Where have you been all my life? I realize, dear readers, that as a bureaucracy nerd and as someone who keeps a careful cultural eye on Washington, that I am a tad in the tank for Covert Affairs, even recognizing that it’s not more than smart, fizzy fun. But one element of the show I think deserves for credit above and beyond the call of a USA Network summer series is Kari Matchett, the wonderful actress who plays the main character’s boss, and the wife of a competing CIA directorate.

Part of it is it’s just a very good role. Joan struggles between competing with her husband because she wants to beat him and because she’s interested in the fate of her directorate. She is a failure at being “a good CIA wife,” who accepts that she simply must trust her husband precisely because she’s a good CIA employee, conditioned to distrust. Her desire for a good marriage and a good life conflict, leading her to waste resources, and occasionally to put her sympathy for other betrayed women above organizational imperatives. Despite her failures, she’s competent and tough, and she’s a good role model for Annie, her newest employee. The setup is a novel twist on the professional woman’s balance between marriage and career, tackling the dilemma by making both elements inextricably linked. I like that Joan’s errors don’t make her a bad person, but the show doesn’t hesitate to outline the gravity of them. Tying up NSA spying capability to keep tabs on your husband’s communications is both a bad idea because it’s a waste, and because it speaks to an embarrassing, but sympathetic, neediness.

Her husband (played by the inestimable Peter Gallagher) is, in many ways, a less decent person than Joan is, but like Joan, his decency is tied up in his role at work. He is probably cheating on his wife, but we don’t quite know, because the line between personal and professional use of tradecraft is so thin. He leaks to the press, mostly because he feels it’s his responsibility to try to control the agency’s media coverage. And he fights with Joan over control of Annie’s time and mission because he sees a valuable asset in her.

On both sides, it’s a deft portrait of a marriage. And I’m particularly pleased for Matchett because it’s one of only a few regular roles she’s had. She’s done stints on ER, Studio 60 and 24, but I’m turning into Covert Affairs increasingly for her. More folks should make use of her.

ALL YOUR EMOTIONS ARE BELONG TO US:

One thing I’m genuinely curious about: why hasn’t some smart American female star picked her up for a collaboration? Not that working with Snoop Dogg, or Royksopp, or I Blame Coco isn’t awesome, but you’d think someone with a taste for indie cred and emotional sincerity would enlist her? I feel like she and Lady Gaga could do incredibly heartfelt covers of standards and hang out and Robyn could be Gaga’s older sisters who’s graduated from her acting-out-via-fashion stage, or something.

So, January Jones is going to be Emma Frost, adding yet another Big Name to the massiver-by-the-minute X-Men: First Class roster. I’m not opposed to this in principal, I think Jones could make a totally reasonable Emma Frost, particularly if they were filming the Dark Phoenix Saga in a way that was reasonably true to the source material (I think the fact that First Class is going to be set in the future is promising, though of precisely what, I’m not sure). Can’t y’all just see Betty Draper wilting under the psychic power of Phoenix in a testy mood?

Given the success folks like Anna Paquin and Hugh Jackman had after X-Men, I think it’s easy to forget that the first movie in that trilogy had two really legitimate stars in Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan and a ton of other people on the cusp. Halle Berry wasn’t even really Halle Berry yet, Monster’s Ball was still a year away. Rebecca Romjin and Famke Janssen were supermodels, and weren’t really expected to be that good, though in the end, Romjin’s performance in The Last Stand is perhaps the most affecting thing in it. I wonder if internet culture and movie websites today just make it seem like First Class is full of reasonably big names, though Kevin Bacon and James McAvoy are probably the most established actors attached to the project. It’ll be interesting to see, if the movie is actually substantially good and significantly fun, who breaks out from it to go on to greater things. These movies are good potential proving ground, a place where minor stars can make a mark with only moderately-known characters. I’ll be curious to see who makes the leap.

I sounded off about a serious pet peeve in an otherwise awesome-looking trailer.