The thing that stands out in my mind is the fact that the writers had Bryce “die” with his eyes open. It just so happens that his eyes are now conveniently open when the intersect 2.0 download occurs. If Bryce does somehow survive again(even though he has his own show) there are two interesting possibilities. First that Bryce and Chuck, roommates from college (like the shows creators) go off to “save the world” along with Sarah, Casey, and maybe even Predator and the bachelor party stripper. Turning Chuck into a band of good guys.

The other option is that Bryce lives and the “Ring” has just taken him to a secret hideout to download or torture the information out of him.

So many possibilities and we don’t even know if there is a going to be a season 3. Well maybe this is an opportunity for an up and coming cable channel to pick up Chuck and run with it. We can only hope.

Oh, well, it’s going to be a long wait until Season 3, I suppose. (Still got my fingers crossed, of course.)

one more week yo wait
decision is delayed

i think the chuck as a better spy, more like bryce and cole, will bring lots of very interesting conflict to the sarah-chuck (charah?) relationship.

think about sarah at the pilot, and as many commenters have noted, sarah is emotionally guarded. she has lived all her life under false pretenses. her boyfriend bryce had just lied to her about being an enemy agent, betrayed her, and now is dead (not really, as we later find out!)

the appeal of chuck is that he isn’t a spy. note the cool beach scene at the end of the pilot (thanks WB.com for making that ep available).

she says, trust me chuck.

trust is a big issue in the spyworld, a big issue for sarah, and since the show is a metaphor for the real world, its a big issue in real life relationships as well.

since chuck is becoming more of a spy, alot of these trust issues will rear their ugly head.

an interesting movie that is a similar metaphor is “Duplicity”, clive owen and julia roberts. in the whole movie, the two spies’ relationship is stymied by a lack of trust. (i shan’t spoil the end!)

when chuck was an analyst, trust was already an issue. now that he’s stepping up a bit, its even more of an issue now.

As for the episode… very impressive. Good action, good emotion, etc. All-around good. Also, Adam Baldwin is still awesome.

As for the future… “To Be Continued” can be taken either way. It might mean “There’s definitely going to be another season”, but it might mean “We’re done, the rest of the story is for you to decide”. I really want to see another season come out. Plus, I hope the Season 2 DVD comes out in time for my birthday (August).

Now for my concers. As much as I liked seeing Chuck kick butt, I’m worried that one or both of these things could happen. Either, as several have already pointed out, Chuck is no longer the adorable nerd that Sarah has obviously fallen love with. He might become cocky, arrogant, and downright dangerous. Either that, or this will be come Chuck’s “Jumping of the Shark” episode and only us really hard core fans will come back, dooming the show to, at best, one more season.

One thing Bryce said, though, gives me a little hope (for the series, but probably not for Chuck in the short run). Orion asks him about the changes the CIA/NSA made to the Intersect, and Bryce responds, “You don’t want to know.” Are these “upgrades” dangerous to whoever gets downloaded? Will Chuck’s new quest be to get the physically harmful parts out? What will this new development do to the Charah dynamic/chemistry? Whatever the case, I definitely don’t want to experience the whiny Chuck again. He made a decision, and needs to be willing to live with the consequences of that decision. If he does go back that way, Sarah and Casey need to have a serious wall-to-wall counseling session with that young man.

My two cents, for what it’s worth.