Relationship Recap(s): Covert Affairs “Speed of Life” 

There are so many relationships I could talk about, but I think I’ll concentrate on the following three: Annie and Simon, Auggie and (former fiancée) Parker, and Annie and Auggie. Now, I do have to confess something before I even get started: I don’t watch every episode of this show. That’s strange for me because once I commit I’m usually in for the long haul. If I get disenchanted with the show for long enough, I’m out. But this show keeps pulling me back. There are things I like and things I don’t. I’m currently in and I really like what’s going on. So, I think I have all my facts straight but I’m sure you’ll tell me (nicely, gently) if I don’t.

Annie and Simon. I know he started out as just a mark and Annie’s just using him for intel, but I love these two together. I’d like to think Annie thinks of Simon as more than just a job, although I know I’m romanticizing what they have together. Do we really even know what Simon’s done and what he’s capable of? He’s a pretty bad guy, or he wouldn’t be on the CIA’s radar, right? I think my fascination/interest in him has everything to do with Richard Coyle and how well this part’s been written. He’s perfectly cast. I’m constantly questioning what I think I know about him. And more than that, I worry that Annie is getting in too deep (even though that’s exactly what I want to see). Earlier this week TV Goodness participated in a Q&A session with series creators Chris Ord and Matt Corman. Here’s what they had to say about Simon: “it’s such a key role that we knew we needed to dig deep… we actually flew [Richard] from London to New York where he did a chemistry read with Piper which Doug Liman, who’s one of our partners in this endeavor, directed. So he really ran Richard trough his phases and we got to see how he and Piper looked together, how they acted off one another. And so it was a pretty vigorous process to make sure he was the right guy. And one of the things that we saw beyond the fact that he’s just a tremendous actor is he can embody the economy. You don’t know whether he’s to be trusted or not. He can be very charming. He can be very smart. He just – he has this great acting vocabulary where he can be trustworthy or not trustworthy.” We probably shouldn’t trust him, but I’m glad Annie got in the car with him at the end of the episode. I want to see where this goes.

Auggie and Parker. I think we all knew this was coming. It was only a matter of time before Parker ended things after their disastrous holiday in Eritrea. I just didn’t think it would be so soon. Auggie should have gotten permission to read Parker in before he popped the question, but hindsight’s always 20/20 isn’t it? I know they love each other, but people in relationships tend to take it personally when they learn a loved one has been lying to them. And Auggie knew there would be problems once he did read her in. I know he had to confess in the heat of the moment, but I guess he was expecting his love for Parker (and hers for him) to get them through anything. It was heartbreaking to see Auggie try to deal with the breakup (both during and after). Christopher Gorham played it so well. I was so upset for him.

What does this all mean? I thought Auggie would only settle down when he realized his feelings for Annie (which I’m fine with putting off for a few more seasons). I liked when things got serious with Parker because it was unexpected – for them as well for us. I love that Annie was starting to have some feelings and had to tamp those down because Auggie was so happy. And it was nice to see Auggie happy like that, especially since they met under less than great circumstances. Of course Auggie will eventually get over this, but it’s hard to see him so broken. Is it horrible that I liked it when he confronted that jerk at the bar? I mean, he probably shouldn’t have broken that bottle over the guy’s head but he kind of deserved it.

Annie and Auggie. They are so out of step right now and I don’t like it. No matter what these two have been through they’d still usually able to talk to each other, depend on each other, be there for each other. But when Annie went to work for Lena that dynamic changed – it had to. I just hate it that Annie couldn’t be there for Auggie after his breakup and Auggie couldn’t be there for Annie after Lena sent her back to Joan (probably temporarily?). Despite that, I know these two will eventually be back on the same page. Auggie’s heartbroken and Annie’s emotions are otherwise engaged, but these two are always there for each other as friends. I’m looking forward to getting back to that. I kind of can’t wait for Auggie to learn about Simon. I wonder what he’ll think of this “assignment.”

Covert Affairs returns on Tuesday, August 14th at 10/9c on USA Network.