Covert Affairs - Walter's Walk, S01E02

Second episodes tell you a lot about where a show is going to go. The pilot was so carefully worked on, the script rewritten who knows how many times, the best lines used, plus the characters are being introduced which makes for more material which is easy to make interesting. Once the pilot is complete, then comes the rest of the season, inspired by the dynamics, but with far less time.

Walter's Walk gave us a terrific second episode. First of all, I was terribly impressed with both how the set was changed and how new characters were introduced, while others were carefully brushed aside.

When Annie (Piper Perabo) arrived at CIA headquarters, Auggie (Christopher Gorham) immediately escorted her to a new office base of operations. The old one, presumably no longer available to them since the filming of the pilot, was called obsolete and we get a new set without any questions asked. Then, Jai Wilcock (Sendhil Ramamurty) was quickly noted as a new member of their division, and we quickly realize that Conrad (Eric Lively) has been positioned elsewhere.

So, fresh slate with no issues regarding the changes. Well done.

Next, we get a decent spy tale, reminding us that the classic spy story should revolve less around the mystery and more around the trials of the spy's personal life. Of course, the best ones combine the two, as this episode did, perfectly. Annie is still reconciling herself to her new life and what that means in regards to the people she cannot tell. I'm not sure if the government should really sanction the sort of perspective on how difficult it might be to live the lifestyle, but then, you don't want people coming in expecting the wrong thing either.

So we have an episodic nature, with the over-arc of whatever the deal is with Annie's ex, plus a little bit of the personal thrown in. It worked for Alias, and it will work for Covert Affairs.