Quantico - Guilty - Review and Theories: "A red herring?"

Quantico's latest episode gave some pretty big clues as to who the terrorist could be. Also, things were getting dire for Alex after her arrest and the assignment of the week made for quite a killer twist.

Overview of events
At Quantico, guest speaker Dr. Susan Langdon gives the NATs a lesson about serial killers. Dr. Langdon has written a book about the Wellfare Mom serial killer that she caught and Simon is a big fan of her. The recruits work in groups and each group receives a serial killer. Their job is to find out which victim doesn't fit the profile. They all succeed, even though Simon points to a different victim than his group does. Langdon subsequently takes them all out for drinks and they do a drinking game based on the number of victims from each serial killer, but Simon continues to ask her about the deviant victim. Langdon agrees to talk about it over a burger and fires, and chooses a back corner to do so. Simon is convinced the Wellfare Mom killer didn't kill that specific victim and suspects the body was moved. Simon won't give up and jokingly suggest Dr. Langdon did, which makes him realize that she probably faked evidence to get the killer convicted. Langdon takes Simon outside with a needle to his skull, but fortunately Ryan notices them going out. He asks if everything is all right, at which point Langdon pretends she wanted to hook up with Simon and walks away. Ryan just saved Simon's life. Later, the NATs learn that someone informed the police about Langdon falsifying evidence. When Simon hears a few of them talking about it, he confesses that he warned the police. This infuriates the NATs since the killer will now likely be set free, because his conviction was solely based on the deviant victim. Simon angrily heads to his Israeli bomb maker friend to talk about how the FBI is not doing the right thing. The bomb maker then gives him blueprints of every train station in New York.

In the present timeline, Elias walks in as a legal counselor for Alex, whom she called before turning herself in. However, before Alex can be questioned, a member of the High Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) walks in and takes her away. The HIG answers directly to the President and doesn't play by the rules to get the answers they need. Alex is interrogated by Griffin Wells, but in order to get Alex to talk he shows her Ryan, who has been captured following his helicopter flight. Ryan still has pain from his bullet wound, so Wells pressures that wound to torture Alex. Meanwhile, back at the FBI, team Alex now consists of everyone but Clayton and they desperately work to prove her innocence. Caleb discovers Agent Goodwin is dead, but her phone is missing. The team members decide to look for footage of Alex and discover she was in a camera blind spot on the morning of the bombing. Raina and Nimah get into action, with one going to the blind spot and the other pretending to be two persons. In the blind spot, the twin who went out finds a van with chloroform in it. Footage reveals that a cab pulled up shortly after that and the cab driver tells the team that his customer was a man with a large bag that was dropped off at a hotel near Grand Central Terminal. Liam busts in the HIG location with his own executive order. Liam apologizes to Alex that it took him so long to see that she's not guilty. However, in order to let the terrorist believe that his or her plan is working, Alex pleads guilty to the bombing.

Character board
In this week's episode, we learned the following about the characters:
-Shelby might not have a sister after all. Clayton calls Caleb to tell him that the sister that Shelby sent all the money to may not exist.
-Nathalie is hit emotionally by the weekly assignments. She later tells Shelby that one of the serial killing victims reminded her of her daughter, whom Nathalie hasn't seen because her father would audition for full custody if she joined the Academy.
-Ryan doesn't know why Alex suddenly cares so much about Liam, the man who ruined both their lives. Since Ryan stayed at Quantico to protect Alex from Liam, he doesn't see a reason anymore to stay so he leaves.

-Simon turns in Dr. Langdon to the police after finding out she falsified evidence. That puts him at odds with his classmates and leads him to meet his bomb maker friend, who gives him blueprints of all train stations in New York.
-Elias returns as Alex' lawyer in the present timeline and is a full-time member of team Alex.
-Liam hasn't shown up for work the entire week and Alex discovers he has been drinking a lot. Alex later picks him up at a bar and goes to his house. Liam later stops drinking and thanks Alex for being there for him. In the present, Liam finally believes Alex is innocent and advises her to plead guilty so the real bomber thinks his or her plan worked.
-Miranda is recovering from the stab wound she received last week. Although she thinks Charlie might have stabbed her from the back, the knife that was found near her house doesn't have Charlie's fingerprints on it. Charlie's disappearance thus might have been a kidnapping.

No new information on Alex, Nimah, Raina, Caleb, Brandon or Clayton this week.

Review
With only two episodes left to reveal the bomber (it has been confirmed that we will know the identity of the bomber in season 1A), this episode dropped some big clues on us as to who it could be. As such, this was a great episode that once again left me wondering who the terrorist is. The weekly assignment was a bit weird, especially when the NATs were taken out for drinks by Dr. Langdon. I am not sure what purpose those drinks served, but it is looking like the entire storyline with Dr. Langdon will lead to Simon's dishonorable departure from Quantico. It was interesting to see the parallels between Liam and Alex' father, and I liked that Alex wanted to prevent Liam from turning into her father. Despite the things that Liam has done, she still doesn't want to see him like that. I believe this also shows that Alex is a good person. The interrogation in the present timeline was quite intense, and it was a joy to see Oded Fehr in the role of interrogator. Everybody now seems to be on team Alex, which is good although there is a big chance one of them is the bomber. One thing I did not like about this episode, which is related to previous episodes too, is the incompetence of the FBI. At Quantico, an agent in training learned from one photo that a respected FBI agent faked evidence. In the present, team Alex finally decides to review footage of what Alex was doing the morning of the bombing. Both these actions speak volumes about the incompetence of the FBI. I wish the show had done that a little

different, even though it was necessary for story purposes. Also, I don't like that the terrorist apparently left a van with chloroform in it, since that makes him or her look incompetent as well. Maybe whoever is the terrorist was too busy to remove the van from the blind spot.

Theories
I've added this new section to write my theories about the big clues we received in this episode. I think it is possible they are all red herrings. Here are my theories:
-Clayton told Caleb that Shelby's half-sister might not exist. May I remind you that this is the same Clayton that ends up in bed with Shelby months later? It is possible that Clayton is trying to drive a wedge between Caleb and Shelby by telling lies about Shelby. Maybe Clayton fell in love the moment he saw Shelby and he needs his son out of the way to get her attention. Alternatively, Clayton might think that his screw-up son doesn't deserve to be happy with such a beautiful woman, so he tells lies about Shelby to destroy their relationship. I actually think that Shelby's half-sister really does exist, especially because Miranda confirmed her existence. I don't trust Clayton so I certainly don't entirely trust that Shelby doesn't have a half-sister.
-Simon receives blueprints of all train stations in New York. Come one, this must a red herring, right? It would be too easy and too obvious if it would be Simon. It is possible Simon really does have bad plans which might have gotten him thrown out of Quantico, but I don't think Simon is the terrorist. Also, the bomber had plans to frame Alex since arriving at Quantico and we have only seen Simon's FBI grudge really grow in this week's episode and a bit in episode 8.
-The cab driver said that it was a man with a large bag that presumably contained Alex. This doesn't necessarily mean the bomber is a man, but if it was a woman, she would have at least one male accomplice. However, given the scale of the operation, it is safe to assume that the terrorist is not working alone.

Terrorist wall
Here's this week's terrorist wall, including a ranking of every suspect and a change in the ranking compared to the last episode.
-Alex: 1/5 (no change compared to last episode)
Despite pleading guilty, Alex is not the terrorist.
-Shelby: 3/5 (+1 compared to last episode)
Even though I believe that Clayton telling Caleb that Shelby's half-sister does not exist is a red herring, it still makes her look a bit more suspicious.
-Nimah: 2/5 (no change)
I am splitting the twins for what could be the final terrorist wall, but I'm not changing my ranking for either of them.
-Raina: 2/5 (no change)
I am splitting the twins for what could be the final terrorist wall, but I'm not changing my ranking for either of them.
-Nathalie: 2/5 (no change)
There is no indication to change my ranking of Nathalie.
-Ryan: 2/5 (no change)
Ryan seemingly left Quantico for good, which means he could have a lot of time preparing a terrorist attack. He was also tortured to get Alex to talk. Neither really gives me any reason to change my ranking of him.
-Caleb: 2/5 (no change)
Nothing from this episode gives me a reason to change my ranking of Caleb.
-Simon: 3/5 (no change)
I think Simon receiving those blueprints is a big red herring, which is why I'm not giving him a higher ranking. Still, he and Shelby receive the highest ranking this week.
-Elias: 2/5 (no change)
Elias returned in the present timeline as a lawyer, but that doesn't give me any indication to change my ranking of him.
-Brandon: 2/5 (no change)
I still barely have any idea who this guy is.
-Liam: 2/5 (-1 compared to last episode)
Liam finally jumped on team Alex. That doesn't clear him per se since there is a big chance somebody from team Alex is framing her. Still, I think Liam is finally willing to help Alex as he comes up with a plan to clear her name.
-Miranda: 2/5 (no change)
Miranda didn't have that much screen time in this episode, and we haven't seen her in the present timeline for quite some time.
-Clayton: 2/5 (-1 compared to last episode)
Clayton is the only one who is not on team Alex yet. That means it would be too obvious it was him. And while I believe this guy is a liar, a bad father and an untrustworthy husband, I don't believe he is a terrorist.

It is possible that this is the final terrorist wall, because we don't know when the terrorist will be revealed. Personally, I hope he or she will be revealed in the midseason finale which would give me a chance to do my final rankings and prime suspect in the review of episode 10. if this really is the final terrorist wall, my prime suspects are Simon and Shelby, though I still believe they are red herrings.

What did you think of "Guilty"? Were you surprised at the sudden turn-around of Dr. Langdon? What do you think Simon's plans are with those blueprints? Are you glad Liam is finally on Alex' side? Do you think his plan will work out? Is Clayton telling Caleb the truth about Shelby's half-sister? And lastly, since we're so close to the real terrorist being unmasked, who do you think it is? Please tell me your thoughts and theories in the comments below.

The next episode airs Sunday at 10/9c. Watch a promo for the episode below.

About the Author - Daniel van der Veer

Daniel van der Veer is a Dutch university student studying Psychology. On SpoilerTV he is a reviewer of NCIS, The 100, Madam Secretary and Quantico. He also enjoys LOST, Arrow, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, Nikita, The Blacklist, Scorpion and How To Get Away With Murder.

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