Undercovers: The Reason (1.13)

Network television is rough. You put in all this effort, work your butt off to create a vivid universe that keeps viewer interest intact, drop small hints at a bigger picture at work, and then your show gets canceled just as you begin to tell the story you want to tell. Now Undercovers didn't entirely reach that pinnacle of intrigue that the above sentences imply, but what was notable over the last run of episodes was a palpable feeling of plot strands coming together in one way or another, that the writers were aware that the mission-of-the-week routine could never sustain people's attention in the long run and that they had to create a kind of narrative spine in order to survive.

Undercovers: Dark Cover (1.12)

I'm a perfectionist at heart, and the sight of a show left half finished on this blog of mine can't help but bring me out in hives. So, a year after they first washed up on some obscure Australian network and two years since I last watched the show, here are the last two episodes of the short-lived JJ Abrams series Undercovers. Remember it? No? That's not surprising. Undercovers was a half-baked attempt to merge trademark Abrams espionage action with romantic comedy, concerning a pair of married spies who are just as likely to be seen shooting a bad guy as they are bickering over onions or whatever, both of them being caterers in their downtime. The show was an instant bomb, staying on the air for a couple of weeks due to NBC's network miseries at the time.

Undercovers: The Key to It All (1.11)

It's about damn time that the mythology element to Undercovers was explored, but frustratingly we were once again just blessed with the 'idea' of mythology. Here we have a secret key, a locked vault, and a mysterious book. The problem is that just by having allusions to mythology doesn't make the show more interesting. It's the show dragging its feet to create some kind of tension or drama, but it's only succeeded in backfiring completely. A show like Heroes also seemed to intentionally drag out story arcs and 'ideas' for so long that they became stale, and that show too became unwatchable. The fact that NBC ordered several additional scripts and, after reading them, then decided to cancel the series goes a long way in revealing that even after warnings of cancellation, the show didn't re-tool enough to make the concept work.

Undercovers: Funny Money (1.10)

There was a moment in Funny Money where Steven and Hoyt manipulated the bad guy of the week into saying the seven-digit code needed to open up his secret vault. What made the scene even more fun was the use of on-screen graphics which appeared every time a new number was spoken. It was such an odd moment of visual flair that stuck out like a sore thumb in a series that has lacked any kind of visual identity. Sure, you can see that expense has been poured into the sets and the various international locations the show has explored, but visually the show just hasn't been memorable. I guess the travel-card location titles were interesting, but paled in comparison to the floaty 3D wording on Fringe, or the comic book typeface on Heroes years ago. But, man, the password scene here was pretty darn great, and a step in the right direction.

Undercovers: A Night to Forget (1.9)

This had all the ingredients for a great episode, but it never really came together. Leo has been the strongest character on the show so far, his recklessness and one-liners outshining the bland monotony of the Blooms, while he's played with humor and enthusiasm by Carter MacIntyre, the only actor on the show who really sparkles. It's about time he got an episode centered around him, especially as he's been so underused so far, but for whatever reason the Blooms took control midway through the episode. What began as a humorous Hangover-style comedy escapade quickly became a Bloom-heavy run of predictability.

Undercovers: Crashed (1.8)

This show has a lot to learn when it comes to revelations. Two episodes ago, we discovered Steven's big secret reason for getting thrown out of the training unit. Was it undercover espionage? Somebody was killed? Nope. He hacked into a database to find out Samantha's name. He thought she was cute. Snore. Now, in Crashed, we discover some haunting memories from Sam's past. Something interesting happened? Not really. She killed somebody who was torturing her. All performed with Gugu Mbatha-Raw's dead-eyed, vacant stare. Sorry for being so harsh on her. She kinda sucked here. And she destroyed that huge cake, the bitch!

Undercovers: Assassin (1.7)

They always say that you can correctly guess who the killer is on Law & Order as soon as the famous guest star appears. It's that guy! So when David Anders, aka Alias' Mr. Sark, showed up in the teaser sequence, introduced himself as a flirtatious photographer, and then left... well, it wasn't totally surprising when he turned out to be the villain of the episode. It was a little disappointing, however, that the same executive producer who blessed Anders with one of the last decade's finest TV villains failed to give him anything to work with here. Go figure.

Undercovers: Xerxes (1.6)

This was probably the first episode in which the mission overshadowed the flawed character plots. I mention this because pretty much every episode so far has featured some pretty woeful espionage stories. There's always a MacGuffin of some sort or a person to find, and while Xerxes doesn't totally see a turnaround in plot devices, it does feature some strong guest stars and some decent twists along the way. If only the show's protagonists could equally get out of the rut the writers have stuck them in.

Undercovers: Not Without My Daughter (1.5)

I've noticed that every review I've written for Undercovers thus far has mentioned other, far greater shows. No matter the quality of the episode I'm reviewing, I'm constantly reminded of certain plot strands or ideas that are executed in far better ways on other series. Why is this? Has the well of espionage spy drama been run dry? Or maybe it's the fact that, five episodes in, Undercovers doesn't yet have much of an identity. It's just there. I'm waiting for the show to grow a little, or become just that little bit more intriguing or generally likable, but so far it's not happening.

Undercovers: Jailbreak (1.4)

Once again we have The Agents Bloom attempting to intercept a device of some sort which, if released and/or sold, could have insanely heinous repercussions for some giant corporation. Is there too much of this, already? Four episodes in, and the show seems to be stuck in a familiar rut. We have the infiltration of various buildings, some undercover action, a kidnap victim, a twist midway through. A series like this lives or dies on its own sense of wonderment and high-stakes espionage, and so far it's not totally delivering.

Undercovers: Devices (1.3)

I think what Undercovers is lacking is some emotional depth in its characters. On both Alias and Fringe, even if certain episodes didn't work, we had protagonists who were immediately fascinating and likable. Even Fringe, despite almost its entire cast of characters at first being pretty generic and dull, at least had Walter, intriguing and endearing right from the get-go. So far, the cast of Undercovers haven't entirely won me over. I don't feel as if I necessarily know these people, let alone explicitly care about them. Sure, Leo and Hoyt are both pretty amusing, and I guess Sam and Steven are fine to watch every week, but I don't particularly care about them so far.

Undercovers: Instructions (1.2)

A lot of people have complained about how breezy this show is, and while I have to agree that it's been pretty lightweight so far, it's important to remember that it's only just premiered. As TV viewers, we've come to a point where an immediate hook is necessary to capture an audience, and waiting around for a couple of weeks to see a TV series eventually grow and evolve is just too damn long. One of my favorite shows on the air right now, the similarly J.J. Abrams-produced Fringe, took seemingly forever to hit the jackpot, eventually stumbling into stunning science-fiction towards the back-end of its first season. So while Undercovers isn't mind-blowing at this point, it's reliable, sufficient escapism. I'm hoping that it will at some point evolve to loftier, more complicated heights but so far I'm actually enjoying watching the series unfold.

Undercovers: Pilot (1.1)

Alias, J.J. Abrams' first attempt at an espionage action drama, lived and died by its convoluted and ultimately unsatisfying mythology. While the show ranks up there amongst my favorite ever series, it was a little disheartening that it ended so abruptly with a conclusion that made little cohesive sense. However, the fun was in the journey. The destination just happening to be disappointing doesn't necessarily dent the show as a whole, for me anyway. I bring this up because Abrams and company have made a marked effort to make their new spy series wholly different from Alias, giving it a mission-of-the-week vibe and brightening up the tone, allowing for a whole lot of sexy banter and sexy action from its sexy, sexy leads. Sex sex sex.