Take Three: Covert Affairs

Covert Affairs: Season 1, Episode 3 “South Bound Suarez” (C+)

So this episode finally takes us exclusively into the field, though it does seem that the CIA is mismanaging its employees if multiple agents can follow another agent in the field without their absence being accounted for, like Auggie. Protocol seems to be lacking all over the place. I was most disturbed by the fact that Annie ordered the brother to stay in the car at the end but didn’t even bother to lock the door to try and prevent him from ruining the operation. The idea of the episode is fine and intriguing, but the execution isn’t nearly as neat. Lana Parilla is an actress I go back and forth on – I liked her on “Boomtown” and in the one episode of “Lost” in which she actually appeared, but this episode and this accent didn’t really do it for me. Even though they’re not anywhere near as corny as the bad guys on “The Good Guys,” I still have trouble believing that these villains are actually dangerous threats for Annie and the rest of the CIA. It’s similar to the problem that Myles of Cultural Learnings has with a show like “White Collar” – there are no stakes. At no point in any of the first three episodes, besides the moment when Annie was literally being shot at by a sniper after the defector doppelganger got gunned down did I actually feel any kind of active concern for any of the characters. Part of the problem is that I still haven't connected with Annie, and no other character is being used effectively enough for them to take her place as the most compelling aspect of the show.