In “Covert Affairs,” Season 2, Episode 15, “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” Annie is recruited by a fellow named Kenneth, an MI6 operative, to get him access to the Smithsonian in order to uncover a terrorist plot.
Spoilers follow.
There are a number of bizarre things going on in this episode. First, Kenneth is unaware that Annie is a CIA agent. Her bosses back at Langley decide to allow her to go with Kenneth’s recruitment to see where things are headed. The second bizarre thing is that MI6 is not supposed to recruit people on American soil, at least without the knowledge or permission of their CIA cousins.
In any case, Kenneth’s op involves an art historian of Middle Eastern extraction who may or may not be using his job as a cover for terrorism. At first the investigation is inconclusive. The fellow is a jerk and, despite the discovery of dual use chemicals, there is no evidence that the fellow is anything more than that.
Kenneth reveals that as his parents are working class, he is given menial jobs at Her Majesty’s Secret Service, going through garbage and such. Only the Cambridge and Oxford boys get to wear the tux, drive the Aston Martin, and go to the casino to pick up babes and play vignt et un. He is running this op off the books in a hope to impress his bosses. Instead he seems to have gotten himself out of a job.
That is, until a couple of terrorist grab them and toss them into the trunk of a car. Fortunately Annie has the training to escape that situation and, much to the chagrin of Kenneth, drives them to Langley.
Eventually they discover that the plot does not involve making something blow up, but rather smuggling a master terrorist out of the United States. Another successful mission completed. Kenneth is promoted to full field op, no doubt getting his “00” number, his Walther PPK, his tux, and his Aston Martin.
There is a subplot with Jai running an op in Bolivia, thanks to his dad, that goes wrong. Arthur bails him out of his mess, informing him that when real lives are on the line it is not always about political one up man ship.
The title, by the way, is a reference to a strange incident that took place several years ago involving former CBS News anchor Dan Rather when he was beaten by a deranged man who thought the media was beaming signals to him. The incident became the basis of a song by R.E.M.