I reviewed “Covert Affairs” yesterday, and now I’m curious what you thought of it. Plus, I have one or two more spoiler-y thoughts coming up just as soon as I shuck my own oysters…
Specifically, I’m not that in love with this larger arc involving Eion Bailey as Annie’s mysterious ex, who of course turns out to be a spy of some sort (and the reason why Joan and Arthur promoted Annie to field agent before she had finished training). First, it was predictable; was there any way the guy we spent so much time on at the start of the episode, and who left Annie a break-up note with the phrase “The truth is complicated” wasn’t going to reappear in Annie’s spy life? Second, it smacks very much of the main story arc from “White Collar” season one, where we were expected to care so much about the ex-girlfriend Neal was searching for when we never got evidence that she was as special as he and the show kept claiming. Bailey can be a good actor(*), and perhaps this creative team will be able to make his character interesting – or, at least, get him on stage earlier and more frequently than “White Collar” did with Kate – but this channel doesn’t have such a hot track record with this kind of storyline.
(*) I liked Bailey in “Band of Brothers,” even though the writing for his character tended to be schizophrenic, changing to fit the needs of each episode’s writer.
I’m not sure how long I’ll be in for this show. Next week’s episode will be the last to air before I head out to Comic-Con and press tour, so I may just let them build up until I’m back and see how it’s been going. But I like Piper Perabo, and Christopher Gorham and the other regular castmembers (even if I really, really wish Anne Dudek were playing a spy), and the main case was entertaining enough that I could see “Covert Affairs” at least working as good summer escapism.
What did everybody else think?