Coyote Ugly finds her Alias

The movie with that quirky  name, a hip soundtrack and a cast of lush ladies, introduced audiences to the relatively unknown Piper Parebo. Now after a decade and a handful of so-so movies  the actress has finally landed a role that’s got some real clout, and a show that looks to be a winner. Covert Affairs currently airing on the USA network is set against the world of clandestine missions and national security, and follows Piper’s character 28 yr old Annie Walker who after taking the initial C.I.A examinations and partial training is swiftly made a full operative and thrown into the deep-end where her language skills are an asset.

Piper Parebo as Annie Walker

She is assisted by Auggie (Christopher Gorham) a talented operative who lost his sight in a mission but a whiz with technology and aids her by monitoring communications and helping her adjust to the challenges ahead. Arthur Campbell played by Peter Gallagher, sits at the head of the proverbial table calling most of the shots and being somewhat pressured by his co-worker and wife Joan ( Kari Matchett) for the decisions he makes both in and outside the office.

The cast of Covert Affairs

Unlike the JJ Abrams hit show Alias which slowly descended into absurdity after he left to helm other projects such as Lost, Covert Affairs has it’s head planted firmly in reality for now, aside from the obvious leaps of faith one must make when the stunning beauty kicks serious butt. The show has the trademark stamp of  Bourne Identity director Doug Liman whose intention to create a series that balances action and drama works well and he knows how scenes should be played to win audiences over.

Series exec producer Doug Liman

In an  in-depth  interview with Collider.com he talks about the new series and how the fighting scenes are largely hands on for the actress who has to take a serious tumble or two  when the bad guys need to be taken out. He reveals how the staging works best when the performer fights against a stunt-person who can play a bad guy to make the fighting look intense.

…it’s much easier to do a fight sequence between two people, if one of the two people in the fight is a stunt person, or you’re going to risk somebody getting hurt. Piper can do the fight herself, if the other person she’s fighting is a trained stunt person, in the same way that most of the characters surrounding Matt Damon, that he fought with, were stunt people. That way, you don’t need to have stunt doubles. That’s the main philosophy for putting Piper into the action. Now, she’s done eight episodes, so she’s almost a stunt woman herself.

[jwplayer config=”tv_movie_2″ mediaid=”312″] property of the USA network

The show is designed to entertain and has some intriguing mysteries in each episode, allowing the viewer to work on the mission with her, though we also see her as a regular person balancing her life with her sister and family as well as her hope that she might one day re-unite with her lost love. This part plays significantly in her character’s choices and it’s an element that allows the series to have a continuing story arc that’s likely to reach breaking point once all the pieces fall into place.

So if you after a good fix of TV adrenaline and enjoy the spy genre with a dash of everyday gal, this is a show that successfully blends the two and makes for an enjoyable hour of TV, check it out.