Covert Affairs - Brink of the Clouds - Review

This week on Covert Affairs, a treacherous mission sent Annie and McQuade to the hideout of a former CIA operative turned deadly terrorist.  Auggie continued to have a hard time with the women in his life, while Joan had finally had it up to here with Calder's irresponsible behavior.  While personal crises mount, the hunt to solve the mystery of the Chicago attack keeps getting ever more complicated.

One of Auggie's old associates (he has an endless supply of those), Nathan Mueller, turned out to be a rogue ex-agent who was responsible for the Chicago bombing, and with the help of the captured Kravec, the CIA got a good idea where the villain might be.  Annie was ordered to take along some security to go after Mueller, a convenient plot device that promised plenty of cute moments for her with Ryan throughout the episode - I love it (and their matching scenester scarves, too).  Still, Annie continues to avoid any personal association with McQuade, even shooting down his gentle question as to whether there could be anything between them outside the field.  Events continue to pick apart Annie's emotional resistance and her vow to remain a lone wolf, though, which is quite intriguing to watch.

After cleverly getting an assist from some locals ("sometimes the best solution is the most obvious one," as Annie and Ryan reminded each other adorably at different intervals) and showing what a good team they make, Annie and McQuade ran into major problems.  First, Annie had to tackle a baddie, which triggered an episode given her heart condition.  Unfortunately, some of her medicine had been damaged and she started to panic at not being able to stop her attack (and all that after enduring the judgmental glances of the pharmacist at the beginning of the episode.  Seriously, I thought Annie was going to pull a Julianne Moore in Magnolia if that lady took one more second before giving her the drugs!).  But luckily, Ryan swooped in and managed to help, leading her once more to show her vulnerable side to her new associate.  

Quickly thereafter, the pair found Mueller's hideout and heard some mega-creepy monologuing from him about his motives before realizing that the drone ordered by Calder was getting dangerously close.  While having to abandon Mueller, Annie and Ryan managed to jump to safety when the explosion hit.  However, Mueller's venomous words about how being a CIA operative leaves a person broken, due to the disturbing actions that are required, left Annie feeling haunted and self-conscious.  Ryan offered Annie some words of wisdom to explain why she would never go rogue - primarily because despite every sacrifice the job demands of her, she always does the right thing.  This last scene between them was touching and sweet.  I just wish Ryan hadn't made a comment earlier in the episode about how maybe Mueller didn't realize he'd gone over the edge until it was too late...and then stared pensively into the distance...please don't be evil, McQuade!

Speaking of confusing situations, poor Auggie was put through the ringer as Tash and Hayley both became impatient in different ways.  While Tash was at least acting a little less crazy this week, she was certainly true to her impulsiveness in opting to leap out of her relationship with Auggie as fast as she'd leapt back in.  Did she not realize she'd need to hide constantly to avoid FBI scrutiny?  And Auggie's relationship with Hayley says more about his commitment to Annie than it does about his feelings for Hayley herself, so Tash's worries on that count are probably not warranted.  Anyway, once Auggie said he wasn't going to skip town with her, Tash was gone with the wind, but Hayley caught a glimpse of Auggie smooching his ex beseechingly right before they parted.  Since Hayley has been all up on her goody-two-shoes high horse regarding her investigation into Annie, this is a problem.  She's relatively sure to reveal Annie's medical condition to the CIA now that she'll have no devotion to Auggie to make her listen to his pleas that she keep that under wraps.  Auggie also heard back from his pal Roger, who said that all is far from over regarding the conspiracy around the Chicago attack, and he has new intel that will prove to be key.  I wonder how much longer Roger will be able to survive, given that he knows too much about some scary people.

Meanwhile, Calder finally started to get downright annoying with his flaky behavior about Sydney-Stephanie-Whoever.  After learning that she was arrested, Calder first lied to Joan that he was over his erstwhile lover, then left work early on a very important day (just planning a mission to take out a major terrorist, Calder - no big deal!) to go bail Sydney out. Sydney, meanwhile, was so cold and dismissive (you're welcome for the help!) to Calder that my dislike of her intensified.  She even pulled the ever-pathetic "don't call me anymore" line after Calder had already dumped her.  Her game is weak.  By the time Calder finally bothered to go back to work, it seemed as if he was wandering into a scenario that had already been well-planned and managed by Joan, just in time to take all the credit.  Major uncool, Calder!  Joan gave him a stern talking-to at the end of the episode that was more than deserved.  It makes it seem as if she's his boss instead of the other way around...which is the way it should be, really.  I like Calder, but he needs to get it together ASAP.

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

About the Author - Virginia Mae Fontana

Virginia is happy to be reviewing The Vampire Diaries, Nashville, Beauty and the Beast, Witches of East End, Covert Affairs, and Continuum for Spoiler TV. She 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

Recent Reviews (All Reviews)