Watch TV shows online free with full episode links on The TV King.

Wow.

I feel like I should have waited for this episode to air before making any sound judgements but I was so soundly conflicted with the opening episode of USA Network’s Covert Affairs that I am taken back how awesome the second episode was.

Well, there are a few things though I take issue with.

In my last review of Covert Affairs I noted how the series felt it was positioning up Annie into a whole new ball game, as well as other characters, something that the show felt it had to try last year with mixed results. In the second episode titled “Sound and Vision”, a couple of Canadians are chased through Barcelona Spain until they are cornered. Cut to Langely, Annie (Piper Perabo) is brought in ‘on loan’ from Lena (Sarah Clarke) to work with Auggie (Christopher Gorham) for 36 hours.

My chief concern was by taking away Annie from Joan’s outfit and Auggie as well as you could not pair the two together which was something the show had problems with last season for an episode or two where it took the momentum of the series and season and slowed it to a crawl.

While I still have those concerns the show might have problems with the Annie-Auggie relationship being spread thin, this episode quelled any fears temporarily and brought back a major plot thread of Annie loving Auggie.  

And both Gorham and Perabo respectively brought it this episode. Gorham has always played Auggie as a blind genius, a guy who despite loss of eyes is a lot more perceptive than his lack of eyesight showcases. And Perabo’s Annie has more than a few real moments that just drove home a few different thoughts of loss and concern to love.  In particular I was really moved by Annie’s subtext-like answer to her sister Danielle (Anne Dudek) when she asked “what really happened to Jai Wilcox” with a simple “I have to go to the airport.” And the conflict of emotions that Perabo played with when Gorham’s Auggie asked about marriage in the hotel room, were some great moments and reminded me why I love these characters.

Also the scene between Henry Wilcox (Gregory Itzin) and Arthur (Peter Gallagher) was deeply intense. As a viewer, I want to believe Henry had nothing to do with Jai’s death, but in a weird way, he reminds me of Norman Osborne, the father who pushed his son to ridiculous heights to prove a point, even if it involved pushing him off the top so Jai would fall. So is Henry behind Jai’s death? I’d hope not. Itzin plays it with such sincerity that I can only hope as a viewer that even Henry couldn’t do that. But then again, Arthur does bring up a point that we as viewers can second as a motion as Henry kept finding new ways to lower the bar.

Those few scenes alone made Covert Affairs absolutely delightful viewing. Now, that is not to say that “Sound and Vision” didn’t have any faults. I found a few.

For a show that seems really into tying things more together, like the conspiracy about Jai Wilcox; they took steps forward to embrace the more linear storytelling despite a mission of the week general set-up that exists for Covert Affairs, the whole idea Auggie has been ‘hunting’ Red Rover for the past few months? I don’t remember any of that at all. The idea that Red Rover may be used in future episodes too is also intriguing that if this is the case, why not set it up better before they actually catch Red Rover? The idea that the virus she created is out in the open is going to set up a few more things down the line so Rover will crop up again, so why not set this up better? I should also preface this with I could be wrong on this. If they did set this up, as a mention here or there, then I apologize. By all means, please correct me.  But it would have been a nice touch, despite being a trifle token storytelling-wise.

This last complaint is not something the show-writers or actors or anyone on Covert Affairs has control over but this episode felt more like part 2 of the season opener, like a two hour premiere.  Maybe that’s me with wishful thinking but “Hang On To Yourself” left me so cold, or uneasy as it did feel a bit ‘open-ended’ that “Sound and Vision” felt like the natural conclusion to that episode whilst in the process setting up a few more things down the line.

Overall, Covert Affairs is a fantastic television series that is trying a few new things with the story and I applaud their chutzpah in their attempts. I sincerely hope the trend that this episode “Sound and Vision” set is more what we have to look forward to, and not what “Hang On To Yourself” did.