'Covert Affairs' - 'Communication Breakdown': Blind man's buff
Auggie gets the spotlight when an old flame comes to town
Christopher Gorham in "Covert Affairs."
A quick review of tonight's "Covert Affairs" coming up just as soon as you rate this blog for enjoyment on a scale of 1 to 8...
Christopher Gorham has been very likable on a lot of TV shows I didn't much like ("Popular," "Out of Practice," "Medical Investigation") or that I quickly lost interest in ("Ugly Betty," "Jake 2.0"), so I've been pleased to see him playing a central role on a show I quite enjoy, even on the superficial level "Covert Affairs" is working for me so far.
But Gorham's big shirtless spotlight episode didn't do a whole lot for me, alas.
A lot of that actually had more to do with Annie than with Auggie, as it feels the producers haven't quite figured out the aggressive/naive balance they want to strike with Annie, and here we leaned way too far in the Pollyanna direction of her believing implicitly in Auggie and also being shocked (shocked!) by the concept of a spy seducing and bedding an asset. So the Annie scenes with both Auggie and Jai were kind of a drag.
Beyond that, Auggie's super-competence works well when he's a supporting character in Annie's stories, less so when he's the hero of the hour. It's not that a blind guy with a Special Ops couldn't win a fight with two armed gunmen in a train car, but rather that everything seems to come a bit too easily to Auggie - fighting, hacking, seduction, etc. - and that can suck some of the tension out of a story built around him. Even when his ex-girlfriend was resisting his charms, I knew it would be only a matter of time because, hey, it's Auggie. It's what he does. (Or maybe I was just bored because I didn't find the actress all that compelling, with or without Gorham.)
What did everybody else think?
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August 24, 2010 at 11:03PM EST Reply to CommentI lost interest in CA a few episodes ago...everyone seems so Mary Sue-ish. Maybe if I'm bored during the winter I'll pick it up again...but *shrug*
I may watch this ep, though. He is so hot. XD
August 24, 2010 at 11:08PM EST Reply to CommentI thought Chris Gorham was great in tonight's episode but I agree with the comment about Annie. Sometimes, she's so naive I feel like I'm watching the first time she entered the bar at Coyote Ugly. And as for the ex-girlfriend...the accent killed it all.
Danger Mouse
August 24, 2010 at 11:14PM EST Reply to CommentEven though they explain it away every episode, I think it's a bit of a drag to see the CIA meddling inside the U.S. so much. Doesn't Homeland Security and the FBI handle all domestic issues?
Savage Potato A long time ago the US intelligence community was 1) very small and 2) fairly simple. The CIA existed for international espionage and operations and the FBI did national stuff (although there's a long history of CIA spying in the US and with them spying on the FBI, but you are right the CIA's mandate was always international). Post-9/11 the US intelligence community got really big really fast and the boundaries and jurisdictions got very blurry. Whether or not they're supposed to the CIA can has a lot of leeway in how they conduct their business.
August 25, 2010 at 12:34AM ESTOne thing that I think makes this show better is to watch it the next day on Hulu. I can't stand to watch it on USA with the amount of commercial breaks they have. Hulu makes this show, somehow, better
August 24, 2010 at 11:53PM EST Reply to CommentIt was a great abs showcase for Gorham, who must spend as much time at the gym as on the set, as he had no less than three different shirtless scenes, but the character is all over the place. The writing just feels a bit off and disconnected. Still enjoyable, but still hasn't become a show I can watch with full attention like "Alias."
adam
August 25, 2010 at 12:56AM EST Reply to CommentLove the show...but I have one huge complaint about tonight's episode.
Although I don't doubt blind people's ability to function in every day society, I'm about 100% sure that they (the government and most sane blind people) don't allow blind people to drive (no matter how high people claim the technology to be). In this episode Auggie is clearly the driver whenever he is going home find Natasha waiting for him in his apartment...EPIC FAIL
adam Okay I'm an idiot...I rewatched the scene and he is clearly in the 2nd row of a van taxi/driver. I apologize for the incredulous remarks.
August 25, 2010 at 12:59AM ESTLeek I totally had to rewind that scene, too! I was like, "Wait, Auggie can't be DRIVING?!...can he?"
August 25, 2010 at 10:39AM ESTAce Lol. I'll admit that I was making dinner while watching it and did a double take too.
August 26, 2010 at 11:03AM ESTM Peter
August 25, 2010 at 1:52AM EST Reply to CommentAt least this guy can act. I was willing to deal with the hackers culture (OF COURSE his dream girl loves open sourcing; hack the planet, anyone?), the silly subplot with Anne Dudek (what kind of CIA agent lets her sister post pictures of her?), Jai, all of it, because that guy is good.
JP
August 25, 2010 at 4:41AM EST Reply to Comment"rate this blog for enjoyment on a scale of 1 to 8...
"
Writing- 8!
Community (commenters/commenting) - 7
Site - 2
Seriously..
VisionOn Site: 1
August 25, 2010 at 8:26PM ESTIf I see that annoying "connect with Hitfix pop-up" tomorrow, Alan's column is leaving my bookmarks.
It's the only reason I visit this site to begin with and it's just making the act of reading less enjoyable. I'd rather have Alan's simple and basic words-only and no-frills blog back.
Karrie Completely agree VisionOn. This new pop up is just making matters worse.
August 27, 2010 at 2:28AM ESTUntil now, I haven't complained about the site ....patiently waiting for improvements.
But clearly they are working on the wrong things.
Instead of the useless "connect with HitFix" how about work on:
The cache problem - it's been a month already
A nice bar on the side with Alan's regular hows. ---I caught up on Covert Affairs and it took longer than needed to find the old recaps.
Make the cite smart phone compatible.... it's 2010 - and this is an online only company.. seriously
Sean Site = 1
August 27, 2010 at 7:27PM ESTAdd to that list:
- A third tag to isolate ONLY the Alan reviews/recaps of specific shows. If I click on Mad Men, Burn Notice or any other program that has a lot of various content attached to it, I have to dig through pages of posts in order to find his, especially if I'm a few weeks behind. Name it "AlanOn[showtitle]" or "AlanSepinwall[showtitle]".
Thanks.
JanieJones
August 25, 2010 at 8:13AM EST Reply to CommentI felt indifferent. Gorham's storyline did not engage me, even his shirtless scenes ;)
I definitely like Gorham in his role but he adds more when he is aiding Annie.
I am a bit interested to see where the reporter storyline goes since he is sleeping with her.
I think Annie is in for wake-up call when she finds that she was recruited early because of her ex-lover.
ben
August 25, 2010 at 9:11AM EST Reply to Commentseeing 130lb guys shirtless? thats a turn on?
klg19 Yes.
August 25, 2010 at 9:27AM ESTAnnaN Yes.
August 25, 2010 at 9:54AM ESTT REALLY!! Wouldn't say 130lbs, but most definitely YES!!!
August 25, 2010 at 10:45AM EST
August 25, 2010 at 10:17PM ESTRazorback
August 25, 2010 at 10:52AM EST Reply to CommentThis was my favorite episode. But then I find Auggie a more likable character than anyone else on the show so... I may be biased. It felt a lot like a CHUCK season 2 episode, actually. And I love CHUCK season 2.
August 25, 2010 at 11:40AM EST Reply to CommentI don't think Annie was shocked about bedding an asset, just worried about the state of Augie's soul. As for the pictures, I thought taking them down was silly. There presence was good for her cover. Dilettante younger sister int the guesthouse who works at the Smithsonian.
Shadow yea but say someone she went against overseas sees her on there and recognizes her. he could easily then just find her and her family
August 13, 2011 at 10:09AM ESTDonGately
August 25, 2010 at 2:00PM EST Reply to CommentI miss Odyssey 5. Probably I'm the only one.
Jeff nope
August 25, 2010 at 5:51PM ESTtillkan Nope.
August 29, 2010 at 1:16AM ESTVictoria Lee
August 25, 2010 at 3:55PM EST Reply to CommentI think my heart broke when I saw Auggie with Liza Hearn, he is supposed to be with Annie, dammit!
Nessa
August 25, 2010 at 5:28PM EST Reply to Commentmy biggest complaint with this show is that a character who is supposed to be blind looks people directly in the eye...
rockknj It has been hinted that He is not really blind. In the first episode he makes a comment about Annie's great shoes. Last week during the lie detector test he says he can see but then rapidly talks in circles for a minute to hide that answer.
August 27, 2010 at 7:25PM ESTnic919
August 25, 2010 at 9:14PM EST Reply to CommentI still spend most of my time playing "name where in Toronto they filmed this?" when I watch this show. Of course, this episode I watched his abs too, but I don't take this show very seriously. Identifying a Canadian by their use of back bacon instead of Canadian bacon? that's just a step above the "aboot" and probably just as inaccurate. And there is no direct Amtrak route from Albany to Toronto, because passengers get on a VIA Rail train once across the border at Niagara Falls... actually that would have been the time to ditch the FBI and not bother with that pathetic Nexus card gimmick.
d
August 26, 2010 at 2:46PM EST Reply to Commentwell annie is brand new, remember? she didn't even finish her training! so yeah, to her it is shocking. & also she trusts auggie so much & as we all are supposed to suspect, has feelings for him, so i think it's more about her being upset at the thought of auggie, a "good guy," using someone, but also of the possibility that he could someday or even now use her the same way.
i didn't really like the episode that much admittedly, it had a shallow & confusing plotline, & auggie was the only interesting character. i get that this was his big showcase & insight into his past, but everybody else didn't need to fade so fully into the background. the whole bedding multiple women to get info out of them thing is cliche, but gorham did the best he could with it. auggie's emotional anguish shows in his expressions & helped keep me at least slightly engaged in the episode, especially at the end when he was surprised & then clearly disappointed that it wasn't natasha in his apartment.
MadlyMild
August 26, 2010 at 7:42PM EST Reply to CommentWhen I first saw the Russian girlfriend, I thought she was the actress who plays "Sophie" on Leverage. In the picture above, she looks very much like the actress from Warehouse 13 and Slings and Arrows.
I don't love the former, but reading the post and agreeing that this actress was a bit lame and seeing the pic -- wouldn't that Warehouse 13 actress been a great casting here?
CG doesn't come across as hot to me (minus Pavlovian shirtless pec shots), but in both here and Ugly Betty, he shines, and in a super hot way. What is is about this guy?
Kujo
August 29, 2010 at 9:40PM EST Reply to CommentThis show has gotten so much better the last 4 eps. The first 3 eps were amateurish.
april
September 7, 2010 at 2:41PM EST Reply to CommentI watch mostly on fast forward, but I enjoy the show overall. I don't think I would watch it in the Fall when there is competition on network tv, but I find it enjoyable summer fare.
Carole
December 7, 2010 at 2:48AM EST Reply to CommentI thought that was a great episode, and Iliane Balaban was perfect. There were a lot of clever bits, too, such as when his desk has been messed up, and when Annie tells him that "James Bond was a lonely old man". And, this not very young woman enjoyed seeing Auggie in a towel. Never paid attention brfore, but after seeing him, noticed others. So far, haven't found a man in a towel who can compare. They have beautiful women on the show (Perabo and Matchett, and 3 great looking guys - Gorham, Ramamurthy and Gallagher.