Covert Affairs – Around the Sun

In her latest assignment Annie (Piper Perabo) searches for a mole inside of NASA and is disappointed when all the evidence point to a career NASA employee (Mark Moses) with a bright teenage son (Landon Norris).

In the episode's B-story Auggie (Christopher Gorham) struggles with his first assignment in his new position and the his mixed feelings with the looming event which will put and end to his covert career, for good. It turns out (to no one's surprise) a move he's just not ready to make. The only real surprise is how quickly the situation is resolved and Annie's most reliable pal is back in the saddle again.

With Auggie moved upstairs (at least for this episode) Annie must also deal with his replacement, the cold by-the-book number-cruncher Reva (Thor's Jaimie Alexander) who feels much more at ease in dealing with data than Annie's hunches. From the preview of next week's episode Reva is sticking around in some capacity for at least one more episode, and although I found her character to be a little annoying, I'll admit Alexander found a way to keep me interested in a character who isn't all that interesting on the printed page.

Ben, thankfully, doesn't rear his head here but we are teased with the beginning of possible new season long arc with the first sign of trouble with Danielle's (Anne Dudek) marriage. Also worthy of note is the end, at least for now, of Arthur (Peter Gallagher) trouble on Capital Hill. We'll have to see how both play out over the coming weeks, along with any possible fallout for Auggie's decision to return to his previous post.

The episode give us a little bit of a shake up which I think might have been better explored over a couple of episodes (I'll admit it, Reva started to grown on me) rather than a single mission. Still, it's good to have Auggie back to where he belongs as the show continues to perform well during its sophomore season.