NBC’s “Chuck” is one of the most enjoyable, fun and entertaining series on TV today. And while the series does not feature a heavy mythology or continuity along the lines of “Heroes,” “Lost” or “Battlestar Galactica,” it is working this year to explore and expand the backstory of its universe in its second season.
One question that many fans may be wondering about–why are so many people from Chuck’s past becoming spies? And why do they all seem to have a connection the FULCRUM group? And what exactly is the FULCRUM group?
Executive producer Chris Fedak spoke to SciFi Wire, saying that while these questions won’t take over the show, they will be explored.
“This season we’re very much getting into the notion of who are these bad guys and what are they doing? How does their organization work and what is their overall goal?” said Fedak. “A lot of this season will be talk of FULCRUM and talk of the people that are after Chuck.”
Fedak went on to tease some details about upcoming episodes.  While he didn’t reveal any major SPOILERS, if you don’t want to know what’s coming up, please stop reading now.
Tonight’s episode picks up where last week’s left off, with Casey and Sarah trying to find a way to rescue Chuck from his former girlfriend and FULCRUM agent, Jill. The episode is called “Chuck vs. the Gravitron” and Fedak says the Graviton does play a pivotal role in the story.
“In that episode we have an action sequence set within a carnival ride called the Gravitron,” Fedak said. “It’s the one where the occupants are pressed against the walls, and it spins really fast. We filmed inside it, and I was inside I when we turned it on. … It was a terrible experience,” he added with a laugh.
“Coming out of that, our first episode back [after Thanksgiving] will be ‘Chuck Versus Sensei,’ which is a Casey-centric episode,” Fedak added. “Chuck and company run into Casey’s old sensei, who is essentially the guy who turned Casey into Casey. Trained him in all the martial arts and psychological training that you need to have to be a super NSA spy. What we also learn is that he’s gone rogue. So Casey’s sensei–his master, the guy who trained him to be him–has gone off the reservation and is now working as a free=lance spy. It leads to a lot of tension within the ranks, with Casey struggling with just how much anger he now has inside. He and Chuck really kind of get into it over what they should do next.”
After that is “Chuck Versus the DeLorean”, in which we get some time with Morgan (Joshua Gomez). “We are obsessed with the 1980s here at the ‘Chuck’ show,” Fedak said. The producers decided that “we have a television show. We have a lot of money to make the show. Let’s get a DeLorean for this thing. … Morgan is tempted to buy a barely operating 1982 DeLorean, which he names the DeMorgan. This is a Sarah-centric episode, and we learn a little bit more about her father. … We meet her dad, who’s played by the fantastic Gary Cole.”
Gary Cole is the latest in an impressive list of guest star turns on “Chuck” this year. The season began with Michael Clarke Duncan and has feature Nicole Richey, Bruce Boxleitner, John Laroquette and Jordanna Brewster. One thing “Chuck” has done well is to make the guest roles more than just “stunt casting.” Each actor has been brought in not just for name value but because they are the right fit for the role.
“This year we are really intent on just bringing in people who you could really just lock into,” Fedak said. “Because one of the things of our show is we have so many characters–and we have the spy part of the show and the Buy More part of the show–that there is so little time. You have to know who somebody is very quickly. And by bringing in someone as talented as Dominic Monaghan or John Larroquette, you kind of know who they are.”
“Chuck” airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. on NBC.
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