Covert Affairs 5.01 "Shady Lane": Annie Are U O.k.?

Hahah goddamnit now I have that song in my head again.  I got it in my head before with a season 3 Covert Affairs review once, and it just popped back in there due to the nature of the season 5 opener.  The problem is, the version that gets in my head is never the original MJ version, it's always the cheese-tastic Alien Ant Farm version from like 13 or 14 years ago.  Fun fact: They were a local band from Riverside, where I went to college, while I was in college.  Oh shit Wikipedia just informed me it's technically Moreno Valley, a much smaller town right next to Riverside, which I also spent a lot of time in while in college.  Even more obscure.  But point being, their big hit was quite an achievement for the ol' Inland Empire.  A real flash in the pan.  Great job, Riverside (Moreno Valley).

O.k. I can't believe I just embedded that here.  I feel so dirty and embarrassed.  But I'm not taking it out because I can't get it out of my head now.  And the lyrics do really fit this Covert Affairs episode pretty perfectly.

So here we are.  Covert Affairs season 5 premiere, "Shady Lane."  Season 4 of this show had me so incredibly frustrated that I had kind of given up on putting much hope or care into season 5.  But guess what?  They just f*cking sucked me back in.  It's almost like they called me on the phone and asked me exactly the type of stuff I'd want to see in this show and then they did it.  Hold up, I shouldn't go that far, I'll just jinx it and it'll end up giving me just as much TV blueballs as season 4 did.

You see, here's what the writers thankfully seem to have remembered in the back 6 (fall season) of season 4 and the beginning of season 5: The show needs to be about their lead character.  They can have subplots all they want, but the beating heart of the show needs to be Annie.  And don't get me wrong, I get where they were going in those first 10 eps last season, to get Annie to the point of going dark.  And it was a great goal, it's just that it was a frustrating and fairly illogical ride to get there.

But season 5 started off with a couple great things.  1) Annie did NOT go running right back home after Hong Kong.  Fuck going home, that's the LAST place I would have gone at that point.  Go Annie.  2) She didn't tell anyone she wasn't coming home, she just disappeared for 4 months.  And no one knows why.  Mysterious and intriguing.  You've got my attention again, Covert Affairs.  Tell me Eyal was involved (I hope) and you'll have me jumping for joy.

And as if that wasn't potentially interesting enough, Annie's acting super weird now that she's back.  She won't even tell Auggie where she was, which is unheard of.  She jumps right back on the job as usual, but there's a level of desperation in her eagerness that we haven't quite seen before, at least not in this context.  Almost like she's grasping for some sort of solid foundation that she's been missing.

And something's wrong with her.  Like, seriously wrong, mentally or physically or both - as we see in a scene that pops up out of nowhere mid episode.  She has what looks somewhat like a panic attack, but starts off in a way that seems more like physical heart trouble.  And then she gets right back to work and acts like nothing ever happened.  Which makes it clear that she's come home trying to go back to old times, but we the audience now know that she's just kinda barely keeping it together.

You've got my attention back, Covert Affairs, goddamn you.  Big time.  NOW PLEASE DO NOT SCREW THIS UP!!  I've been burned too many times.  Here's my GeekFurious review:

http://geekfurious.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-plopper-reviews-covert-affairs-501.html

See you next week, Covert Affairs.  I'm interested in Nic Bishop too.  He's kinda yummy.