(no subject)
Sep. 23rd, 2011 09:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seekingferretI caught up on the latest Covert Affairs halfseason. And duh, Ben's not dead. We all knew that. But I'm surprisingly ok with that. This show remains, for all its ludicrousness and surreality, the most adult, mature, believable show about the CIA I've seen.
Secret identities! As things you do for your job, because of safety, but as things that tear you apart. And yet... not things you keep needlessly secret, but instead things where you evaluate their usefulness and ditch when they stop being useful.
I loved Auggie explaining why working for the "Smithsonian" is so rewarding to Danielle. It really testified to the power of this show, its ability to tell stories about action and adventure in a exotic environment that still resonate as classic workplace stories.
But most of all I love the episode where Annie tells Danielle the truth, because I loved the way she balanced the pros and cons of her choice before coming down at last on the irrevocable side of honesty. And they were all grown-ups about it! Not in the sense of instantly forgiving, because that's not what being grown-up is about. But in the sense of working through new information together, suffering through the feelings of betrayal and frustration and fear together and overcoming it because of shared love, and finding a solution to the problem that causes the least pain for all involved. I loved Annie's look at the end of the episode, thinking something like "Ok, it's going to suck a lot to not live with Danielle, but as long as we're still sisters I can live with this." Grown-up!
Of course, this sort of emotional maturity is counterbalanced by the absolutely ridiculous geopolitical understanding. At least C.H.A.O.S. did it with a wink, but Covert Affairs tries to pretend that its dalliances with Bulgarian dictators are about vital state secrets. I guess spy shows can never leave the Cold War behind.
I was confused by the Jai plot all season, though. He rarely got involved in a meaningful way with the Annie plot and the finale ships him off to Arizona. What, did they decide that since he wasn't going to be in a relationship with Annie they didn't need to tell stories about him? C'mon, people, Spy!Mohinder!
Secret identities! As things you do for your job, because of safety, but as things that tear you apart. And yet... not things you keep needlessly secret, but instead things where you evaluate their usefulness and ditch when they stop being useful.
I loved Auggie explaining why working for the "Smithsonian" is so rewarding to Danielle. It really testified to the power of this show, its ability to tell stories about action and adventure in a exotic environment that still resonate as classic workplace stories.
But most of all I love the episode where Annie tells Danielle the truth, because I loved the way she balanced the pros and cons of her choice before coming down at last on the irrevocable side of honesty. And they were all grown-ups about it! Not in the sense of instantly forgiving, because that's not what being grown-up is about. But in the sense of working through new information together, suffering through the feelings of betrayal and frustration and fear together and overcoming it because of shared love, and finding a solution to the problem that causes the least pain for all involved. I loved Annie's look at the end of the episode, thinking something like "Ok, it's going to suck a lot to not live with Danielle, but as long as we're still sisters I can live with this." Grown-up!
Of course, this sort of emotional maturity is counterbalanced by the absolutely ridiculous geopolitical understanding. At least C.H.A.O.S. did it with a wink, but Covert Affairs tries to pretend that its dalliances with Bulgarian dictators are about vital state secrets. I guess spy shows can never leave the Cold War behind.
I was confused by the Jai plot all season, though. He rarely got involved in a meaningful way with the Annie plot and the finale ships him off to Arizona. What, did they decide that since he wasn't going to be in a relationship with Annie they didn't need to tell stories about him? C'mon, people, Spy!Mohinder!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-23 02:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-23 02:25 pm (UTC)