Soundtrack Mastering - CHUCK

One of the most important things aside from story and characters on a television series to get right is the soundtrack. Music is a storyteller in itself. Music is a universal language and it helps move the stories along that we watch. 

In particular, NBC's Chuck, was a master at music selection. Not only was the composer, Tim Jones, a legend at creating a score that was fun to listen to, but the music supervisors were smart in choosing a soundtrack for all five seasons that matched their main character's personality.

In fact, that is where great music selection comes from. Typically, a show tries to match the tone with their music and in regards to the Chuck soundtrack, the music supervisors pulled it off. 


A bit about the show:

NBC's Chuck only lasted five seasons, but had a very loyal following. 

Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi), a regular guy who works for an electronics store called the Buy More in the Nerd Herd, receives an email from his old college friend, Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer) and ends up downloading the email. The email is encoded with government secrets, so all of the secrets go into Chuck's brain. When the CIA and NSA find out that Bryce Larkin might've been a rogue spy, they send CIA Agent Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) and NSA Agent John Casey (Adam Baldwin) to protect Chuck, who becomes the government's most valuable asset. Throughout the show, Chuck's life changes drastically when he lives a life of danger now while trying to keep his CIA/NSA life a secret from his friends and family. 

 A pilot episode sets the bar high for how a television show's soundtrack is going to run. Not only does the show have to succeed at matching the tone and the characters, but the soundtrack has to make sense with helping to push the story along. 

Tim Jones, the composer of the series does a brilliant job at creating a terrific score that not only matches the action moments in Chuck's life, but he even has great themes for the Buy More world, Chuck's family, and his romance with Sarah. In the pilot episode, the first song that plays in the show is featured a few times which is "Cobrastyle" by Teddybears feat. Mad Cobra. This song fits Chuck's personality and the tone of the show for the action parts, but also the comical moments. This proves to be true when the song is played in a scene between Chuck and Morgan when they come home to Chuck's apartment and find a thief in their house trying to steal his computer. When the scene continues and the song plays, Morgan tries to fight off the thief, but it ends up injuring Chuck in the process and the computer breaks. 

However, because this show is so separate, meaning Buy More versus CIA/NSA life, the music creates a perfect barrier for each scene. 

For example, Sarah Walker is an entirely different world for Chuck Bartowski. So songs such as "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth is" by Jet and "Into Your Dream" by Foreign Born fit perfectly when Chuck and Sarah get ready for their first date and then go to the concert. The songs fit both of their personalities. Sarah isn't a regular girl and Chuck is an average guy so it provides a nice balance between the two. They do this by having Chuck introduce Sarah to Foreign Born at the concert when he shows her one of his favorite bands. This song also suits the scene because Sarah has to fight off Casey's men as they try to capture Chuck, but she has to be stealth about it without letting Chuck know she is CIA. 

 "A Comet Appears" by The Shins plays towards the end of the pilot episode when Sarah confronts Chuck at the beach and asks him to trust her. What Chuck is great at besides the soundtrack behind action scenes and comical moments are the dramatic scenes. The only reason this is probably the most brilliant of music they've done well with in the whole show is because every dramatic song screams Chuck Bartowski. A show has a great soundtrack when you can hear a song and think that is exactly what the main character sounds like. Sometimes it doesn't make sense, but when a main character's personality carries the show so well, the comical soundtrack, the action soundtrack are important, but when the hero is facing challenges and needs sad music to play in the background, it's important to have that kind of soundtrack. 

The music supervisors succeed at this also by using the same artists that help provide a constant theme. For example, Band of Horses is played quite often in the series as well as Frightened Rabbit. 

When a show is able to surpass its first season, just like a show must elevate its story, the music gets refined. The selection of music becomes specifically about what would work best with the theme that was set in season one. How do we keep that theme while stepping it up a little? 

Aiding in that selection comes the writers of the show, creating exciting, new challenges for the hero. There also comes a great opportunity to switch up the game in different moments. For example, in Season Two, Chuck versus the First Date, a song like "Dropped" by Phantom Planet becomes a fun background for Chuck and Sarah getting ready for the first official date and then it plays again when Chuck tries to run away from the bad guy. 

However, in an episode like "Chuck versus The Break-Up", "Fake Empire" by The National was an interesting choice to a stand-off at the train station between Bryce and the villain who was holding Chuck at gun point. It was just before Bryce asks Sarah to take the shot but she can't because she cares about Chuck. A song like "Fake Empire" isn't fast-paced, so it doesn't necessarily fit the action-packed scenes we are used to with Chuck, but it fits the character motivation. Sarah Walker is not usually emotional and with Bryce in a similar situation when he was held at gun point, she was able to shoot. In this particular scene, Sarah hesitates to shoot because she could hurt Chuck and she doesn't want to do that. The song fits perfectly for that scene as Bryce realizes that Sarah cares way too much about Chuck. 
 
The show doesn't take away from those moments, however. "Try it Again" by The Hives is played in Chuck versus The Third Dimension in a great beginning scene where Chuck and Casey have to get rid of a bomb, but the Buy More friends interfere thinking they are playing football. Season Two also raised the bar for the music giving two supporting roles, Lester (Vik Sahay) and Jeff (Scott Krinsky) the chance to show off their music skills. Season Two introduced Jeffster, a band Jeff and Lester had started a long time ago. They both think it would be a great idea to be the band at Devon and Ellie's wedding, so the first time they perform at Buy More is in Chuck versus the Best Friend. However, their shining moment becomes when Fulcrum agent Ted Roark (Chevy Chase) threatens to kill Ellie at her own wedding and Chuck is forced to give him the intersect. Instead, Bryce (Bomer) comes to the wedding and while a major action scene happens at the wedding, Chuck had asked Morgan to stall, so Jeffster performs a cover of Styx's "Mr. Roboto" at the wedding. While this is going on, Casey and his men crash into the skylight to save Chuck, Sarah, and Bryce. This is a case of music matching up with what is happening in the climax of the season finale. 

With Season Two escalating, the story has to continue and season three was a great way to raise the bar even higher. How do you do that? By giving the hero a major transformation. Chuck was free at the end of season two to not have the Intersect in his brain anymore, but with a surprising twist decides to download Intersect 2.0. This computer ended up having some major upgrades to it. Chuck was able to fight, play guitar, dance, speak different languages, and essentially become the CIA's most valuable spy. 

The soundtrack for Chuck's CIA life becomes more upbeat, fast-paced, and less comical. This is because Chuck now is a spy who can fight. This is true with songs like "Got Nuffin" by Spoon in Chuck versus Operation Awesome or a song like "Ready, Aim, Fire" by The Unknown in Chuck versus First Class. 

However, to balance that out now, the Buy More scenes are filled with great Jeffster covers like Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son". Of course, the sadder songs for the more dramatic moments still remain true to Chuck's personality. Band of Horses guides the show out mostly in the dramatic soundtrack portion, but one of the most pivotal moments in the show is when Chuck's father dies in Chuck versus the Subway.

"One October Song" by Nico Stai was the perfect song to put in the background of this scene. Not only does Chuck watch his father die in front of him after Shaw kills him, but Ellie watches from afar.

The season finale proves another Jeffster backdrop where they do a cover of Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory" and it is in the background during Shaw and Chuck's final fight scene in the Buy More. 

Band of Horses becomes the closer for Season 3, which, like Frightened Rabbit, is a top choice band for the show's original music format. No matter how far a show gets in season length, the music must always remain somewhat familiar to the original tone established by season 1. This is important because it can confuse the audience when the music starts to change. Change in soundtrack only works when the characters slowly transform and in that case, the music still has to be gradual.

"Howlin' For You" by The Black Keys, for example is one of the first songs you hear in Season Four's premiere episode. This song is perfect for Chuck's CIA tone. Another great example of an action song is "Black Leaf" by the Cave Singers when Chuck and Sarah are pretending to rob the bank for Vivian (Lauren Cohan). It's a fantastic song for the backdrop of the scene. Season Four didn't stray too far from the original theme of season one. 


What is great about Season Five is that when a show knows it might be over, sometimes it's great to refer back to the original concept to help close the show out. Towards the end of season five, the song "She Tows the Line" by Crooked Fingers plays after Chuck discovers Sarah's memory has been wiped now that becomes the human intersect. She took the intersect into her brain to save Chuck, but there are flaws with it. Chuck and Casey try to save her during this song and it relates to the season two episode Chuck versus The Break Up where Sarah can't shoot Chuck and a softer song is playing in the background. 

It also would only be appropriate for Chuck to close out its final season with a Jeffster cover. In an effort to stall the orchestra, Morgan has Lester and Jeff stage a performance so a bomb doesn't blow up. They cover A-Ha's "Take On Me". Since the show is known for its epic counter action moments during these numbers, Chuck officially downloads the Intersect back into his brain and Sarah and Casey rush down to stop the bomb. This moment of the series finale is an exact mirror of the pilot episode when Chuck defused the first bomb.

Just like the pilot episode, Chuck also closed out with a softer song "Rivers and Roads" by The Head and The Heart. The scene ended at the beach, which was similar to the pilot episode. 

A show's soundtrack is just as vital as the story it tells. Music is an important part of telling a story and NBC's Chuck, though it didn't last for long, had a great soundtrack. 

A great television soundtrack always fits the personality of the character as much as the world they live in. In my opinion, Chuck was an excellent example of superb music selection and has one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a long time in television.