Covert Affairs - Episode 2 - quick review

So...

I tuned in for the second episode of USA's new series Covert Affairs, following last week's better than average pilot. Sad to say this week's outing was a big, fat letdown. The story wasn't engaging and was downright boring at times, the ending was predictable, and Augie, the blind CIA agent, is quickly becoming one of my least favorite characters on TV. For one thing he's too smug and always has this knowing smile on his face like he's better than everyone. On the "it's ridiculous for a blind guy to be doing this" front, Augie teaches Annie (the new agent) how to fight up close and personal so that she doesn't get her butt kicked. Occasionally, the writers seem to remember that he can't see and on one occasion solve that problem by simply saying "I guessed" after he tells Annie she is doing a good job with her boxing lessons and she asks, "how would you know?"

There's also a new character introduced who adds nothing to the show's dynamic. Played by Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder on Heroes) he literally drags every scene down he's in with a flat performance. Also, his character doesn't seem to have a strong enough role to keep him around, other than his orders to keep an eye on Annie in case her mysterious and possibly dangerous ex-lover shows up. Like there aren't a million other ways to do that without adding someone to the cast.

While the pilot offered a potentially worthy replacement to Alias, the follow-up seemed instead like a poor man's copy of the later show. Even Piper Perabo, who was admittedly less mundane this week, improved her acting only by mimicking Alias heroine Sydney Bristow's (Jennifer Garner's) facial expressions and mannerisms. Let's not forget that so far the mysterious and possibly dangerous ex-lover is a variation of the mysterious and possibly dangerous absent father that Sydney Bristow dealt with.

There are, of course, a few interesting bits, like where Annie is learning spy techniques on the fly, such as how to pick certain kinds of locks. In the case of the locks, though, it almost feels like a last minute script addition and thus a missed opportunity to really flesh out this idea of what it would really be like to be a rookie CIA agent. It's as if the writers can't figure her character out yet. One minute she needs to be be shown how to open a door, the next she is the only one at the CIA who can see the truth about the case they are working on (never mind the fact that the audience realizes something is amiss even before she does).

Second episodes are usually where a series can either spread its wings and fly or collapse under the weight of its own concept. Covert Affairs seems to be a case of the later. I'll check out next week's offering, but if it's as lackluster as episode 2 I'll probably bail on this show.

Verdict: fading fast.