Two hot shows heat up in USA return

THE SHOWS "Covert Affairs," Tuesday at 10 p.m. and "Burn Notice," Thursday at 10 p.m., both on USA.

REASON TO WATCH Two of USA's biggest hits have their midseason premieres.

CATCHING UP WITH 'COVERT AFFAIRS' Annie Walker (Piper Perabo) is a covert operative with the Domestic Protection Division (DPD) of the CIA who finally had to reveal to her sister, Danielle (Anne Dudek), that she was a spy; this is naturally a shock to Danielle, and she's also angered that Annie kept the secret from her. She kicks her out of the house (Annie's been living with her and family), and as the season's second half begins, she's got to get a new crib and a new project at work. That presents itself almost by accident, when she meets a handsome chef at a very chic restaurant -- who also has, or had, ties to Basque separatists.

MY SAY You may or may not be surprised to learn that "Affairs" is one of the biggest hits on cable -- a monster with about seven million viewers, and it already has a third season on order. How did this happen? As Tuesday's episode almost self-explains, the basics are all in place: Good actors, writing, direction, and (most of all) Perabo, who has enough inherent screen charm (and poise) to carry this all by herself.

GRADE B

CATCHING UP WITH 'BURN NOTICE' Burned operative Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) is being blackmailed by former Defense Intelligence Agency shrink/currently full-time bad guy, Anson (Jere Burns), who knows that Fi (Gabrielle Anwar) accidentally killed a couple of guards when she set off a blast at a consulate in that battle with "Dead" Larry (Tim Matheson). And if Michael doesn't do what Anson says, he's got enough on Fi to send her away to prison forever. Michael complies, and, for his first job, he must snatch a heavily guarded computer geek in Puerto Rico who has a secret code that will erase all traces of Anson in the agency computer system. The only problem is, members of the cartel want to grab the geek, too, so they can erase their own traces.

MY SAY Welcome to USA megahit No. 2, where, after careful contemplation and a few years of casual watching, I have finally cracked its recipe. First, you get a nice, pretty pot (we'll call that "Miami"), and into this throw a bunch of beloved characters, played by Sharon Gless (Mike's mom, Madeline Westen) and Bruce Campbell (Sam Axe; who else?), stir in two separate but related story lines (A and B), fold in a few fiery explosions, one or two destroyed SUVs, some bad guys with thick accents, and enough techno-babble-gobbledygook to satisfy even the nerdiest nerds among us . . . and presto! A TV addiction. The code remains fully in place Thursday.

GRADE B+