Okay, so when Mark Moses (from Desperate Housewives & Mad Men) showed up as a potential suspect NASA satellite intel leaker, you knew he likely didn’t do it. That’d be too easy, too simple of a puzzle for our gal Annie Walker to solve.
And while the real culprit appeared fairly obvious, this Covert Affairs installment still proved entertaining, bolstered by the humorous Arthur and Joan Campbell story and Auggie’s reluctance to fully embrace his new, out-in-the-open job.
Even though this week’s case wasn’t exactly a brain teaser for Annie, it was fun to watch her interview the folks at NASA, best the rude NASA suit who haughtily said Annie’s project hadn’t been run by her (Annie lies so fluidly it’s scary), enjoy a rooftop barbecue with a lovelorn astronaut and his son, and verbally tousle with a new, socially inept, cold version of Alias’ Marshall Flinkman. I wasn’t a fan of Reva Kline’s, despite the show’s attempts to humanize the flesh-and-blood robot by having her shed tears after she was reprimanded by Joan. Unfortunately, it appears as though Reva will return for the next episode where she’ll be in the field with Annie, as unlikely as that may seem.
However for all of Reva’s unwillingness to put any faith in Annie’s read on her own case — specifically that she didn’t think the astronaut had intentionally betrayed the agency he loved — Reva was startlingly on the money with her sight-unseen assessment of the state of Annie’s sister’s marriage, which can best be described as indifferent. What will it mean if the cozy, little nuclear family with whom Annie lives falls apart? Hmm, a little intrigue on the home front will add a bit more edge to the normally sunny Annie wouldn’t it?
Despite my dislike for Reva’s character, I did like the way the show handled Auggie’s case of cold feet when it came to his big promotion. Deciding not to show us that Auggie decided against stepping in front of that bank of TV cameras and opting to remain a covert, as opposed to an overt, employee of the CIA, was wise. Having him turn up at his old desk and chatting on the cell phone with his pal Annie was a pleasant surprise, but then again, we didn’t really expect that Auggie would be kept away from the role of Annie’s guardian angel did we?
The humor of Arthur and Joan’s buyers’ remorse regarding their big shot (and pricey) attorney was likewise welcomed as we watched the head of the Clandestine Service Department and his sharp, CIA supervisor wife appear absolutely befuddled by their lawyer’s behavior and his hefty, unitemized bill. The looks on their faces when the attorney essentially blew off their meeting by saying he had a tennis outing to attend was priceless, as were the looks they exchanged when the lawyer later told them that his tennis match was with a key Congressional leader who was likely going to put a quiet end to the probe of Arthur’s activities. These people are supposed to be excellent readers of people’s behavior, what with them being in the spy biz and all. I was surprised that they didn’t realize their attorney was working on a strategy and not just goofing off.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Jul 06, 2011 @ 10:12 EST5EDT
