It was only as I approached the end of this season of Covert Affairs that I found out it was to be the last one, as the show would not be renewed for a sixth season. I'm not sure if the producers knew or suspected this when they started, but they did seem to make it easy for fans to say goodbye; I am not referring to "as you like it" ending which gives every viewer the chance to assume Annie takes the future they wish for her, while Auggie lives happily ever after, but more the way that significant aspects of the show highlight that probably there was no reason to return for a sixth run at this.
I guess viewing figures also told them this, but it is clear here that we have nowhere else to go. To start with the strengths, the show continues to be a great example of making the most of your money. I have read articles about the stripped down approach that has allowed the show to shoot on location around the world, adding a great sense of place and professionalism to the show, and they certainly appeared to have made the most of every single sponsorship deal going – whether it be those brand new Samsung Galaxy phones used to bribe an official, or the endless and stunning wardrobe that Annie has access to every scene. These remain well done and personally I think the show should be commended for these – particularly the delivery of on-the-ground location shooting. However, it is also hard not to see that these are the style and it is the substance that we have not mentioned yet.
Ever since the first season, I have been grateful for the gradual move towards being a proper spy story rather than a silly ditzy affair (remember those credits?); I felt that the previous season had been solid but needed to do more in the writing – unfortunately the fifth and final season is weakest in this regard. The plot is messy and generally stutters along without ever really convincing that it knows where it wants to go beyond the next 90 minutes. As a result I found it easy to enjoy the moment, but at the same time have little interest in much beyond that. There is a bit too much convenience in the writing – it comes from the start and never really stops. Annie missing for 4 months but right back into the field with no questions asked, her heart bothers her but only when it suits the writers (in the second half of the season in particular), and generally the motives and hunt for the a villain is less about Annie and more about the writers finding a way to keep the next few episodes flowing.
In this regard it distracts and keeps the screen busy enough that the glossy look can carry it the rest of the way, but it is hard not to see the limits. The cast benefit from the addition of Bishop's McQuaid; okay he is not much to speak of, but he at least changes up things with a new dynamic – plus he is reasonably good alongside Perabo. She remains the big draw though; she is good at the light and the serious, and it does feel like she has guided the show to suit what she can do. At times her stunning, effortless appearance and wardrobe does distract from the actual show, but she is hard not to like. Gorham is solid enough, but the rest of the cast seem like they are being thrown bones, with subplots that don't really work too well, and are mostly about filling up time, which they do – but not well.
In the end the slickness and ambition of the delivery does make it work as light entertainment, but it is the writing that lets this season down, failing to produce a forceful forward motion that engages, convinces or even appears constructed on a consistent internal logic – and generally not helped by the subplots not particularly doing much either. For what it does well it is perhaps easy to enjoy on a certain level, but this fifth season mostly succeeds in suggesting that it is not in any way a bad thing that it comes to an end.
I guess viewing figures also told them this, but it is clear here that we have nowhere else to go. To start with the strengths, the show continues to be a great example of making the most of your money. I have read articles about the stripped down approach that has allowed the show to shoot on location around the world, adding a great sense of place and professionalism to the show, and they certainly appeared to have made the most of every single sponsorship deal going – whether it be those brand new Samsung Galaxy phones used to bribe an official, or the endless and stunning wardrobe that Annie has access to every scene. These remain well done and personally I think the show should be commended for these – particularly the delivery of on-the-ground location shooting. However, it is also hard not to see that these are the style and it is the substance that we have not mentioned yet.
Ever since the first season, I have been grateful for the gradual move towards being a proper spy story rather than a silly ditzy affair (remember those credits?); I felt that the previous season had been solid but needed to do more in the writing – unfortunately the fifth and final season is weakest in this regard. The plot is messy and generally stutters along without ever really convincing that it knows where it wants to go beyond the next 90 minutes. As a result I found it easy to enjoy the moment, but at the same time have little interest in much beyond that. There is a bit too much convenience in the writing – it comes from the start and never really stops. Annie missing for 4 months but right back into the field with no questions asked, her heart bothers her but only when it suits the writers (in the second half of the season in particular), and generally the motives and hunt for the a villain is less about Annie and more about the writers finding a way to keep the next few episodes flowing.
In this regard it distracts and keeps the screen busy enough that the glossy look can carry it the rest of the way, but it is hard not to see the limits. The cast benefit from the addition of Bishop's McQuaid; okay he is not much to speak of, but he at least changes up things with a new dynamic – plus he is reasonably good alongside Perabo. She remains the big draw though; she is good at the light and the serious, and it does feel like she has guided the show to suit what she can do. At times her stunning, effortless appearance and wardrobe does distract from the actual show, but she is hard not to like. Gorham is solid enough, but the rest of the cast seem like they are being thrown bones, with subplots that don't really work too well, and are mostly about filling up time, which they do – but not well.
In the end the slickness and ambition of the delivery does make it work as light entertainment, but it is the writing that lets this season down, failing to produce a forceful forward motion that engages, convinces or even appears constructed on a consistent internal logic – and generally not helped by the subplots not particularly doing much either. For what it does well it is perhaps easy to enjoy on a certain level, but this fifth season mostly succeeds in suggesting that it is not in any way a bad thing that it comes to an end.
