Despite all of the marketing by ABC as a FBI Spy show with really sexy 30 something trainees, Quantico does have some semblance of intrigue.
Quantico is the story of a class of FBI trainees and their time at the FBI center in Quantico, Virginia. The cast itself is only a subset of the 50 trainees, but I imagine as the show progresses, we’ll learn more about each of the other class members.
The show itself actually takes place as a memory-flashback from from the present day, shortly after a terrorist plot destroys Grand Central Terminal in New York.
The show centers around one of the only surviving agents so far Alex Parrish (Priyanka Chopra), a young determined woman out of Los Angeles looking to make her mark in the FBI. As the sole survivor so far, she’s also been tagged as the primary suspect in what is clearly a frame job by some unknown force.
Her mission now is to figure out who the real terrorist is while evading the FBI. I imagine the majority of the series will take place in flashbacks to the farm. This is where the “Grey’s” side of the show will come from, with hopefully not too aggravatingly petty relationship drama that has turned many off of the well known medial drama.
The real question is how they will weave the clearly needed present day storyline of Alex trying to find the real traitor, the “Homeland” side of the show. In the Pilot, we see a little of this action during Alex’s daring escape with the help of the training director Miranda Shaw (Aunjanue Ellis).
But even some of the “Homeland” mystique leaks into the training side as not everyone is clearly as they seem. “Love Interest” Ryan Booth (Jake McLaughlin) is not really a trainee, but rather an undercover agent sent to investigate Alex. Nimah Anwar (Yasmine Al Masri) is super shady as she is actually a twin, with the sisters changing places at will.
Simon Asher (Tate Ellington) is a strange kid that seems to work very hard to cover his past and has unusual fascinations with the other trainees. Both he and Nimah are by far the most shady of the trainees.
But if you are confused at trying to follow this abbreviated list of characters, you can understand the biggest weakness of Quantico. There are just so many different characters to follow, and the show has only introduce a tiny segment of them. In show listings, we see actors who in the pilot, have already washed out of the program one way or the other. I’m not sure if they will be returning in some flashback form as Alex does her investigations, but the show must be really careful about ending up in a situation where we just can’t keep up with the different players.
But the real question, like many series this fall, is how long can you really keep the main plot premise going over multiple seasons? Will Alex be on the run for years as she inches closer to the truth?
But despite this pending issue, Quantico was a pleasant enough surprise of a pilot episode, with just enough staying power to keep on for episode two, and I give it high marks for probably the most racially diverse cast of any show I’ve seen in recent memory.
Other Observations
- The twin situation with Nimah does explain how she was able to get though the assignment so quickly. One sister was doing the work while the other was in basic training.
- Ryan Booth eventually dies in Alex’s apartment, which is loaded with evidence from Grand Central Station.
