Every once in a while, a show comes along that captures the imagination and benefits everything else that’s on the same network. MONK, however, is gone. Still, USA continues to show a commitment to character-driven shows such as Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, In Plain Sight, White Collar and, now, Covert Affairs.

As one of those in the blogesphere selected to see the debut episode of this Piper Perabo vehicle before it debuts on July 13, I have a chance to give you the early word on whether Covert Affairs is destined to make it to my DVR Subscribe list, or if it’s more likely to follow in the footsteps of the well-intentioned-but-dreadful The Starter Wife.

Perabo plays a gal who traveled the world, fell in love on the beach with a near-stranger, and in the wake of his disappearance from her life, decides to pursue a career as… a medical assistant school professor!

Oops, no, wrong show. Actually, Perabo’s Annie Walker decides to get into the spy game, applying to the CIA. The show opens as she has a month left on her training, and without giving away too much in terms of spoilers, let’s just back off from the narrative and say that the script follows a true-to-formula pattern established at least as far back as novelist Thomas Harris’ novel and director Johnathan Demme’s movie adaptation, The Silence of the Lambs.

Which means? Well, of course, Annie’s special skills with foreign languages are “needed right now” for a “special assignment” and she’s called to Washington. It’s a bit of a stretch to believe and even a top-flight foreign language student would have no peer or superior already working in the CIA, but of course this is Big Government and all is not as it appears, right?

In addition to Silence of the Lambs, JJ Abrams’ Alias also casts a bit of a shadow over Covert Affairs, setting up expectations for how the show is going to go, while even Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer can be credited to a limited degree as inspiration.

Turns out Perabo can handle herself capably as a tough-girl spy, and while it’s hard to judge off one episode whether she has the chops to follow in the footsteps of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Garner and Jodie Foster, she does at least seem to be at ease in the role.

Joining Perabo is Christopher Gorham, whose blind CIA agent becomes a mentor and pal to Perabo almost immediately; although Gorham’s role is as a straight man, his vision impairment seems to relegate him to the now-too-common role on romantically non-threatening “gay best friend.” Which is a shame because Perabo and Gorham ooze screen chemistry… which is exactly what the producers want us to see, I suspect. Much like Sam Merlotte is Sookie Stackhouse’s best romantic prospect but she never recognizes it on HBO’s True Blood, Gorham’s Auggie Anderson is designed the be her “perfect match right in front of Annie, who she never really notices ‘in that way.’”

Of course, this is just my opinion on Auggie’s intended role in the series, the impression I picked up from the first episode. We’ll see where they take it… if anywhere.

Like Burn Notice and In Plain Sight, Covert Affairs is a light drama with some mild comedy tossed in; don’t look for the hard-hitting seriousness of Law and Order: Criminal Intent or the darkness that surrounds Showtime’s Dexter here; it’s thankfully nowhere to be found. Yet this is not quite a comedy in the spirit of Monk or Psych, either. It’s definitely in the same ballpark as Burn Notice and In Plain Sight… only without (so far) In Plain Sight’s too-often-potty-mouthed scripts.

Speaking of the script, Covert Affairs does well on the plot twists, but does stumble on the details in some notable places. For example, in what seems like a very out-of-character moment, Annie, who is described in the pilot as being 28 years old, grouses about another character’s sudden disappearance, making a comparison to the “midnight move” of the then-Baltimore Colts out of Baltimore.

This clearly is a case of the writer inserting their own generational memories into a script; the Baltimore Colts played their final home game in Baltimore in 1983; so 28-year-old Annie would have been all of about one year old when the Colts moved, yet she speaks of it like its an experience that affected her personally, even though her character shows no other signs of being a significant sports fan.

It’s akin to the way many filmmakers today have teenage characters set in 2010 idolizing the Beatles, when John Lennon was already dead before they were even born … rather than talking about a musical act their generation could actually relate to from personal experience.

That kind of sloppiness and inside, self-referential indulgence in the script aside, however, the material may be aware of its shadows and influences, but manages through unique and appealing characters to put a fresh take on the material; this is no Chuck… it’s a bit more serious than NBC’s light spy-drama… Covert Affairs, through its unique cast, keeps the somewhat familiar plots fresh through character slant.

And that’s what USA is all about, right? Characters.

My one concern is that, at the moment, there’s really no “big bad” in the script; a foe who, but rising up to the challenge of taking him or her down, makes Annie Walker’s character seem more significant through victory over them. The debut episode has her taking down a “world-class assassin” who is … well, let’s just say he’s taken out a bit too easily.

What ennobled Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling was the significance of the threat posed by Hannibal Lecter; what made Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy a force to be reckoned with was that her “big bads” got bigger and badder with each successive season.

If Covert Affairs is to become great television … not just watchable (which it is) but a show that rises to the standard set by Buffy and Alias, for example … then it needs to develop an opposite number for Annie, a foe who can seem to be far beyond her ability to even annoy, so that when she finally tumbles him or her from their fiefdom, it will be a significant achievement. Let’s hope Covert Affairs reaches for greatness and doesn’t just settle for “case of the week” episodic-only payoffs to their story arcs.

One final note: a tip of the hat to the producers of Covert Affairs for excellent musical taste; their use of Brandi Carlile’s “Before It Breaks,” fresh off her latest disc, “Give Up the Ghost,” was effective and an excellent episode cap. Carlile’s studio take didn’t seem to be the one used, however; it sounder more acoustic and raw than the disc cut. With any luck, USA and Carlile will team up to provide a special single of the acoustic take of “Before It Breaks” through iTunes on premiere week.

Don’t know if they will, mind you; they’d just be wise to do so!