Undercovers “Jailbreak” 

I’m definitely a huge fan of Undercovers. I want it to succeed. I hate the ratings slide that has been occurring every week since the show first debuted. And I’ve really liked all the episodes I’ve watched so far. Here’s the thing. I really want the mystery of the show to pick up. In years past I wouldn’t have been this impatient. There was a time when shows were allowed to progress at a slower pace. As much as I like the action, romantic and comedic portions of the show, I want Undercovers to start diving deep into whatever mythology TPTB have in store for us. I’m a mythology girl. I watch shows like Lost, Supernatural and Smallville. I need some sort of long-term arc that I really can sink my teeth into, which is why I’m enjoying The Vampire Diaries so much.

I know there’s something the show’s teasing and in “Jailbreak” the writers laid a little bit more of the groundwork. Shaw’s on the phone with some mystery guy alluding to the unknown reasons (well, unknown to us) why the Blooms were reactivated. We now know that both Steven and Samantha left the CIA for reasons other than just their relationship. But how frustrating is it at the end of the episode when Samantha wants to tell her hubby why she really exited the agency, he doesn’t want to hear about it? We were so close! Now we’ll have to wait longer. Boo. I was hoping we’d get a kernel of something. Steven really only puts the kibosh on learning Sam’s secret because he doesn’t want to divulge the real reason why he had to leave the agency. So at least on his part, what was once a pact to keep their pasts separate now becomes a full-fledged secret. That’s my opinion on the matter.

“Jailbreak” is a fun episode, however. We continue to learn a little bit more about the characters. For instance, Steven’s a human lie detector. And he totally can back it up. He guesses Lizzie was going to ask her sister for money. He can play timpani at symphony-level. He also looks damn good in a tux, but I digress. Samantha is used to her sister asking for money and bailing her out. Hoyt has a mean mother and Shaw has been married three times.

Can we talk about Leo Nash? I really thought he was going to be a one-episode kind of character. And I’ve been wondering why he’s been popping up ever since. I get it now. He’s the one guy that knows the pasts for both Steven and Samantha. He knows their secrets; he knows what they did on their missions; he knows what they were like before they met each other. And he’s friendly with them so he can get close to them. So his being around may be annoying but I guess he serves a purpose. Hopefully this character will develop more as the season continues. Is there another reason why he’s in their face on every mission? It has to be more than being there until the Blooms get their “spy legs” back.

I love Hoyt and have not grown tired of his man crush on Steven. I really don’t blame him and he can be badass when he wants to be. I liked him getting rejected by the hotel lady yet still managing to download the entire hotel registry at the same time.

Favorite action move of the night: Steven tranqu’ing the guy wanting to make the trade for the hard drive. He did from the stage with the timpani mallet where he was playing with the symphony.

I’m a sucker for the Blooms working a different accent every episode (or at least trying). I like the globe-hopping that goes on although sometimes I feel like the transitions that move the action from one city to the other slows things down a little too much.

Undercovers isn’t perfect but I love it. I’m in for the duration. I’m hoping the mystery will be amped up soon. Until then, I’ll just enjoy watching Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Boris Kodjoe do their thing.

Check out this awesome interview with the two stars of Undercovers.