Covert Affairs

Covert Affairs (2010 – 2014) 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 Walker: 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: Can I ask you a question?

Auggie: I was special ops in Iraq. I got out of a humvee to look at what I thought was a dead dog. Next thing you know, I'm Ray Charles.

Annie: Oh. I was gonna ask what the headphones are for.

Auggie: Oversharing. My bad

---

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."

A Girl Like You [2.13]

Eyal: Remember, I'm the guy who cooked for you. How many men do you have cooking for you, huh?

Annie: Actually --

Eyal: Cook organically!

Annie: You lied to me yesterday. Why should I believe you now or ever?

Eyal: It's Thursday. I don't lie on Thursdays.

---

Annie: So you said medical school? Did you finish?

Eyal: No.

Annie: What happened?

Eyal: In 2002 my family needed me and so I took a leave of absence. Never went back.

Annie: Doctor Lavin has a nice ring to it.

Eyal: You're my mother.

Annie: Did you ever think of going back?

Eyal: No. It's different in Israel. Our ambitions are about life, living well, not our careers.

Annie: What about having both?

Eyal: See, that's very American. Life takes you where it takes you. You can only do so much, sometimes none at all. History taught us that.

Annie: Don't fight the current? Is that it?

Eyal: Or swim with it. Instead of fighting, live your life. The current may know something you don't.

---

Joan: [to Jai] You are either personally undermining me or your promotion has affected your better judgement, if such a thing ever existed. In the future, if you have anything to say to me, you will hold your tongue and speak to me privately. Or better yet, keep it to yourself.

---

Eyal: Why are you here, Annie Walker?

Annie: This is a suicide mission. Don't do it. It's not what your sister would want.

Eyal: [chuckles] Oh, you didn't know my sister. This is exactly what she would have wanted. See, we know this is when you fight the current.

Season 3

Hang on to Yourself [3.01]

Lena Smith: How many operatives do you think do what you do? Go into the field, turn assets, stay cool in real danger, use a weapon, use it to kill. Not many, and of those, how many of them are women? Even less. So, here's my pitch: I think you were being under utilized at the DPD.

Annie: I'm just doing what I signed on for.

Lena: I don't believe you believe that. It's what you're supposed to say, but it's bullshit.

Annie: You seem to know a lot about me.

Lena: Not in a creepy way, but yeah. I know it's pretty hard to go through what you went through.

Annie: With all due respect, I don't think you know how I'm feeling.

---

Auggie: Face it, Annie Walker. You've graduated.

Annie: I told you I was nervous before. I'm more nervous now.

Auggie: Watch your six. Lena's ops can find a way to kind of get banged up.

Annie: You're not worried about me are you, Auggie?

Auggie: I worry about a lot of things: global warming, the Cubs playoff hopes, the state of my old Corvette, but you? Never.

Sound and Vision [3.02]

Annie: Are you listening to me?

Auggie: Well, you asked why we're here in the safehouse, didn't you?

Annie: [smiles] No. I didn't.

Auggie: Oh.

Annie: The first thing a guy does when he gets married is stop listening. Or so I'm told. How much more time do you need?

Auggie: Ten, fifteen more minutes. Come here, you've got to check this out.

Annie: What am I looking at?

Auggie: Poetry. No, actually I take that back. It's more like sheet music. Red Rover is using the basic building blocks of the Stuxnet virus, but this thing has got so much more soul. It's like a melody.

Annie: [smiles] I have to take your word for it.

Auggie: Zero data tags. Man in the middle attacks. Modular, sophisticated, it's like Miles in his kind of Blue Period.

Annie: You should have told me you were such a dork when you proposed. I might have said no.

Auggie: [smiles] Whatever you say, dear.

---

Auggie: I have to admit, my radar was a little off on this one.

Annie: You know what I like about you?

Auggie: Just one thing.

Annie: Positivity. You see the best in people until they prove you wrong.

Auggie: That makes me a chump.

Annie: That makes you a romantic. [pause] And a little bit of a chump.

Let's Dance [3.10]

Arthur: What is it?

Joan: I've allowed Annie to travel to Russia to prove Lena's presence in-country.

Arthur: What?

Joan: And I've provided her with funds and an active cover.

Arthur: The agency has suspended all tactical missions on this front. I just gave the DCI my word literally this morning that we were done with this.

Joan: Arthur, she was going to go anyway. I just wanted to make sure she did it safely.

Arthur: Is it going to be safe?

Joan: I don't know.

Arthur: I can fire you for this. You know that, right? How is it going to look if she dies?

Joan: How is it going to look? I don't know, but it will feel terrible.

---

Auggie: Annie, listen to me, you need to get out of Russia.

Annie: You shouldn't be calling.

Auggie: I know this is off-book, but your ambush has damaged State's negotiations and the Russians are looking for you.

Annie: The negotiations were bullshit. I'm the only one who's acting.

Auggie: Annie, please. You're a person of interest. Every moment you remain in Russia is a moment too long. Now, I can arrange a water egress for you through the Black Sea. Use your resources and protocols and get to Novorossiysk.

Annie: I'm sorry. I can't.

Auggie: Annie, do you remember that moment we talked about in the car, where you've gone too far? This is that moment. Now I need you to come home, and this isn't the Agency calling and I'm not Joan. There are things that I need to say to you face to face. Important things. Please.

---

Lena: I like you, Annie. So I have an offer for you: become me.

Annie: Excuse me?

Lena: You would be an exquisite double within the CIA. No one would suspect you and I would conspire after all we've been through. It would be audacious, elegant. Just go back, tell them you couldn't find me. We could establish dead drops within a year.

Annie: So what? You want me to betray my agency and my country? Why would I ever do that?

Lena: For one thing, you would be incredibly rich, but mostly I'd like you to experience power. Real, true power. You would be in control. Something I think you're finally starting to realize will never happen while you're in the CIA.

Annie: You think you have power, here in the woods? Alone?

Lena: Yes. I had the power to summon you here to me, didn't I? And that kind of power, to compel people, to move the pieces, it's intoxicating.

Annie: You're a traitor, Lena.

Lena: CIA, FSB, America, Russia, these are all just words. The best spies have always known that the sides can change, it's the game itself that matters.

---

Lena: Okay, Annie, pull the trigger. It'll be as if you're pulling the trigger on yourself. You'll never make it out of Russia. You'll be lucky to make it to the auto route. I'm sure Joan gave you the whole 'we will deny any knowledge' speech. You're going to find out just how true that is. They will hang you out to dry; leave you to rot, and the worst part is you'll never be able to look at yourself the same way again. You'll know that you killed for malice, and that changes you. Go ahead, Annie. Pull the trigger.

Rock 'n' Roll Suicide [3.11]

Eyal: [having just rescued Annie from a Russian prison] Sorry to drop in unannounced, but I didn't have your phone number. You weren't doing anything today, were you? [Annie hugs him] You're okay.

---

Annie: What are you doing?

Eyal: Just establishing protocol.

Annie: What is this place?

Eyal: It's a friend's. This isn't Mossad business, if that's what you're getting at.

Annie: You came on your own? How did you know how to find me?

Eyal: It was a lucky guess. [smiles] Believe me, that's just a slight exaggeration. Hey, just know that you have at least one really good friend back home.

---

Annie: You've already done more for me than I can already repay.

Eyal: You bet your ass I have! We're talking about Simon Fisher's sister, right? Look, whatever he may have meant to you, it's over. You don't owe him in perpetuity.

Annie: I owe her.

Eyal: [shakes his head] A normal person doesn't do this kind of thing. You know that, right?

Wishful Beginnings [3.12]

Gary: Have a seat. Over the next few days and weeks we'll be doing timelines, we'll be doing polygraphs, and we'll talk.

Annie: [smiles] And if I act contrite enough, I get to go back to my desk?

Gary: Do you have something to be contrite about?

Annie: No. I've done nothing wrong.

Gary: Didn't you fall in love with Simon Fischer?

Annie: You asked me if I did anything wrong.

Gary: Did you love him?

Annie: Yes. I loved him.

Gary: So you were unable to separate your professional life from your personal one.

Annie: The CIA has asked me that question before; both then and now it feels like an indictment. The truth is the CIA needs me to blur those lines and I am very good at it.

Gary: You didn't answer the question.

Annie: [whispers] My mission was to make my professional life my personal one, and my personal life professional.

---

Annie: Auggie, are you busy?

Auggie: I'm the only one here who can work without a screen, so yes.

Annie: I just need a minute. I wanted to introduce you to Eyal Lavine.

Auggie: [receives hug from Eyal] Oh. Hello.

Eyal: It is so great to finally meet you.

Auggie: August Anderson. Thanks for helping us out.

Eyal: You know, I have to confess that after weeks of coded texts and encrypted emails, one forms a picture in one's mind.

Auggie: You didn't think I'd be blind.

Eyal: I didn't think you'd be this short.

Auggie: [laughs] Well, I didn't think you'd be this handsome.

Eyal: [laughs] I like you, Auggie Anderson.

Auggie: I'll try to take that as a compliment.

---

Eyal: Listen, just because I saved you out of a Russian prison doesn't mean you owe me.

Annie: I didn't say I did.

Eyal: Why not? I saved you out of a Russian prison!

---

Annie: Is there anything that Mossad could share with us about the intel that was on that watch? Maybe if we had some specific leads --

Rivka: Miss Walker, these questions are inappropriate and they are not helpful. As far as I can tell, your field work at best is unpredictable and at worst it is reckless.

Eyal: Hey! Don't talk to her that way.

Rivka: Excuse me?

Eyal: She's just trying to make the best of a bad situation. If you want to yell at somebody, yell at me.

Rivka: That can be arranged.

---

Eyal: So how long before your supervisors realize you shared your intel with us?

Annie: I don't know. I don't care. They paired us together because we work well together. They can't have it both ways.

Eyal: I'm impressed. You're learning to work your agency, showing them you can't be pushed around. You had me, you know. When Griffin was running away, you could have kept that watch for yourself. Why share it with Mossad?

Annie: I didn't share it with Mossad. I shared it with you.

Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) [3.14]

Annie: The guy does demo.

Eyal: That's probably where Cole got his explosives.

Annie: You take the front door and I'll take the back.

Eyal: If you're so eager to get shot, why don't you take the front door?

Annie: We're two highly trained intelligence operatives. You don't think we can get the drop on a contractor with an NRA card?

---

Eyal: You want to tell me what just happened here? What's going on with you?

Annie: Rivka's at Langley. She says you've gone rogue. That you doctored the photos of al Masri, not Mossad. You.

Eyal: Wait a minute. Rivka's at Langley?

Annie: You wouldn't do that, would you?

Eyal: You mean she's there right now?

Annie: I'm telling you she just left Joan's office. Eyal, tell me that's not true!

Eyal: I'm sorry, Annie. It's true.

Annie: You're lying.

Eyal: Annie, I did it.

Annie: Mossad got caught pulling a fast one on the CIA and now you're taking one for the team to smooth things over. You're sacrificing yourself to protect them!

Eyal: You're wrong. I acted on my own.

Annie: Was there no other way to achieve what you wanted than by using me like this? I trusted you.

Eyal: I told you a long time ago that there's no such thing as trust among spies, but you don't seem to get it. You know this thing you keep doing, looking for the good in people? Not only does it make you weak, it makes you a target, and an easy one at that.

---

Annie: Maybe you're right: maybe I'm naive, maybe I need to grow a thicker skin. I'm still having trouble believing you would give me doctored photos knowing what would happen, given all we've been through.

Eyal: What are you saying, Annie?

Annie: I'm saying I'm giving you one last chance to save our friendship.

Eyal: There's nothing I can say.

---

Rivka: What did you tell her?

Eyal: That I acted alone. That's what I was supposed to do, wasn't it?

Rivka: We had no choice. It had to be done.

Eyal: By way of deception, thou shall do war.

Rivka: Eyal, you had a role to play here for Mossad, for Israel.

Eyal: Annie trusted me completely.

Rivka: Yes, that was the point.

Eyal: That's all over. I'm finished here. What now?

Rivka: Now you go to Tel Aviv. We'll find a desk for you.

Eyal: I don't think so.

Rivka: You don't think so? What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Eyal: It means I quit.

Rivka: Excuse me?

Eyal: I've done some foolish, dangerous, questionable things for Mossad, for you. But this, this crossed the line.

Rivka: Don't forget which side of the line this woman is on.

Eyal: I trusted her. She saved my life five times, even though she only counts three.

Rivka: Listen to me: what is happening here is much larger than you know. We've all had to play our parts. We've all had to pay the price.

Eyal: Yeah? What have you lost in this grandiose scheme, hmm?

Rivka: You.

Quicksand [3.15]

Annie: So much for being polite. What happened?

Eyal: I didn't have time to be polite. We need to get that money so we can pay off that club manager.

Annie: I'm not talking about your methods. You didn't want him to call Tel Aviv. Are you on the outs with Rivka? Did you get suspended?

Eyal: I quit Mossad.

Annie: You quit Mossad? [sigh] I knew it! I knew they would make you take the fall for them.

Eyal: Don't read too much into it. I wanted to hunt Khalid down and kill him, they had already completed their mission. Let's just call it creative differences.

Annie: Eyal.

Eyal: It was time anyway.

Annie: Eyal, I'm sorry. I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you.

---

Eyal: His guys must have clocked us and had Megan killed.

Annie: She was in love. She was never going to listen to me.

Eyal: It wasn't your fault.

Annie: I know that. She had a chance to get herself out; more than one. She refused my help. There's nothing I can do about that. What?

Eyal: Nothing. I agree with everything you said, it's just I've never heard you talk like this before.

Annie: Yeah, well I didn't feel like this before, but I've learned a lot since the last time we were here. Not everybody can be saved. That's not my job.

Eyal: Please tell me you didn't take everything I said back in West Virginia to heart. Your empathy is one of your greatest talents. Never lose it. You never know when you might need it.

Lady Stardust [3.16]

Auggie: We're talking about handing over agency assets. How many names are on that list? How many lives are we trading for one man?

Annie: Three assets in Riyadh, one in Dubai, but they're both collecting intel on OPEC, not the Ansari family.

Auggie: That designation doesn't mean anything.

Annie: Can't we get them off the board before Khalid gets to them?

Auggie: Yes, but the lives of those assets will be irrevocably changed.

Annie: I know. I pulled everything I could on the Ansari family looking for a way around this. I can't think of another plan. I don't want to give over those names, either, but somebody has to do something! Eyal needs my help, and I can't do nothing.

Auggie: Is this about Russia?

Annie: And Paris, and Zurich, and West Virginia. It's about all of it.

Auggie: You once told me you didn't have feelings for him. Is that not true? Is that what's driving this?

Annie: Why do you keep asking me that?

---

Khalid: You'll never get away with this.

Annie: Get away with what? You have no idea what I want. This is not a negotiation. You no longer have leverage. When I say something, you do it or I shoot you. Is that clear?

Khalid: Yes.

Annie: Killing you would be the easiest thing in the world right now, but it won't solve anything.

---

Annie: Why Athens?

Eyal: I've got a 40 foot Mariner in Piraeus with my name on it. No, seriously. It's called The Flying Lavin.

Annie: You're dyed in the wool Mossad. Are you sure you're going to be happy just sitting around in a boat all day?

Eyal: Sitting? It's called sailing. I don't know. Much of Jewish mysticism revolves around numbers: the five knots in a tzitzit, the ten Sephirot, the four species of Sukkot; but we only get one life. I want to make the best of it.

Annie: Why do I always feel like there's something behind what you're telling me?

Eyal: [smiles] Why don't you join me and find out?

Annie: The last time a guy asked me to run away with him, it didn't work out that well. Besides, I need to get home, put down some roots.

Eyal: For now. Timing is everything neshema, but one day you and I will be sitting somewhere, looking at a sunset, thinking of nothing at all. Maybe not this boat in Greece, but one day, and that will be lovely evening.

Annie: I hope so. Goodbye, Eyal.

Eyal: I'm not good with goodbyes, and I never get to say it. Thank you, Annie. Good luck.

---

Henry Wilcox: Yes, I know this is macabre, but I wanted to see this place for myself. Please have a seat. Thank you for coming. I know this couldn't be easy.

Annie: It isn't. Everything in here is exactly as it was before.

Henry Wilcox: Life has a funny way of continuing on, no matter what we do. I know Jai didn't paint the rosiest picture of me, but I'm here to try and make things right.

Annie: Mr. Wilcox, you and I only ever met once. I never felt we had any personal issue.

Henry Wilcox: This is about Arthur and Joan Campbell.

Annie: I've never had any personal issues with them, either.

Henry Wilcox: Let me ask you something: why didn't you kill Khalid in Amsterdam? Yes, I know about Khalid. Just assume I know everything.

Annie: I gave Khalid all the information he needs to kill his father or force his father to kill him. Either way, we have a piece of the game board and cause havoc in their ranks. It can't be traced back to the Agency.

Henry Wilcox: Excellent spycraft, Ms. Walker.

Annie: My experience with Lena taught me a few things.

Cast

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

External links

• Covert Affairs quotes at the Internet Movie Database