Guest Post: Gugu Mbatha-Raw in New TV Spy Drama “Undercovers” Gets to Kick Some Serious Butt

Another guest post brought to you by the wonderful Phylis Z. Miller:

J.J. Abrams has taken the successful formula he used for the ABC TV drama series “Alias” and used a similar template, including a comic relief character, for his new fall NBC show “Undercovers,” of which I’ve seen the pilot co-written by show co-creator Josh Reims.

This time, though, also sprinkled in are bits of the Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt film “Mrs. And Mrs. Smith,” in which the conceit is that both Angelina Jolie’s character and Brad Pitt’s character are assassins who don’t know about each other’s assassin career.

In “Undercovers” the husband and wife team (starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, playing Samantha Bloom, and Boris Kodjoe, playing Steven Bloom) are not at each other’s throats but they are too tired for sex.

Former CIA agents (they met at “The Farm” – the CIA’s training center), they’ve been out of the agency for several years and are now running their own catering business.  A CIA representative comes knocking to ask them to find and rescue their former colleague because Samantha Bloom had been working with this agent when she left the agency.

Of course they say no way.

Then Samantha Bloom decides to say yes to the rescue mission before her husband says yes.  He, meanwhile, says he would do the mission if his wife isn’t told.  Oops, too late; she has already signed on.  And, anyway, where is he going to tell his wife he is going when he leaves town, especially with a major catering commission on hand?

Now I did find it somewhat of a disconnect when, in the middle of a very tense life-and-death situation, Samantha Bloom is on her cell advising her sister regarding problems at the catering event.  True, I know how much multitasking women do, but this much seems rather ridiculous.

Still, in “Undercovers” the wife gets to be as heroic as her husband, even though, when they are in Russia at the climax of their rescue mission, he does want her to remain safely behind.  (Of course she doesn’t.)

Then when their adrenaline kicks in – and they get their mojo back – they sign on permanently while keeping the catering business as their cover.

“Undercovers” will definitely add a nice dimension to the recent run of TV dramas with strong action heroines.  Gabrielle Anwar’s Fiona Glenanne in USA Network’s popular “Burn Notice” and Piper Perabo’s Annie Walker in USA Network’s new “Covert Affairs” also each get to kick some serious butt.

And here’s my personal CIA story:

While at Wharton getting an M.B.A., I applied to the CIA and filled out numerous copies of numerous forms on an electric typewriter.  But on the day that the CIA called inviting me down to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, for a two-day interview process I had a change of heart.  I just couldn’t see myself, currently married with a house in Philly, as a CIA agent stationed in some end-of-the-world country.

To this day I regret at least not going for the two-day interview process.  And what really rankles me is that an episode of “Top Chef” this season takes place at Langley.  Talk about national security and need-to-know!



Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) writes about social media and military-related topics.  Her newest book is FOUR COMEDY SCREENPLAYS at http://budurl.com/4comedyscreenplays and her company has just launched the Quick Start Social Media Track at www.millermosaicllc.com/social-media-track

Guest Post: Piper Perabo in New TV Series COVERT AFFAIRS Plays a Realistic CIA Field Agent

In the new drama series “Covert Affairs” on USA Network, Piper Perabo stars as Annie Walker, a 28-year-old CIA trainee yanked from her training at “The Farm” for a critical mission in D.C. and then kept at CIA headquarters rather than finishing her training.

What makes this spy thriller believable (as a TV drama) starting with the first episode is the scene in which Annie is hauled in to speak with a trainer and she believes she is about to be cut from training.

She blabbers that she’ll take retake the exercise.  She asks if it was the driving course or the deception training.

The reply is that she was better on the driving course than any woman they’ve ever had and better on the deception training than anyone in a decade.

Then she is told she is being yanked from training to immediately report to Langley – CIA headquarters.

And, yes, she does silly newcomer things and is then introduced to her new secret world by Auggie Anderson (played by Christopher Gorham), a Langley analyst blinded on a special ops mission.  (His computer has a Braille keyboard.)

What I like best about this new series is that it is relatively realistic.  Perabo is not Angelina Jolie in the new movie “Salt,” a CIA operative who functions more like Spider Man than a real CIA field operative.

Perabo’s Annie Walker is an active field agent but she doesn’t do any superhuman feats.

What’s more, during her polygraph exam in the first episode it is established that she speaks six languages.  (Thanks to having traveled around the world in search of herself.)  And this language ability is integrally woven into the episodes.

Although “Covert Affairs” takes the usual TV dramatic license with the realities of jurisdiction between the CIA, the FBI and local police, it does provide an interesting insider’s look into CIA covert operations.

I highly recommend this show for its entertaining plots and for its realistic portrayal of a female action heroine.  And the show rightly takes its place alongside a sister show on USA Network that I also highly recommend – “Burn Notice” – in which a female operative is also realistically portrayed.

Learn more at www.usanetwork.com/series/covertaffairs/

Phyllis Zimbler Miller writes about social media and military-related topics.  She is the author of the novel Mrs. Lieutenant and co-author of two other books.  Read her blog at Miller Mosaic Power Marketing.