Prime Time Geek

This week we bring you reviews of two espionage dramas, one just getting started and one on its way out for the year. Read on for our reviews of the latest “Nikita” and “Covert Affairs” episodes …

Nikita – “2.0″. Starring Maggie Q, Shane West, Lyndsy Fonseca, Tiffany Hines, Melinda Clarke, Xander Berkeley. Directed by Danny Cannon. Lots of improvements from the pilot right from the get-go. The episode’s plot moves quickly away from what we were shown in the trailers, and that’s a good thing because we’ve seen the “rookie spy cleans up nice, gets thrown into sexy first mission” before. What we get instead is a LOT more humor in the writing:

“Can you please stop saying, “Shadownet”?

“Dude, when you create your own software that owns access to every government and law enforcement agency in the world you can call it whatever you want. “Shadownet.” Taste the rainbow!”

There’s also more opportunity for the actors to show emotional range, particularly Maggie Q, who portrays Nikita through moments of vulnerability as she sees her own past through Alex’s (Lyndsy Fonseca) painful return to sobriety in flashbacks to the start of their partnership. A nice touch that I’d like to see more of is the revelation that Division’s “Inquisitor”, their interrogation specialist, is none other than Amanda (Melinda Clarke, pictured top left), the beauty and charm mistress for the operatives. The one annoyingly one-dimensional character that they need to work on is Jaden (Tiffany Hines), whose “jealous rival” routine with Alex belongs more in the realm of the CW’s other shows, “90210″ and “Gossip Girl.”

Covert Affairs – “When the Levee Breaks”. Starring Piper Perabo, Christopher Gorham, Kari Matchett, Anne Dudek, Sendhil Ramamurthy. Directed by Allan Kroeker. This marks the last we’ll be seeing of Annie Walker and company for a while, as Covert Affairs is not due to return to the airwaves until next summer, so they needed to go out with a bang, and they certainly do their best. The season-long story arc involving Annie’s relationship with rogue agent Ben Mercer (Eion Bailey) gets some resolution here, as does the mystery of who the “source” providing information to reporter Liza Hearn (Emmanuelle Vaugier) has been all along (not really too much of a surprise there, sorry.).

Unfortunately, the twists and turns in this particular season finale are a bit too predictable and safe, when it could be argued that the show really needed to take a few risks in order to really have its audience clamoring for a quicker return. What’s also disappointing in terms of the whole season is that certain characters who were introduced with an “edginess”, with a vibe that lead us to believe that they weren’t entirely trustworthy or what they seemed to be, such as Annie’s boss, Joan Campbell (Kari Matchett), or fellow spy Jai Wilcox (Sendhil Ramamurthy), seemed to settle into familiar, “likable” roles on the show, diffusing the tension that made their relationships to Annie and the others more interesting. Makes you wonder how the show will be tweaked before it comes back, whether certain recurring guest stars such as Peter Gallagher and Gregory Itzin will continue on in their roles and for how long. Covert Affairs works because of the charm of its cast and the humor the writers are willing to inject into its weekly plots in order to liven up the proceedings, but they’re going to have to take more risks with characters and storytelling if this show is to stand out the way that USA’s other original espionage thriller series, Burn Notice, continues to do every season.