# Covert Affairs S1 E2 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covert-affairs-s1-e2/547506 "2010-07-21T19:41:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covert-affairs-s1-e2/547506/1 "2010-07-21T19:41:01Z")
Caught this one last night. The show is decent, as long as they stay away from the MacGuyvering stuff that’s obviously way off, like using a Listerine strip to pull a fingerprint off of an old-style blackberry (which this episode was mysteriously changed to a 10 year old StarTac phone). Anyone else have a problem accepting the bungling Dr Suresh as “Spy Royalty”? ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covert-affairs-s1-e2/547506/2 "2010-07-21T23:55:46Z")
> [@crazyjoe](#): > > Anyone else have a problem accepting the bungling Dr Suresh as “Spy Royalty”? Yes. Having seen him on Psych last season softened the blow, but I said to myself “Mohinder? REALLY?” He actually seems a pretty decent actor, but Mohinder was just so… Mohinder Oh and I liked the second episode more than the first. It won’t be my favorite show on tv, but I’m sure I’ll watch it when it’s on. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covert-affairs-s1-e2/547506/3 "2010-07-22T02:09:00Z")
I also realize that, on Heroes, he had a generally charming look about him. With the new haircut, no stubble, and in a suit and tie, he does not strike me as some sort of hottie on the level of Annie. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covert-affairs-s1-e2/547506/4 "2010-07-22T17:24:56Z")
I kept wondering when Sylar would show up, so his presence was just a bit distracting. I thought it was a nice touch when the alleged British spy pulled out what appeared to be a Walther PPK. What else would a British spy use to shoot someone? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covert-affairs-s1-e2/547506/5 "2010-07-22T17:40:21Z")
It is a decent summer show. Couple of nitpicks: Is a red car really the ideal car to have for a covert CIA agent? I guess it would blend in at a clown parade, but otherwise… For a CIA agent, she really could have read a few more espionage novels growing up - she seems a bit clueless on lots of things that most audience members know, such as “wait for back up” or “don’t open that door without a gun in your hand” etc. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covert-affairs-s1-e2/547506/6 "2010-07-22T20:02:21Z")
Would have helped if there hadn’t been an NPR story over the weekend about all the of the Number Stations that are still out there broadcasting and how the codes are all for unbreakable single-use pads which is why they are broadcast in the open and everybody knows where they are (you can look up the frequencies on the internet if you want). It kind of undercut the initial premise of the loner brilliant kid tracking down an old fashioned means of spy communication and decoding it himself. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covert-affairs-s1-e2/547506/7 "2010-07-22T21:09:44Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Would have helped if there hadn’t been an NPR story over the weekend about all the of the Number Stations that are still out there broadcasting and how the codes are all for unbreakable single-use pads which is why they are broadcast in the open and everybody knows where they are (you can look up the frequencies on the internet if you want). > > It kind of undercut the initial premise of the loner brilliant kid tracking down an old fashioned means of spy communication and decoding it himself. Yeah, that and the fact that the IRA was plotting to explode a bomb in Washington, DC. The IRA?! In 2010? In the US??? Maybe they thought Muslims would be too cliche 😛 But it’s a decent show if you don’t think about it too hard. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covert-affairs-s1-e2/547506/8 "2010-07-22T22:02:47Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > Yeah, that and the fact that the IRA was plotting to explode a bomb in Washington, DC. The IRA?! In 2010? In the US??? Maybe they thought Muslims would be too cliche 😛 > > But it’s a decent show if you don’t think about it too hard. I don’t know. The idea of a terrorist organization that has been off the map for a spell using a big splash to announce its return doesn’t seem that weird to me. Another way to look at it is the IRA is starting to join Nazis and Commies on the menu that writers can pick from when they need a villain that’s recognizable, but kind of nonthreatening because they’re not really current anymore. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covert-affairs-s1-e2/547506/9 "2010-07-23T16:29:40Z")
Both the Finnish spies had hockey player last names. I wonder if it was a coincidence. Only half way through this episode. So far, so good. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covert-affairs-s1-e2/547506/10 "2010-07-23T17:07:04Z")
So she’s a covert spy so undercover that even the family she lives with doesn’t realize she works for the CIA? Good thing none of her family happen to be a random nutjob that can just walk in off the street with a crazy conspiracy theory and blow an agent’s cover then, huh?