TV REVIEW: Covert Affairs “Unseen Power of the Pickett Fence”

Episode three of Covert Affairs sees us lose one villain and gain one new one as Annie and McQuaid continue their Venezuela mission.

We open on location in Caracas, where Annie and her new cohort Ryan McQuaid fire off a few rounds of flirty banter before getting down to the serious business of this episode and the season so far: discovering who was behind the bomb that killed the entire staff of a secret Chicago CIA facility.

Having already captured main suspect Borz last week, you’d think our favourite super spy would want to jet straight back to Washington for a debrief and a shower. That seems to be the initial plan. However, that would be a waste of a perfectly good trip to Venezuela for the cast and crew, so we’re quickly given a nicely contrived reason why Annie has to remain in Caracas for the rest of the episode. It’s not safe for them to leave! “There’s no way we can cross the boarder now,” Annie remarks after a high speed car chase and attempt on their lives, so that’s that settled then: Venezuela Vacation here we come!

Well not quite. But back in DC Joan also deems that a rescue mission just six minutes into the episode would be “too risky” (for further plots). And admittedly, plot has been a bit thin on the ground this season: after last year’s conspiracy-jammed season this one hasn’t quite been able to measure up so far. However, it seems that this Chicago bomb mystery isn’t going anywhere for a while, so we may as well settle in and enjoy it.

Speaking of Joan – fans of Joan and Arthur might not feel thrilled about yet another “Arthur Affair” storyline. Isn’t this the fourth one in five years? If you also count Joan’s suspected affairs over the years then we’ve got got more cases of infidelity between the pair than we’ve got seasons. Come on writers, give Joan and Arthur something new to do!

We spend a bit of time in DC this episode – with some real life background shots to spoil us with! No green-screen fails this ep. Specifically, the at home action this week focuses on Calder and his three inch Cuban heels trotting around Washington, making trouble at a disciplinary hearing before a visit with his on-call call girl. “Clear my schedule!” he dramatically declares to his assistant at the beginning of the episode. He’s a busy man, what with all those heels to break in and prostitutes to pay. We’re hoping this storyline actually goes somewhere, but with Covert Affairs that’s anyone’s guess – we’re still waiting for Arthur and Ben to finish that conversation they started in the car four years ago.

What with nothing much of consequence really happening back home – Joan’s withering glances at her latest love rival aside – we go back to Venezuela where Annie has concocted a make-shift torture chamber out on the back porch of McQuaid’s Venezuela home. Just as they’re about to start interrogating Borz though, he threatens to die on them. Luckily McQuaid and Annie know how to perform emergency life saving surgery on the spot with a pocket knife (no really). Phew. With Borz still alive Annie can get down to the fun business of torturing him for info! We’re a long way from the Annie Walker of seasons 1 and 2 – the girl who wouldn’t even carry a gun, remember.

In fact, we are reminded of this fact constantly this episode. Annie loves guns now, but she never used to. It’s a neat marker to let us know that Annie has changed – for the better or the worse. However, there’s still a glimpse of old-school Annie Walker when the Venezuela police turn up at the door threatening an arrest, and Annie gets rid of the pair by carrying out the charade of pretending to be a heroin junkie all while wearing nothing but a towel.

Pictured: Kari Matchett as Joan Campbell — (Photo by: Ian Watson/USA Network)

Annie barely has time to get dressed again before Borz carks it for real this time. But not before revealing a name to Annie: The Postman. With Borz now dead, this mysterious Postman is the new number one bombing suspect. Annie passes on the name to Auggie, who wastes no time in delighting at finally having something to do. He thinks he might have a lead in the search for Postman Pat – a former CIA operative named Roger who Auggie informs us had to leave the agency due to a ‘chemical imbalance’. As soon as we meet Roger it becomes clear that this was code for ‘extreme paranoia’, as his apartment is clearly home to a tin-foil conspiracy theorist cliché.

Roger’s no real help in clearing up the identity of Postman Pat however, as that would put an end to the storyline. Instead he offers up a few cryptic breadcrumbs, and we’re left no closer to the truth than we were at the start of the episode. Oh, Covert Affairs!

Now that the episode’s almost over, Annie and McQuaid are allowed to leave Caracas. Bye Venezuela! It was nice seeing you in person, not just on a green screen! Annie and McQuaid escape over the boarder with a little help from one of McQuaid’s assets, but not before McQuaid attempts to chat Annie up by complimenting her on her new, darker personality. She hilariously tells him she “never mixes work with pleasure”, despite the fact this is all she does.

We end with a random scene back in DC with Annie tapping away at her Macbook, Carrie Bradshaw style. I half expected a pun-filled voiceover about how she’d learnt that “torturing a suspect is a lot like looking for love”, but she snaps her laptop shut when she hears a knock on the door. It’s a sweet little present from McQuaid! Flowers? Chocolates? Nope, it’s a brand new gun. Who says romance in dead at the CIA? (Well, maybe the Annie and Auggie shippers).