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.

Covert Affairs - Pilot, S01E01

Although Covert Affairs started slow, it quickly turned into the high-speed, action-packed spy game which we were looking for, with a bonus of delightful humour and believable relationships. Although I have been quite busy of late, I will try very hard to keep this show on my list as long as it maintains the promise it gave us in this first episode.

Piper Perabo presents Annie Walker as the super competent yet damaged young woman who ends up joining the CIA for reasons that are somehow related to a whirlwind romance which did not work out. We learn that she is a go-getter, a talented driver, and has a gift for many spy skill requirements, including languages. The best part is that within this premiere episode, we are not only told of these things, but we see her abilities fully displayed in humourous but believable situations, or dangerous chase sequences.

My particular favourite moment was when Annie and Auggie (Christopher Gorham), a fellow agent who is blind, were caught in a morgue while examining a body. The FBI agent who stopped them had met Annie before, pretending to be a Call Girl while retrieving information, and he was clever enough to suspect that something more was going on. Still, Annie and Auggie had figured out their story well, and the idea of a blind man with strange fetishes being taken into a morgue to see the man the girl on his arm saw getting murdered the day before, with the enthusiasm for the encounter which both showed, was purely brilliant.

Otherwise, Auggie is a truly unique and yet clichéd character. His ability to still be as charming and as much of a hound as he must have been before he lost his sight, and yet the sweetness that is still part of him despite not having grown up with his particular difficulty, makes him irresistible. What girl would have been able to resist his charm under normal circumstances, let alone when he manages to do so much and so well when he is blind.

And if the characters, the humour, and the high speed chases weren't enough to catch your interest, then surely the mystery of the man whom Annie loved and his connection to the CIA should be enough to hold you. I predict Covert Affairs will be a great success, in a lengthening line of USA network successes.