Sunday, August 26, 2012

What I’m Watching: Covert Affairs


Covert Affairs: Season 3, Episode 6 “Hello Stranger” (B+)

It’s probably for the best that Annie asked for a transfer from Joan’s team. After working with the far more trusting and less by-the-book Lena, she’s acting rather openly insubordinate during Joan’s briefings, suggesting her own mission and then continuing to argue for it despite the fact that it’s clearly not on the agenda. Though her gamble worked, it still doesn’t bode well for the future of their relationship. Arthur being so checked out of his current post and butting heads with Joan on a regular basis is threatening to affect his status on the show, but that doesn’t mean that Joan is going anywhere, which suggests that maybe Annie won’t be able to get away from the DPD after all. There are certain instances where actors being typecast is a really good thing, and that’s absolutely the case with Omid Abtahi, who has played many a terrorist of questionable villainous conviction. Here, he was extremely compelling as Sayid, who warmed to Annie’s unconventional approach with a friendly smoke and a hamburger order at a local diner. I liked his quote about the difference between fate and destiny that Annie invoked when she was trying to reel him in, which is probably what ultimately convinced him to accept her offer. Auggie has never been one to go the traditional route, and therefore taking his therapist out on a blindfolded walk across the street so that she could walk a block in his shoes wasn’t so far-fetched. The question now is whether their relationship will remain professional or turn personal.

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