Favorite scene, hands down: the opening one where Annie Walker channeled her inner Sydney Bristow and disabled two bad guys — one with the creative use of a wall defibrillator, the other with some well placed blows against a metal railing — all the while she assisted her injured, erstwhile love interest out of a compromised Guam hospital while being pursued by another gunman.
The return of Annie Walker and Covert Affairs was a breath of fresh air as it is breezy, entertaining and full of interesting characters, whose backstories I’m patiently waiting to learn. This is just the kind of summer fare I needed, particularly in the wake of the dreary, rain-soaked days of The Killing, which I’ve also been watching.
It’s a pleasure to watch Annie light up from within when she interacts with the mysterious Ben Mercer who never seems to be telling the truth to the woman for whom he genuinely seems to care even though he’s now conspiring with Annie’s boss Arthur Campbell regarding some off-the-books business. Is poor Annie going to spend the entirety of the run of Covert Affairs either glowingly smiling at Ben or carrying bags full of Five Guys burgers to empty rooms where Ben used to be? And are we going to repeatedly see scenes of the two of them saving one another’s hides in sticky situations and then fleeing into the shadows? I hope so.
I’m in no hurry to have Annie discover that Arthur is working with Ben, or to come to terms with the fact that the CIA is hiding Ben from her while Joan Campbell advises Annie to make peace with the fact. “There are always going to be questions with Ben,” Joan said tellingly.
After this season premiere, I’m increasingly interested in the Jai Wilcox angle, who formerly worked with Ben and whose father is a curmudgeon of a former CIA honcho. I like the way his character is being slowly humanized beyond his work at the agency, like having him give Ben books of Sudoku puzzles for example.
Meanwhile, the smart, cuddly Auggie Anderson, who’s always got Annie’s back, is a character whom I can’t help but root for as he and his protegé share a beer in a pub while he seems to be still carrying a dimly-lit torch for the enterprising reporter who’s making Arthur’s work at the CIA difficult. I hope Auggie will be sent out into the field more often like he was in this episode pulling the ticket trick at the tennis match.
And for all the serious scenes, there were ample lighter moments to keep the show from being too dark. Annie giving her nieces two giant glasses filled to the brim with grape juice in the hopes that they’d spill the juice, which they did, was fun. It was all part of a ruse which would necessitate Annie having to call a “rug cleaner” so her sister and nieces would have to leave the house in order for Annie’s CIA peeps to make sure her home security hadn’t been compromised.
‘Twas a promising and intriguing start to the second season of the adventures of Annie Walker.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Jun 08, 2011 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
Nice review. You are one of the few reviewers on Cliqueclack that actually seems to like the show that they are reviewing.
Thanks for a great review. This show has not been well received by some and I think the complaints were justified. I am hopeful, however, that Annie’s amped-up “inner Sydney Bristow” as you put it continues this season. Moving the show into slightly darker and more serious realms would help it out a lot I think. We enjoy it around our house, but the first season was a little bland. Fortunately there were enough bright spots to bring Covert Affairs and our eyeballs back to the screen. I hope it continues to move in a more action-oriented and serious direction. Not too far, mind you, but enough to put some meat on the bones of this fun show.
Hey, I hope you weren’t talking about me!! :P
But seriously, I like this show a whole lot more when I don’t have to review it.
Actually, I was referring to several things I’ve read by a number of reviewers & bloggers. While I’m sure your opinion was one of those, I’m not criticizing that opinion. In fact, I agree to some extent with the general consensus that the show is a bit flat and bland. I like it more than most reviewers I’ve read seem to, but I can’t disagree with the problems that were pointed out.
Looking back at the 5 or so episode I reviewed last year before handing it off, my biggest problem was with the authenticity. I mean, I get that this isn’t supposed to be hyper-series story about a rookie CIA agent … That idea was thrown out the door with the implication that there is a CIA bar where everyone hangs out.
But the writers seem to take accurate phrases and completely misuse them. Take for instance … This week, Annie did a “level one sweep” of her ‘apartment’ after the break in. I wasn’t familiar with the term, so I Googled it. Best I could find any real reference to it is to route inspection in the military (i.e. looking for IEDs). But “Level One” would be the least intensive, most cursory inspection in the list (Though, I’m not saying that any search for bombs is every “cursory” :) ) … So, if that was an accurate use of the phrase, Annie was basically saying that she gave her apartment a once over, but didn’t really do any detailed looking … Basically opposite from what I’m sure the intent of the line was.
And don’t get me started on their continued misuse of “reading someone in” (like Joan and Arthur). It is just like they are trying too hard to sound like spies.