Even though on the surface this may seem like the same old Chuck, there are a couple of aspects to the show that makes Season 3 different from the first two seasons. The first thing is the "violence". It's still a broadcast TV show, so the violence really isn't much. But comparing it to the first two seasons, which was highly sanitized as it was a family show, it is markedly different. The first sign that the show had gone down a different path in tone comes in the very first episode when they kill off Tony Hale's character. I had totally forgotten about what I consider to be the most shocking scene ever for the reason I just explained. It was still pretty shocking to see the second time around as well. This sets up that the rest of the season would see bodies dropping and that there would be blood, where none was seen before.

The other thing that makes Season 3 somewhat different is that Chuck is no longer the "innocent, clumsy" person anymore now that he has the Intersect 2.0 in his brain, effectively making him a super spy. At least the writers were smart enough to make it so that it didn't always work and that there would be moments of crisis when stuck between a rock and a hard place. But it never lasted because he would eventually flash and get out of the sticky situation. Now I think the greatest thing they did was to make it so that eventually, using the Intersect ,would, over time begin to cripple him, destroying his mind in the process. This kept it fresh and gave what he was doing some serious weight to it.

As with previous seasons of Chuck, it's all about what stars they could shoehorn into the series and the biggest and best and certainly the most pivotal was the addition of Brandon Routh as Agent Shaw. A great twist comes when it's revealed that he is an Agent working for The Ring. An even bigger twist is that he comes back from the dead after Chuck "killed" him. Loved the inside jokes that prevail throughout the season, especially Chuck comparing him to looking a bit like "Superman". Another great inside joke was Chuck uttering "Oh Boy" as a call back to his final message from his Father (Scott Backula). But the absolute best inside-joke was Casey's (Adam Baldwin) "Not Interested" response to Morgan asking for a favor. He has said this line a few times in other films and TV shows, but it all stems from My Bodyguard. As for other actors stepping into this season, for me, adding Kristin Kreuk as Chuck's temporary girlfriend was the perfect choice. It just sucks that her role was only for 4 episodes. Also sucked that due to cost-cutting measures, they wrote Julia Ling's character Anna off the show. We only get a small cameo from here this season.

So, Morgan is the next in line to learn the truth about Chuck's double life, but it's when his sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) finally learns the truth that Season 3 becomes great. The final 3 episodes to close out the season is where all roads lead to, a showdown between Chuck and Shaw, the reunion between Casey and his daughter he never knew and the revelation that Chuck's mother has a role in all of this. All of it is great and definitely a Rent if you have never seen the series yet.