If you’re like me, you’re counting down days until “Chuck” returns. (We’re less than a month away!!!!)
Our partner site, TV Guide On-Line has an interview with co-creator and producer Josh Schwartz about the upcoming third season. Don’t forget that “Chuck” returns on Sunday, January 10 and then settles into its regular time slot on Monday, January 11.
TVGuide.com: What would you say is the overall arc this season?
Schwartz: In terms of the arc of the season, Chris Fedak and I always talk about telling the superhero story in parts. It was a guy, an innocent, who was thrust into this world and coming to terms with those powers. It was boy becomes man last year, and this year it’s man becomes spy. It’s really about Chuck accepting and wanting to do this thing and stepping up into the thing that he felt like he was thrust into.
TVGuide.com: I take it he doesn’t deal with it very well.
Schwartz: For a while, he was reluctant. “How do I get this thing out of my head? I just want my normal life back.” This season is, “No, I don’t want my normal life, I want to do this and I want to do it well.” It’s a real evolution in Chuck’s character, which will be satisfying for the fans. We’re not playing the same game. The character is evolving and maturing while still remaining adorable.
TVGuide.com: Does he always have in the back of his mind that being a spy puts his family in even more danger?
Schwartz: Yeah, and that’s really going to be at the forefront this year. Captain Awesome [Ryan McPartlin] found out last year and he’s going to be thrust into this world to a much higher degree than even Chuck anticipated. We get to see how awesome Awesome really is.
TVGuide.com: Give us the lowdown on Intersect 2.0.
Josh Schwartz: Chuck does have new powers that he didn’t previously have before. The Intersect computer was designed to go into someone like Bryce Larkin [Matthew Bomer], an emotionless, professional spy, in order for it to run smoothly. Chuck is anything but emotionless. Sarah can be his kryptonite at times, and then to mix metaphors, she can also be his can of spinach. It obviously complicates the romantic side of their relationship.
TVGuide.com: What are we going to see with their relationship this season?
Schwartz: A lot of good stuff. When we start off the season, it’s very clear that something traumatic has happened between Chuck and Sarah in the intervening time. You’ll eventually see what that was. As they start to realize that she is at the heart of whether or not he operates properly as a spy, it only complicates the relationship further. There’s really good internal barriers to them being a couple and there’s also external forces in the form of Brandon Routh and Kristin Kreuk, which further complicates things.
TVGuide.com: How will the dynamic between Casey (Adam Baldwin) and Chuck change this season?
Schwartz: There are now opportunities where Chuck is, when he’s working properly, as much, if not more of, the soldier that Casey is. That’s going to really test Casey’s tolerance for this new Chuck. Also, we’re going to see Casey immersed in the Buy More world in a way that we haven’t seen before. You’re going to learn about something mysterious in Casey’s past. It’s an episode that features Robert Patrick.
TVGuide.com: Is there a chance we could see Bryce or even the still-alive Jill (Jordana Brewster) again?
Schwartz: Yeah, the door is always open on this show. We do have some people returning, like Carina [Mini Anden] from Season 1, Sarah’s partner in the field who Morgan [Joshua Gomez] was in love with. She’s coming back in Episode 2.
TVGuide.com: The most asked question by fans is: When will we see Jeffster perform again?
Schwartz: There will be a moment. It’s going to come in a very, very special episode of the show. We wanted to be very careful with something as unique and as sophisticated, and operating on such a high caliber as Jeffster performing. The level of execution is very, very high, therefore it requires a lot of preparation for Jeffster to perform at the level at which the fans now expect, but they will be back.
Everything I’ve heard about the new season sounds very exciting. It’ll be such fun to see all these new developments. 🙂