Covert Affairs - Unseen Power of the Picket Fence - Review

This week on Covert Affairs, Annie worked with Ryan McQuade to try and get Borz back to the US, which became a complicated and difficult task.  Meanwhile, Auggie and Hayley toyed with the idea of continuing their dalliance, we learned more about Calder's romantic and career conundrums, and Joan worked with Arthur and Caitlyn to try and facilitate Annie and McQuade's safe return.  

I love the serialized structure of the show and totally don't miss the "mission-of-the-week" format from the earlier seasons.  That's one of the ways in which Covert Affairs has grown in leaps and bounds since Season 3.  While pushing Annie further and further away from her comfort zone, the scripts hook the viewer with high-stakes adventures that span multiple episodes with twists aplenty along the journey.  Hence, I'm glad that Season 5 is continuing this format and mixing in a little fun along with the darker aspects of the story.

McQuade's plan to get Borz across the border wasn't safe enough for Annie's taste, and sure enough they were nearly busted after a local opened the car trunk to reveal their guest.  Fleeing to Caracas, Annie and Ryan set up shop in a rented apartment, but the police were hot on their trail.  With Borz's health quickly declining and Annie working hard to interrogate him and find out who else was involved with the bombing, the suspense was taut throughout the episode.  Forced to resort to crazy hijinks like hiding Borz in a shower when the police came, Annie pulled off her usual ditzy tourist routine with skillful flair.  Cleverly, she even tricked the cops into assuming she was a druggie.  Once able, briefly, to question Borz, Annie fooled him into thinking his sister was still alive and might be spared a hard time if he talked.  All Borz could get out before dying was that the culprit responsible for leaking CIA information to the bombers is called "The Postman."  Uh-oh -- this might be a new Big Bad alert!

Back in the States, the team at the CIA was unable to find much information on The Postman (no, it's not Kevin Costner...), until Auggie enlisted a former agent who had been forced to leave due to psychological issues.  All we got from Robert's investigation was some shadowy clues.   Hayley was quick to suggest to Auggie that they not sleep together again due to a conflict of interest, but he hilariously commented on how good their night together was right in front of the coffee guy.  Clearly, Auggie doesn't have a problem with anyone knowing he's hooking up with Hayley.  Sure enough, drawn in by the chemistry between them, Hayley showed up at Auggie's place later with some lame excuse about signing documents that quickly led to another encounter.  I'm not sure where the writers are going with this relationship, but it's been pleasant and amusing enough so far. 

Calder's mysterious lady-friend turned out to be a prostitute.  Perhaps Calder was trying to avoid being in a serious relationship at all costs and therefore chose to take up with this woman in whom he can confide with no strings attached.  I'm somehow suspicious that there is something more complex and secretive in the Sydney character that will be unfurled in future episodes.  Anyway, between what Calder told Sydney and the vibe we got off of him while he was being officially questioned (I do love how all our main characters just hate being officially questioned about anything), we gleaned that he's super restless about his promotion and feels like a paper pusher instead of an active agent.  As Joan quickly observed, the new job isn't all it was cracked up to be, and Calder so far seems lost this season.  It's interesting to see him go from being completely confident in Season 4 to out of his depth now, with just a job change.

The subplot with Joan and Arthur having to collaborate while coming at the same mission from different places is pretty entertaining, and the added aspect of having the somewhat annoying Caitlyn along should make for some intriguing developments.  While Caitlyn isn't completely useless by a long shot, and had some good instincts about getting Annie and Ryan home safe, her brisk attitude and slightly flirty conduct towards Arthur aren't going to make her best friends with Joan anytime soon.  I'm thinking this could lead to Joan telling Caitlyn off at some point, which is bound to be epic and provide yet more sage and badass Joan quotes.

I'm really enjoying the Annie/McQuade relationship as it's progressing.  We had some cute and humorous moments ("can I have your towel?"  Ha!) as well as some genuine bonding.  Ryan didn't judge Annie for making a "dark" move in lying to Borz about his sister to get information, since he understood that Annie can be a fully moral and devoted agent and have the ability to go to dark places sometimes as well to get the job done. This combination of traits within Annie is something that she seems to always struggle against, and the idea that she could relax into just being herself is appealing.  So I'm glad she got some positive and encouraging words on that topic from Ryan.  Since Annie has no interest in working for McQuade, it'll be interesting to see how the show will contrive to put them in the same place at the same time again, perhaps in scenarios connected to the bombing case.  It was also fairly cool that McQuade sent Annie a gun at the end of the episode, showing that in addition to understanding what motivates her as an agent, he also knew what she would want as a gift.  In short, I'm inclined to like McQuade as a character and really hope he has nothing whatsoever to do with the Postman!

What did you think of this episode?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

About the Author - Virginia Mae Fontana

Virginia is happy to be reviewing The Vampire Diaries, Hart of Dixie, Nashville, Beauty and the Beast, Witches of East End, Covert Affairs, and Continuum for Spoiler TV. She is a college English instructor and enjoys obsessing over films and pop music - in addition to tv shows, of course! You can find her blog, SugarRushed, at http://virginiamaeblog.blogspot.com/ and her Twitter handle is @SugarRushedBlog

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