Mastodon Mastodon Mastodon Mastodon Mastodon Covert Affairs - Spit on a Stranger - Review


    Enable Dark Mode!

  • What's HOT
  • Premiere Calendar
  • Ratings News
  • Movies
  • YouTube Channel
  • Submit Scoop
  • Contact Us
  • Search
  • Privacy Policy
Support SpoilerTV
SpoilerTV.com is now available ad-free to for all premium subscribers. Thank you for considering becoming a SpoilerTV premium member!

SpoilerTV - TV Spoilers

Covert Affairs - Spit on a Stranger - Review

Aug 22, 2014

Share on Reddit


I really enjoyed this episode and felt it was actually a huge relief in some ways, after the somewhat frustrating, albeit entertaining, installment of Covert Affairs last week.  I'm not thrilled that  McQuaid is still a suspect in the Chicago attack, but the tense, emotionally fraught undercover op Annie ran in this week's episode was compelling indeed. Moreover, we saw more layers peel back on characters from Ryan to Caitlyn and even Annie herself, who was increasingly conflicted on whether to trust her instincts or her clues about  McQuaid, with fascinating results.

Annie tried to play it cool with Ryan after he came back inside from talking to Roger's fake neighbor, but there was a vulnerable aspect even to her "playing-along" attempt that revealed how emotionally confused she is about this situation.  As for Ryan himself, he's either innocent or the world's most convincing liar.  From his exceptionally sincere-seeming feelings for Annie to his pleas to her at the end of the hour,  McQuaid still doesn't seem like a bad guy.  As for Annie, she decided to take advantage of her problems, and subsequent suspension, from the CIA to tell Joan she was quitting the agency.  Joan could immediately tell that Annie was up to something, which was awesome, and of course Annie's departure was all in aid of her taking a job with  McQuaid to continue digging through his business.   McQuaid gave Annie a warm welcome in front of much of his staff, which was incredibly sweet, unless he's actually a brutal criminal (noo!).  Caitlyn was naturally miffed at Annie's new placement and suspicious about what she was up to.  And surprisingly, Caitlyn's character development was one of the most intriguing aspects of the episode.  Perrey Reeves is doing a terrific job with a previously very basic, limited character who is now getting a bit more nuanced.
While Joan voiced her concern about Annie being up to something (as she always is!) to Arthur, he wasn't so sure Annie might not have wanted to work at  McQuaid's company just to stay in the field.  But Annie began showing her hand once she asked Arthur for help investigating  McQuaid using his higher security clearance, and later read him into her op once Auggie helped her gain access to  McQuaid's personal files.  After Annie and Auggie learned about a secret file on former McQuaid employees called "Flint," (including the name Borz!), Ryan looked even more guilty.  Yet, unexpectedly, Ryan decided to confess about Flint to Annie soon after, claiming that keeping secrets from one another would only prevent him and Annie from growing closer, which was painfully ironic.  According to Ryan, Flint is a black ops division tasked with carrying out missions for the US government.  It all sounded reasonable enough, and Arthur even checked into it with seeming confirmation.  But once Arthur provided Annie with a physical address associated with Flint, the episode took a turn for the nerve-wracking.
From the moment Annie walked into that building, it was obvious that someone else would be there.  As she traipsed down a dark stairway (in her treacherously high red heels, which is just what anyone would rock in that situation), Annie was alerted to the presence of Caitlyn, who had followed her there to figure out what kind of underhanded prying Annie was up to.  Hmm.  It did seem as though Caitlyn's motives were genuine in this segment, and after she and Annie got into a fight with two mysterious thugs hidden in the basement, it later became clear that violent lackeys were the least of their problems.  After calling Arthur to the scene, the three of them discovered that the basement room had been used for a practice run on a planned bombing, and Annie noticed, in a stomach-sinking moment, that the building plan etched on the floor was the Chicago facility.  As damning as this seems, especially with Caitlyn claiming that  McQuaid always does a practice run-through when planning ops, it does seem almost too convenient that all that evidence would just be sitting there.  If  McQuaid was really a brilliant liar and smooth criminal, would he seriously leave this building outline and bombing evidence just lying around in his own facility?  Flint may be secret, but it wasn't that hard to find.

After Annie took this new information to the CIA, the agency was quick to begin closing in on Ryan.  Meanwhile, after threatening to open an investigation into Auggie's alteration of Annie's medical records, Calder backed down...was it because of Joan's well-placed comment that he'd be sure to "do the right thing" about Auggie (not least of all because Calder's own secrets make him hypocritical in the situation), or because Calder genuinely believes that Annie and Auggie are too valuable to lose?  I think the latter is true, although Calder did seem mortified by Joan's words, and hilariously so.  Calder is a strange mixture of loyal and aggressively type A, a character I'd like to see come into his own a little more.  That's why I loved the scene with Calder telling off his higher-up, smugly announcing his refusal to pursue the investigation into Auggie.  Awesomeness.
If there's one topic in the world that Annie seems to have a hard time lying about, especially to Auggie, it's Ryan.  Repeatedly, Annie kept denying to Auggie that she was emotionally compromised, with the deception of her words all too apparent in her face and voice.  By the end of the episode though, once the manhunt for Ryan began, Auggie rescinded his suspicions and apologized for thinking Annie was too involved with Ryan to carry out her mission.  Well, she was tough and stuck to her agenda...up until a certain point.  

That turning point came near the end of the hour, when Ryan (looking unfairly attractive, I might add) showed up at Annie's place to tell her that someone was trying to frame him for Chicago.  Once he was through the door, Annie dropped her facade of innocent concern and trained her gun on him.  However,  McQuaid flipped the script a bit by asking Annie if she truly believes he is capable of an "atrocity" like the bombing of the CIA facility.  He reminded her that the moments they had shared together since meeting were real.  And then he capped it all off by telling Annie to trust her notoriously sharp instincts - and shoot him or allow him to go.  Wavering, finally caving to her doubt that Ryan could truly be a terrorist, Annie lowered his weapon and allowed him to leave.  Then later, at the bar, she lied to Auggie about having seen McQuaid.

I admit that, like a number of other viewers, I was annoyed by this plotline about McQuaid possibly being evil when it first came to light.  However, this episode pleasantly surprised me by using the plotline to explore the complicated relationship between Annie and Ryan, as well as questions of trust among almost all of the other characters in a tightly paced, irresistibly suspenseful hour.  If Covert Affairs can keep up this pace and level of complexity, Season 5 will go on break after next week on quite a high note.  However, if Ryan is revealed to be a villain, I'll be really disappointed!  Time will tell.

Don't forget to catch an all new episode of Covert Affairs next Tuesday at 10/9c on USA!  And I would love to hear what you thought of this episode.  Let me know 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)

19 comments:

  1. It might truly ruin the complexity if Ryan is revealed to be a villain, but I personally would like it. Apart from this beautiful hit-the-nail-on-the-head review

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the kind words! Whether friend or foe, I love what Nic Bishop is bringing to the show this season. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Don't like where they're taking Annie and Auggie. Of all the people this past season, he's been the most loyal to her. We shall see.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I didn't like that Annie lied to Auggie by the end of the episode. It's bound to bite her in the ass.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good point....There's no questioning his loyalty after he hid her condition from the agency. Their relationship is in a weird place right now.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That seems inevitable! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sure seems like "The Dog Walker" was the guy who first attacked Annie in Flint warehouse? Then another guy with longer, brown hair was fighting Annie in the middle of the attack scene...Then "The Dog Walker" was fleeing up the stairs at the end?...I thought there were 3 men in attack scene w/ Annie/Caitlyn: The Dog Walker, Guy who was killed/shot, Guy w/ longer, brown hair seen in middle of fight scene?...

    ReplyDelete
  8. That's interesting - I could have sworn there were two thugs, one who Caitlyn shot and another that got away. I would have to rematch the scene. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. You might want to check the spelling of McQuaid. Not McQuade. Please correct

    ReplyDelete
  10. I fixed it. My apologies.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh my when i saw Ryan at Annie's he was so sad like little puppy haha but srsly I think Caitlyn is behinde this and maybe this chick who was investigating Annie i can't remember her name...What do You think? Maybe she's frustrated cause she wasn't good enough for CIA and now she's ploting

    ReplyDelete
  12. I agree about Ryan! Also, my suspicions used to be focused on Caitlyn but she seemed to vindicate herself somewhat this week. I am starting to suspect Hayley is not what she seems. Can't wait to find out the answers!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Especially after seeing her with gun in promo...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Right? That seems like a major clue! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. But also it can be just some fake clue from creators and they will do Ryan a bad man :( But they seriously need to stop making Annie look like stupid, naive blond who does everything what some guy says

    ReplyDelete
  16. That's a good point, too. I have to admit that I'm expecting Hayley to turn out to be evil and Ryan to be good, but that is at least 90% based on my own hopes, lol!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Let's hope that Your's gut is right, lol

    ReplyDelete
  18. Have You seen this: http://tvline.com/2014/08/26/covert-affairs-season-5-spoilers-annie-ryan-framed/ Last question and an answer gives me hope...sadly I'll watch it tomorrow after work :(

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ooh, thanks for sharing. This does make it sound like our positive theories might be true! I have to watch it tomorrow night too :)

    ReplyDelete

NOTE: Name-calling, personal attacks, spamming, excessive self-promotion, condescending pomposity, general assiness, racism, sexism, any-other-ism, homophobia, acrophobia, and destructive (versus constructive) criticism will get you BANNED from the party.