Chuck: The Complete Fourth Season

The fourth season of Chuck—the tongue-in-cheek series featuring amiable-nerd-turned-super-spy Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) and his beautiful handler, bodyguard, and paramour, Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski)—follows our hero as he searches for his mother (Linda Hamilton), who also happens to be an espionage agent and may be working for international criminal mastermind Alexei Volkoff (a perfectly droll Timothy Dalton). Along the way, Chuck keeps trying to pop the question to Sarah, but bad guys keep getting in the way. The roll call of guest stars here include genre figures Dolph Lundgren, Lou Ferrigno, Steve Austin, Robert Englund, and Summer Glau, not to mention Richard Chamberlain and Harry Dean Stanton. Although the season ends with a wedding that goes just as smoothly as one would expect (i.e., not), the final minutes set up a game-changing scenario for the ensuing fifth and final season. While never a ratings giant, Chuck has enjoyed a loyal fan base. Compiling all 24 episodes of the 2010–11 season, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)