photo: usa
Begin the Begin
Original Air Date: Jun 7, 2011
Karen – Sr Staff Writer
karen@thetwocentscorp.com
I know it has been a long anticipated wait for the fans of our favorite clandestine group of characters. I for one am one happy viewer. I cannot wait to see how Annie learns to deal with her spy life and her home life and somehow be able to meld them together this season. She was trying real hard last season to not let her sister know exactly what it is she does, but had a few too many rough spots.
Early on in this episode, we learn that things can happen to compromise Annie’s cover, as we learn of a break-in at the house. However, with the help of Auggie, we find out it was just a couple of young teens that did it. Seems as though Auggie’s interrogating skills are quite good and a bit humorous as he tells them to answer the question and “no nodding.”
I was glad to see a truly heartwarming hug from Annie to her sister Danielle. Because lets face it, after the crap, she just went thru and being away for several weeks, we all know what it is like to finally get home to family and most of all your own bed! But I wonder if we will eventually see Annie move from her sisters place, to more easily hide what she does and to keep harms way away from those she loves. On the other hand, I would love to see personal and professional life do some mingling. I would love nothing more than to see Auggie come and meet the family. Now that Danielle knows what fun he is to work with (remember the school trip to the museum) I would love for her to meet the man and all of his awesomeness, again.
The one thing I really like about Annie is that she is a strong woman that is determined to prove she can handle anything. What I don’t get is what she sees in Ben Mercer. Oh, how I really had hoped that the guy was going to be dead from the bullet wounds of last year’s finale, but I was sadly disappointed in the first 5 min of the show. Because, again, Annie has to save his sorry a$$ while in the hospital recuperating. But of course, there is no big surprise as he disappears again from her life. But this time I think Annie is coming to terms with it much better as Joan lets her know that he is safe. Time to move on Annie! The surprise for me came when Arthur met with Ben and says he is back to working for Art. Looks like he needs Ben to do some dirty work, regarding this Liza Hearn fiasco! The question is…does Joan know what he is up too?
Now I know all the ladies loved seeing Auggie do his 2,006 pull-ups(haha) looking all sweaty, but it was sad to see Annie walk away after their conversation a bit sad that Auggie didn’t quite believe in the concerns that she was having about the tennis player.
I must admit the best scenes are those with Annie and Auggie. I really hope they have more throughout the season, especially when they are out in the field of work. I enjoyed the car ride and Auggies line of “I can’t see how fast you’re going, but I’m going to ask you to slow down”, is what I would love to see more of…maybe even get Aug-man behind the wheel would be fun!
The chemistry between Perabo and Gorham is wonderful. Gorham seems to have great chemistry with whomever he works with and both seem at ease with each other. Gorham’s performance as a blind man was spot on, as usual. His meetings with Canadian National Institute for the Blind have paid off. I enjoyed the part where he was at the tennis match and had the guy feeling a bit uncomfortable about not wanting to say the wrong thing to “the blind guy”. I know you all know that I love Gorham, but he is truly a pro at what he does. Nuff said!
I think we are in for a bit of a rollercoaster ride with Joan and Arthur’s storyline and can’t wait to see what will happen as a result of the Liza Hearn fallout. Arthur takes Joan’s advice and hires a very high profile lawyer…so this should be interesting. I didn’t like Joan a whole heck of a lot in the beginning, but I feel she truly looks out for her little spies…as for Arthur…I am not so sure. Peter Gallagher seems to play the questionable bad guy, pretty well.
As for Jai, what will it mean for him as he has to stay in the DPD? Will the tension between him and Aug continue? Will he still make googley eyes at Annie?
What did you think of the premiere? I wasn’t into the case Annie was working on. It was somewhat boring for me. Let’s just hope they kick up the pace and get things hot and heavy over the next couple of episodes.
TheTwoCents 
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought the case of the week was kind of boring. I was also just lost at the end, but happy to see Ben alive and interested in seeing what he’s up to and Arthur and if Joan knows, but I can do without that horrible green screen. And more Annie and Auggie always! 🙂
I also forgot to mention: the green screen work was awful! That scene with Annie on the porch of Joan’s house was just bad! They need to work on that!
Agreed. I couldn’t watch the rest of the scene it was so bad.
Haha! I told my husband the same thing. Green screen is great when the characters are supposed to be on top of a building in Shri Lanka, but seriously, couldn’t they find a real front step to film on??
Yes..that was really unpleasant. I noticed some of that last year too. Other times they are so good with locations, there’s no excuse.
Great review, Karen. One thing: Please NO blind driving scene! That sad trope comes up in movies all the time for comedic value. But I’m here to tell you it’s cheap, degrading, and portrays blind people as incompetent buffoons. However, I have confidence that the Covert Affairs writers will not make this mistake. 🙂
Actually I had a “here hold the wheel while I ( get something from back seat)” type of deal. It would be more on fun side if Auggie’s said something clever to it. I doubt that they would make Aug a baffoon. Thanks for the visit, I appreciate the feedback.
Yes that’s what I was thinking..someone else is driving and gets shot or something bizarre like that. It would have to be done straight, not humorous.
I also thought they could’ve had a more exciting case for Annie- especially for a PREMIERE ep.
Relieved that Ben had survived- now, maybe, we’ll find out what the hell he & Arthur are up to, and if Joan will find out and what she’ll do about it!
Auggie is TOO adorable- he really does have the best dialogue! Him doing “4005, 4006” pullups was a crack-up! Lol!
Those green screen shots… ACK! *facepalms*
Thoroughly enjoyed Annie’s ass-kickin scenes and hers/Auggie’s warm/friendly banter- the show does a great job conveying their friendship; we can all see how the two really got each other’s backs! 😉
It’d be great to have more Danielle storylines- maybe learn more about the Walker familia, in general, as well.
I’d luv to see a scene w/ Jai, Auggie, n Ben to see the diff. dynamics/personalities come into play. Lol
Would be cool to see Auggie more out in the field, too, or more outside of the office, per se. ;p
Hurry up, Tuesday!!! Thanks, Karen!!!
speaking of a scene with Jai, Auggie and Ben. Do you remember hearing Auggie say “who is Ben Mercer?” to Jai last season? He never met the guy, so yes…it would be very interesting for at least those 2 to meet.
Also: glad to see Anne, Peter and Sendhil in the opening credits. Just wish they would change the animation.
I’d love to see Ben standing next to Auggie just for comparison sake. I think it would be very interesting for them to meet each other, would they hate each others guts or have one of those unspoken understandings that they both wanted the same thing; to protect Annie?
I’m a total Annie+Auggie shipper so it’s nice to read something by someone who likes these two as much as I do.