episodes.
An UltraViolet "Digital Copy in The Cloud" of the entire season is also included with this purchase.
Final Thoughts
Season Five was announced in advance as the final go-'round for Chuck, although privately a lot of us were no doubt holding out hope for yet another save. Knowing as we do now that this was really the end puts a bit of a damper on the fun, but this set is still worth picking up, certainly.
Product Details
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