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The last time I wrote about Chuck, it was on the proverbial bubble. Despite positive critical notice and an adoring tiny little fan base, NBC just didn't think five or six million loyal viewers were enough for an early renewal. Of course, they eventually conceded to 13 new episodes for midseason, a bonus most thought would be Chuck's swan song.

When I last touched upon Chuck, I also had a pretty suppressed enthusiasm for the show. I loved many in the cast, the wit, the nerd culture savvy, and the overall concept and mythology, but I had reservations with creators' Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz's insistence on minor arc advancement in favor of a general formulaic reset from episode to episode. With the breezy voice the show has, they could certainly afford to be a little more daring with the direction the show goes. They'll never be Whedons, but they could at least have some more fun with the conceit and the characters.

Then, as the season drew towards a close, perhaps because of the threat of cancellation, they started to shake up the dynamics. Awesome discovers Chuck's secret and marries Ellie, Morgan moves to Hawaii to chase his culinary dreams, Chuck downloads an Intersect upgrade which gives him a Neo-like ability to learn martial arts. I was digging this. Now we were talking. It was still the same show, but it was becoming less predictable. Then, when the new order for season three came down, I was ready for some Chuck, the likes of which I'd never seen.

Of course, while all of this creative advancement was going on, the feeling amongst fans, critics and the cast and crew was that this third season was just a temporary reprieve. NBC was in bad shape. Just a few short years ago, any show with Chuck's numbers would have been instant worm food. Now, five million viewers meant a possible renewal. However, Leno had this 10:00 talk show that eliminated the need for five hours of programming a week. Why produce an expensive, struggling series like Chuck, when Leno could get lesser ratings and still be profitable due to its low overhead? Chuck's 13 episode order seemed like a transitional compromise for a struggling network, a buffer between its glory days, and its new direction.

Then, Chucksters started to see a glimmer of hope. NBC's vaunted new drama Trauma was struggling, and, with warhorse ER finally put to pasture, all they had left was their midseason misfit Chuck. So, they upped the order to 19 episodes, making nerds and critics, not necessarily mutually exclusive demographics, as cautiously hopeful as Democrats upon Obama's election. The news got better last week when NBC announced that Leno was moving back to his 11:30 time slot. What was bad news for Conan fans almost assured Chuck's followers a fourth season. Those five hours of prime time were again open, and a financially strapped network like NBC would seem foolish to dump an acclaimed, established property for the expensive dice roll of an untested new series, especially an established property with a loyal, if tiny, audience. The good news kept rolling in when the season premiere's ratings, though not stellar, proved to be stronger than much of season two. Chuck's return drew about seven million viewers, it's strongest numbers since the big 3D episode last year.

So why am I still hesitant on Chuck? Because despite the promise the last run of episodes from season two show, the start of season three seems determined to return us to the status quo. There are a few changes, Awesome and Ellie no longer live with Chuck, for example, but Fedak and Schwartz have done everything in their power to keep the changes minimal. Chuck's working with the CIA now, but his cover gig is the Buy More. Morgan loses his girlfriend, but he also loses his Hawaiian job...back to the Buy More. Awesome and Ellie do move away, but they only go right over there, just so they can hang out on the periphery as they always do. And, of course, Sarah and Casey are still there, undercover, hanging with Chuck, making sure he doesn't get hurt with his new powers. I admit, this new Intersect's pretty cool, it opens the door to give Zachary Levi all kinds of new, goofy ways to both screw up and accidentally save the day in the same episode, but the structure hasn't altered. For that matter, Chuck and Sarah have continued their mooning from afar dynamic that really should have advanced by now.

I'm so frustrated with Chuck. The show survival angels seem to be smiling on it right now. I'm almost certain that we're no longer in too much danger of losing it. It'll probably never be a Lost-sized success, but it might live on to a respectable life span for a cult show. I just don't know how much more enthusiasm I have left for a cult show that exhibits so little daring, takes so few risks. I have such high hopes for it, but it seems satisfied with maintaining its own tiny universe, without expanding it, or, at the very least, exploring its possibilities. It's never been a big hit, why treat it like they'll lose viewers if they upset the apple cart too much? Oh, well. At least Leno's not hogging 10:00 any more.