Covert Affairs Pilot Screencaps

These are long overdue, but hopefully you'll still enjoy these Covert Affairs Pilot episode screencaps. There's plenty of sexy, luscious-lipped Piper Perabo here, plus lovely Christopher Gorham, and a taste of the rest of the Covert Affairs "Pilot" cast.

It should be said: SPOILER ALERT!

We begin our Covert Affairs screencaps with Annie Walker (Perabo) and her first day at the CIA, where she meets schmoozer agent Conrad Sheehan III (Eric Lively) and blind tech guru Auggie Anderson (Gorham).

Here we have some CIA office shots, of Annie working with Auggie, and Annie finding out from boss Joan Campbell (Kari Matchett) that she can easily pass for a high class hooker for her next assignment:





Here we have Annie dealing with the slimy contact, whose hoping she'll take that hooker role to heart:

Next on the Covert Affairs pilot is Annie flying through the air to avoid a hail of bullets from a sniper:



Next, Annie has to play her part well enough to fool suspicious (and sexy) FBI agent Vincent Rossabi (Noam Jenkins):




After the job goes bust, Annie, Auggie, and Conrad go out for some much needed R&R. Auggie uses his blindness as pick-up material:



Suspicious about the identity of her contact, Annie gets some translation help from her former university Russian professor Dr. Mark Ramsay (Clarke Peters):

After an eventful trip to the morgue with Auggie, Annie finds herself facing the interrogation of agent Rossabi once again:

Annie works the call girl angle hard, and Rossabi can't help but be affected by her sensual pout and seductive moves:




He's still not falling for it, however, even when Annie continues to feign innocence.

Auggie is just as obnoxiously unhelpful and Rossabi is annoyed:



But after a phone call from the right person, Rossabi has to let Annie go. This may not have worked in her favor, as she runs into the real Russian operative Stas (George Tchortov):


Annie's not going down without a fight, however:



Realistically, she wins the battle but loses the war. A mystery gunman kills Stas, and saves her butt, before disappearing onto the train. Boss Campbell tells Annie the mystery man isn't who she thought it was:

Confused and overwhelmed by her first day, Annie absorbs a little family time with her concerned sister Danielle Brooks (Anne Dudek).



While outside sits the mystery gunman, Annie's ex-lover Ben Mercer (Eion Bailey). Cue suspenseful music...

Hope you enjoyed the Covert Affairs "Pilot" episode screencaps. Watch Covert Affairs every Tuesday night on USA at 10/9c.




PHOTOS: Covert Affairs Pilot episode screencaps, c2010 Dutch Oven, Universal Cable Productions, USA Network.

Covert Affairs Renewed + Steamy Sex Scene

Auggie (Christopher Gorham) gets lucky with an ex on Covert Affairs.

Good news for Piper Perabo, Christopher Gorham, Kari Matchett, Peter Gallagher, and Sendhil Ramamurthy fans--Entertainment Weekly reports that USA newbie hit Covert Affairs has been granted a second season. If you haven't checked out the entertaining CIA drama (with the usual USA blend of wit and sex appeal), definitely give it a look. It's not Shakespeare, but the characters are worth spending time with, and there are some good action elements. You can read my review of the Covert Affairs pilot for more info.

Speaking of action, yummy Christopher Gorham (Auggie) gets his shirt off for a love scene in the upcoming August 24 Covert Affairs episode. EW's Michael Ausselio has the sexy shirtless Gorham pic, as well as the clip to go along with my screencap above, on his blog.

Watch Covert Affairs on USA, Tuesday nights at 10/9c.

Keep up to date with all the latest TV News & Reviews plus more by following @ValerieDavid on Twitter!




PHOTO: Covert Affairs, "Communication Breakdown" screencap, c2010 Dutch Oven, Universal Cable Productions, USA Network.

Covert Affairs Pilot Review

Annie (Piper Perabo) and Auggie (Christopher Goram) discuss her mission

in the Covert Affairs pilot.

If you're considering whether to watch USA's new show Covert Affairs tonight, go ahead and make the leap. If the pilot is an indicator of future episodes, Covert Affairs looks to be an entertaining and sassy addition to the USA line-up of hits.

One of the big things that USA does right on their shows is the dialogue. My fave USA shows, including Burn Notice and White Collar, have a goofy charm but also snappy sarcastic conversation. These characters are not only fun to be with, they're smart. The reason the yin/yang of White Collar works so brilliantly is that Peter and Neal are each clever in their own way. Neal is sneaky, but Peter isn't a cliched bumbling FBI pursuer--he caught Neal (twice) because he's just as quick on the uptake.

This is the sort of trend I hoped would continue with Covert Affairs. There's a good chance a majority of the male viewers are tuning in for lead actress Piper Perabo's gorgeous porn star lips, but I think even they would prefer a good show over a bad one. Thankfully, an early scene in the Covert Affairs pilot showed instant promise: When Piper's CIA trainee character Annie Walker is immediately schmoozed at headquarters by CIA stud Conrad Sheehan (Eric Lively), she asks him if he typically hangs out at the front door to "chat up girls on their first day?" Conrad smoothly replies, "Absolutely. I'm both lazy and predatory." Bazinga.

Things improve from there. Perabo gets hooked up with tech genius Auggie Anderson (Ugly Betty's Christopher Gorham), her literally blind guide to the CIA. Gorham brings buckets of charm to the role, as the steady and practical balance to Annie's impulsiveness. He's also a bit of a rake, as the romance novels would call him, using his blindness as the best pick-up strategy ever.

Though her role was fairly ridiculous in short-lived series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, I was riveted by Kari Matchett's performance in it. She just commands attention on the screen, with her sexy confidence and sultry voice. Here she's Annie's boss (see pic above), Joan Campbell, a determined woman who appears emotionless and in perfect control in her job. Things in her personal life are a bit more complicated and irrational, however.

While doe-eyed Perabo doesn't completely sell me on the tough CIA girl personality, she's plenty likable and is refreshingly convincing in the action sequences. I like that her fight with an assassin is rough and tumble, and she's realistically losing for most of it. She gets by with some self defense techniques, rapid movements and quick thinking, but Covert Affairs gets it right when she loses out to the sheer strength of her opponent. Though she should be in the hospital at the end of the scene instead of wincing from a slight bump on the head, at least she doesn't leap up three feet to punch a guy--and miraculously knock him unconscious--ala Holly Hunter's 80 lb. character on Saving Grace.

The Covert Affairs pilot delivers on action, fun, humor, sexiness, and intrique. There were a few mysteries I thought were telegraphed too obviously, but a couple twists did take me by surprise. The clever dialogue from all of the characters was the best revelation, and Covert Affairs boasts a talented cast that should be skilled enough to make up for any plot holes or silliness.

The most common comparison reviewers are making to Covert Affairs is Jennifer Garner's Alias. While I did love the latter show in the beginning, the hooker costumes and wigs and convoluted plot just got too cartoonish after awhile. Where Covert Affairs has the edge is that we already expect it to be a bit cartoonish, so all the focus on sexy costumes and flirting between missions isn't quite so jarring.

Watch Covert Affairs Tuesday nights on USA at 10/9c, and see for yourself!




PHOTOS: Piper Perabo as Annie Walker, Christopher Gorham as Auggie Anderson, Kari Matchett as Joan Campbell; Covert Affairs "Pilot" screencaps, c2010 Dutch Oven, Universal Cable, USA Network.

Coyote Ugly's Piper Perabo in Covert Affairs, New USA Series

USA is rolling out new series for the summer, including CIA drama/comedy Covert Affairs. Hoping to repeat the success of quirky spy intrigue shows Burn Notice and White Collar, USA will add Covert Affairs to the line-up this July. Piper Perabo stars as a newly minted CIA field agent, and Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty, Out of Practice) costars as a blind ops tech who acts as her guide (yes, you read that right). Early buzz is positive--you can check out my full review and cast list on Covert Affairs at AC.

You can also see the trailer right here:



After her role as a sexy but angsty lesbian teen in Lost & Delirious, and a singing, dancing bar girl in Coyote Ugly, I'd always expected the pouty-lipped Piper Perabo to have a bigger career. She's been working steadily, but perhaps this might be a new break-out role for her. I'll post updates as soon as we get an actual start date for Covert Affairs.

P.S. Keep an eye out for Mohinder--Heroes star Sendil Ramamurthy is also joining the cast of Covert Affairs.




PHOTO: Christopher Gorham, Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs screencap, c2010 USA Network.