Covert Affairs Review: Phone-a-Friend Lifeline

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Since Henry was released from prison and reinstated at the CIA, his personal mission and reach has continually become more clear.

For someone recently out of jail, he's incredibly well-connected and has been able to operate without any interference from the agency. That has made him dangerous and difficult to predict.

When Calder was installed as the Head of the DPD, it was natural for Annie and Auggie to wonder how he managed to get the assignment. As almost everything they are dealing with, Calder has a connection to Henry. That immediately made Calder a questionable character and someone to be extra careful around.

Cutting Ties

In "Here Comes Your Man," Calder attempted to cut off Annie's lifeline to Auggie during her mission to Vienna. Calder's decision to run Annie's operation himself was suspect. Was he setting Annie up? Working an angle for Henry? Or does he have another play?

Despite Auggie's concerns, Annie agreed to go to Vienna and complete the mission. Even though she initially wanted to comply with Calder's restriction on her talking with Auggie, she quickly abandoned that when the new handler held back pertinent information from her.

Because Annie initially asked Auggie to go along with Calder's request, he came across a little like a possessive boyfriend who didn't believe that Agent Annie was capable of working without him. It was unbecoming, though ultimately he was right to worry about Calder. The initial intel he got on Stavros was just another tie to Henry that signaled something wasn't right.

Annie proved that she's become an excellent undercover agent through this mission. She sold her cover to Stavros, held her own when he tried to double-cross her and then got him to sell the missiles through her and all over a few days. However, Calder proved to be worthless as a handler. It was Auggie that provided the information and support that she needed.

Auggie's decision to call on Teo to act as the missile buyer was solid. The Colombian had the perfect cover to help Annie, but in the end it backfired on them. Teo has been focused on his own undercover mission for so long that he can't see anything outside of that. Stavros was willing to arm the ALC, which Teo couldn't allow that to happen so he killed the weapons dealer.

Teo's actions left Annie in a precarious position. She came up with a cover story, but Calder didn't seem to buy it especially when five missiles were missing. What happened to them? I was surprised that neither Annie nor Auggie considered that Teo took them. Stavros could have misrepresented the number of missiles, but that would have been found out and that would have been a big risk.

Teo has proved that he's unpredictable. With five missiles, he could use them to try and take out the ALC. Annie trusted Teo, but she should be questioning that given Teo's recent actions. And Auggie has good reason to question Teo's motives and judgement given their history.

At this point, it's a good thing that Annie and Auggie have each other so they at least have one other person that they can count on. The Campbells are probably worthy of their trust, too, but others at the agency could be working with Henry, including Calder. And Teo is a wild card.

The conspiracy continues to get more and more complicated. Who can be trusted? And who is playing whom? At least Henry isn't omnipotent. After his meeting with Annie, someone was following him. My guess is that it was the woman who met with Arthur in the garage in the season premiere. Perhaps, there are a few more allies working against Henry after all. 

What happened to the missing missiles? Should Annie and/or Auggie have guessed that Teo took them? Who was following Henry? Could he have a weakness to be exploited?

Here Comes Your Man Review

Editor Rating: 4.6 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.0 / 5.0 (65 Votes)

Carla Day is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter and on Google+.

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