Covert Affairs
Pilot
USA Tuesdays 10 p.m.
USA seems to specialize in shows that are very light and fun - the kind of show where you can watch every now and then for a fairly enjoyable waste of an hour. Covert Affairs, their newest original series, definitely fits into the USA mold, and the pilot delivers a pretty entertaining hour-plus (it was given an extended premiere) of television.
I'm a pretty big sucker when it comes to spies. I like Bond movies, the two episodes of Alias I've seen, Chuck - I'll watch pretty much anything that falls in the genre. So maybe it's just the subject matter, but I was actually pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed Covert Affairs. That said, the episode starts off on completely the wrong foot. Having the main character take a random polygraph is an incredibly lazy way of writing exposition, and the information it reveals could easily have been teased out later in the episode. Also, there's a concern when you cast an attractive woman such as Piper Perabo in a role like this that she might just be there to be eye candy (especially since it's hard to believe someone so short and scrawny could be an ass-kicking secret agent). And the start of the pilot isn't promising in assuaging these fears - times Piper Perabo was topless in the first 2 minutes: 3. Beyond that, I was also a little unsure about whether Perabo could pull off this type of role - besides Coyote Ugly (a tremendous piece of shit) and that one movie that I saw 10 minutes of on HBO where she was a lesbian or something, I haven't really seen her in anything, and she certainly doesn't look the part. However, a look comes over her towards the end of the pre-credit scene, which I guess was determination - whatever it was, it gave me hope that she would surprise me.
Indeed, Perabo grows more and more believable as the episode progresses, as she delivers a unexpectedly good performance. Part of this is aided by how quickly and efficiently the pilot moves forward - USA Platinum Member Tim Matheson directed. Perabo is yanked out of training and placed in the Domestic Protection Division, supposedly due to her language skills. The episode puts these skills to good use too (and a guest appearance from The Wire's own Lester Freamon!) and it's nice to see that Perabo's character relies more on her intellect and charisma as a spy since it would be ridiculous for her to be a Rambo-style bad-ass. The pilot quickly introduces some characters that show potential to be a solid supporting cast (the blind tech guy, the strict boss who's married to another CIA boss - I like that people in the CIA are encouraged to date each other here, as I'm tired of storylines dealing with relationships between spies and civilians who don't know their partners secrets). Not everything works perfectly in the pilot - the business with the reporter seemed a little random, though I'm sure it will be addressed later - but the episode quickly moves on to scenes that work better and doesn't give you time to linger on it's failures. I actually have a lot more in my notes that I wanted to say about this, but I'm starting to ramble a bit, so I'll wrap it up - but my point is that it's a very good sign that I actually have a lot to say about a show on USA.
I started off by saying how USA shows are typically light fare that is entertaining enough, but pretty shallow. Based on the pilot, I think Covert Affairs actually has a chance to be a good show - in a similar way to Chuck. There's a twist at the end that suggests that there might be more of a serialized arc to the show, and I like what I've seen of Perabo in the lead role and some of the side characters. I'm not adding this to my series coverage just yet, because pilot's can often be deceiving - the show might not warrant much writing in future episodes. However, the pilot was both good and intriguing enough to ensure that I'll be back for a second episode.
Grade: B
"I would love to shuck some oysters with you"
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