Quantico Review: 'Cover'

On last night's episode of Quantico, Alex's mother comes into the picture as the FBI tries to extract information from her and convince her to go the press. Sita, Alex's mother, is taken in by the FBI when they break into her house in Oakland fully armed, startling her. Even for television FBI standards, this is pretty unbelievable considering that Oakland is nearly 3,000 miles away from NYC, and Sita is not a dangerous threat.

Nonetheless, she is then taken to the control center in New York, and she refuses to cooperate until the end. Sita know both Liam and Miranda, presumably because of how her husband, Michael, was a special agent. The mystery of what happened with Liam, Michael, Miranda, and Miranda's son is one of the more interesting plotlines, and hopefully the payout is fulfilling. Miranda hastily gives Sita advice to not give up and betray her own blood, drawing from her own experiences with her son. She finally caves in after seeing Alex "holding Simon at gunpoint", and she tells Liam that for a year in India, they didn't know where Alex was. Alex's mother then speaks on national television urging Alex to turn herself in for the greater good.

Alex pays Simon a visit in order to get help figuring out who launched the terrorist attack. It is revealed that Simon was seemingly kicked out at Quantico, and something happened involving him and a bomb. Simon scans the fingerprint on the C4, and they realize that the fingerprints belonged to Alex but was from all the way back when Alex joined. It means that whoever is framing Alex had been doing it from the very start. Simon alerts the authorities by triggering the alarm, but he actually was trying to help Alex to escape without implicating himself. Right when Alex begins to trust Simon, it is revealed that Simon is actually working for Deputy Director Clayton of the FBI.

At Quantico, the recruits are assigned to analyze each other to compile comprehensive psychological profiles on each other. What they didn't know was that the actual purpose of the assignment was to expose what they thought of each other. When the recruits see what their fellow peers really thought of them, it immediately causes them to turn on each other. Miranda informs them that they will have to vote three of each other out of the program, Survivor-style, which certainly does not help relations. Alex leads a united front against this practice even though Miranda says she would cut 10 instead of 3 if that happened. Simon cracks by voting, but this backfires when Miranda reveals that there was never going to be a cut because it was a test of character and teamwork. 

Nimah and her sister's relationship was also strained by the judgement because Raina is frustrated that she is perceived as "average and aggressive" when it really describes her under performing sister.  She is constrained to her sister's best which holds her back from reaching her true potential. When Raina regrets her decision of even coming to Quantico, Nimah brings up the hard hitting fact that Quantico is their only opportunity for them to break out of their societal bounds. At the end Nimah leaves her sister in order to allow her to reach her full potential.

Alex finally gets the information about her father in a file supplied by Liam. She didn't find what she was looking for because she discovers the man she killed was a hero that saved hundreds of people. Honestly, I believe there has to be much more in her father's past, so it isn't so clear yet. Alex opens up and pours out her guilt to Ryan after her only hope that her actions were somewhat justified if her father was not the great man she knew. 

After two entertaining and slightly messy episodes, Quantico still hasn't found a way to slow down and find its footing. It's still keeping my attention, but it's becoming increasingly a convoluted mess that we know won't end well, but we can't take our eyes off of it. I felt like all the plotlines going on at once is beginning to stretch the show thin, and that causes a lot of dropped or meaningless storylines. There still a lot of potential, but so far, the only plotlines that really resounded with me were the twins and the mystery behind Alex's father and other agents. It's hard to become attached to the characters when the show is constantly overstuffing plot twists. I did like the last five minutes when I actually felt like the show was trying to keep itself emotionally grounded. All the twists coming in so quickly is making them insignificant. Like in this episode, Simon got kicked out of Quantico for something. No, wait never mind, he's actually still working with the FBI! Simon is helping Alex! He's randomly turning her in! But wait, he's helping Alex, but wouldn't it have been easier to tell her beforehand what he was doing! He's doing something behind her back! Another nitpick is that the recruits' reactions to the excercise were stretching it. Do they really care that much about what others think of them? 

Random Observations, Theories, and Stuff

• I wonder if Quantico will stick to the "Exercise of the Week" for the entire season. If they are, they'll probably run out of ideas and come up with ridiculous tasks.
• Vasquez has a child whose father won't let her see him or her? That probably adds to why she's so moody and passive/aggressive.
• Pick of the Week: Simon- My theory is that he could have been the one framing Alex from the very start under the orders of Clayton. So when he had to be banned because of what he did, Clayton still needed him.

How did you like this episode of Quantico? Leave comments below!

Quantico Review: 'America'

This week on Quantico, another recruit, Natalie Vasquez (Anabelle Acosta), is introduced, and Alex is on the run from the FBI. Last week, I really enjoyed the pilot, but I wondered the long term sustainability of Quantico due to the complicated web of plots, dual timeline, and central mystery. Well, read more for my thoughts on that!

We start out with snippets of the interviews for the Quantico recruits. The recruits are asked an important question: "Why do you want to be in the FBI Academy?" Simon's answer was that "things are not always what they seem". Shelby's answer is her parents. Natalie's answer was that she could do more as a FBI agent then being a cop. Nimah's (or Raina's) answer is that this is her way of expressing gratitude to the country. Alex's answer is that she will do whatever it takes to protect the country. In this show, the recruits' answers are likely not the real reason why they are there which is a large part of explaining the motives of the characters and the potential terrorist. Simon is right though; at Quantico, nothing is what it seems. Shelby's mysterious Arab contact who she speaks with in Arabic certainly has some backstory behind it. Throughout, it's clear that Quantico is setting up Natalie as Alex's rival, a sort of anti-Alex. Natalie tries to one-up Alex in all the training exercise/s, and they even share the same romantic interest in Ryan Booth. This rivalry continues in the future storyline where Natalie tries to capture Alex in a Bourne-type situation.

The "Exercise of the Week" involves the recruits preventing hypothetical terrorist attacks with evidence based on previous prevented attacks. Alex is the only one who solves the puzzle based on her gut instincts. Alex is rightfully suspicious and cold towards Ryan, and Ryan has to try and win Alex's favor and respect. He does eventually gain some ground by admitting some personal details about him, some of which were truthful, and some of which were lies. He gets frustrated with being in the dark about his assignment, but Liam still does not disclose the information. In the future. he does believe Alex, and he helps Alex by buying her some time.

Nimah and Raina were beginning to show their differences which allowed Liam to find out about them. I'm curious as to what the FBI experiment with the twins is about. This causes Miranda to tell the two to step up their game. Simon becomes increasingly suspicious when his interest in Nimah seems romantic, and his cold response to flirting from the gay analyst. There was also suspicious circumstances surrounding his stay in Gaza, and the whole thing with how he wore fake glasses. Caleb returns this week as a arrogant as ever but as an analyst. Caleb says that he chose to be an analyst, but no one actually believes him. Caleb once again softens up to Shelby about his failure to his family at not succeeding as an agent.

Overall, I thought the episode was pretty good, but it still had some of the same problems like the piling by trying to condense as much plot as possible into the episode. Natalie's character so far is very generic, and I would like to see some development past being just Alex's rival. The cat and mouse chase between Alex and the FBI was very enjoyable and exciting. The show slows down a little bit, but the pace is still really fast while the show tries to highlight a lot of storylines.

Random Observations, Theories, and Stuff

• Nothing to do with the actual episode, but I'm happy that Quantico's doing well with a great hold of its 1.9 premiere
• Even "Golden Boy" has a different side to him and another name
• Raina and Simon are getting closer and closer
• New question introduced about Miranda and her son, was her son the one up for parole?
• The FBI are just incompetent in pretty much every TV show
• Pick of the Week: Shelby - The weird telephone call and deleting the contact made her seem very suspicious, and Simon's secrets don't seem relevant to the terrorist attack.

How did you like this episode of Quantico? Leave comments below!

Quantico Series Premiere Review: 'Run'

 

   Hey guys, my name is Alan, and I'll be doing the reviews for Quantico this season unless it gets pulled from the schedule or is just painful to watch. Both are not likely based on the pilot and its ratings so far. This is not a spoiler-free zone, so be careful when reading.

Quantico, much like the Shondaland shows, is unapologetically absurd with a relentless pace that throws twists at every turn to keep the audience at the edge of their seats. It might not have been very "cohesive" , but the pilot was a thoroughly exhilarating and fun hour. The 911-like opening scene hooks viewers from the start with Alex Parrish (Priyanka Chopra) face down in the wreckage and rubble. A la How to Get Away With Murder, it flashes back to nine months before in Oakland, California where Alex leaves home and her Mom. One minute into pilot, the lies and secrets start when Alex's Mom has no idea that her daughter is flying off to join the FBI. They continue when Ryan Booth (Jake McLaughlin) and Alex exchange false backstories aboard the plane. Chopra does a good job at expressing charisma during her exchanges with Ryan which keeps the scene moving. Often in pilots, the burden of exposition drags the hour, but Quantico manages a brisk pace through the plot.

After, we are introduced to four (or kinda five?) other recruits in a montage, and I thought it was interesting how Quantico elaborates and develops on each of these short character introductions later in the pilot. Back with Alex and Ryan, they have car sex in an empty parking lot close to the airport (where are they ever empty?). There was definitely some irony when Alex dissects/rejects Ryan, saying he was "slippery" and "untrustworthy" despite the fact that she, herself, had plenty to hide. She was definitely surprised and caught off guard when she saw Ryan among the recruits at Quantico. Miranda Shaw (Aunjanue Ellis), the Assistant Director, initiates the recruits, and she is committed to the FBI and defending the country from unknown threats. As they get settled in, the recruits begin to become acquainted with each other.

The recruits' first task is to dig up a missing piece of information or secret of another fellow recruit. It was a nice way to build up the backgrounds of the main characters. Plus, it was fun to see the them scrambling to uncover the secrets, like some Easter Egg Hunt. It seems that the recruits are not the only ones with secrets and shady backgrounds. Liam O' Connor (Josh Hopkins) and Miranda apparently have history, and something had gotten Liam into trouble. During training, we learn that "Golden Boy" Caleb Haas (Graham Rogers) is unqualified to be at Quantico other than his parents, and Shelby Wyatt (Johanna Braddy) has had a lot of experience with those guns back in Georgia. Eric Packer (Brian Smith) who is supposed to be a clean-cut Mormon begins to crack under the taunts from Caleb and somehow manages to sneak a gun out.

A part of what makes Quantico so fun is how it subtly telegraphs the future twists by leaving several clues. One of these clues was how Nimah (Yasmine Al Massri) has a single room, and when Simon (Tate Ellington) walked in on her, how she slightly overreacted. The explanation given makes sense, so the details don't mean much on the first watch. The twist involving Nimah really surprised me even though there were several clues that made so much more sense after the reveal. I especially liked the subtle differences in behavior and mood between scenes. There was a softer Nimah and a Mean-ah as Simon puts it. Shelby's secret is that her parent died on a plane because of 911, and that is why she carries around that piece of metal. Simon's secret was that he lived in Gaza to stay with Palestinians without telling anyone. Now the most interesting of all was Alex's. Her secret was revealed to be that her drunken father was killed by her mother in an act of self defense, but this is Quantico, so there's more to the story. Liam's knows this, and he quickly shuts down the polygraph when a quick flash of red appears.

In an act of desperation, Eric tries to keep his secret from being revealed by pulling out the gun he kept and shot the stenographer, and then he subsequently shot himself, freeing himself from his secret. His secret was that he got a Malawian teenager pregnant and forced her to get an abortion which resulted in her death. Caleb obviously feels some blame, and in a bonding moment, Simon and Shelby comfort him over the tragedy. But his blunder cost him his place at Quantico. Now, that twist with Nimah being two twins was, I'll admit, pretty cool. Miranda has a hand in this which leads to many possibilities. Alex goes to Liam for help in uncovering the truth about her father and tells him that it was her that killed him, but Liam seems very suspicious by ordering Booth to follow Alex.

Back or I should say forward to nine months later, the FBI finds Alex in the center of what was once the Grand Central Terminal in NYC who is then taken in to cooperate with the FBI to find the party responsible for the terrorist attacks. The FBI believes that the mastermind was a sleeper agent who is among the new recruits, and they require Alex's assistance in remembering what happened at Quantico. This continues for a while, but she is kept there so they can stall while they search for evidence to incriminate her. The FBI find explosives in her apartment and Ryan Booth on the floor bleeding, and they arrest her. On the FBI transport, Miranda helps Alex escape, so she can find the real terrorist. And the pilot ends on Alex strutting in the streets of New York and a shot of the city's skyline tarnished by smoke.

I found Priyanka Chopva's acting to be pretty solid and consistent throughout the pilot except for when she was arrested. She seemed out of character, and the way she spoke her lines was odd and grating. Quantico has burned through a lot of plot in its first episode, and there are so many plot threads that are to be explored. But the problem is if it is sustainable in the long run because of the central mystery. Everyone has secrets in this show which leaves us hungry for more. Also, I would like to see more development of character interactions, but in the first episode, there was a good start. The plausibility of the show can be unreliable, but I find that Quantico is really a show where you can't think too much and just go along for the ride. I found the Eric Packer storyline somewhat convoluted where he managed to sneak his secret and a gun past FBI. The title 'Run' fit the underlying theme of the episode and the show where all the characters are running from their pasts, their secrets. Eventually it'll catch up to them, but that's the fun part for us. Alex runs from the FBI, and Eric runs from his past. He just got tired of running, and his secret caught up to him.

Random Observations, Theories, and Stuff

• Assistant Director Liam? I wonder how that happened. 
• In the flashbacks with Alex's mother and father, her father mentions that she has kids which means that Alex has siblings, right? Complicated siblings sound like something this soapy show would and should explore in the future.
• What was up with Simon's photo with the random guy? I'm thinking that Simon might not actually be gay.
• Caleb didn't really get much this week. All we know is that he's a spoiled guy. I think he'll be back, judging from the promo.
• I found Quantico to be a lot like How To Get Away With Murder, but Quantico seems to actually know what to do with most of its characters. But, HTGAWM has Viola Davis, so I guess it evens out.
• Pick of the Week: Liam O' Connor- Judging from the pilot, my suspect is Liam right now. He has some weird obsession with Alex, and his exchange with Alex when she was getting arrested was fishy.

How did you guys like Quantico? Leave some comments below!