Best example of Annie's questionable spycraft is her running through the back streets of Havana -- great-looking & shapely blue-eyed obviously-Yanqui lady with flowing shiny-blonde hair and hot red lipstick and... did I mention the dress, brightest-red I've ever seen on a ballgown that billowy... -- "tailing" the sharpest Russkie spy in the biz, from 20 feet or so yes, and acting like she doesn't want any of the many Cuban street-people all gawking at her to "notice"...
I figure Covert Affairs is part spy-flick and part send-up, though -- like Inspector Clouseau, The Pink Panther, James Bond -- don't take Annie entirely-seriously, any more than you would Peter Sellers -- Sellers may have bumbled and fumbled, Annie may flirt and vamp, the real CIA would go broke if they hired either; but Annie is Great Entertainment, better than any real Langley spook ever could be -- I'm sure they're all watching her, just as they watched Tom Clancy, hope they don't try to imitate.
How much CA is spy-flick and how much send-up I can't really say. Maybe 60/40? Certain scenes are pure comedy, nearly slapstick -- Annie "tailing" Simon in her bright-red ballgown, Calder's Grand Entry -- Henry Wilcox in every way, Gregory Itzin's eye-popping apoplectic fits are Shakespearean -- it's the genius of these actors, certainly of Perabo, and of the writers & director, that they can keep all this sheer showmanship up and still make it believable. That's the definition of drama, I figure: reality with some showmanship, with quite a lot of showmanship -- reality without it is far too boring, and sometimes far too terrifying -- I sure prefer an evening watching Piper & Itzin to an evening with Condie & Cheney.
So Annie wouldn't make it at the real Langley: good thing, too, she's the better communicator, maybe Langley can learn from her -- wear bright red & 5-inch heels, people!
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simonxlong
11 years ago
Would you really call Annie a spy anymore? At least in the true sense of spy craft. I mean, in the past few season has she really done much spying or been more of an investigator / operative? I mean, she travels all over the world, she doesn't really work on developing long term assets of any sort, and she's doesn't really try to garner permanent information sources. Instead she focuses on short term information related to a specific target or objective. Spies want to develop a permanent, long term flow of information. Annie really strikes me more as a problem solver than an actual spy. She's the type of person they send in to extract someone or eliminate some imminent threat.
Consider Cook's asset in the last episode: a corrupt border cop who can get people in and out of Venezuela. Obviously Cook and he have a long standing arrangement. That's asset recruitment. Assets provide a spy with access, information, or assistance. They generally remain in the employ of their handler for years. Questioning someone or befriending them long enough to get a bit of information is investigation. I mean, how many helpful contacts in foreign nations does she have, much less full blown assets?
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