Vague traces of retooling linger throughout much of the entirety of the first episode of the third season of “Covet Affairs,” ‘Hang on to Yourself.’ It remains to be seen whether the TV network USA, re-worked the series or if it was a self-conscious creative decision by its writers or producers.
Change begins when the show unceremoniously bumps off one of the characters from the principal cast within the opening minutes of the premiere.
Despite the actor being saddled with an abrupt exit for the character, whose role never completely fit in, the death works just for that purpose: It’s shocking, not built up, and puts the reality back in the show about clandestine CIA operatives, with danger constantly lurking in the shadows.
Afterward, enigmatic officer Lena Smith (Sarah Clarke) recruits Annie Walker (Piper Perabo), the series’ main character and intelligence officer. Smith’s operation acts self-sufficiently and apart from the CIA. In her section, field operatives deploy themselves on missions based on actionable intelligence.
The episode doesn’t give away much about Clarke’s character, but there’s much potential for her. Are there ulterior motives for Annie’s recruitment? Does Smith have an agenda of her own? One episode in and she has more going for her than Walker’s predecessor. Clarke plays the role with room for both of these possibilities and others.
Her first mission is to ingratiate herself with a British-born Russian spy, Simon Fisher (Richard Coyle), whose cover has him suspiciously buying land in South Africa.
Likewise, reassignment faces Annie’s omnipresent colleague in the field, Auggie (Christopher Gorham), when he’s promoted to his former colleague’s old position, with the underlying reason to investigate the events that lead to his friend’s demise.
In spite of pulling the rug out from under the audience initially, the hallmarks of the show, like filming in foreign countries rather than the standard practice of throwing the actors on set or in front of a green screen, remain unchanged.
Even on an off week of programming, it’s refreshing when the series shoots material overseas. This week’s offering comes in the form of a visit to Marrakech.
Walker’s reassignment holds some promise for the series. She engages in a sexual relationship with her target, and has an underscored chemistry with him, but it doesn’t mean a thing. It exists solely as a method of extracting information from her mark. There lies an exciting prospect in tainting this sweet, angelic soul.
If the show’s writers were smart, they would have the character continue to flirt with the grey zone of her new position, free of accountability.
As the show has progressed, it’s maintained a generally provincial scope on the consequences of her work for the CIA, a peripherally shadowy organization that has possibly shaped geopolitics in ways still undetermined. It would be a more credible series if they milked this idea, even in the smallest ways, with the character being a cog for much larger elements at work.
It wouldn’t need to morph into a straight up drama, but would benefit if the series occasionally acknowledged the real world.
The audience never finds out what Fisher’s eventual plans were, but ambiguity in a spy series represents an element that the writers shouldn’t be reticent about, for episodes about characters and motives that are not readily known and underlined practically write themselves.
Don’t screw this up, “Covert Affairs.”
Covert Affairs airs Tuesdays at 10PM on USA
Reach the reporter at tccoste1@asu.edu
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