Quantico aired its second episode last Sunday and fortunately, the episode was right on par with the quality of the show's pilot. We learned even more about the characters, and we also met a few new ones.
I am dividing this review in four parts. First, I will give a recap of the most important events of the hour. After that I will recap the things we've come to know about our characters. Next is my opinion of this episode in a review and I will conclude with some speculation on the terrorist wall.
The Academy storyline kicks off with flashing back to the recruits being asked the question why they want to be an FBI agent. Among them is a new recruit by the name of Nathalie Vazquez, who is a former cop. Also, during Alex' interview Liam shows Ryan that she is his mark. In week 2 of training, the recruits are doing push-ups, fysical training and shooting exercises. They also receive a new assignment: they must look for clues in recreated terrorist houses to find out where a terrorist attack is going to happen. Fortunately, they are joined by a whole bunch of analysts in training who will from now on also be at Quantico. Among these analysts are Caleb, who has returned after being kicked out last week, and new trainee Elias, a gay trainee who immediately hits on Simon. The agents and trainees work side-by-side in three of these recreated crime scenes to find clues about imminent terrorist attacks. However, Alex finds out that the assignment is fake and is actually meant to mislead all of them. Indeed, Liam and Miranda admit that the real threat was Liam giving bogus clues.
In the present storyline, Alex is still on the run from the FBI, but makes contact with Liam over the radio. She goes to see some camera footage across the street from her house, drawing the FBI investigators, headed by Nathalie, away from her apartment. Alex enters her room to investigate, but runs into Nathalie when she is ready to leave. In the ensuing fight, Alex gets locked in the bathroom and discovers a secret passage to another room full of C-4. Nathalie chases after Alex, but Alex overpowers the former and handcuffs her on the roof. Meanwhile, Ryan has had life-saving surgery and wakes up in the hospital. He calls Alex to explain that he was in her apartment to apologize to her and that he was shot by whoever opened the door. He agrees to help her clear her name, but in order to do that they need to make it look like she's guilty. Therefore, Ryan tells Liam that Alex was the one who shot him.
In this week's episode, we learned the following about the characters:
-Alex basically showed this episode that she is a badass, who can not only deceive the fake assignment but also knows how to stay on the run. Alex receives confirmation from Liam that her father was indeed an FBI agent, but he doesn't know anything else yet. She will fall in Ryan sometime during the nine months.
-Shelby deleted an Arabic contact after she was interviewed about her reasons for joining the bureau. At the end of the episode, she also talks in a foreign language to someone over the phone. Might it be the same contact?
-Nimah and Raina might be identical twins, but they have their fair share of differences as well. One of them is better during physical training, doing more push-ups. Also, one of them likes Simon while the other doesn't. Honestly, I can't tell the difference between them and am not sure which one likes Simon more.
-Nathalie has a fake scar behind her ear. She also fell in love with Ryan. Oh, and she's a bitch.
-Ryan lost Alex' trust after being her interrogator last week, but wins it back when he confesses that she was right about him when they had sex. Ryan also shares his concerns with Liam about the mission, referring to an unnamed incident in Chicago.
-Caleb either seems incompetent to do his job or to lazy to do it, but later proves that he does have the abilities. He is not happy with his new analyst job and would have preferred becoming an agent. Additionally, Caleb is shown to have a Facebook profile with the name Mark Raymond.
-Simon's glasses aren't real. Elias finds out about this, after which Simon changes them for real glasses. Moreover, Elias discovers that there is no official paperwork of Simon travelling from or to Gaza in the last several years.
-Elias has an immediate crush on Simon and finds out about the fake glasses and the Gaza travel. Elias seems deeply intrigued by Simon.
-Liam has figured out Miranda's secret twin experiment. It is also revealed that Liam fell in love with Alex sometime during the nine months.
-Miranda knows that Ryan is an undercover agent too, but thinks the Executive Assistant Director sent him. She also visits a school which she has apparently saved from an attack two years ago. The man who did that (I'm thinking it's her son) is up for parole, but probably won't get it.
Review
The show had a lot to live up to after the positive reaction to its pilot. Fortunately, I can say that the show continued to deliver in its second episode. The show continued to explore its characters deeply, revealing more secrets and lies that they are hiding while also raising lots of questions about each of them. We also met some new characters this week with Caleb returning in a different role too. I can say that I instantly dislike Nathalie, but I suppose that's the point when Alex is our main character. I really liked the dynamic between the agents and analysts. The analysts bring something different to the table and hopefully the two groups will continue to get joined training. The present storyline with the terrorist attack aftermath also moved ahead quite a bit. Alex is such a badass and I enjoy seeing her on the run. I don't get though why Ryan would find it necessary to make Alex look guilty, but I hope that will be explained soon.
In case you missed my review of last week, I am going to try to include a terrorist wall every week in my review. I list every suspect and give a ranking of 1 to 5 stars, with 1 being "Very unlikely to be the terrorist", 2 being "Unlikely to be the terrorist", 3 being "On the fence", 4 being "Possible to be the terrorist and 5 being "Prime suspect to be the terrorist".
-Alex: 1/5
Come on, it really isn't her. I believe the creator of the show even confirmed that in an interview.
-Shelby: 3/5
Having an Arabic contact on your phone doesn't have to mean anything bad. It does when that contact calls you and you say he or she shouldn't have called for a while. That is definitely suspicious.
-Nimah and Raina: 2/5
No reason to suspect either of them more than I did last week. They are pretty different though, and I'm wondering if perhaps one of them might be more capable of being an agent than the other.
-Nathalie: 2/5
I dislike her, but that doesn't necessarily make her a terrorist. That fake scar is weird, but I don't suspect anything bad there. She did lead the FBI investigation in Alex' apartment so she might have had the opportunity to fake her.
-Ryan: 2/5
He's going to help Alex proving her innocence. It also seems he really does care about her.
-Caleb: 3/5
His fake Facebook profile doesn't make him an immediate suspect, but something feels off about him. He looks inadequate at doing his job, but at the same time he seems to know how to do it. My guess is he's faking it all, but for what reason remains to be seen.
-Simon: 4/5
Why does he have fake glasses? Why did he reject Elias' flirtations? I don't believe Simon is really gay and it's also suspicious there's no records of his Gaza adventure. Of course, he seems like the obvious suspect at this point, which means it's probably not him, right?
-Elias: 2/5
No real reason to suspect this analyst trainee here. Having a crush on Simon isn't exactly a criminal act.
-Liam: 3/5
So he fell in love with Alex? It seems she rejected him, however, so that might give him a motive to frame her. It also gives him a reason to shoot Ryan.
-Miranda: 1/5
She prevented a previous terrorist attack on a school, helps Alex get away and vouches for her innocence with Liam. It can't be Miranda.
What did you think of "America"? Do you like the new characters that were introduced? Were you shocked at all the information we received about the characters? What secrets is everybody hiding? And who is your current prime suspect? Please tell me your thoughts and theories in the comment section below.
Check out a promo for episode 3, airing this Sunday at 10/9c on ABC:
