I was impressed with this episode of Covert Affairs because, unlike the episode where Annie and Reva were kidnapped and Annie used vodka as a weapon, the CIA agents who were being detained this time around knew their stuff. They were hard core and worked like a well oiled machine. No whimpering and second-guessing between Ben, Joan and Annie.
And that was a very good thing.
The story was well crafted as the episode started and ended with Annie on a metaphoric cliff, flirting with the adorable, good-natured Dr. Scott Weiss. When Annie’s rock climbing canoodling was suddenly interrupted by work — and an assignment involving Ben, in all his smoldering, unshaven glory — I was certain that she’d look into Ben’s eyes, melt and, in her mind and heart, go back to the handful of carefree, magical days they spent together on the beach, and then proceed to savor every possible moment she could get with him.
But no, Annie was all work, or at least tried to be, as she put up an invisible shield between herself and Ben, rebuffing his romantic overtures and opting, instead, once their mission was completed, to return to Dr. Weiss to try to build a relationship with him, albeit on the edge of a cliff where their feet were dangling hundreds of feet above solid ground. Although it’s a wise move to pursue a relationship with Scott if Annie’s looking to actually try to have a “real” life outside the CIA, I sincerely doubt she’s truly over Ben. What will prove interesting will be how she handles having to lie to Scott the way she lies to her family all the time about her work. With Ben, it’s much easier and she can be more natural because she doesn’t have to lie.
Speaking of work, in addition to proving herself capable of being strictly professional with Ben, Annie also proved herself with Joan as they each turned in impressive performances in disarming the eco-terrorists and a crooked gas company exec. Seeing Joan duke it out with armed goons and then later plunge her aching fist into a bucket of ice, like we mere mortals would need to do after such a brawl (nice touch of realism there), was refreshing as all we ever get to see of Joan is her walking around the office like a stereotypical ice queen in a revolving wardrobe of sleek, sleeveless dresses.
Adding to Covert Affairs’ on-again/off-again political intrigue was the fact that Jai’s father, Henry Wilcox (who’ll forever be 24’s weaselly President Logan to me) is on a campaign to destroy Arthur by leaking damaging information about him to the media. Jai, whose loyalty seems fairly fluid, will have to decide whether he’s going to help his father ruin Arthur (of whom Jai’s no fan), keep his mouth shut and look the other way, or actively work to shut down his dad’s efforts. Either way, this Shakespearean father-son drama has potential. I vote for more Jai-Henry intrigue. Any time you can use Gregory Itzin in his best, evil, conspiratorial mode, that’s a bonus.
And throw in Joan overpowering guards with her bare hands alongside a former colleague of hers whom she wanted to save, and you’ve got yourself a fun episode.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Jul 27, 2011 @ 12:31 EST5EDT
I watched this show for the first time last night because my wife played TV chicken with me (it was either her show or no show and I didn’t have it in me to call her bluff.)
Is every episode this exposition heavy? I realize that they’re trying to keep it accessible for new viewers (like me!) and when you have a mission-of-the-week style show, you need to info dump a lot, but gee whiz, every two minutes it felt like someone was saying out-loud exactly what we needed to know to push the story forward.
It seems like no one is talking about this (and by no one, I mean your review and AV Club’s review, which in my mind constitutes the entirety of internet thought on the subject), so my assumption is that yeah, this is how they pretty much handle exposition in every episode.
So my larger question is this: is leaden exposition info dumps the price we pay for shows like this? If we’re going to have a weekly procedural, does the format, by necessity, rely on what in a feature film would be considered lazy writing? Should I just get over it like I do other necessary TV evils (like commercials and Jay Leno)?
Or is there a better way? Has there ever been a show that has managed to info-dump without feeling like the writers are literally dumping on me?
Sorry to wax philosophic, it’s just that my family is downstairs waiting for me and the longer I waste time up in my office, the less chance I have of disappointing them.