This Auggie-centric episode was a heck of a fun ride. Sure, we knew that he’d eventually get away from the pirates — whether because the ransom was paid or because he figured out how to escape — but we didn’t know for sure if his gal pal Parker would survive (she’s got to get out of the way at some point in order for Annie to step in romantically), if Auggie’d fail (like he did in the last episode when he dropped the briefcase) or if Lena, Joan and Annie would allow their jockeying for position to hinder the rescue mission.
In the end, Parker — who was thoroughly impressed with how Auggie shepherded her and her friends through danger with quick thinking bravery — made it out safely and ultimately accepted his marriage proposal. Auggie got his opportunity to be a big screen kinda hero by not only leaping off of a building while holding Parker’s hand, but by devising a scheme to protect Parker, planning the escape and beating up one of their captors to enable the trio to flee. That Special Forces/CIA training came in handy.
But something more has to go wrong for these love birds, or Auggie has to become hardened and cynical (should Parker dump him or get killed because of Auggie’s profession) to create another obstacle between Auggie and Annie. Okay, so Auggie’s sweet wedding proposal on the beach was rudely interrupted by illness and kidnapping. So things didn’t go all that smoothly for Auggie and Parker. But in the end, Auggie was able to offer Parker the same engagement ring a second time, after the ring had fallen out of a kidnapper’s pocket and was retrieved, and after Parker knew the truth about his vocation.
With all the focus on Auggie’s infatuation with Parker, and Annie outwardly pining for Auggie, something’s gotta give. And Ben Mercer’s got to come out of the woodwork given that the show’s pilot began with Annie’s heartbreak and her bosses capitalizing on the affections between Annie and Ben to lure the former agent in from the cold.
As for the power struggle between Lena and Joan, we learned a bit more, a tiny bit more, about their dynamics, including allusions to their work in Nairobi and Joan blaming the loss of one of her assets on Lena’s fast and loose work style. (Example: Lena is encouraging Annie to sleep with people to get intel. Joan would never do that.) Joan spent several scenes simmering with rage, unable to do much about what was happening with Auggie except give voice to her opinions in an attempt to sway Lena.
Surprisingly, Lena, who was in charge of the rescue mission, seemed to give Annie the final say when Lena and Joan disagreed on strategy. Given the vehemence with which Annie declared that she knew Auggie better than either of them, Lena appeared to want to empower Annie, giving her latitude in a way that Joan wouldn’t necessarily be comfortable with, although Annie has usually had to bend the rules with Joan if she disagreed with Joan’s orders, like Lena would.
For her part, Annie was mostly left to ruminate in the bubble bath about her steamy liaison with the man on whom she’s spying, and fret about Auggie. News that her sister Danielle wants to move seems to be signaling a major change in direction for Annie’s storyline, at least on the homefront. Without the tension over trying to hide her CIA identity from her sister, the Covert Affairs writers are likely going to amp up the drama elsewhere.
Speaking of drama, there were precious few scenes featuring Arthur this week. He’s a gravely underused character who deserves more screen time, that and a deliciously dark backstory.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Jul 25, 2012 @ 12:54 EST5EDT
