Covert Affairs: 8 Pieces Of Sexy Season 2 Intel
USA Network‘s Covert Affairs is on a not-so-top-secret mission to be bigger, better and, yes, sexier in its second season (premiering Tuesday at 10/9c).
When last we tuned into the spy-drama, CIA plebe Annie Walker (played by Piper Perabo) had proved her ass-kicking, multilingual mettle as well as divined that the reason for her surge up the Agency ladder was because of her ties to ex-boyfriend/rogue agent Ben Mercer (Eion Bailey). With support from her super-techy (and sightless) handler, Auggie (Christopher Gorham), and CIA officer Jai Wilcox (Sendhil Ramamurthy), Annie eventually made contact with AWOL Ben, only to then join him on a Sri Lanka engagement that left Mercer riddled with bullets, his life hanging in the balance as the team escaped via helicopter.
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What’s next for Annie & Co.? (Or should we say “and the Company”?) Here’s some Season 2 intel, from Perabo and Gorham:
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP | In a nutshell, Gorham says the Covert Affairs writers have “taken all of the best parts of the first season and built on them. We pick up right where we left off — not just with the plot, but also with the character development.” Just don’t expect this team to become an elite ensemble of infallible spooks. “You will continue to see growth, but part of growing is making mistakes,” says Gorham. “And sometimes the mistakes they make can be the most fun!”
ANNIE’S LOVE LIFE HAS BEN BETTER | The big question raised by the season finale — the matter of Ben’s fate — is resolved very quickly, and in a way that waylays his and Annie’s romance yet again. But maybe it’s for the best, sad as it may be? “Ben is not that trustworthy of a guy, and he puts Annie in a lot of dangerous situations,” Perabo points out. “But it’s like that with any bad boy romance. You can’t tear yourself away, even though you know he’s really not that good for you.” Luckily, Annie has a few not-unattractive coworkers at the Agency, Auggie and Jai included. Perabo winks, “There are certainly some distracting men around if Ben doesn’t make it.”
AUGGIE’S WORK LIFE HAS NEVER BEEN BUSIER | Auggie will escape his workplace confines several times this season, including for a “vacation” to Istanbul that quickly escalates into a crisis. “There’s a lot of really exciting field stuff for Auggie this year,” says Gorham. And though his alter ego is blind, the situations he is thrust into — and manages to escape from — “are reasonable and make sense,” says the actor. “It all comes out of what he is capable and incapable of doing.” Also, watch for a flashback episode showing Auggie in Iraq, revealing exactly how he lost his sight.
AUGGIE’S LOVE LIFE AIN’T SO QUIET, EITHER | While noting that his so-cool character “likes being single, don’t get me wrong,” Gorham teases that in addition to his dalliance with a flight attendant played by Lost‘s Rebecca Mader (see next item), “There is at least one more relationship coming down the pike.” And remember, as Auggie surprisingly showed us last year with journalist Liza Hearn (Emmanuelle Vaugier), “Don’t assume that just because you don’t see him dating someone, he isn’t.”
FREQUENT FLIERS | Covert Affairs is racking up the miles in Season 2, shooting on location in places such as Puerto Rico, Paris and Istanbul. “We’re really getting out there,” says Gorham. “I mean, Piper in Paris at the Louvre? The footage is incredible.”
SPECIAL GUESTS | Guest stars include Sleeper Cell‘s Oded Fehr (reprising his role of Israeli spy Eyal Lavine), Thor‘s Jaimie Alexander (in the new recurring role of a socially inept tech assigned to Annie’s team), Lost‘s Rebecca Mader (as a flight attendant who helps Auggie in Istanbul), Desperate Housewives‘ Mark Moses (playing a NASA bigwig), Rena Sofer (as the ex-wife of Peter Gallagher’s Arthur), and Ben Lawson (The Deep End) as a Doctors Without Borders-type physician.
SPECIAL GADGETS | Among the next-gen gizmos Auggie will employ this season is a portable typepad, “so that when he’s away from his desk he can still not only input in Braille, but read the Braille keyboard, too,” says Gorham. Heck, some of his tech is even sold in Apple stores. “Auggie uses an iPhone this year, which a lot of people don’t know is completely accessible to the blind right out of the box,” Gorham reveals.
PERABO JUST MIGHT TAKE THE PLUNGE! | That is, if her directors stop getting in her way. “One of the most fun parts of doing this show is the stunt work,” the actress shares. “We did a shot where Annie has to get onto a helicopter that can’t land, and the director was like, ‘No matter what happens, do not try and jump [into it yourself]!’ — because they know me, and I will try for it! As soon as I see that door open… it’s hard not to.”
You had me at Auggie. :-)
I love Auggie!!
I love Covert Affairs its so fun its not too serious or too silly its just a fun summer spy show and I can’t wait until tonight to watch!
This and Rizzoli and Isles make the summer season light and fun!
I LOVE this show! I’m so ready for the start of the new season tonight!
I hope all that “love life” teasing from Perabo and Gorham means the writers are going to give us some Annie/Auggie this year! At least a tease. They’re too charming not to go with!
Agreed! :)
I agree. Annie/Auggie would be awesome. Can’t wait ’til tonight!
I am very glad they are bringing back Oded Fehr. The chemistry between Annie and Eyal was awesome!
I agree they had great chemistry. But I’m a big Oded Fehr fan period. He’s very watchable.
I totally agree on this. That man just smolders!
Agree. He burns up the screen in pretty much anything.
I just discovered this show online. In 3 days I had finished the first season and now can’t wait for Season 2 to begin. This fast became one of my top 5. :)
Really enjoy this series. I hope they get rid of Ben, because I think his character is a drain on the show.
I just love Auggie…or maybe its the actor Christopher Gorham that I like so much…
Either way….he sure is cute/sexy!
I for one like the character Ben! He adds to the element of the “secrecy” that Annie and only him “may” have to use later on. They have great chemistry and Eion Baily is a very good actor. I hope the writers do not let this slip by and try the friend with Auggie turn to romance, or the Jai thing. I hold out Ben he has the intrigue.
I find Ben a total bore. The character SHOULD be intriguing, but he just leaves me flat. IMHO they can’t move on from Ben fast enough.
Making the male lead (Auggie) blind was stupid. Is this the CIA in charge of our national security? They have “disabled” quotients to fill now? Ridiculous. I don’t care how many years of “field experience” the guy has, you’re not going to entrust field operations that have lives on the line to a blind guy. Easily the dumbest part of the whole show.
Should have cast Kelly Rowan to play Arthur’s ex-wife and bring back the good old OC days. Would have been a lovely cat fight between two Canadian blonde beauties!
Perfectly happy will all the new details UNTIL I read that Rena Sofer is coming on in a recurring role. Cannot stand this actress…. have a feeling I’ll be recording and zipping past any scenes she might be in. UGH!
Agreed–she’s already messing up NCIS.
I want Annie and Ben together! They have incredible chemistry! Why can’t the producers simply build on that? It’s like Sydney and Vaughn Part Deux!
The show is great. Wonderful Characters played superbly by the actors. Ben and Annie are my favorites. The actors have great chemistry and it a pleasure to watch them together.
I remember that Ben told Annie not to come and get into dangerous situations. She came anyway. I notice she always jumps into them, herself. He was the one that saved her when someone was trying to kill her. I don’t know where this bad boy romance stuff comes from. I remember that Ben gave up his nefarious orders and decided to go good because Annie was so good. Hey, get it right, writers! If Ben doesn’t get his due, I’m not going to watch.
Ben (Eion Baily) should have his own spin-off show, and Arthur and his wife should be the master minds of his new assignment, dropping by sometimes. It works with the two NCIS shows to have Carroll as the main boss for both. I find that kind of combo very enjoyable. I want more of Ben.
I see now what is going on. The actress is the one who sees Ben as a bad boy romance, etc. She did not see when Ben saved her life on the train station platform that was a romance genre follow through in her original influence on him to change for the better. She is a fabulous actress, and I cannot fault her for her interpretation. However, the fun is gone in her character’s arc. I’m just going to fast forward and watch the scenes between Arthur and his wife. They are fun. Maybe, they can recruit the Undercovers couple. That was a fun show with fun characters.
I just saw the whole episode, and I loved the Ben and Annie escape. It was so exciting. The end left me wanting more of Ben’s adventures. I hope USA Network will create a spin-off with the Ben character. I am counting on a Ben and Annie get-together as the end result of the series. I am expert on genre if the network is looking for more input.
I love Ben in Covert Affairs. I hope he keeps popping up because he is the mystery in the whole show. I love him and Annie together. I see they are bringing in alot of Ben look-a-likes. But I want the real thing. Its a good show.
I’m in love with (Auggie) and I’m 60 years old. I love the show and watch it every week. Please don’t cancel the show. Every time I like something they take it off.
Annies so hot, I can’t find season 2 episode 5 anywhere ): it’s when they shownher sexy ass in a tight thong