By Karen Moul
As season three of Covert Affairs unfolds, fans are noticing a faster pace and higher stakes for CIA agent Annie Walker (Piper Perabo). Series co-creators Matt Ord and Chris Corman recently told Scifi Vision that they “made a conscious choice to amp up the stakes this season.”
“We really see this season [as] Annie’s teenage years of the CIA,” said Ord, “and with [that] comes everything that comes with teenage years be it more questions, more passion, and along with that is greater stakes.”
“She’s starting to want, crave and experience more independence,” added Corman. “I think she is yearning for a little more autonomy and she’s getting it. “But like everything you want when you’re a teenager, it’s a two-edged sword, and what you want may not necessarily be what you need.”
As season three of Covert Affairs unfolds, fans are noticing a faster pace and higher stakes for CIA agent Annie Walker (Piper Perabo). Series co-creators Matt Ord and Chris Corman recently told Scifi Vision that they “made a conscious choice to amp up the stakes this season.” “We really see this season [as] Annie’s teenage years of the CIA,” said Ord, “and with [that] comes everything that comes with teenage years be it more questions, more passion, and along with that is greater stakes.”
“She’s starting to want, crave and experience more independence,” added Corman. “I think she is yearning for a little more autonomy and she’s getting it. “But like everything you want when you’re a teenager, it’s a two-edged sword, and what you want may not necessarily be what you need.”
Considering that the season premiere was foreshadowing some nasty future direction for Claudia, I think a number of fans were expecting her search for a "solution" to Steve's death was going to lead her down that path. This episode makes it clear that things are going to be a bit more complicated in that regard. Claudia seems destined for darkness, but perhaps not quite yet.
Walt said it himself in an earlier episode: The profits from cooking meth were going to be smaller than when he was working for the Fring organization. The cut of the pie was going to be bigger, though. The cost of "hazard pay" seems to not be of Walt's liking. He thought that since he was the proverbial big man on campus now, he should get to reap the benefits without the hassle of paying employees. While he is king of the operation, there are the little details that Walt completely overlooks.
Well, it took nearly two-thirds of the season to finally happen, but it looks like this season of "True Blood" is starting to find some measure of direction. Various subplots are starting to intersect, and though it's still not happening enough for my taste, it's better than the wheel-spinning we've seen up to this point.
An episode that rubs salt in the wound that is the Annie/Auggie non-relationship sounds like it ought to be a step in the wrong direction for "Covert Affairs". Instead, it feels right; this is what we've come to expect from the show this season. Annie remains competent, the character dynamics remain strong, and the episode itself was gripping, to say the least.
A weak A-story has unfortunately become par for the course when it comes to "Lost Girl", and the episodes subsequently live or die based on the sideplots and character threads woven around them. Pleasantly, this episode was very strong in the latter category, creating an unusually strong feeling that what happened to the characters in this episode would have profound effects on the show as it unfolds in the future.
I'm really loving how "White Collar" is refusing to brush aside the consequences of everything that's happened in the past few episodes. Ever since Peter gave Neal the go-ahead to run from the law in the previous season finale, he's been finding himself going further and further outside the bounds of authority. And now he's paying for it. With plenty of people in the Bureau gunning for him, Peter is re-assigned to perform menial, repetitive tasks in an evidence warehouse, lorded over by his new boss (played by one of my favorite TV actors, Brett Cullen).
One of the special guest stars this season on Warehouse 13 is the great Brent Spiner, who many fans probably know as the android Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. On Warehouse 13 he plays the character of Brother Adrian.