Covert Affairs

Covert Affairs (2010 – ) is a USA Network spy television series starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham. The one hour drama premiered on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. The series is being executive produced by Doug Liman and David Bartis and co-executive produced by veteran director-producer-screen writer Jonathan Glassner.

Season 1

Pilot [1.01]

Jump Instructor: Trainees, listen up! This is no Granny-hop! This is low altitude, 2000 feet ATL. You snap, grip and rip, and we'll be picking you up on the ground with a spatula! Any questions? Okay! Now, who's first? [Walker raises her hand, causing the instructor to smile] Annie Walker. I should have guessed.

---

Annie: Look, whatever the problem is, I'll retake the exercise! Was it was the driving course, the deception training, or -- what was it?

Instructor: You did better on the driving course than any woman we've ever had. You did better than anyone on deception training than anyone in a decade.

Annie: Oh. So is this about me hooking up with my Taekwondo instructor? 'Cause I checked the handbook. It's not against the rules. I'm going to shut up now and let you talk.

---

Annie: Everyone here is so young.

Auggie: There was a hiring freeze that was unfrozen after 9/11. Fifty percent of the agency has five years experience or less.

Annie: That's both inspiring and weirdly unsettling.

Auggie: You'll find this is a weird place to work. Polygraphs every year, no cell phones allowed inside the building, no dating foreigners. In fact, the CIA highly encourages dating inside the agency. It keeps things in the circle of trust. It's like a Club Med without the free drinks.

---

Joan: You hot sync the devices in the room. He gets the bank codes for his payment and you get the intel, and that's it. Don't have a drink with him, don't sleep him.

Annie: You think I'd sleep with him?

Joan: I think he'd sleep with you.

---

FBI Agent Rusabbi: What were you doing here Ms.—

Annie: Trusdale. Amber Trusdale. I had a business meeting.

Rusabbi: What kind of business are you in?

Annie: [giggles] I don't want to get in trouble.

Rusabbi: Look, we're not going to bust you if you say you're a... call girl?

Annie: We don't like to use that term.

[...]

Annie: Can I sit down? Look, I'm a good girl. I come from a churchgoing family in Akron. I just wanted to come forward and be honest. My mother told me to always do the right thing.

Rusabbi: Hmm. What did she say about you being a hooker?

Annie: Now if I don't like being called a call girl, I certainly don't like being a hooker.

[...]

Rusabbi: Let me ask you this: why did you really come back? And don't give me the 'good girl' act.

Annie: [bends down and retrieves two high-heeled shoes] For these. Christian Louboutins don't come cheap.

Walter's Walk [1.02]

MI6 Agent James Elliot: [examines Annie's mobile phone] Now this dinosaur is outrageous!

Annie: It's an encryption through obsolescence. By the time the CIA has the technology vetted, it's already five years old. It may not look cool, but it's secure.

Elliot: Well, maybe British intelligence isn't as quite as paltry as I thought. [takes out his phone] Total encryption, less than four ounces.

Annie: Now you're just showing off.

---

Agent Tooke: Bethesda police scanner notified all units, shots fired at the address of Helen Newman.

Joan: Average response time for Bethesda PD is what, six minutes? [Tooke nods] Why couldn't it have been in D.C.? Their cops are so much slower.

---

Joan: I can't control whether or not you've been placed in my division, but decisions about my officers are always mine and always final.

Jai Wilcox: I understand.

Joan: I'm not sure that you do, but you will.

South Bound Suarez [1.03]

Annie: When I was growing up we moved every three or four years. It's what you do in the military. It's hard, at first, but I learned to build a wall around those emotions.

Julia: How?

Annie: I took the pictures of all of the friends that I had made, put them in a shoebox and buried them in the backyard. My sister thought I was crazy, but it was something that I had to do to let go. Staying wasn't an option. I had no choice and neither do you.

Julia: So I put Victor in a shoebox?

Annie: There's no future with him.

Julia: Don't try to reason with love.

Annie: And don't get burned by it.

Julia: Because it happened to you? [Annie holds her gaze] I see. And now you are a woman with walls.

---

Annie: This is one of those jobs where nothing is ever easy, isn't it?

Joan: Yeah, but look at the pension and the medical.

Auggie: And a chance to spend tropical nights with twenty-year-old men.

Annie: He's sleeping on the couch!

---

Auggie: Was that sigh? It sounded like a sigh. Like a troubled, guilty sigh. This is the business, Annie. It's what we do. The fact is, you should be feeling pretty good.

Annie: Yeah, well, my shoulder's still sore, and my sister can't understand how a car accident would cause me to lose a three hundred dollar carry-on she gave me for her birthday, and I've got a 20-year-old Lothario bragging that he spent the night with me in Caracas.

Auggie: Well, aside from that—

Annie: [smiling] Aside from that, I'm fine!

No Quarter [1.04]

Annie: [on the phone] Someone's a little cheeky this morning. Too bad, I was going to get you a souvenir.

Auggie: Yeah?

Annie: Yeah! A St. Bernard! Stuffed, of course. They kind of remind me of you.

Auggie: Great, I remind you of Cujo. It's the slobbering, isn't it?

Annie: Yeah, that and they're cute, dependable, and when you're feeling low they bring you booze.

---

Annie: So, do you think we should finally do this? [the agents move to exchange identical briefcases] Wait, how do we know which is which? [Eyal turns his over, showing Annie a sticker] Powerpuff Girl?

Eyal: My niece gave it to me for luck. I've never put it this much to the test before.

Annie: Maybe the Riviera next time.

Eyal: I don't know. The beaches in Israel are much better.

Annie: Really?

Eyal: [smiles] Didn't you hear? Everything's better in Israel.

In the Light [1.05]

Annie: Hey, Auggie, why did Joan say I might have a shot 'cause I'm new?

Auggie: McAuley is Christopher McAuley. He was a deep cover op who served for fifteen years and knew everyone who ever had anything to do with east Africa. One of his old contacts might know something about Hassan's movements, but McAuley retired five years ago.

Annie: Why do I feel like I'm still missing something?

Auggie: When I say he retired I mean he had a nervous breakdown, quit the CIA, moved to the middle of nowhere Virginia and hasn't contacted us since. I can actually hear you frowning.

Annie: On a scale of none to a lot, how many people have tried to bring him in?

Auggie: Almost every single person in that room.

Annie: So this is basically a fool's errand?

Auggie: You can think of it as more of a hazing ritual if it makes you feel better.

---

Annie: What are you doing here?

Auggie: Putting career advancement over my personal life. Plus, she couldn't remember the last book she read, and even I have standards. Want to talk about it? You might not know this, but I am an excellent listener.

Annie: Is that so?

Auggie: It's in my file.

Annie: How do you feel about what we do?

Auggie: Hmmm.

Annie: I mean, I know that manipulating people for information is pretty much my job description, but it always makes me feel --

Auggie: Dirty?

Annie: Tell me it's worth it.

Auggie: Tell me what "it" is and I'll tell you if it's worth it.

[...]

Annie: Henry Wilcox said we're in the mud, all of us, whether we want to admit it or not.

Auggie: Does that bother you?

Annie: I'd like to know how dirty I'm going to get.

---

Joan: She got him.

Arthur: She's good! She reminds me of someone.

Joan: Oh yeah? Yourself?

Arthur: You!

Season 2

Welcome to the Occupation [2.08]

Auggie: Your presence has been requested immediately.

Annie: What...now?

Auggie: Well, however you want to interpret the words "requested" and "immediately."

Cast

• Piper Perabo - Annie Walker
• Christopher Gorham - Auggie Anderson
• Eric Lively - Conrad Sheehan III
• Sendhil Ramamurthy - Jai Wilcox
• Anne Dudek - Danielle Brooks
• Kari Matchett - Joan Campbell
• Eion Bailey - Ben Mercer
• Peter Gallagher - Arthur Campbell

External links

• Covert Affairs quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• Covert Affairs at TV.com