Toronto, combined with some nice second unit photography, did a very serviceable job of passing for Zurich, Switzerland on this week’s episode of Covert Affairs. There were the requisite shots of the airport and of the churches along the lake, and a strategically placed street sign for Geigergasse, which is a real alley in the city. To the best of my knowledge (and Google’s) there is no Zurich Parc Hotel. I lived in Zurich for nearly two years back in the 1980s, so I’m somewhat familiar with the city, and I would have bought it. The Israeli agent’s comment about the unlikeliness of electricians working on Sunday especially rang true. When I lived there it was against the statutes to do your laundry on Sunday! They even managed to include a few shots featuring Zurich’s official bird: the construction crane.
This was a good episode, with Annie effectively cut free from her handlers after a routine bump-and-drop exchange went bad because someone anticipated the exchange and tried to make a grab. With Augie sent to take a lie detector test, she didn’t have anyone familiar to rely on, and her contact was of dubious trustworthiness at best. There were a few contrivances (convenient bondage rope in the closet for a rappelling escape), but nothing that other shows don’t do. My one subtle blooper for the episode took place at the very beginning. When Annie was going through immigration, the unseen agent opened her fake Canadian passport to the picture page and stamped the facing page. That’s the signature page, and is reserved for endorsements and limitations by the issuing country, and is never used for entry/visa stamps.
Should I hang my head in shame if I admit that I watched Wipeout last night? Tuesday nights are a TV wasteland this summer. I finished my review of Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross, though, so it wasn’t an entirely wasted evening.
